Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Las Terrenas boasts warm golden sands and sparkling sea
Dear Reader,
Take a small Caribbean fishing village with beautiful beaches and lots of local flavor...add in a sizeable group of Italian and French expats with a taste for interior design and gourmet food, and what do you get? Las Terrenas in the Dominican Republic. (For a map, click here).
Las Terrenas sits on the north side of the Samana peninsula, a narrow finger of land on the island's east coast. Of all the locations I scouted in the Dominican Republic, Las Terrenas offered the best combination of beautiful beaches, a small-town feel, chic style, and relatively affordable property.
Thirty years ago, Las Terrenas was a rustic fishing village. Twenty-two years ago, the town didn't have an electricity supply. But an influx of tourists, and 6,000 French and Italians who loved this place so much they decided to settle here and start businesses, changed the face of the town. The packed sand street running alongside the beach still gives a hint to the town's humble roots, although even this is set for paving.
Today, the town center is a whirl of motoconchos (motorcycle taxis; they add extra foot pegs, and will take almost any number of passengers and cargo), stores and cafes painted in rainbow-bright colors, and street vendors selling fruit, vegetables, fish, and juice drinks.
Don't let the simple exterior fool you...inside, you'll find gourmet food...
The original old wooden homes sitting on the beach are now trendy cafes and restaurants. They're small, and family-run, with an eclectic mix of decor, serving wood-fired pizza, and simple snacks, right up to gourmet Italian and French food. You can even dine on a covered outdoor deck on the sand...with good food and fine wine, subtle lighting, soft music, and the ocean a few steps away.
New hotels and businesses have sprung up too, along with art galleries, a hammam (a Turkish sauna) a French bakery, and an Italian deli, along with a supermarket stocking champagne, pate, and imported cheeses.
The pace of development caught the town by surprise. The cemetery, originally located on the edge of town, is now smack in the center. Plans to move it caused an uproar...so they reached a compromise. The cemetery is still in the town center...but you won't know unless someone tells you: a wall, painted with a colorful mural, hides it.
The cemetery gives you an insight into development in Las Terrenas. The newcomers liked the original fishing village, and the locals. So they did their best to maintain the character of the original setting, by simply adding the final polish.
Other than a dive school and taxi kiosk, the far end of the beach boasts nothing more than a pristine stretch of golden sand, curving around the aquamarine sea. The laid-back beach lifestyle seeps its way slowly into your veins; it's easy to see why so many French and Italians heard the siren call of expat life here.
This isn't all-inclusive resort territory, and thanks to strict planning laws (including one pegging maximum building height to the height of coconut palms), it should stay that way. The beach hotels are small and family-run rather than sprawling, faceless chains. Most are three storey, run as apart-hotels--we got a good-sized bedroom and bathroom, a spacious kitchen/dining room, and a large outside balcony overlooking the beach. The apart-hotel model works well for local businesses, as visitors shop in local stores and eat at local restaurants, bringing in revenue; unlike all-inclusive package deals, where guests rarely leave their hotel.
Las Terrenas is popular with Europeans, and independent travelers. A new highway connecting the Samana peninsula with Santo Domingo makes Las Terrenas easier to get to from the capital's airport, as well as a viable weekend and vacation spot for Dominicans. It takes around 2 hours to drive here from the capital. But the last part of the journey, getting to the town itself, is the trickiest part of the trip.
It involves a steep climb into the hills, on a curving, narrow road. The sheer drops lend themselves to panoramic, stunning views across Samana Bay and the peninsula on clear days. The road isn't in top shape, though, with potholes and rough spots. It makes a bumpy ride on a dry day. In the dark or in heavy rain, it's not comfortable at all (lack of barriers around those sheer drops doesn't help). It also slows the journey here down, taking at least 45 minutes to cover 19 km.
Happily, a new road under construction (and almost complete) cuts out the precipitous mountain route, and will cut this final part of the journey to 15 minutes. That should bring more tourists here. It also places Las Terrenas only 20 minutes from the international airport at El Catey. The airport currently receives direct flights from Canada, the UK and the US; arrival numbers are growing steadily since the airport opened in 2006.
The beaches around Las Terrenas are postcard-perfect
The beach areas around Las Terrenas are some of the most pristine in the Dominican Republic. Playa Popy, on the east side, attracts kite and wind surfers. A few miles west of the town, Playa Bonita's soft sand beach wraps around a bay, lined with palm trees. A rocky outcrop pierces the shallow clear waters close to shore. Divers and snorkelers head to Isla Las Ballenas, which has an underwater wreck, an underwater cave, and coral flats.
Surfers head to Playa Coson, west of Playa Bonita. Playa Coson is postcard material: pristine white sand flowing into the distance, clear Caribbean water, coconut palms...and lunch options, too: a seafood barbeque on the sand, or an upscale restaurant. The upscale restaurant is part of Peninsula House, set back in the hills; it's the island's finest hotel. Filled with fine art and antiques, surrounded by landscaped gardens, the Victorian plantation-style property commands rates of $730 a night. Unsurprisingly, Luxury Living magazine voted Playa Coson one of their top 10 "Beaches to live on in Paradise" in March this year. With the new road finished, Playa Coson will be 15 minutes from El Catey airport.
Properties currently on the market include a three-bed, three-bath home, with an additional one-bed, one-bath guesthouse, in a small development. It comes with a deck and pool, and is a short walk to the beach, restaurants and cafes. It's on the market for $255,000.
A new condo, in a beachfront development, costs $220,000. For that, you get 99 square meters (1065 square feet), two beds and two baths.
Finally, a home that could grace the front cover of a glossy magazine, with a beautiful pool area. The 6-bed, 6-bath ocean-view house carries a price tag of $1.1m...but it is a dream property.
There isn't a huge amount of inventory on the market in Las Terrenas right now. Tightened planning laws have created a backlog of 20-25 developments waiting for final approval in the area. Some of these look interesting. I'm staying in touch with contacts on the ground, and will bring you those that make sense. If you'd like more information on properties in Las Terrenas, contact Toni Green here.
Margaret Summerfield
Posted Under:
beachfront, dominican republic
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