*Welcome to Las Terrenas, Samana in the Dominican Republic! Let’s discover why everyone is moving to this wonderful place.*

We visited Las Terrenas, Samana in the Dominican Republic. This wonderful place has become so popular in the last couple of years. We visited the amazing beaches in this town from Playa Bonita to Playa Las Ballenas. You can enjoy different water activities like surfing and kiteboarding. In this blog, we will try to give as much information as possible about the town, such as real estate prices and transportation options, and many more things.

The Beaches

We came to Las Terrenas to stay for a few weeks and we absolutely loved it. The beaches here are divine. We visited a beach called Playa Bonita which was wonderful. It is a surfing beach where you find waves and you can swim at different points along the beach. You will notice many surfers around having a blast. The water was refreshing and not very cold. It is perfect for a hot day. Way over the beach you can see some homes and rentals. Also, we found a river that merges with the ocean. It is absolutely gorgeous. Overall, the beach is very calming and paradisal.

Quad bikes (ATVs) are a great way to get around Las Terrenas

Transportation

One of the best things about Las Terranes is that you can get an ATV to get around the town. It is a super unique thing. The absolute best thing about renting an ATV is that you can drive off-road on beach paths and walk right down straight to the beach. In Las Terrenas, nobody wears helmets which is obviously not safe. However, it just doesn’t seem to be an option. That is why we have to drive extra safely. The cost of renting an ATV depends if it is a smaller or bigger size. For one day, it is typically around $50 USD, but in our case, it was below $40 as we rented it for a couple of weeks. In the Dominican Republic, you can always negotiate. If you decide to live here, we recommend that you purchase one of these since it makes getting around much easier. You can also rent buggies, golf carts, motor bikes and of course cars.

*We found Canadian Poutine in Las Terrenas*

Food and Restaurants

We came to a parking lot area where there are a few food trucks. In Las Terrenas you can find a wide range of different types of foods from different restaurants such as Dominican, Italian, and French. You will find a lot of French and Italian bakeries and cafes around. At the food truck we chose to order two types of poutine. The first is a classic one that has cheese curds, french fries, and gravy. The other creative one had french fries, onion, hot dogs, cheese curds, and gravy. The addition of a hot dog adds a little bit of smokiness and protein to the poutine. The gravy and onion go great together and the cheese curds are super squeaky. The classic poutine was also super delicious.

Real Estate & Rentals

If you are looking to purchase a property in Las Terrenas, we are not real estate agents. You can easily find real estate agents online or in person. However, we can say based on our research that you can find loads of condos and villas for sale. We’re told that the prices have gone up significantly over the last couple of years but it still seems very well priced. While searching online we found some condos that were already built starting from $100,000 (USD) and going up from there. You can likely expect to pay about $150K + for a one bedroom going up to $25oK + for two bedrooms. There are also some pre-constructions even cheaper than that. The villa prices start around $250K but that is not for the ones on the beach. Of course the closer you are to the beach the more expensive it will get.

Don’t forget your travel insurance:

We never travel without travel insurance and in recent years we’ve come to rely on SafetyWing exclusively. It’s extremely well priced, easy to set up and is great for both long term and short term travel. If you’re travelling for longer periods or visiting the Dominican Republic for a few months it will auto-renew each month (until you turn it off), meaning you can rest assured. you’ll be insured without having to remember to purchase it each month.

European vibes in the Caribbean

We recently discovered this location in Las Terrenas which looks a lot like Spain. This place is the epitome of a Spanish courtyard. However, this is not a historic building, we read that t's only about 15 years old. However, it definitely feels historical. We came to a happy hour place called the Garage Bar that we wanted to check out. Since we are in a Spanish-style courtyard we figured a Spanish-inspired drink is absolutely perfect. We ordered Sangria which was really good. Also, we ordered a Cuba Libre which is rum and coke. It is a very popular drink in the Dominican Republic.

The “cruise ship” hotel and plaza in Las Terrenas

Las Terrenas is Changing

We have met some people that have been here for five or ten years and they started to talk about changes in this place. In recent years, people wonder if this change is for the better or for worse. There is a lot of development happening in this small little town. There's a lot of new construction starting and the place is getting so popular, But people around are having mixed feelings about it. Some do not approve of the change saying that it is not good that the place is getting so popular. While some others say it is prosperous that a lot of people are coming. One of the main concerns has to do with infrastructure, water, electricity, and too much traffic. We have found a lot of Americans, Canadians, and a ton of Europeans are moving here.