The Insiders' Guide to St. Barths: Dominican Republic

Just returned from the D.R., and everything everyone said about it is true: a cross-section of the good, bad and ugly. I was near Boca Chica, a little town on the south coast east of Santo Domingo, with a nice beach and a couple of resorts - Pelicano, a first-rate enclosed beach reaort and the Don Juan, a real dump with tourists to match. We stayed in a walled enclave in the countryside with a guide/interpreter, so we fared OK except for the inevitable case of "trots" that hit everyone no matter how careful we were to avoid non-bottled water, fresh vegetables, etc. The rural people were friendly, but we still moved about in pairs and never at night. Rule #1: if it's not locked up, it will be stolen. Town was a concentration of the worst: ubiquitous beggers and hawkers, guards at the ATMs, and prostitutes everywhere. The mainstay of Boca Chica tourism appears to be dirty old men in search of young hookers, and we saw plenty of both. Good points: cheap beer ($1) and drinks ($2) and food ($10-$15 for dinner at a good restaurant). An experience that will make me appreciate SBH even more. Two weeks and counting!