Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic Cruise Port

I've got to say this was our favorite port! I think it was more our state of mind by then, than the place... It was a pretty and clean port. I had fun on the Zipline! But what we really enjoyed was relaxing at the skybar (amazing strawberry lemonade) where the weather was perfect, the view was incredible and we simply did nothing but drink it all in, talk, laugh and relax!!! No agenda, island time, letting go is HIGHLY recommended!!!!!!! WOW!!! Enjoy!!!!

Ok, Amber Cove has its pros and cons. I have cruised to Puerto Plata many years ago back when the ships actually docked in Puerto Plata and now I have been to Amber Cove. When visiting Amber Cove, you may stay at port and have a great time at the pool area and shops, all hassle free. Now if you feel comfortable about getting out and seeing the true town of Puerto Plata, take a taxi into town. Your taxi driver turns into a tour guide all in one. They will take you on a tour of the town that consists of the Amber museum, walk you down town to the center and let you go into a church where they talk about the history and a gift store that has everything but beware of the owner, he will watch over you as if your stealing from him but I just told him that I can shop myself or I’m leaving with nothing. He backed off. Than we went to the fort, beautiful area for photos. Than we went to a so called resort / bar on the beach. You can swim eat drink until you are ready to go back to port. All of this was about 20.00 dollars a person. I would suggest that you go as a group and stay as a group. Well worth it in my opinion. We still had plenty of time to shop at port as well.

The Dominican Republic is amazing! There is so much untouched beauty. It seems as if you can see exactly where pirates would have hidden their treasures along the shore. Rolling hills covered in green with horses dotting the tops. We chose to get an excursion outside of Carnival so did not utilize Amber Cove. Though it was very large and very well kept and also very clean. There were several shops there, much like in Grand Turk though at least twice as many shops. I was able to get my passport stamped but not like in Grand Turk. The excursion we chose was thru Amber Cove Adventures. We had to walk for a ways to get out of Carnival's Amber Cove to meet our guide but it was absolutely worth the walk! Once we met our guides we were placed on an air conditioned mini bus with free wi-fi to use while we waited for the rest of our group. In all there was 12 of us but 4 did not show up.....their loss. The tour guide gave them ample time to arrive but finally had to leave without them. We were taken on a driving tour thru Puerto Plata. The area is heavily impoverished....reminding me much like the inner parts of Puerto Rico. We were told of the history of the island, Hispaniola. How it came to become Haiti and the Dominican Republic. We were taken to a town plaza where we were able to get out and walk around, exploring a little bit. There were people there dressed up to showcase the history of the Dominican Republic. You could also get your photo taken feeding the many pigeons. As well there were vendor's there selling the items that they craft locally. After this we were taken to a private beach, Playa Dorado (Golden Beach), where we had a private cabana on the beach. We were each given a Rum Punch and had a waitress who was ready to take any other orders we would like to place. We chose to have some of the fried plantains also called Tostones. Tasty! We spent 2 hours at Playa Dorado before having to pack up and head back to Amber Cove. Once back in the air conditioned mini-bus we were given another bottle of ice cold water and a package of banana cookies. We were extremely impressed with this excursion and highly recommend them to everyone. If you go and meet Milton....then you will have a great time!

Visited: Oct 13, 2018

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First time visiting Amber Cove and I fell in love. The port is super clean and new. We wanted to go to the water falls. Carnival excursions were a little on the high end, so we decided to talk to a taxi driver negotiate our price for a party of 10, to take us to the water falls and at the water falls we paid the entrance fee ($12.00 per person). With the $12 purchase that includes, helmet, life vest and two tour guides. There are a total of 12 water falls, but due to the limited time we were only able to do 7 water falls out of the 12. Once the hiking is done (it took a good hour and 1/2 to climb/hike), but once you jump in the water, you quickly know it was all worth the climb/hiking. There are natural slides with in the waterfalls, you jump off cliffs and the tour guides tell you were to jump. We have been to Jamaica, Dominica and El Yunque at Puerto Rico, but this was different and extremely fun!

Visited: May 12, 2018

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I absolutely love DR. The port is very clean and safe with plenty of FREE options such as a water park with a large pool, slides, restaurant, bar, and rentals. Everyone that we encountered was extremely friendly. I can't wait to go back!