Heading to DR recommendations please

[love2fishfork]

We are planning a trip to DR and thought Punta Cana would be a nice place to stay. We are avid divers, but this trip is really just a relaxing vacation, with maybe two days of diving.

I'm now starting to rethink my accommodations and the possibility of staying in Bayahibe instead of Punta Cana and commuting to Bayahibe. We like to sample the local cuisine and lifestyle instead of never leaving the all inclusive!

Does Bayahibe make more sense? Can someone recommend a nice place to stay preferably with ocean view accommodations? Dive ops?

Thanks

 

[t4e]

Iberostar has resorts in both Punta Cana and Bayahibe, the latter is the better area for diving
the resorts have the Dressel Divers onsite, the website will tell you everything you need to know, including the resort
for diving you get 20% discount if you book online

both resort, and diveshop are excellent, we stayed there last year, and continued going to Iberostar in Mexico too because we liked it so much

 

[Dhboner]

The best diving by far is in Bayahibe and the best dive operator by far is ScubaFun. John has big roomy boats and great divemasters. My favorite resort is Dreams but I have stayed at the Iberostar and has a great time there as well. Do yourself a big favour and book your dives with ScubaFun...you won't regret it. Tell John Bob from Toronto says "hi".

 

[love2fishfork]

Thanks for the reply's.

Reading the resort reviews has me confused. They all seem to have some really bad reviews (as well as good)! Beside Iberostar and Dreams has anyone ever stayed at:

Live Canoa?
Catalonia La Romana?
Viva Windham Beach Resort?

 

[Dhboner]

I'd avoid those three...I haven't stayed at them but they look like they are a step or two down from Dreams or the Iberostar. The Iberostar has a great beach bar at the base of a lighthouse and the food is very good. At Dreams you have unlimited a la cartes with no reservations required. Like I said I have stayed at both and would have no trouble recommending either of them.

 

[Scubawankenobi]

We might return to DR, as we see some cheap 1wk stays popup on our (local) airline (Air Canada).
Any thoughts on how Punta Cana (OP mentions) compares to Bayahibe for diving?
Shore dives?

My only comparison, is where we stayed/dived last time. We snagged a great all-inclusive resort+airfare deal & wound up in Samana.
The AI resort was just fine, beautiful scenery (topside) but I was a bit disappointed by the reefs (seemed over-fished, not healthy).

Just wondering, as I've seen deals pop-up for Punta Cana as OP mentions.
Thanks!

 

[dfx]

Diving in the Bavaro area is so-so at best. Not terrible, but nothing outstanding either. From what I understand, Punta Cana is more or less the same, possibly even worse. It just doesn't compare to the Caribbean side around Bayahiba/La Romana.

 

[t4e]

Thanks for the reply's.

Reading the resort reviews has me confused. They all seem to have some really bad reviews (as well as good)! Beside Iberostar and Dreams has anyone ever stayed at:

Live Canoa?
Catalonia La Romana?
Viva Windham Beach Resort?

take the reviews with a grain of salt, a 4 star resort can't possibly be as bad as some people make it sound
personal experience thought me that some people can't be pleased no matter what...they want reasonable prices but expect royal treatment

 

[love2fishfork]

take the reviews with a grain of salt, a 4 star resort can't possibly be as bad as some people make it sound
personal experience thought me that some people can't be pleased no matter what...they want reasonable prices but expect royal treatment

Good point! One bad for every 10-15 good, doesn't make a bad resort! Anyway I've booked Iberostar and I'm sure it will be great. Looking forward to diving. Now to figure out which diving excursions to do. Probably do two or three days of diving. Looking at Scubafun.

 

[sgtchunk]

I just stayed at Iberostar in July 2014, the resort was great. The food, service, rooms, everything was all top notch. I did dive with Scubafun in Bayahibe though. Nothing wrong with Dressel, dove with them before. I just felt that they really catered to the occasional resort type of diver which is not my kind of diving. They were also always trying to sell me more dives and I just didn't like the pushiness. Johnny and his crew at Scubafun were awesome. They were responsive to emails and arranged all transportation, which went smoothly. Nice boats, the crew was squared away, affordable, just very nice overall.

My daughter did her checkout dives while down there. She was 13 at the time which made no difference to Roger, her instructor. He was professional and patient, just like he's supposed to be.