Dave's Arrival

Dave's Arrival

Tuesday 4th - Wednesday 5th March 2025

It was about a 200 km drive from Samana to the airport in Puerto Plata. It’s not that far and the roads aren’t so bad, but with many small towns on the way, and the reduced speed limits, it took us over three hours to drive each way. The good news is that when we sail around to the north coast, Dave will be really close to the airport to catch his return flight.

Gloria and I decided to break the journey by visiting an ecological area near Cabarete on the north coast. We thought we’d take a walk and maybe see some birds, but it turned out to be a managed site with guided tours through the woods to a series of limestone caves. It was actually really cool and I got to swim in underground pools in two of the caves. We had just enough time to complete our tour and then we headed off to the airport. 

Dave’s plane arrived on time and he appeared quicker than we had expected. We were delighted to see that his checked baggage had also made it. This box included the replacement oars for our dinghy and a new filter for a our sea-strainer (the main cooling water supply for the engine). We had contemplated stopping for dinner on the way back, but the miles passed quickly as we caught up on news, and we opted to keep on going and wait to eat dinner until we got back. As it got dark it became apparent that lights on the cars, trucks and motorcycles are optional, and the final hour was somewhat hair-raising, with unlit vehicles, pedestrians and speed bums appearing out of nowhere, but we made it back safely.

We had arranged to keep the rental car for one additional day and so this morning we took the opportunity to drive over to Playa Rincon on the north-east side of the Dominican Republic. It was fascinating to see different areas of countryside and the beach itself was stunning - miles of white sand and turquoise water, surrounded by palm trees and hills behind. We wandered along the beach for a while and then took a swim, before starting back to Samana. We stopped for a late lunch at beautiful hotel / restaurant overlooking the beach. On the return journey we visited an impressive natural arch where the sea washes through into an enclosed pool. Overall it was a relaxing and enjoyable day.

Tomorrow we plan two head out and spend a few days in the National Park on the south said of Samana Bay.

Mike

Gloria and our guide Stephen in one of the caves near Cabarete. Just behind Stephen is a an 80 ft deep sink hole that can be dived and then followed for a further 2 km ... the DR's longest cave dive ... sounds awful to me!

Playa Rincon - amazing beach

Ditto

Looking back through the palm trees lining the beach

Monica (from Switzerland) riding on the beach

... and her friend

Dave at Playa Rincon 

A local guy jumps into the pool behind the archway. He was a character - talked to us non-stop for 20 minutes and we didn't understand a word!

A Frangipana tree with a very large caterpillar

Marina Life - Samana

Marina Life - Samana

Saturday 1st to Monday 3rd March, 2025

After a decent night of sleep, we were feeling considerably better on Saturday.  We spent the bulk of the day trying to get the laundry done.  The marina has about 80 slips—most of those occupied.  While there are laundry facilities, two washers and two dryers between so many boaters does create some difficulties. We zipped into the laundry area early in the morning and managed to get a load into one of the washers.  However, when our wash cycle finished there was no dryer available.  We took our very wet clothes out of the washer and waited for a dryer to come free.  Meanwhile our second load was waiting to be washed.  Many trips to and fro resulted in getting both loads of laundry washed.  The first load spent a long time in the dryer to little effect!  We took all the washed sheets and clothes back to the boat.  Some clever work with rope got us a make-shift clothes line.  Several hours later, one of the marina staff dropped by to tell us that hanging out clothing on the boat was not allowed!  Luckily most of the large items were dry.  The remaining wet stuff we spread on the cockpit benches in the sun. In between laundry we got started on polishing the stainless steel.  What a way to spend your birthday!  To redeem the day a little bit for Mike, we went out for dinner at a restaurant by the pool. The food was great and it was a very pleasant evening.

On Sunday, I resumed stainless polishing while “Hero Mike” worked on our taxes.  He had started on these in Puerto Rico (where we had good cell phone coverage).  However, the information we need from our investments wasn’t yet available.  Today, he was able to pull in the required data and file the state and federal taxes.  What a relief!  We finished up the stainless polishing and went for a swim in the pool.  We have been finding the days and nights very hot.  Cotinga’s stern is to the wind direction (never great for ventilation) and the marina is quite protected, somehow. We could see plenty of white caps out in the bay outside, so we know the wind is blowing....

In the evening, Turas, the boat next to us, was having a pizza party.  We were amazed at the number of children and adults that turned up on their boat.  We went over later and enjoyed chatting with the other boaters.  One of the more amazing aspects was that the crew of Turas have a pizza oven on the stern of the boat.  It’s pretty impressive!  Having seen the number of people who showed up to eat pizza, I shudder to think what the galley might have looked like at the end of the evening!  

Today, we got a rental car!  We drove into the town of Samaná.  The road was under construction for a portion of the route.  Driving seems to be a creative sport in the DR—lots of motorbikes and cars darting to the wrong side of the road.  We parked near the water front and walked along.  We saw birds in a group of trees and identified the Hispaniolan wood pecker, the Cape May warbler, the palm chat, the Hispaniolan oriole, and the Hispaniolan Mango (hummingbird) … all new life birds for us.  We found a grocery store and picked up some provisions then returned to the marina.  After lunch we took another foray out of the resort.  We walked to a waterfall then visited a lovely beach.  

Gloria 

The Infinity pool at Puerto Bahia Marina - overlooking Samana Bay. We briefly saw a whale whilst standing in this pool!

Ditto

Alex, Tess and family host a pizza evening on their boat Turas.

The main 'hotel' area of the marina. This is where we go to use the showers. There is also a gym and a restaurant in this area of teh complex but we haven't participated as yet

A public dinghy dock in the town of Samana itself 

Hiking up to Camino a la cascada, a short drive  west of the marina

Banana plants and palms

Playa La Pascuala  - a few miles west of the marina

Fishing boats on the beach at Playa La Pascuala

Ditto