From Wikitravel

Sosua is located in the Puerto Plata province of the Dominican Republic. German Jews settle this little pueblo in the early 1940s. Many streets are named for Ashkenazic Jews.

[edit] Get in

Puerto Plata International Airport is actually much closer to Sosua than it is to Puerto Plata, at about 7 Km away. The taxi fare from the airport is fixed at $20US with little to no room for negotiation when coming from the airport.

Caribe Tours busses get to you Sosua from Santo Domingo in about 5 hours. It takes this long cause it stops along the way in all the major cities and towns (about 5 Stops). Buses are comfortable super modern, air conditioned with Movies and Restroom. Cost is about RD$280 pesos (as of January, 2008) for the one way ticket. Sosua is a last stop on the Santo Domingo - Sosua route. The Caribe Tours bus station is along the main highway just at the entrance to the Charamicos section of town. Buses currently (1/08) leave every hour on the :20's, beginning at 5:20 am.

[edit] Get around

The town is relatively small, You can walk around it all. You can also get around using the motoconcho, where you are basically hitching a ride on the back of someone's motorcycle. The price within the El Batey area of Sosua is 20 pesos in the daytime and 30 pesos at night, though you will certainly be quoted more if you ask them firsthand. Simply hand the driver your 20 pesos at the end of your ride and walk away. The motoconcho drivers are everywhere and will actively solicit you for a ride.

The cheapest way to move between Sosua and the surrounding cities and towns of Puerto Plata, Cabarete and Rio San Juan, as well as the tourist resorts in between, is by guagua (Caribbean Spanish slang for bus), which are small mini-vans operating on the main highway between Puerto Plata and Rio San Juan. At peak hours they pass every five or ten minutes. Short distances (i.e., Sosua to Cabarete) should cost no more than twenty pesos to Cabarete, to 30 pesos to Puerto Plata. They will pack in up to twenty-five people per mini-van (this is not an exaggeration!), with passengers almost in each other's laps. Watch your wallet! You may even have someone's cage of roosters deposited on you lap. Then the merengue starts up on the radio and half the passengers pitch in, singing from memory.

Tourist taxis are plentiful but expensive when compared to the other modes of transportation in Sosua. As of June 2007, tourist taxi from Caribe Tours bus station to El Batey run 150 pesos. A taxi from Sosua to Puerto Plata airport will charge about $20US but you might be able to get away with $15US. You will pay about $10US from Sosua to Cabarete but this is a complete ripoff when the guagua runs through town and charges 20 pesos (about 0.60 US at the time of thie writing) per person.

[edit][add listing] See

There is a fun, colorful and lively beach which is approximately one kilometer long, with a row of shacks along the back, selling food, drinks and souvenirs. At one end of the beach is the El Batey neighborhood, which was founded by a community of about 600 Jews exiled here from Eastern Europe during WWII. It contains the small synogogue, still occasionally used by Jews from the surrounding communities, as well as a small museum documenting the history of the Jewish community in Sosua, both set in a tidy tropical green lawn adjacent to Casa Marina Resort. The synogogue has services on Friday evenings about once per month - check with the museum whether there are services the week you are there. Batey no longer has an active Jewish community and is currently the tourist section of town, containing several all-inclusive resorts, as well as a number of smaller hotels and guest houses.

At the other end of the beach is Los Charamicos, which is the local's neighborhood and somewhat more run-down and lively than Batey. For an authentic cockfighting experience go to Club Gallistico, in Charamicos. It is along one of the main streets but you will have to ask for directions. Cockfights are on Saturday afternoons and sometimes on other days of the week. It is best not to venture alone into the alleyways of Charamicos as they are unsafe. The main streets should be OK.

The beach is very popular and excellent for the snorkeling enthusiast. A beach chair rental should cost about RD$60. Refuse to pay any more. Equipment can also be rented there. There are lots of gift shops where you will be quoted absolutely laughable prices. (60 dollars for T-shirts, 50 dollar tote bags 150-200 dollars for some cheap Haitian paintings.) Your bargaining skills will be needed. Tip: whatever they ask you, cut it at least in half, e.g., RD$500 pesos, you tell them RD$250.00 and start the process. You can probably even start at way below RD$250. You will come out ahead this way. My experience is that the target price for which the kiosk will ultimately settle is about half or slightly below half of the original asking price, but sometimes somewhat below that.

The town has a lot of prostitution, at prices way below those in the U.S. Single males at the local bars will have lots of women vying for their attention. Remember, they are not smiling at you and grabbing at you because they are suddenly in love with you. Prices start at around $15 for an hour but if you wait for the end of the night when the girls are getting desperate the price can drop to below $5.

AIDS is rife among the working girls so their taking your life in their hands so to speak and as not all girls require a condom and some are quite put out if you insist it could be the biggest and most deadly gamble you ever take.

[edit][add listing] Do

As in the other towns on the North Coast, tour operators offer numerous excursions to surrounding sites and nearby adventure activities at reasonable prices. These include whale watching (December to March), jeep tours, waterfalls and swimming holes, deep sea fishing, whitewater rafting, snorkeling, mountain biking, horseback riding, interesting beaches, as well as tours of Puerta Plata, Santiago, Santo Domingo and the border area of Haiti. Check with a tour operator near your hotel for available excursions. It is interesting that the range of tour options and the trips themselves are almost identical among the various tour operators.

Diving - There are a few dive companies to be found in Sosua the one I have had dealings with is Merlin Dive Center. They are a highly professional outfit who will take you for pleasure dives or you can get qualified with them for a very reasonable price compared to the UK.

[edit][add listing] Buy

Most of the souvenir shops sell the same ubiquitous Latin American fare. Sosua also has a large number of Haitian paintings for sale. Much of these oil paintings are the same in each shop. Do not despair there are occasionally some good quality artwork interspersed among the sunsets and shadow figures. Cigars of course are popular but prices vary. Never buy cigars at souvenir stores or stands on the beach or the beach vendors. These are always fakes! Cuban cigars may be purchased but beware that many of the Cuban name brands also have Dominican manufacture, though the quality is said to rival that of Cuban ones.

If you head away from the beach to the main road there is a large supermarket where the prices are a lot cheaper.

[edit][add listing] Eat

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Sosua has a large number of restaurants and you can find authentic German Food, Italian Food, English fare, and of course, if you look for it, traditional Dominican cooking. For breakfast try the Morai Maui right across from P.J.'s. P.J.s claims to have 24-hour service, but this is true only during the high season. P.J. is Sosua's version of a diner, large menu with adequate food, but nothing to rave about. Restaurants tend to open for breakfast at 8:00am. If you are wanting to eat earlier the Tick Tack German-run internet cafe has good coffee and an affordable plate of scrambled eggs. For lunch Pico Pollo barbecues chicken which can't be missed and is quite affordable. For German food try El Choco just outside of Town on the main road and for Italian food Bologna.

For pub food try the Brittania Pub and take heed of the specials which tend to be excellent. The small Italian restaurant a couple of stores away from Britannia has authentic Italian food at very reasonable prices. Rocky's provides a kind of hostel atmosphere with good food and reasonable prices, if you are unfamiliar with Sosua this is a good place to start. Try the ribs at Rocky's. For a romantic evening try the "On the Waterfront" which has excellent food on a cliff overlooking the bay. Arguably the best steak in Town can be had at El Toro a German run establishment on the far end of Pedro Clisante. Don't let the appearance of different restaurants fool you.

Many Dominicans can cook food rivaling NYC restaurants on not much more than a hot plate and an open flame. Service time varies in between restaurants and in between different nights. Often the same restaurant will be very slow one night (coincedentally when the expatriate boss in not around) and excellent the next.

[edit][add listing] Drink

Presidentes both grande and pequena once virtually the sole choice besides rum drinks (due to the policy of the beer company providing refrigerators on loan) are now being challenged by Brahma another local beer as well as Quilmes (an Argentinine beer). Several of the bars now stock European and American beers at a premium price. Brugal the local rum will be placed in your rum drinks unless you have the savy to ask for the Barcelo (another local rum which is of far superior quality.) Mixed drinks tend to be rum based and cost more than beer but "when in Rome." Many of the restaurants and bars have a happy hour from 4-7PM which is often 2-1 drinks.

On the beach, there is an endless array of restaurants (along with the souvenir shops stuffed with the same goods)which serve drinks and each small swath of beach has a different person who provides concierge service for a modest fee ($0.30 USD per drink). As one leaves the beach there are a number of expatriate bars and restaurants clustered towards the end of Pedro Clisante closest to the beach. The Checkpoint Pub is popular during the Day. The Brittania restaurant has an excellent Happy Hour and Rudy's has a weekly Karaoke night. There is a substantive international community who frequents these establishments which lends a cosmopolitan feel to this end of Town. As one heads away from this expatriate area, Pedro Clisante is dominated by discos and bar which are companionship friendly. This end of town rather than being reminiscent of San Sebastian in Spain harkens to the nightlife of Manila. The Club Classico is the fountainhead of Sosua nightlife with the burgeoning Sosua Life just a few blocks away. Sosua is a friendly Town, prices and ambiance vary greatly within the Town.

[edit][add listing] Sleep

The biggest and best all-inclusive in town is Casa Marina Beach Resort. If you search online you can sometimes find deep-discount packages as cheap as $500 to $1,000 for a full week. The other two good large all-inclusives are Sosua Bay and the attached Victorian House, and Sosua-by-the-Sea, which is the most inexpensive all-inclusive, with walk-in prices for under $100 per night in the off season.

Among the best of the smaller and more inexpensive hotels are New Garden (formerly Garden Keti), with rooms around $45-$60, and Casa Cayena (quieter than New Garden), with rooms at $60-$80, depending on the season. There are also a fair number of budget hotels but, as usual, the quality can be uneven so ask around. On The Waterfront is a small hotel with a pool and overlooks a nice beach rooms without air conditioning typically cost $35 per night.

Rocky's is also a great place for those who don't want to spend a lot but want comfort and good security. Rocky's hotel rooms are $25 per night and his condominiums are $45 per night. Both have A/C, but the condos are the best. They're like a small apartment replete with stove/oven, full size refrigerator, cable TV and WiFi. His Hotel has WiFi also.

• Perla de Sosua - Economy Apartments (http://www.perladesosua.com), Calle al lado del Banco Popular (Located behind the Bank-Enter via small street between Banco Popular and Orange Cell Phone shop), ☎ 1-829-677-1497 (Cell) 809-571-2876 (Landline), [1]. checkin: 2:00pm; checkout: 11:00m. American-owned, secure and clean, enclosed economy vacation rental apartment complex. On a private cul-de-sac, five minutes walk from the main Sosua Bay beach and a block from central Sosua. Studios, 1 Bedroom and 2 Bedrooms Apartments. Some with full sized kitchens, most with air conditioned bedrooms! An easy 5-minute drive from Puerto Plata International Airport, walking distance to the center of town via a small secluded street. Easy access to a brand new casino presently being built complete with bustling shops and fine restaurants. Pool, community terrace, bar, internet access, maid services, secluded locale. 30.00 per night and up.  edit

[edit] Get out

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Head West to Puerto Plata for a different nightlife (15 minutes). Head East for 10 minutes, by car, to Cabarete to enjoy the wider beach and bountiful athleticism of its inhabitants. Continue Eastward to see Dominican Republic without the expatriate crowd. Note that as you leave the civilization of Puerto Plata, Sosua and Cabarete European style restaurants and supermarkets become rare as to other first world conveniences such as the internet cafes which abound on every third corner in Sosua.

If you are looking for a less trammeled vacation experience, drive out to Samana (4 hours).

Car rentals may be had locally and if you prefer to deal with the international chains simply stop by the Puerto Plata airport. An economy car may be rented for $30 per day. Check with your credit card company first to see what coverage they provide because this price is not inclusive of insurance. Local insurance is expensive so most simply rely on the coverage provided by their credit card.

You may also simply take gua gua's are the carro publico's along the main road which are affordable and overcrowded. For instance a taxi between Sosua and Cabarete from the official stop will cost upwards of $20 while a gua gua will cost about $1.50. Similarly you can get to the airport for $30 from a taxi at one of the stops which has set fares or take the carro publico for less than $2.