How in a world of 6 billion+ people this little corner can be a peaceful and secluded paradise is beyond me...but I'm hoping its the necessity of 4WD and a car snorkel that helps keep it that way.
My weekend trip to Las Terrenas marked my first weekend overnight in the DR - the first of, well, however many weekends I have left in this country...since I now fully intend to escape every possible weekend. A handful of friends and I left right after work on Friday, and made it to the beach by the afternoon. We found a nice little hotel with apartment villas, and it cost us maybe $40/person/night. We stocked our little fridges with presidentes and cuba libres and settled back to celebrate our friend Robert's birthday in paradise. (I have a feeling that I might find a new paradise each week, so be forewarned of my further over-use and abuse of that word...)
Saturday we went to a beach called Cosón. It's only 5km farther down "the road" from where we were in Las Terrenas, but without an SUV, you would be SOL. I got to christen my newly acquired set of wheels (a well-used and worn in 1998 Mercedes Benz ML320 - jeepeta) by testing their off-road capabilities. Not too shabby for either of us (me driving, my car surviving...). We got to Cosón after maybe 20 minutes of serious bumps, but it was well worth it. The only thing at playa cosón, besides white sand and turquoise waters, is a fish shack that counts on its menu a short assortment of items - fish, conch, shrimp, or lobster - take your pick and they make it fresh. We spent the day playing bocce with coconuts and drinking ice-cold presidentes.
Saturday night we ventured out to another beach, slightly closer than Cosón, but on far worse roads...(i.e. totally submerged)..at the end of the road to Playa Bonita is a little hotel called Atlantis, run by some 'French Hippies". They have a fabulous al fresco restaurant, where they make everything themselves - including the ice cream! We only stayed there long enough the celebrate a birthday dinner, but I think we all made private promises (to ourselves) to return soon and often. At night you could see all the stars in the sky, and hear the waves lapping just a few meters away.
Seeing the glorious natural resources and potential of this island can leave one slightly conflicted...like our support for the tourism clusters. I applaud their effort to help develop the communities outside of the all inclusive hotels that form their own colonies along the coast. I certainly champion their efforts to protect the environment and further conservation in the country...but if their success means that our little sleepy haven of Las Terrenas becomes overrun with spring breakers - well, selfishly I'd have to say no thank you. Go back to the all inclusive and leave the rest of us to the hidden jewels. The economic divide in these communities, though, is huge. Something like 8% of the (small) population of Las Terrenas is French. They drive around the little streets in ATVs and own gorgeous beach front villas. On the flooded road to Playa Cosón, however, half-naked little boys run around in bare feet, peeing just off the side of the road. Their families fit maybe 6 people into a small shack, made of clap board and tin roofs (rusted!). It's no wonder who would lose big if a hurricane hits...and I have to wonder which group the government would be more interested in - the tourists and their $$ or the fishermen and their shacks.
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