• About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
FREE REPORT
BEST PLACES TO RETIRE
*No spam: We will NEVER give your email address to anyone else.
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
Live and Invest Overseas
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
No Result
View All Result
Home Countries Dominican Republic

10 Reasons To Reimagine Your Life In Las Terrenas, DR

Real-Life Retire Overseas Success Stories, Part I

Live And Invest Overseas by Live And Invest Overseas
Mar 28, 2021
in Dominican Republic, Lifestyle
0
Beach in Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic

Adobe Stock/Matyas Rehak

263
SHARES
3.8k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

My wife and I have traveled large swaths of the world. We began exploring Central America in 2006, guided by a long list of criteria inspired by Live And Invest Overseas.

We were searching for our ideal tropical home.

We’ve now spent four weeks or more each in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, the Bay Islands of Honduras, Belize, and the Dominican
Republic.

Our criteria were these:

  • We wanted a town that was walkable.
  • We wanted a cosmopolitan community where different cultures interact as peers.
  • We needed someplace affordable, where we could embrace a wholesome, comfortable lifestyle for a more affordable cost than we were facing in the United States.
  • We wanted a place where excellent, high quality food was readily available, both in restaurants and in the markets.
  • We wanted easy access to the United States.
  • We don’t care for cities, but we wanted access to conveniences that make daily life easy.
  • Our new home should be at a sweet spot in its development, being comfortable yet relatively undiscovered (and therefore affordable).

For our taste, the Pacific Ocean, with its dramatic tides, is too rough for swimming.

We appreciate mountains for being cool and beautiful, but they aren’t an ideal choice for people who like to walk (as we do).

We also don’t want to be anywhere that is ever visited by a cruise ship. We’ve witnessed firsthand how cruise-goers on day tours can destroy an idyllic location.

It didn’t take more than a couple of days for us to realize that Las Terrenas in the Dominican Republic checked all our boxes.

Here are our Top 10 Reasons for loving life in Las Terrenas, the town that we are now delighted to call home:

1. Beaches with mountains

Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic.
iStock/ukayacan
Las Terrenas, DR can be a great option when choosing a second home.

The beaches are beautiful, walkable, swimmable, shaded, and always picturesque… with a backdrop of mountains. The landscape and the views in every direction are wonderful.

2. Restaurants and cafés

Customers buy pastries from a local french pastry shop in Las Terrenas

This is truly a “café community,” as it has been described by Lonely Planet. The owner-operated cozy little French, Italian, Dominican, German, and North American restaurants offer some of the highest quality fare we’ve enjoyed anywhere.

Furthermore, the prices are incredibly affordable. It is difficult to spend more than US$30 per person for dinner in even the best restaurants.

3. Cosmopolitan community

Las Terrenas is a mix of a large number of highly educated, professional Dominicans along with a substantial expat community that is predominantly French with many Italians, Germans, British, and Canadians. There are relatively few people from the United States, though that is changing. This is a real town with real people who live, work, and raise their families here.

4. Full-service society

Las Terrenas has two excellent grocery stores—one French and one North American—that even deliver! The custom Italian kitchen shop, the French furniture and upholstery shop, and the Swiss bicycle shop all offer the highest quality merchandise and a level of service we’ve never experienced before. We ordered a mirror for our living room, and it was not only delivered on time but they also installed it for us. The French bakery will deliver baguettes and croissants to your door daily, if you wish.

Is the Dominican Republic Your Dream Destination? ​

Learn more about ​​​​​the Dominican Republic ​​​and other countries in our FREE, daily Overseas Opportunity Letter​​​​​​​​​. Simply enter your email address below and we’ll send you our FREE REPORT – ​​The ​10 Best Places To Retire In 2021

5. Ease of access

Boeing 737 landing at Samana Airport, Dominican Republic
Alamy/Andrei Filippov

There is a new airport just 20 minutes down the road, but it currently offers direct flights to Europe and Canada only. Until it begins offering flights to the United States, we fly in and out of Santo Domingo.

An excellent two-lane controlled-access toll road runs from the international airport in Santo Domingo straight into Las Terrenas. It is a very easy, very predictable two-hour drive, door to door.

6. Trees

This is not a sandy beach desert. It is a heavily forested town with lots of large trees. The Samaná Peninsula boasts more coconut palms per square mile than anywhere else in the Caribbean.

7. Building construction

Homes here are solid, European-style construction. Everything is concrete, and all finishes tend to be high end, even in the older structures. The construction feels solid, it looks solid, and it gives the town an air of permanence that is rare in this part of the world.

8. Value

Going hand in hand with construction quality is how affordable Las Terrenas is. A typical price for high-end, solidly built condos and villas is about US$2,000 per square meter. That compares to US$3,000 or more in other Caribbean locations that are not nearly as nice and that don’t offer such carefree living.

9. Sporting activities

Man surfing in Las Terrenas Dominican RepublicLas Terrenas offers the full palate of oceanfront sporting activities. Spread across its five very distinct and different beaches, there are world-class kiteboarding, surfing, diving, and deep-sea fishing options.

There are crystal clear, calm waters for swimming, snorkeling, paddle boarding, kayaking, and sailing small boats. Just inland from the beach are horseback riding, zip lining, jungle hiking, and waterfall excursions. There is a tennis club and a CrossFit gym.

Las Terrenas is also becoming well known as a salsa destination, attracting professional dancers from around the world.

About the only thing we don’t have today is a golf course, but one is to be built soon.

10. Health care

There is a new international clinic in town staffed by Cuban-trained doctors. It is modern and offers excellent 24-hour primary care for emergencies. Though it is not a major hospital, as you find in Santo Domingo, it offers more comprehensive service and care than any we’ve found in other small-town expat destinations throughout Latin America.

Perhaps best of all, Las Terrenas offers safety and security. Las Terrenas is one of the most comfortable and non-threatening places we’ve visited. We walk along the beach well into the night without fear. Even petty crime, such as pick pocketing, is surprisingly rare here.

Bottom line, in this little beach town it’s easy to make friends and to become known around town. This provides a social cohesion that is unusual in this day and age.

In short, in Las Terrenas, we have found our Shangri-la.

William Piatt
Full-time DR Expat

Tags: expats Dominican republicexpats las terrenaslive and invest in the Dominican republic conferenceliving Dominican republicliving las terrenassafety Dominican republictravel Dominican republictravel las terrenasWilliam piatt
Share105Tweet66
Previous Post

The Quirks And Customs Of Southern Vietnam

Next Post

Canggu: Exploring Bali, The Most Popular Island In Indonesia

Live And Invest Overseas

Live And Invest Overseas

Live and Invest Overseas is the world's savviest source for top opportunities to live better, retire in style, invest for profit, do business, and own real estate overseas. Established in 2008, the Live and Invest Overseas' editors and correspondents have more experience researching and reporting on top opportunities for living well, investing for profit, doing business, and owning real estate around the world than anyone else you'll find.

Related Posts

Caribbean beach in Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic

12 Reasons Why We Chose To Live In The Dominican Republic

by Kathleen Peddicord
June 30, 2022
0

"I've had enough of your Caribbean vacations for this year!" This is the response Bill Piatt got from his wife...

Read more
Mangrove trees grow on the beach in crystal clear tropical water in Las Terrenas beach, Dominican Republic

Top 10 Things To Do In Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic

June 29, 2022
Beautiful wild and tropical beach in Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic

The Best Beaches In The Dominican Republic For A Simple And Affordable Living

June 28, 2022
Senior woman with pink skirt and white shirt who retired alone at the beach

Retiring Abroad Alone? Here Are 6 Things To Know

June 27, 2022
Adobe Stock/dudlajzov

My Biggest Regret After Living In Bellapais, Northern Cyprus

June 21, 2022
Taipei's City Skyline at sunset with the famous Taipei 101

The Top Affordable Places To Retire In Asia And Live Well

June 19, 2022
Porto, Portugal

Where (And Why) Should You Buy Property Overseas In 2022?

June 15, 2022
Next Post
Babadan beach, Canggu, Bali, Indonesia.

Canggu: Exploring Bali, The Most Popular Island In Indonesia

Start Your New Life Today, Overseas

A world full of fun, adventure, and profit awaits! Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we’ll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In Style Overseas Today.







LIOS Resources


  • New To LIOS
  • Ask An Expert
  • Media Center
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs

Quick Links


  • Best Places To Live
  • Best Places To Retire
  • Finding A Job Overseas
  • Real Estate

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and get your FREE report: The 10 Best Places To Retire Overseas In 2022

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe

© 2008-2021 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Countries
  • Budgets
  • Archives
  • News
  • Events
  • Bookstore
  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Members Area
  • Contact Us

© 2008-2021 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

Sign up for FREE and learn how to live the good life on a modest budget, find bargain property, and more. Plus, check out our free report on the 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE.

RETIRE OVERSEAS AND LIVE LIKE ROYALTY

The World’s Best Places To Be In 2022?

Discover Them Here…