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An honest review of the Komodo Islands (2 day, 1 night boat trip)

by Simon
written by Simon

The Komodo Islands in Indonesia holds a strange grasp over people. Indeed it had the same effect on me.

Perhaps it is visions of an untouched cluster of islands, home to the intimidating Komodo dragon. More likely, it is clips of these fearsome creatures from nature documentaries over the years, often devouring a deer or monkey that was unlucky enough to have crossed paths with the largest lizards on earth.

Let’s be honest here. The majority of people that visit these islands are there for a chance to see these prehistoric reptiles. The scenery, pink beaches and snorkelling come second.

I’ll be covering the logistics, costs and my own personal experience of a 2 day, 1 night boat trip to the Komodo Islands. If you just want the final verdict then scroll to the bottom.

Travelling to the Komodo Islands

First things first. Where are the Komodo islands and how do you get there?

Flying to Labuan Bajo

Whilst there is a primary ‘Komodo island’ the Komodo National Park is actually made up of 29 islands covering 1,733 square kilometres. The primary way to access the park is to fly into Labuan Bajo in western Flores, the port of which is where a lot of the boats leave from.

I flew from Denpasar, Bali to Labuan Bajo in September which cost me $150. Flights are likely to fluctuate between $100 and $170 USD depending on how far in advance you book. I booked a couple of days before so would likely have paid a premium.

It’s a remarkably easy flight from Denpasar. The flight itself takes and hour and once you reach Labuan Bajo airport, you’re only a few minutes drive into town.

There are obviously flights from places other than Bali, though if you’re flying from Jakarta they’ll often make a stop in Denpasar.

Remember that boat trips leave early in the morning so you won’t be able to fly in and leave the same day, you’ll need to arrive the day before and stay a night in Labuan Bajo.

Slow boat from Lombok

This is a sort of hybrid option because it also includes all of the stops in the Komodo National Park. It’s a 4 day, 3 night trip and will cost in the region of $125.

We saw a few of these boats on our trip and they are substantially bigger than the cheaper boats that leave from Labuan Bajo, though they also had substantially more people on them.

It’s a tricky one because if you luck out and have a boat full of good people then the trip could be great, though if it’s the opposite, you’re stuck on a small amount of real estate for 4 days.

Clearly the total cost if substantially lower if you’re already on Lombok, though in my opinion it’s not a great option. The engines on these boats are incredibly loud – it was very hard to sleep even with ear plugs if the boat was moving places through the night.

Buses and boats

You can always add the Komodo Islands into a trip east from Bali. Perhaps you’re making your way through the Gili Islands, Lombok and the Nusa Tenggara islands. However, this is going to take days of travel so if you’re just going for the Komodo Islands there are probably less painful options.

Having said that, you’ll see places that other travellers like myself may miss out by simply flying to the main attractions.

Unfortunately I can’t comment on the cost of taking boats and buses. It’s a long way though so I doubt it would come in cheaper when you take into account accommodation, food, boats and land transport.

Boat Options for the Komodo Islands

As with most places, you have a wide range of boat options from cheap and cheerful to super lux.

There are also multiple options regarding the amount of days you spend exploring the national park.

I won’t cover the costs of the luxury options, mainly because I have no idea. However, we did see large diving boats with hot tubs on deck, big glass walls to the cabins and staff dressed in all white. I believe you’re looking at $400+ a night for those sorts of experiences.

That’s certainly not my preferred budget range.

Instead, let’s look at more ‘traveller’ friendly boat options. Note that all prices include meals and water.

1 Day Speedboat

This is best for those time poor individuals, or for those that do not fancy sleeping on a boat.

Clearly you’re going to have shorter transit times between locations and you can fit in the best bits of the National Park: Padar Island, Pink Beach, Komodo Island and Manta Point.

There are three issues though. Firstly, you’re not going to be at Padar Island for sunrise which was one of the highlights of the trip. Secondly, you run the risk of feeling a bit rushed. Thirdly, and this depends on your plans but if you’re flying in and out of Labuan Bajo, it feels like a lot of travel for a single day.

It costs about the same as the 2 day trip (around $100) so it does depend on your preference.

2 Day, 1 Night ‘Slow’ boat.

This seems to be the most popular option and was the one that I went for. Again in my opinion, it’s the most popular for a reason.

My boat cost 1,600,000 IDR ($100 USD) and had 12 people on it. It was a little more basic than I was expecting, but for the price it’s very hard to beat.

Interestingly, the second day is where you see the places that you see on the one day speedboat. I wouldn’t say that the first day was a dud, but it’s not far off. You visit a small viewpoint and do some fairly average snorkelling. Having said that, you do stop off to see a nightly migration of thousands of flying fox bats which took me by surprise. I was expecting a reasonably boring view of bats. Instead, it’s an Indian Jones level of bats flying over the boat for their nightly feed. Hard to explain, except to say that the quantity of these large bats is hard to get your head around.

The only real complaint I would have is that this boat is slow and loud. Really loud. I’m not a car nerd but I think they call it straight pipe exhaust. No muffler, no nothing. Just an engine that reverberates throughout the boat. Good luck sleeping, though it’s only one night so it was manageable.

3 Day, 2 Night

A slower pace and more stops on the itinerary, including a trek on Rinca island to find Komodo dragons. I’ve seen luxury options at nearly $1000 USD for this trip, as well as options that were only slightly more expensive than the 2 day, 1 night trip.

If you’ve got a good boat and the time, this could be a relaxing trip with additional time to explore the islands and snorkelling spots. However, I don’t think it’s a good choice if you’re cheap (like me). You’re going to want a more comfortable bed and A/C if you spend 2 nights on the boat. Maybe I’m just being a princess. The choice is yours.

Komodo dragon

Komodo National Park Entry Fee

In mid 2022, there was a plan to limit the capacity of the National Park by raising the entry fee price to $250.

Needless to say, that didn’t go down so well. I believe that the intention behind was that the park needed time to regenerate due to high numbers of tourists. However, there was legitimate concern that businesses who had already suffered throughout the pandemic would not survive the drop in demand brought on by this increase.

After considerable backlash, this has been postponed and by all accounts this postponement will likely be indefinite.

Therefore, most entry fees are covered by the cost of the boat so you don’t need to worry about that. You will need to bring an extra 500,000 IDR ($50 USD) for entry to Komodo Island and guides but other than that, you really don’t need much cash.

Booking Trips and Staying in Labuan Bajo

A quick note on booking trips and staying in Labuan Bajo.

There are loads of boat operators/travel agents in Labuan Bajo so you definitely don’t need to book in advance. Just arrive, walk in to town and you can be booked on a boat within an hour. However, if it is super busy or if you are one of those annoying people that manage to actually plan ahead, it’s really easy to organise trips via WhatsApp once you’ve done a bit of Googling.

I stayed at a place called Seaesta in Labuan Bajo. It’s a hipster hostel/hotel with dorms and private rooms and pretty darn good rates. I rarely stay in dorms but for a single night, I’d rather save the money. The dorms were comfortable with privacy curtains and whilst they are shared bathrooms, they are some of the best I’ve seen. Plus, you can’ argue with £11 ($13.5 USD) for the night!

The boat trip

On to the meat and potatoes: is the Komodo Islands a good trip?

Yes and no.

The scenery is great, the water is clear and looking back on it, I’m glad I went.

Let’s start off with why you should go:

Padar Island for sunrise is something else. The viewpoint shows the unique shape of the island with ridges that seems to expand outwards and form multiple bays of varying sand colours. It’s hard to explain but the pictures go someway to doing it justice. The sun rises to cast shadows across the ridge lines and illuminate the beaches below…..a pretty great way to start the day.

The only place you can see Komodo dragons. It’s the main attraction of the area and its namesake (or the other way round). I don’t think I need to say much more about that.

Nature. Crystal clear water and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Sure, the snorkelling was hardly awe inspiring but the flying foxes were something that I think you’ll struggle to find elsewhere. In addition, we got lucky at Manta point and say upwards of 15 manta rays. It feels like a remote region of the world where the humans and just visitors.

On to the stuff in the middle. The things where you think “I can take it or leave it”:

Pink Beaches aren’t that pink. Oh the deceptive nature of colour grading. The super pink colours that you see on Instagram are a lie. The pink beaches are nice, don’t get me wrong. Especially when you can see one of the pink beaches at sunrise on Padar Island. However, they have a pinkish hue. They’re not out and out pink. It’s the sort of colour that looks better out of the corner of your eyes. Are they worth seeing? Sure, but they’re not worth travelling to see if that’s your main attraction.

Komodo dragons aren’t that big. Well, they are big, but they’re not as big as you think they would be. It’s especially true if you arrive in the middle of the day and they are just lying there, like we did. They’re much more intimidating when they’re walking towards you and I can imagine that seeing them eating something or two males fighting would be quite the spectacle. The long and the short of it is that they eat once or twice a month and the main Komodo Island is crowded with tourists wanting to take pictures. As one of the people on our boat said, “it wasn’t that special”. That might be hard to hear and trust me, it was hard to take when I was there. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I certainly wasn’t overly impressed. Do they fall into the ‘take it or leave it’ category? I’ve probably miscategorised. They were cool and I love the fact that I’ve seen one in the wild, I just wasn’t blown away.

Now the dislikes:

The boat was crazy loud. It seemed to be a theme, unfiltered engine noise. It’s fine during the day but the one night we spent on the boat was intense. As I said, it was hard to sleep even with ear plugs.

The first day was a filler day. All of the best things were on the second day. The first day was spent at a fairly average viewpoint and and even more average snorkelling site. It might just be a result of being on a slow boat, they have to travel for longer but we did go to sleep (or try to sleep) on the first night wondering if the next day would be any better.

The final verdict: are the Komodo Islands worth it?

If you go solely for the Komodo dragons, prepare to be disappointed.

When I got off the boat I did feel like the manta ray sightings had sort of saved the trip. However, on reflection, you really can’t beat the attractions vs the price. You can fly there and back, including a 2 day boat trip for under $300 USD within which you will see Padar Island, Flying Foxes, Komodo dragons, pink beaches and hopefully manta rays.

That’s pretty tough to beat.

If you don’t take price into account, it’s still good. Padar Island and Manta point were exceptional, truly an experience. I guess that’s the point I’m trying to make – it’s a 2 day trip with 2 or 3 really good things but then interspersed with ‘filler’ items which tend to leave a strange taste in your mouth.

Would I do it again or recommend it? Yes, if you’re in the area then you should go. It’s a really easy trip to make and you are missing out if it’s not in your Indonesia itinerary. If you’re thinking about flying internationally for the sole purpose of seeing to the Komodo Islands, I’d think again.

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Costa RicaTravel Tips

How to get to Santa Teresa, Costa Rica – Travel options and costs

by Simon
written by Simon

Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. A haven for surfers, remote workers and holiday makers alike. Situated on the West Coast of Costa Rica on the Nicoya Peninsula, this beach town has seen a dramatic growth in popularity over the last few years not unlike Canggu in Bali.

Having travelled there recently, I thought it would be useful to breakdown the various travel options available and the costs associated with them.

So let’s jump into it. How do you get to Santa Teresa, Costa Rica?

Your options

Clearly it depends on where you’re coming from. I’m going to assume (probably wrongly) that you have flown into the capital of Costa Rica, San Jose. You can probably adapt elements of this itinerary if you’re coming from a different place such as Tamarindo in the North, La Fortuna or Liberia.

The primary options are:

  • Bus or Taxi to Puntarenas, ferry to Paquera and then bus/taxi to Santa Teresa (you can also hire a car and do the same route)
  • Flight from San Jose to Tambor and transport to Santa Teresa
  • Bus/Taxi to Jaco and then taxi boat to Santa Teresa

There are pros and cons to all of them, including time taken and cost so let’s look at the route that I took recently:

Transport to Puntarenas and Paquera Ferry

This seems to be by far the most popular route and whilst the transit time might be longer than a flight or the taxi boat, the total time is about the same (if not shorter). PLUS, it’s the cheapest way to do it.

As per above, the overview of the route is transport from San Jose to Puntarenas. From there you can get a ferry to the Nicoya Peninsula, specifically Paquera, and then transport to Santa Teresa from there.

Taking the bus

This was our original plan. We would land in at San Jose International airport, get a taxi to the bus station and then buy our ticket to Santa Teresa. It was going to cost us $12 and aside from getting to the bus station, the rest of the logistics would be covered for us including the ferry ticket.

But there was a hitch.

The bus only leaves twice a day, at 6am and 2pm. In addition, it took about 6 hours.

We were outside San Jose Internal airport before midday so we faced a 2+ hour wait for the bus and then the 6 hour journey. IF we had arrived to the airport a little later and only had to wait 30 minutes for the bus this would definitely have been the option we would have taken. Instead, a slightly more expensive option arose that was going to reduce our total transit time by around 3 hours.

Taxi

Whilst we were standing the departure area we bumped into someone who was also trying to get to the bus station in order to go to Santa Teresa. A short conversation later we agreed to split the taxi and loaded up the car. However, as we got in the car the taxi driver offered to drive us directly to Puntarenas to get the ferry. $80 was more than we were expecting, even though it is a 1.5 hour drive but he was charging us $25 to get to the bus station anyway.

A but of quick maths later we were on our way.

This did mean that we had to buy ferry tickets but this is ludicrously cheap at just over $1 USD. The only issue was organising transport on the other side, but considering the popularity of Santa Teresa this was unlikely to be an issue.

A 45 minute wait for the Paquera Ferry and a 70 minute journey later and we were on the Nicoya Peninsula.

Having come from the Dominican Republic and having travelled for a couple of days, the home stretch was upon us. Hot, sweaty and fed up, honestly I no longer cared about the price for the final leg.

Regardless, we managed to find two more people to split the final taxi with which ended up costing about $12 USD and we arrived in Santa Teresa 3 hours before we would have on the bus…..having paid an additional $22 for the privilege.

Well worth it.

Hiring a car from San Jose and driving to Santa Teresa

On the face of it, this is the easiest and it often looks like the cheapest option. I’ve hired a car from San Jose before and the process is relatively quick so no hiccups there. The traffic coming out of San Jose can be heinous but if you were going by bus/taxi you’ll be stuck in the same traffic anyway. At least you’re in your own car.

Here’s the two main issues:

  • The price that they list on the website is only for the car rental. It doesn’t cover insurance and often doesn’t even cover a sat nav. From memory, we were expecting to pay something like $25 a day for the car but with insurance, sat nav and breakdown cover it ended up being 2 or 3 times more expensive. So word of warning, figure out the total cost before hiring (that’s true anywhere).
  • I’m not aware of places where you can drop your car off in Santa Teresa. You’ll also pay a hefty premium for that. As such, if you only need the car for a couple of days but are intending on staying in Santa Teresa for a little longer you’ll need to factor that in. Either you’ll want to factor in renting the car for your entire stay, or the premium for dropping it off somewhere and the time/cost associated with getting from said ‘somewhere’ back to Santa Teresa.

Either way, it’s going to take longer than just jumping in a taxi and will probably cost more in the long run. That’s assuming that you’re not taking a taxi alone….

Flying from San Jose to Santa Teresa

This could well be your best option. I hadn’t considered it but may well be using this service when I leave Santa Teresa for San Jose.

Flights are operated by Sansa Regional and appear to be pretty regular (2-3 times a day). They leave from the international airport (Juan Santamaria) in San Jose and you land 30 minutes later in Tambor – which is closer to Santa Teresa than the drop off point for the ferry in Paquera.

A quick Sky Scanner search and if you book it a few weeks in advance it’ll cost you $100 each way. A friend just used it an apparently it’s only $20 extra for a surfboard. Bear in mind though that they are small planes so they may only be able to fit a couple of surfboards.

There’s a little bit of trepidation about the grass/dirt runway in Tambor and the potential for some turbulence along the way, considering it’s only a 12 person plane, but if that doesn’t put you off it seems like a pretty good deal to me! It just depends on the check-in/wait time but you are already at the airport if you fly into San Jose.

It’s more expensive than the other options but could save you a lot of time.

Taxi boat from Jaco

I had never considered this – mainly because I didn’t know it existed.

San Jose international to Jaco is around 1-2 hours depending on which route you take and the traffic. From there you can get a taxi boat to Montezuma (1.5 hours) and a taxi from there to Santa Teresa (30 minutes).

Prices range from $50 – $70.

Honestly, at first glance this looked like it might be a good option but then you realise that the boats only really leave at either 7am with Tropical Tours or 10am with Zuma Tours. That means you’re likely going to have to stay the night in Jaco.

On the off chance that you get to the boat on time, it’s still a 4 hour round trip (accounting for a 30 minute wait for the boat) and will cost you in excess of $110. Might as well get the flight…..

To state the obvious, if you get motion sickness then getting a speedboat for 1.5 hours probably isn’t the best choice either.

If you’re staying in Jaco for a bit then it makes perfect sense, but if you’re going straight from San Jose to Santa Teresa it seems like the slowest and possibly most expensive option.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions.

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Dominican RepublicExcursionsTravel Tips

El Limón Waterfall, Las Terrenas – Everyone misses this trick!

by Simon
written by Simon

El Limón waterfall in Las Terrenas is a popular tourist destination featuring a ~50m (~160 foot) waterfall surrounded by lush tropical vegetation and plunge pools for you to swim in. It’s also fairly accessible from Last Terrenas as it’s only a 30 minute drive.

There’s some comments that it’s not well sign posted, but if you’ve downloaded Google Maps you shouldn’t have any problems finding the town of El Limón from which you set off to the waterfalls. You’d also do pretty well to miss it considering that as we were getting closer there were guys on motorbikes driving alongside our car with laminated tour adverts for El Limón!

Anyhow, here’s a summary of our half day trip and a major tip that everyone seems to miss…..

El Limón waterfall at 7:25. I can’t seem to embed the video with time stamps!

To walk or ride?

The route to the waterfalls is around 1.5-2km along a dirt track. It seems like most people pay for a horseback ride but we decided to just walk it.

Water in the backpacks, flip flops on, we just started walking.

I’ve read a few reviews that talk of it being a steep trail but I have to disagree. Sure, it might be taxing if you’re over 60 years old but realistically most people are capable of walking 1.5km even if it has a few small hills thrown in. The walk took us about 35 minutes, but even if you’re slower it won’t take longer than an hour.

At first it was hard packed dirt/rock road but as you get closer to the waterfall and into the areas with more tree cover, there is quite a bit of mud. All 5 of us did it in flip flops (with varying success) but a pair of trainers might have been a better choice especially since the muddy parts tend to invariably have a bit of horse shit mixed in!

Excrement aside we were glad that we walked it. It’s not hugely taxing and makes the dip in the waterfall that much nicer.

We saw countless groups on horseback. It’s a typical horseback tour kind of thing. The horses know where they’re going, they’re not particularly happy and you’ve got your guide just walking alongside leading the horse. Hardly a thrill seeking excursion. I don’t know, maybe that is for some people. Each to their own I guess. It just seemed a little mundane.

Even if you take a horse you have to walk down the steps from the top of the waterfall to get to the bottom. The walk up back up the steps is definitely harder than the rest of the 1.5-2km walk.

*There are a couple of different routes that you can take. I believe we took the ‘harder’ one. Also, other reviews have talked about how the horseback guides can show you local cacao and other vegetation so that’s a benefit that we didn’t have visibility of.

El Limón Waterfall

At the top of the waterfalls you pay a 100 Dominican pesos entry fee and start the walk down to the bottom via a winding pseudo staircase sort of thing.

The waterfall itself is pretty impressive. It’s not your Victoria Falls free fall of water, instead it’s more of a cascade down a green (moss covered?) cliff. There’s also a plunge pool that you can swim in and take that all important picture for the ‘gram – if that’s what you’re in to.

Beautiful waterfall and plunge pool aside. I hated it.

Did you see that coming?

It was possibly the most touristy place I’ve been in 3 months of travelling (Cayo Arena was a close second). It was way too busy, with everyone trying to take a picture for Instagram. There wasn’t any point going for a swim in the plunge pool because you’d be elbow to elbow with everyone else. To top it off there were a couple of guys with Toucans charging people to take a picture in front of the waterfall with them.

A quick look at the mini waterfall below and it was time to climb back up the stairs and get out of there. We genuinely only spent 10 minutes there!

Everyone missed a trick

It wasn’t all doom and gloom though. On our way to the main waterfall we stopped off at a smaller one. In fact, at the time we thought it was the actual waterfall (or at least I did). I clearly remember saying, “it looks a lot larger in the pictures”. In time it would become apparent why that was the case…..it wasn’t the waterfall in the pictures!

Regardless, we stripped off and jumped in. You can swim under the ‘falls’ and find your own little secluded ledge behind the curtain of water. Yes, it’s not as spectacular or as large as the main waterfall, but the tours don’t stop at it so there’s nobody there. We had it all to ourselves and didn’t see anyone in it on the way back either.

It’s my personal opinion that unless you go early and make sure you’re the first ones at the main waterfall, which is a very viable option, the smaller one is a far nicer experience. I’m just not a fan of destinations with loads of tourists. It’s made worse when there’s obvious tourist trap things like people with parrots offering you pictures with it. I’m by no means a stylish or snobby guy, but it feels a little tacky.

Check it out for yourself. I’ll wager that if the main waterfall is as busy as it was when we were there, you’ll enjoy the smaller one far more.

I’m not talking about the smaller waterfall about 50 metres from the main one. The smaller one we found was en route and about 500m from the entrance to the main waterfall.

How much does it cost to visit El Limón Waterfall?

We had a car so it cost us next to nothing. A couple of hundred Dominican Pesos to park and 100 each to see the main waterfall. A grand total of $5 USD.

I appreciate that not everyone will have rented a car so the cost depends on whether you’re going to be picked up from Las Terrenas or make your way to El Limón via GuaGua or taxi.

By all accounts a door to door tour from Las Terrenas, with the aforementioned horseback ride will run you anywhere from $50 to $65 USD including lunch.

You can make your way to El Limón yourself via GuaGua which is typically 50 pesos ($1), but a taxi will likely cost you in excess of $35 so there’s quite a large price difference there. I believe that once you’re there you’ll pay anywhere between $12 and $20 for the horseback section.

Is it worth $65? That depends on the value you place on your money. For me, that’s pricey and the lunch is highly unlikely to be anything special. If you’re on a budget just grab a GuaGua and walk to the falls, that’ll run you less than $5 and again in my opinion will be a far more entertaining journey than joining a procession of horses and other tourists.

Whatever option you choose, I beg you to get up as early as will allow and be the first ones to the main waterfall. You won’t regret it and can stop off at the smaller one on the way back.

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Dominican RepublicTravel Tips

5 Key Travel Tips for the Dominican Republic

by Simon
written by Simon

In early 2021 I spent 3 months in the Dominican Republic. I’m no resident but I do feel like 3 months is long enough to provide a bit of travel advice for anyone looking to visit the DR.

Tip #1 – Airport

Customs and immigration areas aren’t exactly playgrounds in any country. They are akin to purgatory. An area where everyone is in desperate need of a shower, feels dehydrated from their flight and often regret not changing into more suitable attire on the plane.

I flew into the Dominican Republic’s capital, Santo Domingo. Unsurprisingly, their customs/immigration was no different. I was one of the first people to get to immigration from our plane and it still took me over 1.5 hours to get through. There were perhaps 200 people behind me who I would guess took closer to 3 hours to get through.

Maybe there was an influx of planes at that particular time. Whatever the case, the desks weren’t fully staffed and there were only two immigration officers processing what would have been hundreds of people.

There’s a limited amount that you can do to prevent the wait. What I would say is:

  • Make sure you’ve gone to the toilet before the plane lands so you can avoid the hassle of trying to explain to people that you’re not skipping the queue when you return.
  • You can’t just barge your way through the plane. There is an etiquette to getting off a plane, you let the people in the rows in front leave before you do. There aren’t any rules once you get off the place though. Do not dawdle. Walk fast. Overtake 20 people on the way to immigration and you might save yourself 45 minutes.

Once you get through customs, just be prepared for the chaos. Again, there may have been a particularly large amount of flights arriving when I did but it was the busiest arrivals area I’ve ever seen. It was hot and sticky. My bag was heavy. I just said yes to the first taxi driver that approached me. I didn’t even negotiate. I wanted out.

Tip #2 – Electronics & Tech

Oh the heartache this has caused me.

As per the video, I’m no tech expert or electrician so I can’t tell you if it’s amps, volts, current or some other terminology.

All I know if that some things charge and others do not. I’ve met a lot of other people that have had the same issue. Apparently the plugs are only 110 (amps? volts?) so you need a suitable charger. I have a UK plug adapter which works for my laptop and phone but doesn’t for my electric shaver or my portable speaker. It says it’s charging, but then they die within seconds.

Worse, my phone refused to charge for 2 months. As soon as I plugged in the charging cable it said it had moisture in the port. I wasn’t the only one, a few others had this issue.

My remedy was to buy a wireless charger. The problem was that I had to test out 3 different chargers for that thing before it worked properly! So that sort of went against my hypothesis that it was the UK chargers….

It’s reasonably humid but not so humid that I would expect that to happen and yes I tried leaving it in a bag of rice and also in the sun. Eventually it worked fine, but that was 2 months down the line.

Do I have the answer for you? No. Suffice to say that you should expect some technical hiccups with all of your various electronics in the DR!

Tip #3 – The Dominican Republic has mutant mosquitos

Mosquitos in a tropical country, que surprise!

I’m no stranger to the tropics and mosquitos but I swear the mosquitos in the Dominican Republic are next level beasts. They are absolutely relentless.

I made the terrible mistake of not using repellent for the first few days. What followed was 2 weeks where I couldn’t sleep for more than an hour at a time. I would genuinely wake up scratching myself like a junky.

As far as I know they do have malaria in the DR, but they seem to be more wary of Dengue Fever. From all accounts Dengue is something you really want to avoid.

My mistake annoyed purely on the fact that it is so preventable. The main mosquito repellent brand in the DR is Off! and they also have a few brands of mosquito rings that you light and they smoke away for a few hours. I would highly recommend that you use both. When it rains here there are so many mosquitos that just one isn’t quite enough.

I would also bring some lightweight trousers and long sleeve tops. It may seem like overkill but it really was uncomfortable!

#Tip 4 – It’s not always sunny

Okay, so most of the time it is sunny. It’s the Caribbean after all.

When it rains though, it really does rain.

I brought a soft shell jacket that I use in London. It’s light and does the job when you’re caught in a quick shower. Sustained rain and it starts to fail.

Well……the ‘showers’ here are a little different to those in London. I got caught multiple times in these showers, often for less than 5 minutes, and I was soaked through.

I wish I had bought a good lightweight anorak and packed that instead. It’s the same amount of space, same weight, but much better performance. You might look like a bit of a nerd in one but it’s a raincoat. Any fool can get wet. I’m the fool.

Tip #5 – Transport Options

I approached the Dominican Republic in the same fashion as I would going to South East Asia. That was a mistake.

Private transport is no way near as cheap as it is in, say, Bali. Taxis are nearly European prices – I paid $150 dollars to get to the North coast from Santo Domingo but even to go 5 minutes down the road is likely to run you $7-$8.

The reason for the prices is because most people use the local buses/mini buses to get places. As an example, you can take a Caribe Tours bus from Santo Domingo to Sosua/Puerto Plata for $12. Or you can take a GuaGua (local minibus service) from Playa Encuentro to Cabarete for $0.50 (30 Dominican Pesos). The final option is a motoconcho which I did for the first few weeks. You essentially just jump on the back of a motorbike. Playa Encuentro to Cabarete would cost $3 (150 pesos) but after seeing a few accidents I decided that GuaGuas were by far the best option.

Hiring a car will cost you $40 minimum and that’s for a small car, I would take an SUV if you have the chance. A motorbike is usually $25 – $30 a day.

Of course you can get better deals for longer term hires but overall I found that unless you hired a car, getting around isn’t all that easy. In hindsight I should have bought a motorbike for $500 and sold it back but bear in mind that the roads are pretty darn dangerous, especially on the weekends with DUIs.

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RamblingsTravel Tips

Is Business Class worth it? A view from a first timer (Iberia A330 Business Class)

by Simon
written by Simon

Let’s face it. The faster check-in, lounge and separate boarding are just the accoutrement to the main course. It’s all about that lie-flat bed and not having to claim your arm rest before you have an elbow stand off with your neighbour.

For my whole life, business class was somewhat unattainable. For a number of reasons:

Firstly, growing up I didn’t have wealthy parents who paid for it.

A little later, I never had a corporate gig where I had to travel for work.

Even when I maybe had the money to pay for it, I simply couldn’t justify it. Business class is often three to four times more expensive than a normal flight. The last time I checked a flight, it was £800 to fly economy and £3000 to fly business.

I like to view things in terms of opportunity cost. To start off with, what could I do with £2200? The answer is quite a lot. More importantly though, if someone had come up to me and offered to pay me £2,200 to sit in a seat I’ve been sitting in my whole life, would I take it? That’s rhetorical question. I was blissful in my ignorance.

As I said, it never really made sense to me. Considering that my legs are like stumps it’s not like I have a problem fitting into cattle class seats.

This flight was different though. For £200 I could upgrade my flight. £22 an hour to have a lie flat bed? Sure, I’ll bite.

To set the scene it was an Iberia Flight from Madrid to Santo Domingo. Nine hours on an Airbus A330. Time to see if business class is really worth it.

Check-in and boarding

As an economy flyer I’ve always had a bit of a chip on my shoulder about the treatment of business and first class flyers. Sure, I understand they’ve paid a premium for a better service. It’s just the way the airlines seemingly idolise them.

Separate check in area.

Fancy lounges.

That’s what I got. Actually, I only got a separate check-in and boarding area. My upgrade didn’t qualify me for lounge access which was fine because I didn’t have time anyway.

Needless to say the upgraded treatment was pleasant. No standing in a check-in line having to shuffle your luggage a metre at a time as the line creeps along. Nobody in the business queue. Straight to the front. Lovely.

That’s where I was hit with my first surprise.

I was flying from London Heathrow to Santo Domingo, via Madrid. The problem was that my flight to Madrid was economy…..and my luggage was 2 kilos overweight. I sort of assumed that they would be lenient considering that the weight allowance for the main portion of my journey would accommodate my 25 kilos. Maybe the perceived business class arrogance had already seeped into my being?

TL;DR A 100 euro fee later and I was through check-in. Thanks Iberia.

Boarding in Madrid produced my second surprise.

Calmly standing in the boarding queue for business, I was quite content, if not feeling a little bit smug. Until a woman seemingly decided that I couldn’t be in the right queue, perhaps from my more normal appearance, and simply joined the queue right in front of me.

The queue wasn’t exactly long so I didn’t say anything. In my mind though it felt like a snub, a confirmation of the smell-your-own-farts smugness associated with the wealthy. Imposter syndrome was strong with me that day. The separate gangway didn’t help. It felt like segregation. “Welcome person who can spend 4 times as much on a flight as a normal person. We’ll make sure you don’t even have to see those peasants”. CLEARLY this isn’t completely true and likely unfair for the queue larger. It was chaotic at the gate and it was probably an innocent mistake. I couldn’t shake that feeling though.

The Seat

So there I was, feeling a little bit weird about the whole experience.

Until I got to the seat.

Let’s face it. The faster check-in, lounge and separate boarding are just the accoutrement to the main course. It’s all about that lie-flat bed and not having to claim your arm rest before you have an elbow stand off with your neighbour.

As I said in the video, it’s a strange one. The chances are that you’ve walked past first/business class multiple times. You’ve had a good look at the seats, you already know how much space they have and you definitely know they lie flat. So you know what you’re getting. You have a bed at home. You know what it feels like to lie down.

I entered into my new seat armed with this knowledge and yet I was still amazed.

The space and privacy is unreal.

No longer did I have to Tetris my stuff into the pouch in front of me. No longer did I have to find space near my feet for the blanket and/or bag.

I didn’t even have to worry about my feet smelling when I took my shoes off.

I just spread my shit out. Some went into the little cubby holes in the main console. Some went down the side of my seat. The rest went on the foot rest.

No champagne was served, but that didn’t bother me. Champagne is wasted on me, I’ve never been a fan. Anyways, I was too busy watching the tutorial video on the seat’s functions.

The third surprise…and subsequent disappointment

To my amazement, the seat had a massage function.

Like a child playing with a new toy I frantically searched for the button.

I pressed it….and was immediately brought crashing back to earth. It’s ludicrous to call it a massage chair. It barely moves. There’s some sort of bar built into the lower portion of the chair that moves up and down about 4 inches. There isn’t any oscillation to talk of, just an up and down movement. It does press into your back slightly, but no more than an inch.

I didn’t expect a massage function so had it been a good massage chair, it really would have blown my mind. Instead I turned it off wondering why they would even include it.

The lie flat bed

Onto the main course.

As expected for a noob like me, as soon as the seat belt signs were turned off I had to get this baby to ‘lie flat’ position. Shoes off, blanket at the ready I pressed the button that people pay a premium for.

The seat reclined. The bottom pushed forward. The back reclined further. The seat pushed forward to make more space. I was now past 45 degrees, past the position of a recliner in front of your TV.

Within seconds my seat had joined the foot rest in front of me and I was in my own little bed in the skies. A view out of the window to my right and the console to my left preventing any view outside my own private space on the plane.

A quick adjustment of the tray table to upright position and swung outwards and the cabin was complete. To call it a cabin does an injustice to the true cabin found in first class nowadays (from what I’ve seen on Youtube) but again, like a child, this was my own little cabin.

I would actually go back to a more normal seat position and wouldn’t sleep till later. To state the obvious, when I did go to sleep it was the best sleep I’ve ever had on a place. Who would have thunk it?!

Hairgate

Onto the food and I should probably start with a caveat. I’m no foodie. I like good food, but I can also be remarkably unfussy when it comes to food. In fact, I tend not to have an issue with plane food. I’ll happily eat it!

Iberia served the business class food in a box, which I don’t think is typical. I presume that it was for health reasons given the current global issues. I don’t even know if economy got the same food, I imagine not.

A few wraps, salad, cheese and crackers. Fairly normal stuff and actually quite tasty. Not much to comment on here except it would have been nice to have the normal food – which I think is served on proper plates and not a cardboard box. Given the circumstances though, there probably isn’t another option for airlines.

Surprise #5

I did have a hair on my wrap which wasn’t ideal. I tend to shed hair at a remarkable rate myself so I understand. Plus it wasn’t a short and curly so after a quick removal, the rest of the wrap was down the hatch.

Should I have complained? Possibly.

Did I complain? No. I couldn’t see how I would benefit from the outcome (except perhaps a new wrap).

Would I pay for a full rate business class flight?

How was the experience as a first time business class flyer?

Excellent.

I knew what I was getting and it was even better than I thought it would be, which was one of my worries. I’ve been perfectly happy with my various economy seats throughout my life. Chalk this down to my ignorance, or my stature. Whatever the case, I ran the risk of finding out how much greener the grass was.

Would my exposure to the front of the plane mean that I wouldn’t be able to go back?

Nope.

Don’t get me wrong, if I get another offer to upgrade a flight for a couple of hundred pounds, I won’t even think about. It’s lie flat time baby. The problem comes when you’re having to shell out a couple of thousand pounds for the privilege. Put it this way, that’s multiple custom shaped surfboards to add to my quiver. It’s a nice camera. It’s what I would call a good budget for a 2 week holiday. Would I swap any of those for more comfort for 9 hours? Not a chance.

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Dominican RepublicRamblingsTravel Tips

Travelling to the Dominican Republic

by Simon
written by Simon

The Dominican Republic wasn’t on my travel list.

Images of all inclusive resorts full of sun burnt Americans and Europeans tends to give me cold sweats.

Turns out I wasn’t the only one. The majority of the people staying in Playa Encuentro on the North coast hadn’t considered ‘DR’ before. Like me, a quick Google search of countries that were open for travel (and where you could surf) and flights were booked. No quarantine, no PCR test needed to get on the flight or enter.

Visas were fine for 30 days with a British Passport and extensions seemed incredibly relaxed. $37 dollars for an additional 60 days and what appeared to be an ability to stay as long as you wanted if you carried on paying the ~$20 dollars a month.

The Dominican Republic suddenly looked like a pretty damn good option.

Flights to DR

You’ve got multiple options when it comes to flights. There are 3 main international airports in the Dominican Republic: Santo Domingo in the South (the Capital), Punta Cana in the South East (the all inclusive Mecca of DR) and Puerto Plata in the North West.

The problem was the connections. Playa Encuentro is only 30 minutes from Puerto Plata but the flights connect in Miami which was off limits at the time. It also involved a 16 hour layover which wasn’t ideal.

I ended up settling for a flight via Madrid, to Santo Domingo with Iberia. I figured a couple of hours layover in Madrid and a night in Santo Domingo, followed by a 4.5 hour journey North was the best option for me. I also booked a flexible return ticket in case I hated it and needed to move on quickly. Return flights from London Heathrow with the flexible return ended up being just over £900. Not great, but not the worst at such short notice.

The great thing was that business class upgrades were crazy cheap. I’d never flown business before and for an extra £200 it seemed like a no brainer. I’m glad I did it, and I also regret it. The ability to lay flat on a bed was, well, a different experience. It didn’t even feel like you were on the same plane. The problem is that I was happy in my ignorance. I now know what it’s like and I don’t want to go back.

Anyway, that’s a different topic.

There’s loads of options for flights, some are direct, some need a layover. Depends on your budget….obviously. I also found out that there are direct flights from Frankfurt if you so happen to be in Germany.

Flights from London:

Travel Options to the North Coast of the Dominican Republic

Let’s skip forward.

Flights are flights. They’re not exactly a stay in a 5 star hotel, but they’re also not as torturous as people make them out to be. Your mouth gets a bit dry. You need to fart a lot. Your coccyx feels like it’s being ground to dust after about 6 hours.

Skip ahead. I’m now in Santo Domingo having spent well over 1.5 hours in customs and passing through the busiest arrivals area I’ve seen.

I’ve woken up in a cheap hotel with a free breakfast that was of the quality you would expect from such an establishment. Salt, Pepper and hot sauce was required.

As far as I know, there are 3 main travel options to get from Santo Domingo (or Punta Cana) to the North coast of the Dominican Republic, namely the Cabarete, Playa Encuentro, Sosua area (Puerto Plata province):

Private Transfer

Definitely the most expensive way to travel although if you’re in a group it may be convenient. I got in touch with Coco Tours who were offering $190 in a shared mini bus. They do offer private cars as well but this ramps up the price.

Taxi

This is the option I chose. It was $150 which is way more than I would usually spend but the idea of being in a cramped bus for 4.5 hours during a global pandemic was a little off putting. Word on the street is that prices can range between $150 and $200 depending on what taxi company/driver you choose.

Bus

Definitely the cheapest and I actually used the bus going back to Santo Domingo – I wish I’d used it to get to the North Coast. The main bus company is Caribe Tours and they leave from their central bus station in Santo Domingo. Price for a 4.5 – 5 hour bus ride….a whopping 800 pesos which is about $14. This is what I would recommend – the seats were big and comfortable and the bus was nowhere near as packed as I had feared.

Arriving in Playa Encuentro

Playa Encuentro itself is relatively small. Its smack bang in between the larger towns (take ‘larger’ with a pinch of salt) of Cabarete and Sosua. Upon arrival in Playa Encuentro the taxi driver’s sat nav didn’t take us to the correct place so it’s probably worth downloading the map or taking a screenshot of your exact location.

I decided to stay at Surfbreak which is a family run surf hostel – it’s only private rooms with no dorms, like most places in Encuentro. There is another well known hotel called El Encuentro Surf Lodge, but its about double the price. You do get what you pay for though.

I know a few people that stayed at Gipsy Ranch which is very affordable, but let’s just say that it has a certain vibe to it. You may like it but everyone I know ended up leaving pretty sharpish.

Having said that, there are a lot of other options including a whole raft of AirBnB places as well.

So this was going to be my home for the next 3 months. A 5 minute walk to the beach and 10 minutes walk from the surf spots. A small but liveable room in a quaint hostel. Tropical weather, incredible sunrises. Better than lockdown in London.

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