Punta Cana Vacation Recap - part 1

Just as a reminder, we stayed at EdenH Real Arena Punta Cana.

Amazing bang for the buck. 4 1/2 star resort. All inclusive. We travelled with . One week, less than $3000 for both of us...taxes, fees, etc in. The only extras we paid were our cancellation insurance (we have to, due to FH's crazy job) and the one excursion we took. We don't need travel health insurance as it's covered in our plan. Other than that we turned $500 Canadian dollars into $380 US dollars (ouch) for tips and trinkets. We tipped well, bought a couple small things and came home with some cash.

Day One was fairly exhausting...6am flight had us at the airport just after 3am....then about a 4 hour flight...and another hour or so to get luggage and transport to the resort for about noon. I was pooped but FH managed to get into the mood and got a second/third/fourth wind.

airport arrival

on the bus

Check in was quick and painless...our room wasn't available until 3pm but no biggie because they give you your bracelet right away so you can eat, drink and be merry while you wait. We changed right away (however, due to the silly flight regs regarding liquids my sunscreen was in my big luggage and I forgot to get it before checking our stuff with the bell desk...that'll learn me to put a travel size in my carry-on for next time) and immediately found the pool/bar/beach. :)

first shots of resort/beach

Spent a couple hours getting the lay of the land (by this I mean bar), had some lunch, then about 20 mins in beach loungers (this is where I immediately got my sunburn....grrrr). I was dozing off, so thankfully it was now after 3pm and we headed back to the lobby to get our room info.

glorious first rest on the beach

Ready right on time, they loaded us and our bags onto a little golf cart trolly (FH had a beer delivered to him right on the cart) and took us to our room. I immediately fell asleep....FH went back to the pool (and by pool I mean bar). I slept for a few hours, then went to find him but I think we were circling each other because I couldn't find him.....so ate dinner at the buffet, got a couple of drinks, and just wandered through the courtyard and little bars...eventually found each other back at the room a while later. He had already made some friends so went back for a final drink and I headed back to bed. Bit of a loss of the first night, but it made the rest of the trip much more enjoyable because I wasn't tired anymore!