Season 2 – Episode 17

Before we departed on our sailing journey, we had no plans to visit Luperon, or the Dominican Republic. After Hurricane Irma, we thought we would spend the entire season in the Bahamas, with a quick visit to Turks and Caicos. It had nothing to do with anything we heard about Luperon, but we had heard things from other cruisers, some good and some bad.

As our plans evolved and we discovered that the hurricane damage from Irma and Marina were not as bad as anticipated, we figured we would check out this interesting little town Bruce Van Sant praises in his book, Passages South: A gentleman’s guide to the thornless path.

Watch this video to see some of the amazing things you can experience in Luperon, Dominican Republic:

  • Luperon Harbor
  • World Famous Luperon Free Yoga
  • The Town of Luperon
  • Meet the Comandante of Luperon Harbor
  • Explore the 27 Waterfalls
  • Riding a Motorcycle in the Dominican Republic

Related Links

Song Credits

Intro Song – Carribean Cuisine 4 – Magnus Ringblom

0:25 – Fiesta Carioca 4 – Joachim Nilsson

1:32 – Remnants Of A Setting Sun – Trevor Kowalski

3:37 – Fiesta Carioca 4 – Joachim Nilsson

4:38 – Joyous Fridays 2 – Per-Anders Nilsson

6:10 – Playa De Palma 1 – Björn Skogsberg

9:45 – Joyous Fridays 2 – Per-Anders Nilsson

11:09 – Aggregated Strings 1 – Peter Sandberg

12:18 – Aggregated Strings 3 – Peter Sandberg

14:43 – World News Ident – Rannar Sillard

Ending Song – ES_Figure It Out – Daniel Gunnarsson

 

Download these songs for free Here

Here is a transcript of the video:

Overview of Luperon Harbor

Lupron Harbor also known as Puerto Blanco it’s a large enclosed mangrove Bay that provides excellent shelter and is considered one of the Caribbean safest hurricane holes. Its position on the north coast of the Dominican Republic makes it a great place for southbound cruising boats to stop. There is a welcoming vibe from locals and cruisers alike. Put that harness on little man.

Yoga

Wanna go do yoga? Do yoga. Let’s go! We’re gonna do yoga in Luperon. The world-famous free yoga. You got your yoga clothes on, your yoga pants. I have my basic bitch yoga pants on. Where’s my Starbucks? Run free little one. Here’s the anchorage in Luperon. Up and there is where we’re gonna do the yogas.

[Music]

Yoga in lupron is hosted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at the old Luperon Marina Yacht Club. Though it’s only been a few years since it shut down, it’s amazing how quickly nature takes it back. “There’s the man”. The view of the harbor is amazing.

[Music]

Overview of the town of Luperon

Lupron is a small rural town. It has markets, a well-stocked hardware store, nightlife, a medical clinic, police, dentists, and even a chiropractor. Thanks to a new delivery service, there’s an easy way to receive packages, like Amazon, directly to Luperon. This makes for a great spot to get some boat work done while enjoying the scenic motorbike rides and 34-ounce jumbo beers.

[Music]

Overview of Wendy’s Bar

Wendy’s bar is known as the cruisers bar in town. It’s the best beach bar, without a beach. Everyone is welcome including any four-legged friends. Movie Mondays and karaoke Fridays easily became part of our regular routine. It’s the coolest bar in Luperon that serves the coldest beer.

[Music]

Tour of Luperon with the Comandante

Baby, what are we doing today? The Comandante here in Luperon, Patrick invited us to go on a ride along with him and he’s going to show us around town. This should be fun. Just before we arrived loop run was assigned and new comandante. The comandante a is the head of the navy for an assigned area, in this case, Luperon harbor. He controls all of the boats moving in and out of the harbor. Patrick offered to take us on a tour of Luperon. He took us to a couple of local beaches and a drive through town. He taught us some local history and introduced us to a few of his friends.

[Music]

A short drive and only walking distance from the harbor sits playa grande, on the north shore. A great place to spend the day and take a swim. Just around the corner along the harbor inlet is playa Chiquita, a smaller calmer Beach. this is a favorite local spot for weekend cookouts

[Music]

The authorities get a bad reputation here in Luperon, though that’s hard to imagine after spending the day with Patrick. visit our website for more information on the check-in process here in Lupron and the dr

Tour of the 27 Waterfalls in Puerto Plata

We are taking a motorcycle up to the 27 waterfalls today it looks like it’s a gorgeous day and so yeah I don’t remember my Spanish is horrible comose dese en Espanol Arturo. Charcos. 27 Charcos 27, the waterfalls. Prices between 500 to 700 pesos which 500 pesos is like 10 bucks 700 pesos is like 14 bucks so not bad they’re not expensive at all. You’re gonna be swimming jumping sliding and climbing until your heart’s content. To ensure that you’re prepared to bring the following: bathing suit check, check. Closed shoes or Teva / choco sandals. Baby do you have your choco sandals? I don’t wear those Tivas. No no, I have my Sperrys. Sperrys will work. waterproof camera? Got it, check. All visitors must be accompanied by a guide.

Riding a motorcycle in the Dominican Republic

Full disclosure this was my first time ever riding a motorcycle. If you want to learn very quickly take a few rides here in the Dominican Republic just know that it’s also one of the most dangerous places in the world to ride, Something we would learn very soon.

[Music]

After the waterfalls, our appetite led us to the seafood restaurants in Miamon. We would later learn that this is the most dangerous stretch of highway in the area and it’s no wonder why. Hold on.

Motorcycle Replay

In case you didn’t see what just happened, let’s break down the game film for a second. As we hug the shoulder while dodging potholes a huge-ass bus passes within a foot of our handlebars. Immediately after, there’s a giant pothole, no sinkhole in the road. The bus barely gets over to the right side of the road before causing a head-on collision with this semi-truck, which is also riding partly in the wrong lane. All because these cars decided to Park only inches off this busy stretch of highway. Welcome to driving in the Dominican Republic.

[Music]

Review of the 27 Waterfalls in Puerto Plata – discussion

Overall what’s your impression of your experience here at the waterfall? It was really fun, even though I was blind as a bat. Because I didn’t wear my glasses and I didn’t wear my contacts, but that might have been better because I didn’t see all the creatures. So Kelly’s eyesight is awful, so the sunglasses would have fallen off and they would have.

So did you feel you were in danger at any time? No, except when we just slid down the rock, I thought like, the current sucked me back in. And there was one there where I couldn’t get out of it and the dude held his hand out yeah he had to pull me out because I like I went under. And I’m like let me just wait and see what it does and if I pop back up again. I think that’s why he liked the vision that’s what it was it was that second slide, and that third slide you went down I was filming you, and I didn’t even see you go down, I just saw you like halfway and you disappeared and then he popped up right next to me. It was like a washing machine. That’s why it’s got so sorry.

Well, you look good doing it! Like four days ago it was raining in like cats and dogs. And we wanted, there’s 27 waterfalls, but we couldn’t do it and so we could only do a little less than about half of what we could normally do, because there’s trees and debris and like boulders that fell and everything else, so some of this stuff we didn’t go down.

[Music]

Preview of the Next Episode of Sailing Satori

On the next episode of sailing Satori, Kelly visits the emergency clinic in Lupron. We take a sweet motorbike trip to Punta Rucia where we enjoy a beer on the beach. And I attempt my first river crossing on the bike, while Kelly opted for a walk in the mud. Check it out on Sailing Satori.life.