Puerto Plata was my final destination. My trip took me from the southern coast of the Republic to the northern.

As I had for most of my trip, I took public transport from Jamao to Puerto Plata. This involved taking a couple guaguas, and these were the real deal. Basically large vans with a ton of seats in them. The one that took my all to my final destination had a very fund assistant hanging out the door who would call to people to get in his guagua like he was an auctioneer.

My apartment was simple, and nice, and actually had piping hot water!

I found lots to do there. But I never made it to a beach, which is what Puerto Plata is most known for. Honestly, I always found something else to do. Beaches get boring fast.

Still, nice to walk by the water.

The downtown area is pleasant and has some weird gimmicks put in to entice tourists.

Speaking of gimmicky – they really gimmicked up their old Spanish fort.

There was a cable car with some great views. The DR is loaded with great views.

The amber museum was quite fun. This is the museum that housed the piece of amber with the mosquito in that was featured in Jurassic Park. They gave the mosquito to Steven Spielberg in exchange for the right to use the Jurassic Park logo (ish). They don’t have that mosquito anymore, but they do have a lot of cool amber.

A neat and very crowded cemetery (with tombs not living people) had narrow pathways through all the building-sized resting places.

I also went to Macorix, a rum distillery, to sample their wares and learn about rum. It was OK rum but I think it say something that they make so many flavored varieties.

I spent the better part of one day at Ocean World – the most touristy thing one can do. I think I was the only one there not from a cruise ship. It was a SeaWorld sort of place. I know … booo!!! Well, there weren’t any orcas here, so that’s something. There were dolphins, sea lions, fish and birds, and I spent a lot of time reflecting on the ethics of it. Based on what I saw, if you’re going to see dolphins in captivity, I guess this is the place. They have the largest artificial dolphin enclosure in the world.

I opted to pony up a little extra to feed and swim with some nurse sharks. I was cautioned strongly not to touch them in front of the eyes or I would lose a finger. I was also told not to touch their pee-pee. I didn’t.

This video cost $15 to buy from the Ocean World people. I edited out some parts that didn’t have me in them.

Let’s also take a look at some food.