I love going to the beach!  Relaxing with my toes in the sand, collecting seashells, and snorkeling are some of my favorite things.  When I was invited on an agent retreat to Punta Cana, I jumped at the chance to explore a new island getaway!

Punta Cana is in the Dominican Republic, a country that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.  The island is south of Cuba and west of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic side of the island has been under rapid development in the last few years.  I was amazed to see how many spectacular resort options there were in the greater Punta Cana area as well as how friendly the locals were.  Spanish is the language spoken in the DR and I definitely wouldn’t attempt renting a car and driving around without a decent command of the language.  There’s really no need to worry with your own transport as there are many transfer options available for your use.

The hubs came along, which is rare on an agent trip because these visits are typically restricted to agents only.  I was delighted to have the companionship and be able to share this new experience with him!  We arrived at Dreams Punta Cana, our resort for the trip, and were blown away by the beauty of the property.  A main feature there is the pool, which runs basically the entire length of the property from the lobby to the beach.  It was a great place to sit and enjoy the drink of the day!

The beach itself was equally beautiful with the most wonderful sunsets!

Our accommodations for the stay blew me away.  We had a room that was over 600 square feet with a gigantic king size bed, a huge balcony with a private hot tub, a living room, walk-in closet, large bathroom area with walk-in shower and double sinks plus a well-stocked mini-bar filled with Cokes and El Presidente (the DR beer.)

Agent trips are always filled with destination and supplier training plus site inspections.  Those are exhausting but very worthwhile as we go from resort to resort to look at room types, locations, restaurant and entertainment options, property layout, meeting the staff, etc.  On this trip, I was fortunate to be able to go to Zoetry Punta Cana, Breathless Punta Cana, and Royalton Punta Cana.  Each resort has its own vibe and appeals to a different type of client, so it is very helpful to see them in person to be able to match up the right client to the corresponding resort.

 

The hubs and I decided to spend a day away from our resort on Saona Island, only accessible via boat.  We traveled down from Punta Cana to La Romana and took our speedboat ride out to the island.  Along the way, the boat stopped at an area of natural swimming pools in the ocean where the water was around three-feet-deep and starfish were aplenty.

The island itself is one of those places that you visit for a few hours but never want to leave.  I am a seashell collecting fanatic and could have spent days looking at everything that was washing ashore there from purple fan coral to red rock coral, scotch bonnets, cowry shells, sea urchins, sea biscuits, etc.  A shell hunter’s paradise!

The ride through the towns in the area was a delightful experience.  The landscape is lush and mountainous with areas of development sprinkled throughout.  We saw several stands setup by the locals selling the products of the land like coconuts, sugarcane, bananas (or plantains, I can never tell the difference from afar), etc.

Overall, our trip was fantastic!  I found another fabulous vacation destination that I can’t wait to return to and share with my clients.  It was bittersweet to be heading home even though I was exhausted from the trip. I still miss sitting on a bench and watching these guys, right near our room.  Dreams Punta Cana is a wonderful place to enjoy for couples and couples with children and I can’t wait to go back!

Until next time!

Amber