Just got back from a week at Caliente Caribe.

Apparently, I hit the low point of the year as on Sunday I was the only guest at the resort for most of the day, the group of 20 that had been there the previous week left Sunday morning (we got up to a total of 7 guests one night for the rest of the week). Everyone commented how wonderful the place was and we were all surprised that it wasn't at least well attended let alone packed to the gills. Talking to Joe, the manager, most of June is going to be fairly quiet (with the exception of a takeover by a lifestyle group). Picks up again a bit in July (there's a large group going for a week, but I don't remember which week) and starts to properly pick up in August. The high points for the resort are Jan - April. Due to the low number of guests, Joe upgraded us all to beachfront suites, ran trips into town for us and the staff did a wonderful job of caring for us. I really could not have asked more from the staff, they were great.

If you get a beachfront suite and care about Internet access, try to get 408 or 410 as they're directly next to the access point. 401 doesn't have wireless access as it's too far away.

There's a tour on Wednesdays that was apparently great fun (I didn't go as it conflicted with the SCUBA course I was taking). The general consensus was that it took a fair amount of energy so if you want to do it, try to get them to do a half day instead of full day tour (everyone said that a full day would have been too much). Cost was US$40 (apparently usually US$35 but they upped it due to the low number of people). There's an introduction to SCUBA in the pool if you've been thinking about it and not been sure if you'll freak out and if you're comfortable there's also dives with a dive master or classes if you need to learn (US$450 for the PADI SCUBA course). The dives on the dive course go down to 15m and there's plenty of interesting things to see while down there.

Spanish is not required, but will make your life easier (especially if you go offsite). The staff are also great about helping to teach if you're interested in learning a few words while you're there.

Food was reasonably good. Not 5 star by any means, but pretty good never the less and the staff are more than happy to mix and match if you want a little bit from a few different items on the menu. Lunch and dinner menus change daily and except for Friday night are à la carte. The only dish I had and didn't like was the breakfast crepes and the steak was a little tough one night (but fine the rest of the time). The goat dish on Friday night (they do traditional Dominican food on Friday nights) was excellent. Even if it's not something you'd normally eat, I recommend trying it.

There's a basic onsite gym. 1 treadmill, 1 elliptical, 2 bikes, some dumbbells and a machine. Unfortunately it's aimed at the non-competitive US market so everything is in our broken customary system instead of metric (annoying for those of us that prefer metric, compete in any fashion or aren't from the USA).

The plus side of being aimed at the US market is that normally DR outlets don't have a ground, but all the outlets in the Caliente property do so you don't need to take a plug converter if you're coming from the US. If you're not from the US, also be aware that power is 110V.

The rooms were quite nice, with a shower big enough for 2, a king size bed and a table and chairs. The suites also had an office desk which was really handy. They have a safe in the room, but I didn't feel the need to use it (most of us left our rooms via a sliding door and didn't carry our keys around for most of the week) and a fridge with a lock on it. The main doors to each room are always locked so if you forget your key you'll need help. The lock button on the inside of the door prevents the key from being used if you feel the need for extra security at any point.

Both a plus and a minus is there's no clocks in the room. The message is obviously that you're not ruled by time, but a lot of things around the resort (like meals) are time based (although the windows are pretty big for meals) so you might like to take a watch or clock of some variety.

For those who haven't been to the DR before, you'll need US$10 (has to be USD) as an entry tax and your exit fees should be covered in your fare. Most places you might go out of the resort take USD and will convert at the current standard of RDP33 -> US$1 (don't forget your passport if you go to get money from a bank though). Note that the airport converts at RDP40 -> US$1 so if you want to pay in pesos you'll have to haggle to avoid getting ripped off. Changing at ATL will also get you ripped off as they'll only give you RDP26 for each US$1. The chicken shop at POP also hit a new low in airport food. Eat somewhere else.

Obviously, you _will_ need sunscreen. It can be purchased onsite. You'll also need bug repellant (which I didn't check for, but was told by another guest you'll have to go offsite for). There were significant thunderstorms (with some quite impressive rain) while I was there so if you're planning on going offsite (which will require clothes), take an umbrella or raincoat at this time of year. Weather was otherwise fine with temperatures in range of 25 - 35.

If you take the Delta flights to the DR, they're using the older planes so they do not have in seat power (according to seatguru they run some planes of the class going to/from the DR with in seat power even for cattle class, unfortunately, not to the DR). So unless you're flying first class, don't bother with an empower plug.

Paul