A guide for first-time visitors
First Time Traveling to the Dominican Republic?
Whether you’re landing at SDQ next month or your suitcase is already full of gifts for family you’ve never met — this site walks you through the trip the way a friend would.
Built by an American learning the Dominican Republic one family visit at a time.
Find your street
Four kinds of help, depending on the question you arrived with.
Every visitor shows up carrying a different worry. Pick the one that sounds like yours.
“How do I actually do this?”
Plan Your Trip
The e-ticket, the airport, your phone, and getting from SDQ — the paperwork and the landing, step by step, so nothing surprises you.
Start planning →“Where are they taking me?”
Things to Do
Half your days get announced over breakfast by a cousin with car keys. The beaches, the Zona, the mall day — know what you’re walking into.
See the guides →“What will it be like?”
Visiting Family
Traveling with kids, sending money, where to stay when the house is full — the human side of a trip that isn’t a vacation.
Get ready →“What does it all mean?”
Beyond the Airport
Essays about the porch, the colmado, and the neighborhood — what an American slowly learns when the trip is about people, not places.
Read the essays →Latest from the site
How Days Actually Happen in the DR
“Get dressed, we’re going.” A first-timer’s map for the planned days and the open Tuesdays.
BeachesBoca Chica or Juan Dolio?
The lively bay or its quiet cousin twenty minutes east — settled in five minutes.
Beyond the AirportYou’re Visiting the Neighborhood Too
The family you came to see is only part of the story. The invisible infrastructure is the rest.
I got my passport because I fell in love. Everything on this site is what I’ve learned since — most of it from my wife, who grew up in Yamasá and makes sure I get it right.
Keith and his wife, the inspiration for this site · helping people figure things out since 2007 · More about this site →