Puerto Plata is located on the north coast of the island of Dominican Republic or commonly referred to as DR.  It is the ninth largest city in the DR with temperatures ranging from 82 to 92 degrees.  This island has rocky cliffs, mountains, valleys, rain forest and desert.  It is simply amazing.  There is a lake there named Lake Enriguilla.  Lake Enriguilla is 1/4 of a mile below sea level.  It is the largest lake and the lowest elevation in the Caribbean.  It is the home to the largest population of American Croodiles in the Caribbean.  The lake is surrounded by desert and cacti type plantation.

The island has African and African-Cuban influences, and has a mixed population of black, white and mestizo.  The official language is Spanish but most can speak/understand English to some extent.  There are rum sampling booths set up everywhere through the the tourism areas including on the streets,  and inside most of the stores.

We stayed at Club Hotel Riu Merengue, located on Maimon Bay.  This all-inclusive resort had a great selection of excellent international foods.  This resort offers it all:  all day entertainment, excellent music, and fantastic customer service.

We visited the Ocean World Adventure Park, Marina and Casino in Puerto Plata.  THis is the caribbean’s most extensive adventure park.  The casino was under construction at the of our visit.  My husband had a stingray and shark encounter.  I sat by the tiger booth for an 1/2 hour hoping the tiger would at least turn toward the camera but it never happened.  My disappointment was gone as soon as I spotted the hugh above ground aquarium like structure that built around a giant Caribbean Reef for snorkeling.  It was amazingly filled with a large variety of very colorful fish in all sizes and shapes.  The floor was covered with beautiful corals and aquatic plants.  We were literally swimming and snorkeling around it an extremely large above ground aquarium the size of a small grocery store.  This is the ultimate snorkeling experience without going out into the ocean and jumping off of a boat.  My husband walked through the rainforest in the Love Bird Encounter Tropical Bird Sanctuary.  The exotic tropical birds, some quite large, were in various brilliantly bright colors.  I had a Sea Lion Encounter, I sat on the bench in front of the photographer and the sea lion was commanded to kiss me on my cheek.  I didn’t actually feel the sea lion kiss the side of my face but I was excited non the less.

We had an unexpectedly truly delicious buffet styled BBQ beach lunch that was included with the entry fee into the water park.    This water park offers an all-day, fun packed exciting adventure that proves exciting lifetime memories.