Day 6, Samana, Dominican Republic, January 21, 2025

Today started cloudy but then looking out from our balcony the sky opened up with a torrential downpour and within minutes it cleared into a beautiful sunny day. Surprisingly, we could clearly see the other side of the bay for the first time. After a swim in the pool and lunch, we settled in to the cabana area. I said, “Jill look, there’s a face”. You’ll see it in the picture. Our holiday is coming to an end. We’ve met some really nice people and have had wonderful conversations.

Two more dinners and we are out of here, back to reality.

Day 5, Samana Dominican Republic, January 20, 2025

Thousands of humpback whales descend on Samana Bay every year where they nurse their young and breed. Sadly we haven’t seen any from our balcony (yet) but I have included a few pictures that were taken by others. I also included an aerial picture of the resort. Our room is on the third floor, third room from the left. Quiet with great views. This morning Jill spotted a cruise ship entering the bay. It was moving down the bay to the town of Samana where tours were being tendered.

On most days the sky darkens and then sends a deluge of rain and minutes later it passes and the sun reappears. We opted to not take any excursions as we are happy just enjoying the resort.

Day 4, Samana, Dominican Republic,January 19, 2025

We awoke to a beautiful sunny day. After breakfast we toured the resort and realized that we were just three rooms from the very end. No wonder it was the quiet section. I took a picture of a plant that was attached to a wall. We were surprised to see that the skinny root made it’s was up the wall to become this large plant with very large leaves. The gardens throughout our resort are so lush. Our room overlooks the gardens and the hot tub area. 

We made our way to the pool and slathered on sunscreen. The ocean was a little too rough for swimming today. The lifeguards were telling people not to go in. After a while we moved to the cabana area  overlooking the ocean and away from the music. The restaurant for lunch was steps away then it was snooze time. After a walk on the beach, it was shower, a stop at the lobby bar before our second a la carte dinner. It was scrumptious. We then settled on the patio and played a game of scrabble while listening to the entertainment. Of course, Jill won again.  Tomorrow I might get lucky.

I’m 

Day 3, Samana, Dominican Republic, January 18, 2025

The king bed is luxurious, we are sleeping so well - great pillows. The buffet breakfast is absolutely delicious and the seating is alfresco. The tables are set with white table cloths and white cloth napkins, all you would ever want to start your day. 

The daily temperature has been 25/26 with low humidity, perfect. A storm came in today so we played scrabble on our balcony. Jill won again. After our buffet lunch we headed for the pool loungers. Jill fell in love with frozen margaritas and the two of us have both enjoyed the mojitos. She couldn’t stop laughing when a fly made its home in my hair. Could have been the rum.

We caught some sun then walked for a while on the beach. The waves were stormy, a little too rough for a swim, although possible. Our room is in the quiet wing, as requested which is so appreciated, especially for our pre-dinner snooze. Tonight we went to one of the a la carte restaurants - 2 are included in our package. Beautiful seating overlooking the pool, but sadly we weren’t impressed with the food, although the wine was good :)  Jill took a picture of me when she suggested, with tongue in cheek, that we go to the buffet after we leave the restaurant. We headed for the lobby bar and chatted with our new friends, Frank and Joel from Toronto. We sat outside for a bit then called it a night. It was a lovely day of heavy heavy rain then clearing, then more rain. It doesn’t matter to us, it is the rhythm of the weather down here. We took advantage of  between deluges.

Day 2, Samana, Dominican Republic, January 17, 2025

We slept for six hours and woke up hungry. After marvelling at the views from our room, we headed down to the buffet breakfast. It was more than anyone would want. The coffee is exceptional as is the friendly service. Time to check out the resort - it is so much more than we expected after reading some of the online reviews. The beach is a tropical dream. We stopped by the beach bar for a beer as we were definitely short on fluids after our travel ordeal. We needed a snooze to catch up on the sleep we missed and then on to the beach for a swim. The water is a beautiful temperature and felt so good to be in salt water again. A snooze on the beach, a mojito at the bar, a shower, and we were ready for the dinner buffet, but not before a sparkling wine out on one of the numerous comfortable seating areas throughout this multilevel resort. We were impressed. 

Dinner was exceptional, especially in contrast to what was on offer for dinner in Cuba. We dined alfresco with attentive service. What a treat.