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Our First Days in the Dominican Republic: Cruising, Exploring, and Local Life | Ep 76 #svaguaazul
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Jun 21, 2025
Join us on our journey as we arrive and explore the Dominican Republic, starting with Luperon From setting up mooring and checking in to discovering local pizza joints and hiking trails, we share our first-hand experience living aboard and enjoying island life. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction & Arrival in DR 2:15 Mooring Fees & Check-in Process 6:30 Exploring the Marina & Local Food 10:45 Walking Trails & Looperon Nature 15:00 Budget Grocery Shopping 19:30 Challenges: Language & Stray Dogs 22:45 Plans for Future Adventures Subscribe for more sailing and travel adventures from the Caribbean. Blog Post: https://www.chrisdoeswhat.com/dominican-republic-sailing-luperon/ Get content early by becoming our YouTube member https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=UUMOZBmn0CZW578hpt4ImB3CRA Follow our boat on NOFOREIGNLAND: https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/5694391589011456
View Video Transcript
0:00
[Music]
0:00
okay guys This is our second day in the
0:03
DR Got showers Dave we've been here for
0:07
less than 24 hours We've been here for
0:09
less than 24 hours but this is the the
0:11
next day We slept took showers Uh Pablo
0:15
Oh yeah That was so salty Pablo came
0:17
down and uh guys hooked up a moing for
0:20
$75 a month Right over there Yeah back
0:23
there And we're turning again And uh
0:26
Yeah And the uh courtesy flag was $10
0:31
but we got to get checked in before we
0:32
can
0:34
45 Oh yeah Oh they seriously Yeah And
0:38
the light And the morings in the Bahamas
0:41
were $35 a day Yeah So yeah this is
0:46
night and day difference 75 a month Oh
0:48
my gosh That's like two days in the
0:50
Bahamas I mean but you're you're looking
0:52
at two different types of I mean this is
0:54
like a whole different world over here
0:56
This is not even
0:58
apples and oranges but we're ready to
1:00
explore Looks like Jurassic Park out
1:03
here
1:04
Smells so good too Oh yeah it does But
1:07
we're going to get checked in and uh uh
1:10
yeah have our first beer and ship
1:12
[Music]
1:14
So this is uh the pier you come into and
1:16
you wrap around and here's where the
1:18
kings land
1:20
Uh the further one is where the uh we go
1:24
This is the fisherman on this one
1:27
Okay here's the trash It smells
1:31
and we're going to continue walking this
1:33
way to a ATM
1:36
There's my babe
1:40
We're all checked into uh the GR You go
1:43
that building then that building then
1:47
agriculture
1:48
then back to that building and then you
1:50
have to go all the way up to to the Navy
1:53
and get your which is quite a few stairs
1:56
Yeah the last stairs So but we done it
2:00
We're here and now we're going back to
2:02
the boat
2:04
Long process Long process Our puppy Just
2:07
give yourself about 3 4 hours and you'll
2:10
be done
2:11
And it's a mix of cash and credit Yeah
2:16
So you have to you have to have both I
2:20
think immigration is is credit Yeah
2:23
Immigration is credit and everywhere
2:24
else is is cash
2:27
But we're done
2:29
We're here
2:32
Yep
2:34
And this is what the dinghyd dock looks
2:36
like
2:38
So it's not it's actually looks like
2:41
brand new dinghyd dock
2:45
Ready to check in I mean ready to prep
2:47
our flag
2:50
Second one of our boat
2:53
So we now have our flag up there
2:57
Now I have to clean up the boat
3:00
Are they going to hit us babe
3:04
They're moving uh this boat with these
3:07
dingies
3:10
and it was like on a ramming course with
3:12
us
3:17
This is only in the DR
3:21
bro It's not
3:28
first night our first day in the DR and
3:31
we're gonna get crushed by Miss Felus
3:33
over here
3:37
That's a that's a heck of a boat right
3:39
there
3:41
The guy probably needs to be repowered I
3:43
don't think dingy power is working for
3:45
it but yeah
3:47
Yeah they're probably going to go put it
3:49
right over there There's an empty space
3:51
at the dinghy nowhere Oh yeah Swear to
3:54
God
4:00
I'm getting some selfies up there and
4:02
stuff
4:04
I don't know what he's doing Is he
4:05
making a Tik Tok maybe
4:11
Okay we're at Da France here in uh the
4:14
DR My babe she's got her her little beer
4:18
Her little beer That's the presidente
4:22
And uh the the presentation here is
4:24
awesome
4:26
But uh this is a pizza joint
4:30
But you can find beer everywhere Oh yeah
4:32
And liquor actually Oh yeah
4:36
And here's all the specials you can get
4:38
here Looking pretty good
4:42
Okay guys pizza came out Oh my gosh
4:45
That's exactly what we Oh look at that
4:47
pine That's a lot of pineapple on that
4:49
thing
4:54
That's exactly what we wanted And that's
4:56
big It is It's like 10 bucks
5:00
Heck yeah man
5:03
Okay guys This is the place where the
5:05
pizza came from Oh it's good
5:11
thing But yeah y'all if you get a chance
5:14
come check it out The pizza's uh awesome
5:17
The beer's awesome The ambience the
5:20
motorcycles are bit loud but Wow that's
5:24
probably gonna be everywhere Dr
5:27
Okay guys We're looking for a abandoned
5:30
resort
5:31
[Music]
5:33
too Here
5:36
uh yeah driving us nuts
5:41
Yeah we just came from that way over
5:43
there
5:45
I want to check that out do like
5:47
electric car over there Sorry Decker
5:50
It's still loud
5:53
Beach over there But yeah
5:56
the DR actually we're having a great
6:00
time out here Just go over here so I can
6:02
get both of us in here Yeah we're This
6:05
is different Yeah it's different
6:08
But we haven't even begun to explore
6:10
because we're going to start taking some
6:11
trips and people are saying we need to
6:14
do that um waterfall thingy Yeah So
6:17
we're going to have to figure that one
6:18
out Do that We want to go up in in some
6:20
of these high mountains too
6:23
And uh have to rent a car for that Yeah
6:25
we are But we really want to explore
6:27
around here But right now we're just
6:29
going to find this abandoned resort that
6:32
all the YouTubers show in their videos
6:35
Well mainland's cuz we're taking her for
6:37
a walk cuz we can't take her into town
6:39
There's too many straight dogs Yeah
6:41
there are a lot of straight dogs
6:44
But yeah
6:47
but look out here This looks just like a
6:49
lake Look at that mountain line over
6:52
there
6:54
My wife says this reminds me of when her
6:56
dad took her out on the boat out there
6:58
in Washington State where I grew up
7:01
Yeah Exactly like that But I haven't
7:04
seen mountains in so long But in Florida
7:07
there's no mountains Yeah But yeah that
7:10
is that's just amazing Let's do here
7:15
Yeah that mountain ridge
7:17
Wow
7:20
I still haven't seen that resort I don't
7:23
think it's over there I think it may be
7:24
around this corner here Maybe we'll find
7:28
it
7:30
That's a That's a ridge line over there
7:38
Okay we've explored the whole lake area
7:42
freaking my babe out Water's a little
7:44
shallow here And then we saw something
7:46
like I don't know It's drenching up mud
7:49
from down there And I'm like I don't
7:51
know what that is but I want no part of
7:54
it
7:57
So we're going to go back and I'm
7:59
guessing we're going to go to that
8:00
little beach over there but I'll show
8:01
you where we are now The beach is all
8:04
the way over there
8:07
And we made it all the way to the end
8:10
And there's no abandoned
8:13
anything out here
8:15
[Music]
8:18
This is out So looks like Yeah Oh yeah
8:23
Yeah Yeah that's it right there So I got
8:29
completely turned around
8:32
So right there is the entrance to
8:34
Looperon
8:37
And there is Looper on
8:42
And these these mountains and stuff is
8:44
what serves as protection
8:48
[Music]
8:54
So out here the water looks the same
8:57
clarity as Abacose
9:00
but uh it's just when you get in there
9:05
it's a lot of growth on the bottom that
9:08
makes it so cloudy
9:12
She's got cattle over here
9:16
She hasn't
9:21
Have you ever seen a cow I don't want to
9:23
break No
9:27
Yep
9:31
Okay guys So just from the beach there's
9:33
this little road that goes up here
9:36
and uh it's a very white sand beach Hey
9:41
stop taking rocks at me And there's our
9:46
She started digging
9:50
What's down there
9:54
It's a flag down there
9:58
But uh I don't speak Spanish so
10:06
down here And check it out But yeah
10:09
we're not very far from where we came
10:10
out of
10:13
Okay
10:16
The flag must been here from colonial
10:18
times
10:20
19th of June 2015
10:24
I can understand that
10:27
Yeah Annual year Yeah A year
10:31
So this is pretty recent
10:35
What is it for I don't know I'm sure uh
10:39
if we could translate that it would tell
10:42
us what this is for
10:45
But there's there's the beach we came
10:49
off of
10:56
Yeah Symbolizes uh
11:00
hydronis
11:02
by kalina ulition
11:06
Okay
11:08
Yeah 1949
11:14
Yeah So I I can sit here and I can
11:16
eventually translate this Dominica
11:20
discover Yeah So yeah
11:24
AR or maybe this area cuz I know it was
11:28
Christopher Columbus that settled here
11:31
and uh yeah he uh basically
11:36
he sheltered from uh sheltered from a
11:41
storm
11:42
and uh it was named something like Safe
11:45
Harbor then and then it turned to Blanco
11:48
and now it is uh Um Lupron So but it
11:54
still says Blanco Harbor What Cuban Cuba
11:59
Yeah
12:02
I guess that would be
12:06
But yeah so yeah there's a lot of
12:08
history here and uh George is too uh not
12:13
bilingual enough to understand it all We
12:15
understood a few words Maybe we'll
12:18
understand But they say that Dr.'s Um
12:21
Spanish is very fast very hard to pick
12:24
up Yeah And even if we learn Spanish
12:27
they might not understand us Ah there's
12:30
a bean Of course not I have to speak
12:31
with the southern draw
12:34
I was just thinking our son and his uh
12:37
the Jeep we restored together Oh he'd
12:40
have a great time out here with that Oh
12:42
yeah Oh my gosh
12:46
Just all kinds We were just back there
12:48
and there's little trails going off on
12:50
both directions
12:53
But imagine when it rains though This is
12:56
a mud place Oh definitely
13:00
But uh it's actually uh pretty smells
13:03
good It's pretty rocky so I imagine it
13:06
uh it doesn't uh wash out cuz it feels
13:11
like solid rock under our feet Oh yeah
13:16
I ain't going to touch any No them are
13:19
like coral and orange color flowers
13:27
But yeah there's another trail goes off
13:29
back over there Brandon if you're
13:32
watching this this will be your paradise
13:37
Can't imagine how much it would cost
13:40
over here
13:42
Okay So we're going to turn around
13:44
because it's getting high noon and our
13:46
dog sounds like she's going to die She
13:48
does And she won't drink any water
13:52
So she has lost weight though Yes she
13:55
has She got really fat Yeah we put her
13:57
on a diet We're actually giving her the
14:00
uh appropriate amount of dog food Yeah
14:02
we were overfeeding her not realizing it
14:04
cuz we were too busy with the boat So
14:06
every time she ped out her her little
14:09
dish we were like "Oh she's hungry." We
14:11
fill it up Oh she's hungry And realizing
14:15
when we were in Cocoa Village and we
14:16
took her for a walk she couldn't even
14:18
handle one minute
14:20
She sounded like this
14:24
Yeah But now she's a lot healthier
14:29
That's one thing I can say about the DR
14:32
It is so green Yeah
14:36
reminds me
14:39
Well
14:40
some of these bushes aren't really that
14:42
much different from what I've seen in
14:43
the United States No it kind of reminds
14:45
me of uh East Texas when in rainy season
14:50
Yeah
14:53
Or Florida in rainy season
14:58
So we took one of them side trails and
15:02
Yeah
15:04
Crap crab Some kind of crab I don't know
15:06
what kind of animal
15:09
but it sounds You can just hear the
15:11
waves It must be really close
15:19
I don't know what it is
15:22
There's a There was a bonfire over here
15:28
Somebody's house I don't know Yeah
15:36
It's opening up We're seeing water
15:40
Oh yeah But I'm hearing the ocean so
15:44
it's like over there somewhere
15:48
Thought I saw something
15:52
freaked out We haven't been around
15:53
nature in a while
15:56
My god the bug
16:00
Yeah this is I think this wrapped around
16:03
to where though we were
16:08
that is just Why is there waves coming
16:10
in here Is it getting wavy out there
16:14
No we're just further in Belly you're
16:16
going to wrap me up But yeah
16:22
Oh that's what we're hearing Yes
16:27
in the ocean like a million times in the
16:29
last three months
16:31
Kind of cool to see it from land Yeah
16:34
And look at it and know that see all the
16:37
waves that your boat's not on it
16:41
Somebody's dirt bike is right here too
16:45
Oh my god
16:49
Somebody over here I don't know I don't
16:51
see anybody
16:57
probably
16:59
Okay so
17:03
looks like
17:09
this looks like a tire table
17:26
Yeah you can see how shallow this
17:28
entrance is in some spots though
17:33
So when we're coming in that's why you
17:35
have to snake around so so well
17:41
You need some water Yes she needs water
17:44
We're going to see if this road walks uh
17:46
goes all the way around to where our
17:48
dinghy is
17:50
That'd be nice
17:52
A random motorcycle
17:55
I mean are they hiding in the bank or
17:58
something Maybe it's a stolen
18:02
So if you come to Looperon
18:04
there's plenty of places to get away
18:06
from the city dogs to wear out your dog
18:09
so you can do things Leave your dog on
18:12
the boat while she's all tired I know
18:14
Thorny tree
18:16
She's been driving us nuts and every
18:18
time we leave the boat she acts like
18:22
she's hyperventilating when we get back
18:24
So now we're tiring her out cuz we have
18:26
to go to town to get some groceries Oh
18:28
yeah And she can't come No Way too many
18:31
dogs But yeah definitely going to uh
18:34
share that experience on how much
18:37
groceries cost We're still getting used
18:39
to the conversion rate I think it's
18:41
right now what 58
18:43
60 60 to $1 Mhm So yeah So our actually
18:49
our mooring is like coming out to be 60
18:53
something dollars right now So for the
18:56
month Not bad
19:01
And the trail is uh closing up on us
19:05
But if they uh all that industry starts
19:08
moving to DR Oh yeah things are going to
19:12
get more expensive They say there's
19:13
going to be a lot more uh mining Good
19:16
for Dr But yeah bad for Americans who
19:19
actually came here to live cheaply
19:24
I can't say as hot as it it is here it
19:28
still feels cool cuz I've you know I'm
19:31
sweating a little bit but I'm not
19:34
burning up hot like in Texas Wow there's
19:37
a wind Yeah
19:39
it feels really good But we're back to
19:41
where our dinghy is Hopefully it's snow
19:45
Oh we didn't I just tied it to a branch
19:48
Got my phone I'd have to call Papa
19:51
Hey come rescue us Our sto
19:55
Let's see We're going over over this Oh
19:59
yeah We can get back to our boat And the
20:02
And the outboard's doing it too It's
20:05
always good Nobody wants that outward
20:06
anyway
20:08
I'm sure they went I saw a lot of 2.5s
20:10
here
20:13
But yeah this is uh in Looperon
20:16
And I'll meant that trash that's
20:18
floating out there I think that's tied
20:19
there I think that's marking something
20:22
But uh yeah it's pretty clear the water
20:28
We're going to go back in our anchorage
20:29
and uh we're going to go to this other
20:32
lane over here See what's uh happening
20:34
over there should be tucked in right
20:37
over there somewhere
20:41
Oh you want to
20:44
go tired
20:46
Yeah
20:48
I don't feel like we're whining while
20:50
we're trying to trying to get like some
20:52
sort of membership or something So you
20:55
can like do laundry and there's other
20:57
stuff you can do there Yeah we're going
21:00
to check it out and see what amenities
21:02
they offer to people on
21:04
Okay So we found the the
21:10
Yeah this is actually pretty nice This
21:12
is probably where we're going to start
21:15
coming in at
21:19
We were wondering where all the parts
21:21
They're over here
21:25
But yeah the main dock right there
21:31
So we're at the other marina and this is
21:33
where you can rent little boats
21:36
little uh glass bomb boats
21:41
and uh yeah
21:44
that's where you can park your car and
21:45
stuff
21:48
Oh wow That was freaky Look at this
21:54
Yeah Oh I thought she's going to step
21:56
into some water
22:00
Okay Hey me and my babe we're at the Las
22:02
Vegas Hotel
22:05
restaurant and marina And uh it's got
22:07
that resort kind of vibe to it But uh it
22:11
does Yeah it's pretty nice
22:15
And of course the presidente but uh you
22:20
But yeah just look at this I don't know
22:22
how choppy that looked but
22:25
yeah And then they have a pool and you
22:27
have the uh the day of language in the
22:30
background So but the bartender did
22:32
speak uh flu English So it really helped
22:35
out there
22:37
Yeah we actually are supposed to be
22:38
grocery shopping right now We probably
22:40
have a few We're going to go grocery
22:42
shopping Yeah we have to get some food
22:44
and some veggies My wife says she Oh my
22:47
gosh We're We've been out of vegetables
22:49
for about two weeks She needs veggies in
22:52
her life I I need I need some vegetables
23:01
They move a lot more
23:05
Uh
23:07
okay guys We went grocery shopping We
23:10
spent Yeah we went little grocery
23:12
shopping We only spent uh $25
23:16
And look at them eggs All this All those
23:21
all the eggs A 30 pack eggs
23:27
Big bunch of bananas Oh yeah
23:31
Um
23:33
these are uh I think these are called
23:35
hatch chilis maybe Yes I think they are
23:37
They're not spicy so I'm going to use
23:38
them as bell peppers
23:40
Four of those
23:44
Four of these 85 cents I mean 85 uh
23:48
pesos potatoes which is like a 120 Yeah
23:52
$120
23:57
Here comes the expensive stuff Cabbage
24:01
onions
24:05
potatoes I think that's it That's it for
24:09
about about $25 $25 But hummus
24:15
about 100 Yeah Well you could the eggs
24:18
30 pack of eggs So you know like three
24:21
bucks Yeah that's $3
24:24
Yeah So we're good for a little bit We
24:27
still got meat in here We're not going
24:28
to meat grocery shop yet because we need
24:30
to defrost our freezer But I can't wait
24:32
to show you what the meat costs cuz Oh
24:33
it was Oh good Oh T-bone is
24:38
there's a meat market So T-Bone is a
24:40
dollar I mean it's 175 pesos
24:44
per pound
24:47
which equals to be about um
24:50
like $4 a pound Yeah $3 Three something
24:54
$4 a pound Yeah Which um I've never seen
24:58
T-bone that cheap So that's sad Oh Oh we
25:03
did get one other thing I forgot about
25:05
it I look in there Soy sauce Soy sauce I
25:08
was running out I was shocked that I
25:09
actually found it
25:11
Yeah So yeah Good to go Good to go
25:33
[Music]
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