South Coast of Hispaniola

[jan bogart]

Looking ahead to different destinations and wonder if any members have recent experience bay hopping West along the South coast of the Dominican Republic. There appears to be any number large bays and headlands with numerous places to rest up and enjoy. There doesn"t seem to be much info available about anything - not even the land based tourist info. Any suggested web sites? thanks in advance. Jan bogart

[GordMay]

From the NoonSite country report: http://www.noonsite.com/Countries/DominicanRepublic

Cruising Report On Dominican Republic (July 16/07)
by Alfredo & Nicoletta Giacon (s/y “JANCRIS”)

Sailing up from the Caribbean islands, going west to Jamaica and Honduras, we decided to visit the southern coast of Dominican Republic.
The first stop sailing west from Puerto Rico, was the beautiful and modern marina Casa De Campo, about 3 miles east from La Romana. The very well protected and safe marina has an Italian Manager and the assistance and service are excellent, with all you expect from a good marina, including wireless internet on the dock. It is a port of entry and to clear in is very easy. All the autorities come direct to the yacht called from the marina office, in half a day all is done. To clear in, in February 2007, we paid USD120. It is not very cheap, but if you do it yourself, you spend more or less the same, including taxi and time.
We paid 1 US dollar per foot per day for our sail yacht JANCRIS that is 56 ft. 10% less is the rate for one week. There we spend a couple of days relaxing and visiting the luxurious villas and gardens with our bike.
The next stop was in the new marina in Boca Chica. The marina is small and very different from Casa De Campo and we were surprised to see they have the same price. The manager offered us a strong mooring just a few meters from the dock and the possibility to park our tender in the safe place in the marina for ten US Dollar a day. Wireless Internet and showers of course included. The guy from the marina restaurant is very helpful and can do a taxi service to go to the supermarket and to visit the old town in Santo Domingo.
Fron Boca Chica we sailed with a good southesterly wind the 60 miles to go to Las Salinas. Las Salinas is inside a big bay called La Caldera, that offers a good and comfortable anchorage. The best place to anchor is in front at the Hotel Salinas where the very friendly owner is happy to help sailors. In front of the Hotel there is a pontoon where it is possible to moor the boat if the draft is less than 8 ft. The prices are attractive, more or less 10 cent. per foot per day, including elecricity and water.
We preferred to leave JANCRIS at anchor, the bottom is good holding and it is possible to leave the tender at the hotel's dock for free. Las Salinas from this year is a port of entry, so we cleared out from there. We did the formalities in one full day, and we pay 100 US dollars.
For our dog Trudy that travels with us we had no problem.
Good wind
Alfredo & Nicoletta Giacon

[AnchorageGuy]

Our good friend Bruce Van Sant covers this area well in his guide “The Gentleman’s Guide to Passages South” .

Amazon.com: The Gentleman's Guide to Passages South: Books: Bruce Van Sant

[stoupidmonkey]

Well, Ive been to the North Coast, which is nice, and Haiti, which is nice for an anchorage, but never made it to the southern coast. I would hit up the Amber Coast, on the northern side if you have a chance. The beaches were wonderful, but are more expensive than you would expect for such a poor country. Port-au-prince, Haiti is very fun for trading. Just anchor out and merchants will come to trade with you. They will take items like old boots and other junk for nice woodworking items. Just be sure and pack a gun, because some refugees try to steal boats to come to america in. The poverty on land will truely astound you, if you choose to go ashore.

[jan bogart]

thanks for the replies... will try and find a copy of Van Sants to check it out. it seems like alot of territory along the coast. wonder also about the usual security concerns and dealing with local officials with their hands out in each little anchorage. jan bogart

[armido]

I cannot recommend Boca Chica. I visited Noonsite when planning my itinerary along the D.R. south coast. Still provided as information there is this:

"Anchoring in Boca Chica is uncomfortable in very tight quarters behind the island."


I learned to my dismay when arriving in Boca Chica just after dark two things. First, my vhf calls to the marina went unanswered because "...nobody speaks English". Second, when someone finally spoke to me in English on the vhf I was told anchoring is prohibited. This person asked me where I wished to go? If I'd planned beyond anchoring behind the island where I believed I was supposed to await the arrival of customs and immigration (now removed from the Noonsite Boca Chica page), I could have answered. But, here I was in the dark prohibited from anchoring with no idea where to go next. How could I tell this person where I wanted to go when I had no idea where or in which direction to go next? There was no attempt to give directions to the marina or that I should go there at all.


Fortunately a man in a small boat happened by and correctly deduced I needed assistance. He led me to the marina where he indicated I should anchor! After being informed anchoring was prohibited I refused. Shortly thereafter an American sailor arrived in his inflatable offering to help. The first available mooring was missing it's pennant - alleged to have been carried away by an angry sailor. As we jockeyed to attach a line between my boat and a second mooring figures appeared on a nearby marina dock shouting and indicating I should bring my boat there. The marina owner and four other men were on the dock. After a brief discussion it was agreed immigration and customs could wait until morning. Told that it would cost $50 USD to tie to the dock overnight I opted to take a mooring for $20. Shortly after tying to the mooring with assistance from the aforementioned American sailor a police boat came along side. Three men came aboard, asked questions, completed a form, did a cursory search of my boat and left.


My budget does not allow for $20/day moorings - so I decided to leave the following morning.



Reason suggests that the dispacho I had from Puerto Rico - since I had not yet cleared into the Dominican Republic should have sufficed for me to simply cast off the mooring and leave.


No. Raul indicated that since the police had already boarded my boat and taken information there may be problems if I left without clearing in/out of the D.R.. So, I was made to clear in and out of the Dominican Republic, paying $70 for the privilege. This mind you was a reduced fee, a deal...


This is the only place I have visited after completing two separate voyages encompassing a distance nearly the circumference of the world where anchoring was not an alternative. There were no fewer than 11 empty moorings at Marina Zar Par. If anchoring is not an alternative no fee should be charged for moorings. Contrast this experience with Grand Cayman Island where anchoring is discouraged (not prohibited) and moorings installed and maintained by the port authority are free.


I told the marina I could not afford to pay $20/day for a mooring. You would think with at least 11 moorings sitting unused the marina would have considered making my attempt to visit their country a possibility by waiving the charge.


I was promised a dispacho by 11:00 after clearing out. The dispacho was not available until between 16:00 and 17:00...


No need by those of you preparing to flame me for poor or at least incomplete planning - I've already self flagellated.



armido