LAS TERRENAS OR CABARETE

Of course it's a personal taste which is better.

For me, Cabarete is better, not so noisy not so dirty.  The main drag in Las Terranas is dominated by very noisy 4 x 4 bungies & scooters.  Also most of the expats there are French and they seem to rule the roost.

Cabarete is more international, 40 mins from POP airport. Greater choice of real estate at generally better prices.  My advice is don't buy now especially with the pandemic.  DR is struggling and waiting for the new Gov to be sworn in.  I would rent for 6 months and get to know the area and then decide whether to buy or not.

Anyway it's of course up to you.

There are so many things to consider before buying.

Are you clear on what lifestyle you are looking for?  And are you clear in budget for both purchase and living? 

There are many many places to consider here! 

My advice is similar, check out as many places as you can. Rent for a month or two in various places and then look to buy.  Visiting and living are very different. Once you purchase it's very difficult to "change your mind".

Thanks for the sound advice. We are looking for a beach lifestyle and do have a good handle on our budget for purchase and living.
We stayed in an Air B&B during our last stay so we could get a taste for doing our own shopping, groceries and cooking etc..
It is difficult to do the rent in various places formula with the current situation.
We are hoping to get some valuable boots on the ground info from the good people on this forum.

Lived in both locations, much longer in Las Terrenas in 4 locations and for me a Brit it wins hands down for beach lifestyle. It is more European in style although it is gaining popularity with Americans and Canadians. The choice of living locations is vast on numerous differing beaches.

It is also popular with middle class Dominicans and real estate prices reflect its popularity and growth. It is an upcoming growth area.

On the contrary Cabarete is limited to a resort area straggling a main road. Boring unless you are into kite surfing imo with expensive beach restaurants. One small supermarket - Janets.

Las Terrenas is a varied place. A small town, long beach areas, small hotels and restaurants, two good supermarkets and many local outlets selling fresh produce and fresh fish available every day on the beach behind the cemetery.

A nice safe friendly community. Super uncrowded beaches.

The outlying areas of Coson and Bonita are super too. Or you could chose a home in the hills overlooking the coastline. Too much choice and variation.

Best part of DR imo for discerning tourists who don't want to be in too small a place. But not too many please!

Places like Bayahibe/ Dominicus or Luperon or Punta Rucia are excellent too but smaller and you need to be mobile to buy all your needs.

Solid points because I liked Cabarete to visit but not sure I would want to live in.

Las Terranas and Las Galeras are on my bucket list still.

Las Galeras is well worth a visit for a few days. Small and different.

Rather like the small communities south of Barahona.

Offering something different for those seeking the less commercial and away from crowds.

It is not so far from LT so adds value to that destination. As do Samana, El Valle, Limon, its beaches, Sanchez and Parque Haitises and Rincon.

I quite enjoyed my visit to the entire area and it was on my list to visit again  this year. 

It is growing and changing but is still a beautiful area for many.  I have friends living there who love it!

As a weekend getaway, we found LT to be excellent. Far more uncrowded beaches, the restaurants were excellent and even though there are many french speaking expats, the restaurant s generally have one or two that speak english. Coson Playa was by far the nicest, longest and most unpopulated beach I been at - even with many locals arriving around the cook shack, it didn't seem crowded. Met a couple from Belgium - who are likely back there by now as she had to return for a year to get her citizenship - here in the  forum. So a good place to make future contacts wherever you go. One of the best services I found was a beach massage - an hour for $1000 pesos - by excellent masseuse, about 1km north after crossing the creek where the hotel that looks like a ship is. Good luck...

I live in Plantation in peurto plata. its across from Palm Hills going towards puerto plata. before playa dorado. I built a house but there are condos there that are very nice in the 130 range 2 bedroom.

I was googling today and came across the apartment that I rented when working up in Las Terrenas.

https://dreams2realty.net/property/vent … ws-a582lt/

Top LHS apartment.

I was staggered at the high sale price. $2000sm for a 2 bed one bathroom apartment which is suitable for a single man or couple.

Great location across the road to Playa Las Ballenas and just a hundred yards west of Hotel Alisei.

It was being offered at $800 a month rental a few years back.

Rent don't buy has been the advice given by many and you will find better rental deals once you embed yourself in an area. I belive that advice will be even more true in covid19 times

Our plans are to live in the DR for 6 months a year starting in November 2021. that was before the pandemic started. We had looked at real estate in Las Terrenas and have been keeping in touch with a couple of realtors. Prices don't seem to be dropping due to the ongoing crisis as yet.
The long term rental approach is a thought, however it is difficult to feel comfortable without a 6 month rental in place prior to arrival.
Any suggestions for arranging a long term rental in advance ?

Personally I would never sign a long-term, or short-term for that matter, rental contract without first setting foot on the property. Property pictures and descriptions are often misleading or downright incorrect. We just secured a long-term rental in LT; but, only after checking it out in person.

I absolutely agree with you.  So Goinforit,  book yourself a hotel  or Air BnB for a week or two then hit the ground searching for what you want.  Have your two realtors  do some searching for you!  IF they are really interested in help you then they will understand wanting to rent for  6 months first.

Book an AirBnB for your first week or two to give you time to look once you are on the ground!

Here in LT, noise is a huge factor and that will never show up in pictures of properties. We've looked at apartments, homes and land that had everything going for them but the road noise was just too much!

i agree, i live in Puerto Plata in Plantation. A very nice development. That being said everyone has different things that they like and don't like . Like some want to walk to a supermarket or have good separation from neighbors. You definitely want to look at a few place yourself before taking on a 6 month commitment. Im just saying.

absolutely!   You know  too many people think that what they like, everyone should like.

Everyone is different and need to find the place that works for them!   All we can do is give  the good and the bad from our perspectives and then they will  choose!

We have owned a home in Cabarete for 16 yrs. it is much closer to all "city" needs and everything is much more accessible. No hurricanes here in over 100 yrs. Pico Duarte protects us! We love Cabarete and would not even consider LT as a place to live. All of our watersports are local, mountains for hiking, exploring and biking are near and as mentioned above when we need our city fix that is close too. We raised two daughters here and it could not have been a better place for that either. Cabarete all of the way......   
20 minutes from Pop intl airport and an 68 minutes from STGO intl airport if you take the panoramic route and what a beautiful road that is with incredible views, lush greenery, simply breathtaking.       Lots of english speakers in the Cabarete Sosua area. new roads and more.   We are happy to answer any questions you may have about the Northcoast.   Steven & Orchid                                                         
       We are selling our beach house and moving inland to grow our own food but staying in the area.

Awesome you found what works for you!

If you go through a company like Airbnb you can get a huge choice of properties for 6 months rental but the great thing is you are not bound by the 6 months i.e. you can cancel and leave earlier plus you only pay month by month.

I recently got a beautiful villa, 3 beds 3 bathrooms swimming pool etc for 1400$ US per month on the North coast.  Of course there are others who charge more.

In terms of sales, prices generally on the north coast have come down and everything at the moment is very very negotiable.  I recently saw a property on the market for 384,000$ US and eventually sold for 242,000$-it's very much a buyers market.  Whilst people might be building it's a bear market and will continue to be so for many months to come.

Don't get sucked in by comments like property prices are holding up, they are not.  A friend of mine who had live in La Terranas decided to go back to Europe, mainly because of the pandemic but also because after 3 years he found the place very noisy and very dirty.  Having been there many times and rented there I can confirm that.  But then there are people who just love that type scenario.

As Lennox said in a previous post, there are some lovely spots and beaches in Las Terranas, but personally it's not for me.  Good luck

Thanks to all for the great feedback and valuable information and please keep it coming.
We stayed across from Punta Poppy earlier this year and know the noise level from motoconchos can be annoying. However we don't want to purchase a vehicle so being able to walk everywhere is important for us.
RockyM glad to hear you have secured a LT rental in Las Terrenas, can you provide any details ie. location, pricing.
Stevenbow, did you find the proximity to Sosua to be a problem during your stay in Cabarete ?
Planner we will check with our real estate agents on long term rentals as suggested.

goinforit wrote:

RockyM glad to hear you have secured a LT rental in Las Terrenas, can you provide any details ie. location, pricing.

Mrs. RockyM here - We're very close to Residencial Monserrat in the Abra Grande neighborhood. We found a very spacious 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom villa for $750. We saw many places that were cheaper (particularly apartments), but we needed a place that was dog friendly and had room to store our stuff once we ship our container in. Being relatively close to town and quiet were also very important to us. This place also has either a gardener or watchyman on site at all times. The entire property of three villas is surrounded by a wall and has a single gate access point. It definitely feels secure.

Just looking for an update on the situation in Las Terrenas currently.
Are any of the beachside restaurants and bars serving outside or are they only providing delivery and take out.
What precautions are the grocery and liquor stores taking ?

Open air restaurants are open - not all of them though. There are some that have either had to close because they aren't making enough to stay afloat, or they've chosen to stay closed until things are back closer to normal.

We've only eaten at three restaurants since we arrived in July, but we've ordered delivery (through Komida) from at least a dozen. We would like to be eating out more, but just aren't comfortable yet with a lot of places.

The grocery stores are requiring masks, checking temperatures before you can come in, social distancing markers on the floor, extra cleaning, etc. I don't know about the liquor stores - we buy our booze at the grocery store! Lindo delivers for free, and we do that about once a week, just running into the store to pick up perishables in between deliveries.

We've only been to Pola a couple of times and I'm just not comfortable there! It's way too crowded and I felt like customers there weren't as respectful of distancing.

Is Komida an app you can load on your phone, like uber eats etc. ?
Do you need to speak Spanish to use the service?

Yes, Komida is an app available at the App Store (Apple) or wherever you get your apps. You do not need to know Spanish. The menus are available on the app for each restaurant. You just need to provide a delivery address.  Note that payment is in cash when the driver delivers your delicious lunch/dinner. They also deliver booze from the local liquor store and a few other things as I recall.

Hi!

I visited Cabarete twice this year and I fell in love with the town. I am considering to buy a condo in Royal Residence, the building next to Ocean One. I cant move there quiet yet, but maybe in the future?
Do you think this is a good idea?
I appreciate any advice.
Thank you,

Alex

Could you please tell me how much you are selling your beach house for in Cabrete? We are looking been here two years renting now is time to buy . Thank you

Bettyboopy wrote:

Could you please tell me how much you are selling your beach house for in Cabrete? We are looking been here two years renting now is time to buy . Thank you

I'm guessing that question is for @Stevenbow? If so, you might want to try reaching him by PM. His post that he was selling it was made in August of 2020 and he hasn't been on the forum in a number of months.

@Stevenbow Dear Steven,

How best do you suggest I find a place to stay in Cabarete. I am planning a trip with my 14 year old son. Most likely may spend a month. Also considering on doing the 6 month Canada, 6 month D.R. retirement thing. I spent 2 months in Samana 5 years ago and put my trust into the wrong person who was tasked with finding my family a place to stay as well as a location based on details I provided. To make a long story short, he was not trustworthy and ended up not delivering on his promises. Oh well....

This time around I hoping for better luck. Any suggestions?

David Van Leeuwen

Ottawa On. Canada

[link moderated]

@ddmcghee Thank you for your reply. If someone else could help me, it would be most appreciated.