My girlfriend and I are arriving in DR on Thursday. We will be there 7 weeks so we want to find an apartment or house and explore from there. But we're not sure which town to live in.
Some that we're considering are: Las Terrenas, Las Galeras, Samana, that area.
We don't want to be in Santo Domingo, we prefer a smaller town. At the same time, we both work online so we are hoping to be somewhere modern enough to have wifi in our apartment/house.
Cost is also an issue. We're happy being in a quieter, more remote town if it means a lower rent and cost of living. One expat guide tells me that in smaller towns a nice apartment can be as cheap as US $250/month; I find that hard to believe but if it's true we'd love it.
Given our preference for simple low-cost living, but our need for staying connected, do any of the towns I listed seem like a good choice? Where would you recommend we make our "home base" from which to explore the DR?
Choosing a town
A few things to remember with living in smaller remote towns are:
Higher need for security in many instances
Most likely will not have 24 hour electricity and may be with out for 8 hours or more a day.
Many areas will not have wi/fi or high speed internet
You will have difficulty if you are not fluent in Spanish.
Getting supplies that you might need may be difficult.
Have you been here before?
Bob K
First of all welcome to the Forums. 7 week stay, 250 per month for rent and internet are going to be very tough to do.
SHort term accommodations are tourist places and your budget is not very good.
Getting wifi good enough to work from home on your budget is tough as well. You can get it here but it will cost about US 75 per month as you will be paying as you go.
The area you are interested in is beautiful and you may find something there but it will be tough in my opinion.
We have a house in Camu, don't move there jajajaj they towns you picked are all better
Thanks for the great advice Planner and Bob K.
My girlfriend speaks Spanish well and I am a learner - did OK in Mexico.
What do you think would be a more realistic rent? We are thinking s 1 BR apartment or small house with internet. We can go higher, we just have no idea what kind of rent to expect.
Will power outages even be a normal thing in bigger towns like Las Terrenas?
power outages are a norm in all cities. we have them all the time in Puerto Plata. lately they have been better. they repaired some generators they said. You just have to accept the fact the power can and will go out. You kind of get used to it.
The population goes up everytime the power goes out (old I know)
we are rebuilding our entire home and we rented an apt for $500 in puerto plata. we rented it for 6 months while construction is completed. its ok not fancy but its ok
Not sure whether you need the beach or not...Las Terrenas rarely has power outages because it has a private co but it is very expensive. Our bill was $200/mth.
If you like the mountains and rivers, Jarabacoa is very nice. You can find an apt in town and get internet for $250. Send me a PM if you are interested.
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