| Tips on what to pack for a trip to Dominican Republic, posted by real travelers and Dominican Republic locals. Map |
 | Dominican Republic Packing Lists | Tips 1 - 10 of 68 |  |
 shopping in Dominican Republic by jodssmile
comfy sandals great. Watershoes came in handy. Lots of rocks and sometimes broken glass in water.
Bring any meds you need from home.
Bring your own small alarm clock.
bring camera. Water camera if plans include either tour on beach or snorkeling.Don't buy camera or lotion in DR, 3 times the price and limited selection!
I brought one swimsuit and water shoes. Then a skirt wrap and tank top to put on over suit for tours/lunch by beach. I put suit on iron board under fan at night, dry by morning.
Small flashlight for blackouts, but they only lasted about 5 to 10 minutes at resort, so not a biggie. We left maid coloring books and big box of crayons, most of them have kids.The maids make hardly any cash, so don't forget to tip the hardworking souls!
I also brought small handheld English to Spanish book for shopping since my Spanish stinks.
Bring lots of one US dollar bills for tips.Travelor checks a pain here. Bring US dollars, anyone takes them easily.
Bring pen for airport to fill out tourist card and have in carry-on. No one else has one there and you will wait in line sometimes for a dumb pen.
Book tours online in advance if possible, easier. Leave a Comment
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Most people in the group brought one suitcase and a carry-on bag. Also, a money belt is safer than a purse or fanny pack, since it can't be seen by pickpockets.
Summer clothes - tank tops, t-shirts, shorts, light skirts. Comfortable shoes - sneakers or sandals. A raincoat, plastic poncho, or umbrella in case it rains.
Sunscreen is a must (at least SPF 15). It's extremely hot in the DR, and if you don't wear sunscreen, you'll burn to a crisp. One girl in the group got so badly burnt on her legs that she could barely sit down.
Your own prescriptions, Imodium, Pepto-Bismol, and anything else that can help in case you eat/drink something your body can't handle.
Bug repellent, stop-itch lotion for bug bites, cream to cure bug bites. One of the girls in the group is a pharmacist and she brought a bag full of medicines for us to use. After I got bitten all over by mosquitoes, she gave me a lotion with cortisone in it to reduce the swelling and itchiness.
A normal camera and several rolls of film. If you want to go to the mountains or countryside, these places are great to take pictures with a panoramic camera.
A swimsuit, beach sandals, wrap skirts and shorts, comfortable walking shoes. I must stress the sunscreen.
If you wear glasses or contacts, bring an extra pair, just in case you break or lose your original pair.
It's also a good idea to bring little toys and nick-nacks (like hairclips, crayons, bouncy balls, etc.) for children you might meet. They love things like this, especially since many of them are too poor to afford real toys. Leave a Comment
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 Beach by micas_pt
If you travel with a digital camera, don’t forget to charge batteries or carry extra ones(see tip about energy). Also Gb of available space on cards!
If you haven’t a protection bag for diving with your camera, I also recommend taking one (or more!) of those discardable cameras to shoot in water. I know that photos aren’t of great quality, but better these than none. Leave a Comment
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 Beach at the Resort by micas_pt
I was advised to take my own, since they may be hard to find. The recommendations were - some analgesic (for headache and other pain), something for diarrhea, something to put at bugs' bites (namely mosquitoes) and some kind of stronger medicine for sore throat or cold.
Obviously if you regularly take some medication you should take that into account and not forget to take them – such as allergies.
. Vaccination .
Not required.
. Repellent .
Don't forget to take some spray or stick to keep the mosquitoes away from you. They can be pretty annoying and let you felling itchy.
. Sunscreen .
The sun is very strong, so be sure to take a good sunscreen. Especially if you're going to the sea, you should use a high spf. I used "total protection" when traveling by boat. Leave a Comment
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 Resort by micas_pt
Beware to take natural fabrics (such as cotton or linen) clothes, since they can be fresher than fibers. Don't forget to take a hat if you're planning to travel around or sail.
If you are a "male" and you are staying at an all inclusive resort you will have to wear trousers or kakis (not jeans) at the "a la carte" restaurant. For the buffet restaurant I guess there is no "dressing code". Ladies, relax, virtually everything is allowed.
You should take a light coat since some nights are fresher. I traveled to DR in March and since there was a light breeze at night I felt comfortable with a cotton sweater. Leave a Comment
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 Resort by micas_pt
If you only use a shape adapter (but not energy transformer) your appliances won't break but will work much slowly. I tried to charge the camera batteries and it took much longer than at home. But no harm done, just take in account that it make take more time or work slower than usual. Leave a Comment
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The size of your luggage depends on what you want to take with you :)
Personally, I hate to carry many suitcases, bags etc. I hate to worry if I leave behind something of my luggage... So I always take 1 suitcase with weels and small knapsack as a handy luggage.
I know, sometimes is difficult to decide not to take some things you wish to take, but... well life is a difficult art of making choices... I constantly try to be a master ;) Leave a Comment
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I can't imagine traveling without camera, but I can imagine and I even experienced films' shortage. Of course you can buy some at Dominican Republic but you will probably overpay and never be sure about its quality (the caribbean climate doesn't has a good influence on the quality). Leave a Comment
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 The Biggest Beach Bag
EVER!!! by Firestar24
How do men survive without handbags? I really can't understand it.... I keep trying to convince Jonathan to get one of those cool "over-shoulder" bags that are made for men... but he won't have it.
If you're a woman and plan on visiting the Cathedrals, it's a good idea to have a shawl handy to throw around your shoulders - People don't like to have arms and legs flashing around when they're busy doing their bit.
I also took a pair of jeans and I was really glad of them. They were great for horseriding, quad-biking and shopping in Santo Domingo.
Shampoo, Conditioner, Toothpaste, soap, razors -They all cost a bomb out here.... and don't forget the suntan lotion - factor 1,000,000 or you end up like a lobster (ouch!)
Take a digital camera if you have one... I'm not the world's greatest photographer, but even I usually manage to do better than the pitiful album I came back with! I ended up buying a disposable camera from a tour guide at an inflated price and most of the pictures didn't turn out........ erm..... I'm really, probably not the best person to get travel advice from, huh?! Ah, well.... We live, We learn - As Alanis so rightly sang.
Pack swimming costumes/bikinis (depends how brave you are!) as you would underwear - because you will wear them rather than underwear most of the time... That means p'raps it's better to get cheap ones so that you can wear clean every day. Also something to put over the top... a selection of sarongs? ... just to walk to the bar in.
A travel kettle, coffee, teabags & powdered milk.... we had no tea/coffee facilities in out room and had to haul ourselves to the restaurant pre-caffine for a brew.... v. v. bad! Leave a Comment
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Pack light. You can always buy clothes here :)
* Comfortable shoes
* Sunscreen is a must!
* Light, breathing clothes. A light jacket if you're like me and get cold easily.
* Diarrhea pills
* Seltzer salts
* Any prescription medication you need to take
* Condoms (better safe than sorry)
* Film or memory cards
* Swimming wear
* Sandals/flip flops
* Water shoes if you don't want to get into the ocean barefoot
* Again, sunscreen is a must
* Sunglasses
* Your cell phone charger, if you travel with your cell phone. Be aware that we have 110V contacts with 2 flat pins (like in the US of A) so an adapter might be needed.
* A good book maybe or batteries for your mp3 player
Anything else you can buy here.
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