Back we go again...

This Sunday, we will be off to Punta Cana again for the 7th time.  We will be saying at the Hard Rock Hotel Punta Cana attending a friend's wedding.

First impressions of this hotel have been good so far.  Our emails about room requests and other questions have been promptly responded to, which is a good sign from our point of view.  Reviews have been all over the place but that is to be expected with a resort of this size.  We will be going into this trip with no expectations so that we can deliver a non-bias review to our readers.  

We will be live tweeting our experiences while we are at the resort (wifi pending).  Follow us at @BeachJunkies on twitter to get our updates.

Once we are back we will try to post our review up as fast as we can but being that it is the holidays, it may take longer than usual.

Happy Holidays to all our followers! We wish you a safe and wonderful holiday season and all the best to you and your loved ones in 2013.

-Beach Junkies

Resort Tour Post: Secrets Royal Beach Punta Cana

We had a chance to check out Secrets Royal Beach Punta Cana during our stay at their sister resort next door, Now Larimar.  Secrets Royal beach is an adults only resort and shares the majority of the restaurants with Now Larimar.

Walking to Secrets Royal Beach takes literally a minute from Now Larimar. You can access the resort through a pathway just off the courtyard of Now Larimar or from the beach. Our first impressions of Secrets Royal Beach was "WOW! It's really quiet over here!". You don't hear the hustle and bustle of the resort next door and a quiet, relaxation atmosphere is definitely achieved. The courtyard at Royal Beach is a lot wider and in the evenings, is a great place to enjoy a drink and listen to some live music.

The pool is very different form the ones you see next door at Now Larimar. There is a main section where the pool bar is located and a lazy river goes through the middle of the resort.  The palapas are spaced out accordingly and really promotes personal space which is key at an adults only resort.  The only unfortunate thing is that the color of the pool isn't the sea green color that Now Larimar has.  We really love the look and feel of that pool but I'm guessing you can always go next door to use it.

We had a chance to eat lunch at La Riviera restaurant and the restaurant is decorated wonderfully.  It was nice to eat outside while taking in the great ocean breeze and a nice break form the sun.  You can also eat inside but the view is just too good to miss out on.  The selection of the food at La Riviera was a lot better than the Carnival Buffet at Now Larimar.  This was of course expected since it is a 5* resort compared to Now Larimar.  The food was fresh and I really suggest in getting some of the kiwi that they have there.  I swear it was one of the biggest I've ever seen and eaten.  It was awesome.

The beach atmosphere at Royal Beach is much quieter and they offer more relaxing activites such as Yoga and Stretching in the morning and for those that want something more exciting, they have Beach Volleyball twice a day.  I found that it was a bit more competitive than the other side since of course it was all adults that were playing.  The one thing that you don't get at Now Larimar that you do at Secrets Royal Beach is beach service.  They have waiters taking your drink order and bringing it right back to you, but really the beach bar is no more than a 2 min walk from where ever you are.  The left side of the beach is where the majority of the palapas are situated and the right side is where you will find a more open area where you can still get some shade from the abundance of palm trees that are located there.  There are hammocks as well towards the back of the beach if that's what you fancy.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to experience more so we can't comment on the rooms and the other restaurants since the week we were leaving, it wasn't offered out of Toronto.  You can always do an upgrade once you get there if you run into the same problem as us.  It's a great resort from what we saw and if it does get too quiet, you can always go next door to get more of a different vibe.

Below you can view the 360 videos we took of the resort.  Hopefully this will give future guests better idea of how the space looks.  We are finding these days that videos are a more reliable resource of how a property really is.





For more information on the resort, you can visit the Secrets Resorts website here or to see what other people think, you can visit here

RESORT REVIEW: Now Larimar

Trip date: June 5-12, 2011
Location: Punta Cana, DR

Beach junkie rating (based on 5 stars):
Beach: 5 / food: 4.5 / room: 4 / pools: 5 / snorkeling: n/a

This is our 6th time to Punta Cana and our 2nd time to this resort. Our first time was back in 2009 for Christmas. Back then, it was NH Real Arena. Click here for our previous review. The re-branding of the resort took place May 2011. Everything is the same except the resort is now owned by AMResorts and the resort is now called Now Larimar. The staff remains the same but the restaurant names have changed. The Paradise Club is now the Preferred Club.

My husband and I went to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary. Before we left, we contacted the resort with various requests and all our emails were answered immediately.

We booked through our usual travel agent. The package was with Transat Holidays and the flight with CanJet. I don’t think we will ever want to flight with CanJet again. You cannot check in online, the seats are tight and the aisle is very narrow. Luckily we arrived early, customs was a breeze, our transfer to resort only made two prior drop offs and we were at our resort within a little over an hour of landing.

Check in
Check in was quick and swift.  We first went to the front desk but then got escorted to the Preferred Lounge to check in.  There we were greeted by Johanna who explained everything to us.  Our room wasn’t ready so we ate some snacks in the lounge and grabbed some drinks at the lobby bar and sat in the courtyard till our room was ready. We waited a total time of 30 minutes.

courtyard at Now Larimar

Room
We are going to try to clarify this as much as we can since most of the disappointments and confusion with this resort starts off here.  We had booked a Preferred Club Suite Ocean View with our travel agent. According to the Now Larimar website, these suites feature:

    * Living room and a separate dining area
    * Two flat screen cable TV with remote control
    * Nespresso machine
    * Exterior Jacuzzi on the terrace
    * Two make up mirrors

On the website as well, it states that if you’ve booked this room category, you get the following inclusions with your suite:

    * Personalized check-in and check-out with concierge service
    * Preferred status and amenities
    * Private Preferred Club Lounge
    * Two private, Preferred Club pools
    * Upgraded bath amenities
    * Bathrooms with double sinks
    * Pillow menu
    * Complimentary wireless internet access in suite
    * Complimentary computer access in Preferred Club Lounge
    * Upgraded mini-bar and room service menu
    * Daily continental breakfast service in the lounge
    * Pool concierge & bar service
    * Afternoon hot and cold hors d’oeuvres; exquisite desserts & fine liquors in the lounge
    * Complimentary newspaper in room every day

Many guests we met including ourselves were expecting this since all of us had booked the highest possible category from our travel agents. Unfortunately we were wrong.

Ocean FRONT Suites

We had contacted Roberto at the resort to submit our room request and he cleared up right away that we did not book the rooms facing the ocean and the preferred pool.  Those rooms are the Ocean FRONT Suites, not Ocean View.

Ocean View Suites

 The Ocean View suites were located at the inside part of the resort facing the pools and are all located in the block closest to the beach.  The room view that we got was basically the same view we got 2 years prior but facing South this time instead of North. Instead of having an open concept room like last time, the bathtub with jets was outside in the balcony and the bathroom was enclosed.  The room didn’t have a separate dining area or two flat screen TV’s as stated on the website.

As far as the extra service inclusions, we did received the following

    * Personalized check-in and check-out with concierge service
    * Preferred status and amenities
    * Private Preferred Club Lounge
    * Two private, Preferred Club pools
    * Upgraded bath amenities
    * Bathrooms with double sinks
    * Complimentary wireless internet access in suite
    * Complimentary computer access in Preferred Club Lounge
    * Upgraded mini-bar
    * Daily continental breakfast service in the lounge
    * Pool concierge & bar service
    * Afternoon hot and cold hors d’oeuvres; exquisite desserts & fine liquors in the lounge

The Wireless Internet Access in suite: This is free and complimentary but ONLY if you ask for the user name and password from the concierge.  They also only give you an allotted usage time of 10 hours per ticket which seems to mysteriously go really fast. We used the internet for about 3 hours in total by our 3rd day and by then we got a message saying that we had reached our maximum time allowed. It was no problem getting another user name and password though.

Room Category Names: To stop the disappointment and confusion with future guests, NOW Larimar should consider changing the room category names.  The Ocean Front Suites should be called just that BUT instead of having Preferred Club Ocean View suites, they should rename them to Preferred Club Pool View suites.

During our stay it was clear that the Executive Ocean Front suites were getting all the inclusions and services that were stated on the website. All of the other Preferred Club Ocean View guests did not. Fortunately for us, we knew this coming in and our expectations were lowered but for the other guests that didn’t know, it was a real let down and I don’t blame them.

So the lesson learned, If you want the rooms that are facing the preferred pool and ocean, book an Ocean FRONT Room. To be honest, the preferred club ocean view rooms unfortunately weren't worth it. We could have just gotten a regular room with the same view and expected less which for some maybe more of an enjoyable vacation.

With all that said, our room was clean (no musty smell). We had the electronic safe, a well-stocked mini-bar, amenities in our bathroom, face towels, beach towels and plenty of bath towels. We also got bathrobes and slippers. Some things that were missing was a directory and room service menu. We got both of these by asking for them at the Preferred Club Lounge. We did notice that we were suppose to get turn down service but never received it (probably because we always had the do not disturb sign on when we went out for dinner). The balcony had two chairs and a table, as well as the outdoor jacuzzi. It was really nice to sit on the balcony at night and just read. The pools and building are really well lit at night.

Room 1456

Amenities

Balcony of room 1456

View from room 1456 at night

Food
Carnival International Café - which is located by the lobby was opened every day for breakfast (7:00 am to 11:00 am), lunch (12:30 pm to 3:00 pm) and dinner (6:30 pm to 10:45 pm). The various themed night are Dominican, Italian, Spanish, American, Gala, Mexican and Asian. We ate at the buffet at the Dominican, Spanish and Mexican night.

Breakfast Buffet sample

Dominican Night desserts

I highly suggest that you make an effort to eat at the buffet on the Dominican night to get a taste of their local cuisine (see photo below). After all, you are in their country so why not take it all in. We found that since the last time we were at this resort, the buffet has changed significantly with much more selections. If you can’t find something to eat, then maybe you are not cut out for all-inclusive resorts. What we enjoyed was that there was a section reserved for Preferred Club members at dinner.

Dominican Night Buffet sample

Asides from eating at the buffet, you can order room service for breakfast, lunch or dinner but note that the menu is very limited. When we ordered breakfast one morning, we got everything listed on the menu and it only took about 20 minutes.

Castaways & Barefoot Grill - both are located close to the main pool and beach. Castaways is open from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm and has a small buffet of salads, pizza, paninis, burgers, fries, veggies, rice and some type of meat. They also have delicious, refreshing self-serve vanilla or chocolate ice cream in a cone or cup. Barefoot Grill (open from 12:00 to 3:00 pm) is found just outside of the restaurant and serves grilled red snapper(see photo below), pork chops, chicken and also paella. Right beside it is a fruit bar which offers freshly cut fruits such as papaya, mango, pineapple, etc. You can either eat in the restaurant or take it out to the pool, beach or your room. Please just be courteous and return your dishes and clean up after yourselves.

Grilled Red Snapper, Rice and Beans and Carrots

There are four a la carte restaurants for dinner- Mercure (French), Spice (Asian/Teppanyaki), Bluewater Grill (American) and Capers (Italian). There is always one of the restaurants closed each night. With the switch from NH Real Arena to Now Larimar, there is no longer a reservation system, it’s all first come, first serve. The busiest dinner times are between 7:00 to 8:00 pm.


We ate at the following:


Bluewater Grill - First off, I really think they should change the decor in this restaurant but the food was okay. We had ribeye steak, braised beef in Jack Daniel’s sauce (see photo below), chicken caesar salad, asparagus cream soup, an combo platter of chicken wings, mozzarella sticks, quesadillas and potato skins. For dessert was cheesecake and a brownie.

Click the menu to expand

Braised Beef

Mercure - this French restaurant was our favorite. The decor is really nice and it’s an adults-only. We had traditional french onion soup, mushrooms & escargot, Atlantic salmon fillet (see photo below), Beef bourguignon, caramel chiboust and apple and cream strudel. We were also treated to a banana flambe.

Mercure

Click the menu to expand

Atlantic Salmon

Spice - this Asian restaurant gives you the choice of Teppanyaki or a la carte. We went for the Teppanyaki tables with three other couples we met earlier that day. In order to be all seated together, one of the couples arrived at 7 pm to put our name in and we didn’t get seated until after 8 pm. no problem, we just grabbed a drink and waited. If you have had Teppanyaki before, it’s all the same. Fried rice and veggies, along with beef, chicken and shrimp. They serve susi, miso soup and tempura for an appetizer and then tempura ice cream for dessert. The night we ate there, the A/C wasn’t kicking in so we ate dinner fast and got out of there.

Lobster Dinner on the beach - this is a dinner which you have to pay extra for and can be booked with the concierge. On the menu is shrimp cocktail served in a pineapple, a whole lobster with veggies and mashed potatoes and chocolate cake with a fruit platter. You also get one bottle of wine and one bottle of champagne. We did this because we were celebrating our 5 year anniversary. I don't think we would typically do this. It was a lot of food to eat (even though it doesn't sound like it) but was an experience to eat on the beach at night. It wasn't very well lit but we did get to enjoy a lightning storm in the background. Thankfully it didn't rain. There were no bugs but it did get really quiet and one thing we regret was not taking our speakers and played some music while we ate.

Shrimp Coleslaw Salad

Whole lobster with mash potatoes and veggies

Bars
There are plenty of bars all over the resort. I won’t name them all but you will find one at the lobby, sports bar, the three pools, by the beach, basically, anywhere you turn, you are able to get a drink. Since we were staying at the Bavaro building, we mainly used the bar, Splash at the Preferred Club pool. Daniela, the server consistently went around taking everyone’s drink order. By the end of the week, she knew my drink order - a bottle of water with either a beer or slushie mojito. The lobby bar, Moments has an extensive drink menu and most of the bars, you can get a delicious cappuccino.

Beach
Bavaro Beach is always great!  We love this stretch of beach! It’s wide, and just awesome to be in.  During our stay, we didn’t have any problems getting a palapa on the beach.  There is enough shade and chairs to go around in this resort but you do have to get up early to get the premium spots.  The vendors to the left of the beach don’t bother you really.  They will call for you but a simple “No Gracias” can end that conversation quickly.  There also is a security guard who stands ALL DAY under a palapa and I wish someone would give him a chair.

The beach is lit at night and they play movies for both kids and adults on the beach. This is something new and we unfortunately didn't  take part since none of the movies that were playing interested us. They also showed some NHL and NBA games when we were there.

One suggestion to Now Larimar would be to have a section on the beach for preferred club guests and extend the pool concierge service that is offered to the beach as well. This we believe will make your guests feel like they really did pay for something extra.

Bavaro Beach

Pool
During our stay we only used both Preferred Club pools since we figured since we paid for it, we might as well use it.  There was never any lack of chairs around both of these pools and it was a great place just to sit down and read a book. I wish that they did place some umbrellas with some of the loungers since it does get really hot and uncomfortable when the sun is beating down on you. There really is no relief from the sun at these pools .

Preferred Club Pool on the Bavaro Side

The main pool was always rockin’.  Seemed like fun if you’re into that scene.  We enjoyed watching people from our balcony in that pool just enjoying themselves.

Main Pool

The quiet pool (which was the pool we mainly used our last stay) has the same vibe as the preferred pools but it as no bar or waiters to take your orders.

Quiet Pool

Entertainment
I spoke to one guest and he said that there wasn’t enough entertainment during the day. I can’t say I agree with him because we are the type who like to relax on the beach or poolside. Everyday the entertainment staff offers yoga, stretching, water aerobics, beach volleyball, water polo or volleyball and a special activity that changes daily by the pool (bed decorations, vegetable & fruit cravings, painting class, cocktail making, weaving palms, massage clinics and finger painting). In the evenings, you can either watch a show in the Larimar Plaza or Crystal threatre (Dancing Around the World, Galacaribe, White party, Circus of Dreams, the Michael Jackson show or Karaoke night) or listen to live music before the show. There is also movies on the beach or dancing at the Eclipse nightclub from 10:30 pm to 1:30 am. We don’t have kids but they do have the Explorer’s Club with a kids program from 9:30 am to 9:00 pm.

Staff
The staff at Now Larimar are so friendly and helpful. They always greet you and smile back when you greet them. Yes, most of them cannot speak English but they try their best to communicate with you. Some outstanding staff we would like to mention - Johanna at the Preferred Club Lounge, Mirabel at Castaways and Bluewater Grill, Luis at the concierge for our lobster dinner, Pasqual our server for the lobster dinner, Ricardo the photographer, the bellboys - Antonio and Henry, Jhonathan at the buffet in the Preferred section, Daniela at the Splash preferred pool bar and Moments lobby bar and Kelvin who was everywhere and served us many times. A special thanks to Tara, the social media coordinator at AMResorts and Roberto, the rooms division manager. They both made our stay a very welcoming one and gave us some perks as returning guests celebrating their anniversary.

Check out
Check out was quick and easy just like the check in.  They actually called us to see if we needed a bell boy to come and pick up our luggage which was nice. The one thing that I want to keep on mentioning is KEEP YOUR CHECK OUT TICKET to give to once you enter your bus.  You cannot leave the hotel with out this.  This is proof that you had checked out and cleared all outstanding business with the hotel. You don’t know how many times I see people scrambling for this ticket.  This is a process done at all the all inclusive resorts I’ve been to.

Overall
We spoke to many guests about Now Larimar and most people liked it except for the room category confusion, lack of daytime activities, no reservation policy and lack of selection in room service menu. As mentioned before, this was our second time to this resort. We personally still like the resort but would like to check out other resorts offered by AM Resorts. I will also still recommend this resort to people as it’s a small resort with a selection of restaurants, a gorgeous beach and nice pools. It’s a great first resort to go to since it’s not that big and you won’t spend half your day trying to finding everything. The one thing that I really like about this resort is how it’s laid out and how it looks at night all lit up. One of my favorite things to do was to read on the balcony at night.

The resort does have to iron out a few kinks such as being consistent in what is offered with preferred club rooms, the no reservation system for the a la carte restaurants has many guests waiting during prime time hours, the time share people need to stop calling the guest rooms and chasing people while they exit the buffet. Also the preferred club lounge should be returned to the section where all the rooms are located. It’s easier for the preferred guests to enjoy the premium liquors, afternoon hors d’oeuvres and desserts.

Shout out to all the wonderful people we met at Now Larimar and at the Punta Cana airport:
Mark, Sarah, Lewis and Aston from the UK - you made our last two days enjoyable with great conversation.
Eva and Andru from Montreal, Kat & Ryan and Rachel & Devon from Mississauga - it was a shame we met you too late but we did enjoy our dinner with you at Spice and our impromptu beach party.
Greg and Jane from New Jersey - thanks for hanging out with us at the pool after everyone left.
Shameer and Forzana from Richmond Hill - it's too bad we weren't staying at the same resort but with you guys, you made the plane ride and wait at the airport bearable.
Randy, Mercedes & Angelina from Brampton - you taught us the goodness of karma.

Still not convinced? See what others think here.

ACTIVITIES: Macao Surf Camp - 2 years later

I Wanna Go Surfing from openmiQ on Vimeo

December 2009 was the first time I went to Macao Beach and had Macao Surf Camp take me for a lesson.  Back then there was absolutely nothing on the beach.  Rafael would come and pick you up in his car, surfboards strapped on the top of his car and off you went.

We recently just visited Macao Surf Camp last week and boy have things changed!  Business is booming! They now have a Shack on Macao Beach which is their headquarters, they have staff that give you one on one instruction in a group lesson, they have Jack the surfing dog that joins you during your lessons, they have a photographer that takes photos of you which you can purchase and burnt on CD! The vibe here now is awesome!  It has become an amazing community and it's great to watch something grow this much from the very beginning!  I'm so proud of Rafael and his partners for doing this! It's a big hit amongst tourists that come and want to surf.  It's just absolutely amazing what they have done and I can't say enough good things about them! If you really want to learn how to surf with a non intimidating atmosphere and friendly instructors, look no further than Macao Surf Camp.

Contact Information:

Macao Surf Camp
Rafel Ferreras
macaosurfcamp@gmail.com

Address: Macao Beach
Bavaro Punta Cana
Dominican Republic

Tel: (809) 430-9017

For more reviews go to Macao Surf Camps Tripadvisor Review Page

We're headed back

Beach Junkies is off again! This time we are going back to the beach where we got married, Bavaro Beach celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary! We will be returning to NH Real Arena which just got re-branded as NOW Larimar.  This is only the second time we have returned for a repeat visit to any resort. The only other time we did it was 5 years ago for our wedding.

The sister resort of NOW Larimar is Secrets Royal Beach which is right beside the resort. We were lucky enough to schedule a tour of the resort during our stay so we can at least show you all a new resort while visiting an old favorite.

We will also be visiting Raphael again at Macao Surf Camp! I've heard they've added a new camp hut which was under construction when we were there so we can't wait to see that! I hope I have a better performance than last time, which was absolutely dreadful lol!

So stay tuned for our first re-branding edition and first ever resort tour post!

Top 5 Beaches (so far..)

Puerto Aventuras - Riviera, Maya, Mexico

Punta Cana Beach - Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Coral Beach - Lucea, Jamaica

Playa Esmeralda - Guardalavaca, Cuba

Playa Megano/Ensenachos - Santa Clara, Cuba

RESORT REVIEW: Gran Bahia Principe Cayo Levantado

Trip Date: June 2010

Location: Samana, DR

Beach Junkies Rating: (based on 5 stars)

Beach: 4 / Food: 4 / Rooms: 4 / Pools: 5 / Snorkeling: 3

My husband and I stayed at Gran Bahia Principe Cayo Levantado from June 12 to 19, 2010. We went with another couple and their 19 month old. This was a resort that my husband has always wanted to go to but the price was never right. We thought we were getting a good deal until we found out that we had only paid for a superior room with WestJet Vacations.

Let me point out that WestJet’s taxes a lot lower than other tour operators and their staff are the most friendly bunch you will ever encounter. The flight was good and going through customs and getting our luggage was quick. We met with our Hola Sun representative and to our surprise, our names were not on the list but our friend’s names were. The rep just told us to go ahead on the bus. After an hour and 20 minute bus ride with no A/C, we arrive at the mainland reception.

Check in

At the mainland building, we filled out the paperwork, got our key card and bracelet and then, it was off to the ferry. The transfer time is only about 5 minutes. Once we got to the resort, we were greeted by management and a cocktail. He told us where we can find everything and how to book a la carte dinner reservations. He then directed us to our rooms and told us that we could grab a snack by the pool. I was very impressed how quickly the check in process went.

Room

We got to our room (#217), it’s on the second floor in the main building. We were quite disappointed to open our curtains and find out that we were facing the maintenance building where a lot of employees hang out. The room is a very standard room – closet with electronic safe, hangers, iron and ironing board, bathrobe and slippers; a king bed, tv, desk, sofa, chair and a very large bathroom with a Jacuzzi and separate shower. I have to admit that it’s very dark in the bathroom and room, even with all the lights on but it didn’t bother us. Prior to our arrival, I did email the resort and request villas 2-11 with a king size bed on the top floor, also with an ocean view. I did receive a reply informing me that they could not accommodate my request because it wasn’t the room category we purchased and they also included a price list for upgrades. This is when we realized that we had booked a superior room. Please be careful of this if you plan to go to this resort. After settling into our room and exploring the resort, we came back to the room to find a bottle of champagne, chocolate covered strawberries and crispies (It’s their version of rice krispies with white chocolate). There was a letter from the person I was exchanging emails with. They had been upgraded us to a junior superior suite and they had also made reservations for us that night at the Don Pablo restaurant. Totally unexpected and very thoughtful. Our friends were staying in room #215. They had a superior room. There is not much of a difference except we had a larger window opening from the washroom and bedroom and we had a separate shower and they had a shower head coming out of the wall above their jacuzzi tub. There was no glass or wall anywhere so when they showered, water sprayed everywhere. A few days after our arrival, a glass wall was installed (and they didn’t even file a complaint). The room was cleaned daily and little chocolates were only left once on our pillows. We received towel art every day and the maid lined up all our shoes and fold our clothes into piles that we left on the sofa.

Food

The buffet is located in the main building. It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. It has a terrace which we never ate on because it was just too hot outside. I found that they had a good selection to items to choose from. We fell in love with these mashed carrots and potatoes one evening and never saw them again. They had different themed nights (they are listed at the a la carte reservation desk in the lobby) such as Mexican, Spanish, Gala, Oriental, Italian, Barbeque and Dominican. At breakfast, they had the typical spread - made to order omelettes, french toast, pancakes, bacon, sausages, pastries and these delicious donuts covered in sugar (they are my favorite). What I liked was they had a separate section that had fried eggs (this is what I usually order from the omelette guy), poached eggs and hard boiled eggs. There was also a variety of fresh juices, yogurt, cereals and fruits. Lunch and dinner was your typical fare - you can select your meat to be grilled and a pasta station. There is a vegetarian corner and lots of breads. Each night, they put out a display of appetizers according to what the themed night is. The wait staff is very attentive, also refilling your glass, whether it's wine or water.  I can't remember what night it was, I think it was the Mexican night, a guy with a cart of turkey would come around and carve off a slice for you and pour gravy all over. It was delicious and the best turkey I have ever had in my life. For the a la cartes, there are only three restaurants - Gourmet, Italian and Mediterranean. You can make your reservations at the desk oron the 24 hour computer in the lobby.

Don Pablo (Gourmet)

This restaurant is in the middle of the resort. we had trouble finding it on our first night because we arrived at 5 pm and went to the pool, we never got a chance to walk around. It turns out it's very close to the back of the main building. A maintenance guy was kind enough to walk us there. Instead of choosing what to eat off the menu, we decided on the five course set dinner. Unfortunately, I can't remember the exact names of each course, but I will do my best to describe it.We started off with crackers with some type of jelly on it, then pumpkin and asparagus cold soup, a tomato topped with deep fried cheese, our main entree was beef tenderloin & lobster on a skewer and for dessert, chocolate fantasy and an apple tartin.

Both these restaurants are located by the pool by the beach. You need to take the elevator to get to them. It's quite a far walk and very dark:

Portofino (Italian)

We were not really hungry when we ate here but I wish we were because they had so many items on the menu that I wanted to try (especially since I was craving for pizza the whole week). Some of the dishes we ordered were caprese inssalata caprese, trio of bruschetta, mushroom soup, mushroom & lobster penne (a must for this restaurant, so flavourful and filling) beef medallions (didn't look very appetizing) and shrimp pizza and for dessert, tiramisu.

Mediterraneo (Mediterranean)

The house appetizer is a potato and tuna dish. Very tasty considering I don't like tuna. Some of the dishes we ordered were the greek salad, shrimp cocktail appetizer, the lobster entrée (a must if you are going to eat here), chicken entrée, cheesecake and chocolate mousse. It was very hot in this restaurant. The fans were not helping at all.

Bars

There are four bars in the resort, Daiquiri (lobby), Flamboyan (quiet pool), Hibyscus (main pool by the beach) and a bar by the jacuzzi. The bar by the pool makes a very refreshing non-alcohol drink called Very Well. Also, by this pool, they come around very 20 minutes to see if you want a drink. The lobby bar serves a delicious cappuccino. I am not a regular coffee drinker but I had to have a cappuccino every night before retiring to our room. On this trip, we didn't try any of the cocktails, we drank beer (El Presidente) for most of the trip. I did see a cocktail menu on each of the tables and at the bar.

Beach

The beach on Cayo Levantado are broken up into 2 beaches.  There is the calm side and the wavy side.  Both have its pros and cons.  I'll start with the calm side.  The water here is very swimmable and the scenery is AMAZING! You can watch a flock of Pelicans fish all day. The only problem we had with the beach was that it was really narrow.  Most of the beach is filled up with trees and you can't really get "personal" space due to the size of the beach.  You're pretty much side by side with strangers.  Since it is also filled up with trees, which amount to an abundance of bugs, leaves and dead fruit falling on you.  Getting a good spot to catch some sun is nearly impossible unless you decide to hang out on the ends of the beach.  The wavy beach is the perfect beach! The water is fun to play in and there is plenty of space for you to get comfortable in.  It is wide and there is a perfect sun/shade ratio.  The problem with this beach is that it is REALLY WINDY. If this doesn't bother you, it is the perfect place, as it was for my husband.  For me however, it was difficult to get comfortable with the wind howling in your ear.  Now if we had to pick the perfect spot on the beach, it would be on the right side of the calm beach near the water sports center.  There is also a public beach which is huge but we never wandered over there since you have to pay for chairs to lounge in.  It is after all an island so you can't really be that picky with the wideness and length of the beach.

Pool

There are two pools, a quiet pool that is close to the main building and the main pool by the beach. Both pool close at 7 pm and have plenty of loungers and palapas around them. The quiet pool has beds with draping over them which provide some shade.  At each pool, there is an activities hut where you can pick up some towels, books or board games. At the beginning of our trip, after eating lunch, we would come back to the pool or beach only to find nowhere to sit, because every chair had a towel on it. Later in the week we realized that you didn't have to keep your towels or exchange it at the end of the day. You can just leave it there and it will be picked up later in the evening. You can also pick up new towels whenever you would like a fresh one and you can even get more than one. I am not sure if this is a great system but I must say, there was never a shortage of towels, the huts were always being replenished throughout the day. There wasn't too many pool activities in the main pool, most of the activities took place beside the pool but on the beach. I would highly suggest staying by the quieter pool. If you want to chill out, stay close to the gym as they have some speakers hidden in the grass that plays very relaxing, spa-type music.

Entertainment

This is the one thing I have to complain about. There is a little poster board on top of the piano outside of the main buffet, it lists all the activities throughout the day. I wanted to try participating in the painting or arts & crafts but it did not say where it was taking place.  We all wanted to go to the Sunday ice cream party but again, we didn't know where it was happening.  In the evening, the animation team and manager go around the terrace and lobby to tell guests that the nightly entertainment would be happening at the public beach. We never went to see one show. On our last night, we received a letter saying there was going to be a "white party" by the quiet pool at 8:30 pm. Around 9:00 pm, we went to check it out but only saw it all set up but no guests or staff there.

Staff

All were very nice. I really appreciate the letter for our upgrade and a la carte reservation we received upon our arrival. Our maid was always happy to see us in the morning. The waiters at the buffet became good buddies with the little boy who was with us.

Check out

We were given an option for express checkout the night before our departure date but we checked out at 9:30 am and waited for our 10 am boat. When we arrived to the mainland, we had to wait another hour for our bus to arrive. The bus arrived half an hour early but two people were missing when the rep did his count so we had to wait half an hour before leaving, luckily this bus had A/C. We got to the airport and we were the only ones at the airport. The check in counter still issues manual boarding passes and luggage tags so it took some time to for them to write everything down. It was quite annoying but it made for less waiting time at the gate. There is a huge duty free shop and one restaurant that charges $20 for a hamburger and fries. Make sure you eat at the resort before you leave.

Overall

This is a beautiful resort but I feel like we didn't fully take advantage of what the resort has to offer because our room was in the main building. The entire resort is well-maintained and runs perfectly. I don't think that we would go back but if we did, we would make sure that we were staying in a villa instead of the main building. In my opinion, the transfer time is too long for me - the 90 minute bus ride and then the boat ride plus all the time in between handling the luggage. It was an experience being on a remote island but since we were not too impressed with the narrow beach, we are crossing this resort off of our to-go list and will probably stick to our favorite, Punta Cana, instead. Click here to check out more photos we took at the resort.

Still not convinced?  See what others think here

ACTIVITIES: Macao Surf Camp

First I would like to say that it has been a dream of mine to try surfing.  It took me a while to finally do it and I can proudly say that I've gone once a year since I've started, which is a total of 2 times =D.

As you may know, we visit Punta Cana A LOT, and after a while you got to do different things to make your trip stand out.  Just this past Christmas I did that.

I contacted Rafel Ferreras from Macao Surf Camp and I'm glad I did.  Honestly it was one of the best experiences I had.  After planning out the details over email, he picked us up form our hotel and drove us to Macao Beach.  Unfortunately the day I went the conditions were rather choppy and BIG.  For some reason every time I go surfing, the conditions always seem to have huge waves.  With that as a challenge, Rafael still was determined to get me going.  He has a lot of patience which is needed when teaching a newbie.  Honestly he was so driven to get me standing up it was awesome!

If you are going to Punta Cana and would like to get some private lessons, give Rafael a call.  Trust me you'll be happy you did.

Here's a little video compilation of my surfing in Macao Beach.


Wipeout! from openmiQ on Vimeo.

Here is a tip though, keep your schedule open.  Don't do what I did and schedule a day when you want to go.  Go when the conditions are good. Rafael will tell you when it will be good during that week.  You will have a better and easier time learning!

If you do decide to go here, please tell Rafael that Mike and Alysia from Toronto say HI!!

Also let me know how your experience was if you did go.  We want to hear all about it!!

Contact Information:

Macao Surf Camp
Rafel Ferreras
macaosurfcamp@gmail.com

Address: Macao Beach
Bavaro Punta Cana
Dominican Republic

Tel: (809) 430-9017

For more reviews go to Macao Surf Camps Tripadvisor Review Page

RESORT REVIEW (Guest Blogger): Riu Mambo

**Beach Junkie's Note:  Our friend Stingaling enlisted in our help for her all-inclusive vacation last month. Before she left, we asked her to make mental notes of her stay and to blog her review as a guest. So, here is Beach Junkies' first-ever guest resort review. All photos used in this post belong to Stingaling**

Trip Date: January, 2010

Location: Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

Stingaling Rating: (based on 5 stars)

Beach: 4 / Food: 4 / Rooms: 3 / Pools: 3 / Snorkeling: N/A

Can I start with a little disclaimer? I must say that I am having a hard time with Beach Junkies' star rating system and applying it to this resort because I know that their standards are very high when it comes to resort travel. This is only the second AI vacation I've ever been on in my life, so my knowledge and experience of these types of vacations are meager in comparison. So obviously, my star rating and review isn't really relative to the other reviews on this site, and therefore, the opinions expressed in this particular review are the views of the writer [Stingaling] and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Beach Junkies blah blah blabhbity blah.

We stayed at the Riu Mambo from January 23 - 30, 2010. There were mixed reviews about this resort, but we weren't dissuaded at all by these reviews, especially after really considering the petty things that people would complain about. As well, we scored a really excellent deal for our vacation, and in the end we got such awesome VALUE out of our week here. One thing of note about the Riu resort is that it  is comprised of 3 hotels, the Mambo, Merengue and Bachata. You pay to stay at 1 hotel, but you can play at all 3, meaning that you can enjoy all facilities at all the hotels, and are only limited to eating your dinner at your own hotel.

FLIGHT FROM TORONTO

We flew with Skyservice out of Toronto, and were delayed on the tarmac at Pearson airport due to some issues with their luggage handling system. For anyone who has flown Skyservice in the past, you all know that these planes are not ones you want to be sitting in for longer than necessary. This coming from a person that is of below-average stature — I felt crammed and sore in my sunken little seat by the window. We waited on board for over an hour for the luggage trailers to bring our passengers' bags to the plane group by TINY group. The captain advised us that we had to take off due to flight crew schedule restrictions, while 29 of our bags were still somewhere in the airport's luggage system. Luckily for both my boyfriend and me, our bags were among those that flew with us. For those that were not so lucky, they were assured that their luggage would be on the afternoon flight to POP, and would promptly be directed to their hotels by their tour operators. We were delayed a little while on our transfer bus, waiting for things to be sorted out, but were on our way in no time. The airport is about a 30-minute ride from the resort.

CHECK-IN

We arrived at the lobby of the Riu Mambo by about 2:30, and were greeted immediately by welcome cocktails by the staff. It was quite a large group of us that arrived from Toronto with Sunquest, and they told us that some of our rooms were not ready at that time, which was not a surprise to me, since it is indicated that standard check-in is at 3:00 here. However, lucky for us once again, our room was ready for us. Rather than lining us up to check us in, they had a table full of envelopes with our check-in packages, and called us individually to hand us our packages.

ROOM

About a week prior to arriving, I had emailed the manager and requested a room that was close to the beach, on the second floor with a king bed and I was happy to see that my request was honoured — our room was #2412, which was on the second level of the villa type building, just steps away from the beach. We didn't have a direct view of the ocean from our window, but there was a good view from our balcony. Since the grounds and the resort aren't huge, we were also really close to the lobby, beach snack bar and buffet restaurant.

The room itself was pretty spacious. The bed was actually two double-mattresses pushed together to form one big bed, which wasn't ideal because of the big split in the middle. We had a closet, ceiling fan, a mini-bar with booze dispensers, and a safe. Our little fridge was stocked with beer, and mixers for the booze like Pepsi, tonic water and club soda, as well as a big jug of water for drinking and for brushing our teeth. Safe key and lock were provided to each guest free of charge. Our room was a bit musty smelling, but not unbearable. The bathroom was nothing fancy – just a toilet, bathtub/shower and sink. If I could express a couple of gripes with the room, it would be regarding my showering experience. Firstly, there was no hot water in the mornings. I'm not sure the reason for this, but the water would be lukewarm at best. Afternoons would be better, where the water would switch intermittently from hot to less than hot. Secondly, the bathtub is long and narrow. As I mentioned before, I'm not a huge person, but there was so little space in that tub that I had a hot and intimate affair with that shower curtain twice a day. Because I'm a bit of a germaphobe, I can't stand things touching me in the shower unless it's my own hands, a bar of soap or the water itself and that shower curtain would come in for frequent hugs and kisses, so I'm quite sure I lost my virginity all over again to it.

Enough of that. Overall, the room was kept really clean and the maid did a great job every day. Oh, except on that last day, when she forgot to leave towels for us. No biggie. We called the front desk, and someone was at our room promptly with new towels.

FOOD

We went with no expectations for the quality of the food, but ended up all agreeing amongst our little group that the food was great. I'm not sure why I was reading so many complaints about the food and the lack of variety offered. Sure, if you're the type of person who is only going to eat the pizza, fries and pasta, then yeah – it will be the same thing every night. However, we felt that the food was excellent and it was pretty different every day. For breakfast, the usual bacon and sausage and scrambled eggs were offered. Fresh donuts, French toast and pancakes and some sort of puréed starch like potatoes, yuca or yam were available. As well, were omelettes made to order if you wanted. Fresh fruit (like papaya, pineapple and passionfruit) were always plentiful, as well as fresh fruit juices and shakes. We had breakfast in all 3 hotels, and found that it was the same food offered everywhere. What I loved about the Bachata restaurant is that there is a big terrace that wraps around 2 sides, so that morning we got to eat outside with a view of the ocean. However, in terms of layout and ease of navigating the buffet, the Mambo was our favourite place to eat. We were usually not very hungry at lunch, so we would just snack at one of the beach snack bars. Things that were offered there were burgers and hot dogs (we stayed away from these, because the buns were kind of a weird soft, and the hot dogs were boiled), 2 or 3 pasta options per day, and a couple of protein options like pork or beef prepared in different ways. Dinner was always an event for us at the buffet – lots of choices every night and we left the buffet every night stuffed with good food. The Mexican, Dominican and Chinese theme nights were fun. The Dominican night was neat, though many dishes offered this night were labelled simply "Dominican Specialty," or "Dominican Dish," I suspect because they didn't know how to translate these items. Bit of a mystery, though didn't stop us from sampling these tasty dishes. Chinese night was a bit lackluster in comparison, as they simply added soy sauce to their dishes to ethnic-ize them.

On the other hand, the à la carte restaurants were completely disappointing. We had to reserve these on the day-of at 7 am, either the Italian or the Steak House. It turns out that at night, they use the Beach Snack Bar for the à la carte restaurants, and alternate between the 2 menus every night. Items ordered off both menus were not great. In fact, it seemed that they did better with cooking things en masse, because they still offered buffet items as starters to the meal, and we enjoyed this more than the actual meal on both nights. Something we found amusing was the promise of the lovely-sounding "aromatic potatoes" with all the entrées on the Steak House Menu, because our meals were presented to us with French Fries sprinkled with Parmesan Cheese and we quickly realized that yes, these were indeed potatoes that were aromatic in their most base form.

BARS

There was only 1 Beach bar, and that was located on the Mambo Beach, making it convenient for us. However, this bar only offered beer, and there were no spirits stocked here for the frozen drinks like Piña Coladas. The snack bar was just a few minutes walk from the beach, and you could get any kind of drink here. However, we found the alcohol to be on the weak side at all bars at the Riu. We are a group of people who like to drink, and try as we might, none of us got past a slight buzz for the whole trip, even though we were asking for double/triple shots of booze in our mixed drinks. Sangrias were great, but the house wine was not. We were only able to have mojitos on one night, as they seemed to be without fresh mint for almost the entire week. The bartenders were all friendly and full of energy, and pretty quick to serve you.

BEACH

If you do your research ahead of time, you will know that you will not find white sandy beaches in Puerto Plata. The water isn't going to be crystal clear either – it's the Atlantic Ocean. It was a little pebbly going into the water, and there is a slight drop-off. As well, there was a bit of seaweed and debris washing in, which was not so much of a problem for us because you know why? It's the ocean. It's got living, breathing things in it and is too big for someone to come by daily to skim with a net. Besides, at the Riu, I thought they did a really good job at keeping the beach clean of this debris every day, and if it wasn't for the inconsiderate and lazy smokers who treat the beach like it's their big personal ashtray, it would've been damn near immaculate. Another thing I liked about the beach at the Riu was that there was a breakwall about 500m out, which meant that the waves were calm rolling ones coming into the beach. Probably not so fun for someone who likes to play in more of those aggressive, crashing waves. Our beach at the Mambo was the best one of the three, because it was the widest  (I don't know how the small strip of sand at the Bachata qualified as a beach) AND we had the benefit of the beach bar. Another thing to note is that there are only loungers here and no palapas, but there are lots of palm trees around if you are looking for some shade.

POOL

We are beach people, so we didn't spend any time at the pools, which were crowded from early on in the morning with families and young children. Lots of palapas on the pool deck, and it seemed that the pool area was shaded for most of the day. From the looks of it, the best and fanciest pool was situated at the Bachata, and they had the only swim-up bar as well.

NIGHT ENTERTAINMENT

Because of the stay-at-one play-at-three quality of this resort, we had the choice of three stages at which to watch the nightly shows. A quick check of the activities board daily would determine what we would be doing. The Michael Jackson show did not disappoint, and we were looking forward to it all week — it was so bad that it was good. There was one shared night club, The Pacha, which we visited a few times. The night here would start off with the bartender performing double duty as the "DJ" by playing mixed tapes/CDs which would often skip, and when the music was played out, we all had to sit/stand in silence and wait for him to finish pouring his drinks before he could drop in the next CD in the DJ booth. Once the real DJ arrived is when the true Gong Show would start.

STAFF

The staff is great and very hard working, and always with a friendly "Hola" with every passing encounter. Upon leaving any of the public washrooms or entering the eating areas, someone greeted you with a squirt of hand sanitizer. We found a server at the buffet we really liked, and I really wish I had written her name down, because she was so great and greeted us like old friends every time we came into the restaurant, even if we sat in someone else's section by mistake. The animation crew were lively, and I didn't find them especially intrusive when you wanted to be left alone. There are grounds-people who are constantly cleaning and maintaining the property so that it is immaculate and spotless all the time. I should also mention that our Sunquest rep, Nicole, was absolutely amazing and went above and beyond to make sure we had a great stay and had everything that we needed, doing special favours for us without us even asking.

EXCURSION

We chose to do the Outback Safari and booked it through our Sunquest rep. The cost was $79USD, and the jeep picked us up right from the hotel. We enjoyed this excursion, though the name of it is a bit misleading because you would expect to see a lot more nature, ie. plants, trees, native animals in their natural habitat. Aside from only seeing crocodiles in a pen at their "ranch" we didn't see any other kind of wildlife. However, we thought that it was a good cursory way to see the country and encounter locals and see their way of life. The tour is a full day, and the itinerary includes a stop at a school house to see children in class, a stop at a local's house to see how Dominicans live, stopping at a river for a bit of a swim, homemade-style lunch at the Outback Safari ranch (which was DELICIOUS), and boogie boarding at a secluded beach to end the day. Another feature of this tour is the open bar. The jeep you are on is stocked with rum, beer, soda and bottled water, and they start serving you drinks pretty early on in the day. Julian, our guide, also acted as our bartender, and his skill at fulfilling mixed drink orders 4 at time on a moving vehicle with nothing but crazy, live Dominican traffic behind him deserves special mention. If you go on this excursion, a couple of items of advice, if I may: 1) When they tell you that it is your last chance to use the toilet, do not pass on the opportunity, even if you feel like you don't have to go. The drinks flow pretty freely on this tour, so chances are that your bladder will get full quickly. I didn't take the last washroom stop, and I am not the type person who feels right treating the ocean like it's one big public toilet, so I had to hold it while boogie boarding and for the long, excruciatingly bumpy ride back to the hotel. 2) Perhaps it's because I lack proper experience with ocean sports and didn't plan my outfit properly, but I had a wardrobe malfunction while bodyboarding. So unless you want to treat your boyfriend's buddy to the sight of your boobie hanging out of your bikini top like I did, dress appropriately and wear something that was built for and will hold up to the waves.

OVERALL

For what we paid, we got excellent value for our vacation. Far from being the luxurious, this resort is almost without any frills while not being an decrepit old dive at all. Everyone at the Riu strives really hard to make each individual feel valued as their own guest. For anyone who is looking to get away, spend some time bumming on a beach in the Caribbean while on a budget, I would recommend the Riu Mambo. I personally accomplished everything I wanted to do on this vacation: relax on a hot, sunny beach, eat and drink until I couldn't take it anymore, and simply exist for a week in which I didn't have to make any decisions.

Finally, thanks a million to Leesh and miQ for inviting me to guest blog! Love your blog, and I hope this contribution is helpful.