Expat Living Options in DR

I admire your courage.

Clearly you have to be of a certain age and a family behind you and have the will to do this.  Very commendable.

But for many like me this would not be an option.  Having been to DR 6 times ( 3 months stay each
time) since 2014, whilst the temptation to buy was high, after very careful consideration a 3 months stint is enough for us.  I believe this option is cheaper with less associated problems.

I confess, If Dr had a more flexible immigration policy like many of its neighbouring islands, we may have considered a purchase.  DR is a lovely country with lovely people but these are not sufficient reason for us to look at a permanent residence.

Good luck with your venture.  I'm sure you will reap the rewards of your efforts.

Hello ducketts,
Thank you for your reply.  I am interested in a bit more info with regards to other Islands with easier residency requirements and what areas you struggled with.  I have been researching for many years and have not found anything even close.
Also, we could not afford to keep our home in Canada and live as snowbirds anywhere as the cost of living is double here.  If we stay in Canada, we will both need to work fulltime in our current jobs for 10-15 more years. 
😕

thanks for the input ,
i'm planning in a couple of weeks too buy land in Monte Plata
and move too there in 2-3 years.

What i asked myself , is what about education , i have a son from 7 and a daugther of 1 .

Welcome to the forums.  There is a lot of info on the various threads  Tom!  you will find info on  schools etc,  maybe not that specific area!

Feel free to open a thread on your specific questions for that area!

I live in the north of Monte Plata province and it is a beautiful province and still covered in the Yamasa mountain areas with lush green tropical forests and valleys and flat terrain to the south east of Monte Plata. It is a good place to buy land at realistic prices and the province is home to some large ranches and some rich individuals. Cacao is a major crop here. The towns are small: Monte Plata, Yamasa, Don Juan, Peravilla, Bayaguana, Sabana Grande de Boya.

The downside will be finding good education for your children. The roads to the capital apart from the Samana highway are slow going and the province lacks many  paved roads.

Hi Tom (goedendag),

Dominican public schools provide a very low level of education, they are the only type of school you can find in the countryside.

There are better schools in cities like Santo Domingo and Santiago, which are private, but they are far away from Monte Plata. In my opinion, it would be a burden to drive/fetch your children every day, Santo Domingo is known for its traffic jams and Santiago is way too far. They are also pricey : from 10.000 US$/year.

see completed text in next post

An update.

We got our first honey last week and does it taste good on croissant.

We have had a very wet period from last autumn and that has been bad for the bees collecting nectar.

But we got one full frame and when squeezed and filtered the honeycomb filled two jars of honey.

I have been helped by a local bee keeper to date but now with clothing I am all on my own. He didn't use any protection and gets stung each time but doesn't feel anything and has a bald head! He uses the smoker though.

The rain has put a damper on the crop planting too but is great for cocao and we have lots of growing fruit. Hopefully our first chocolate will be made by summer. Otherwise  we are getting enough plateno, guineo and rulo and the fruit trees are cropping bit by bit with the first chereza fruit being cropped this year. The guava trees have yielded plenty of fruit for juice and we have a few growing pineapples which have grown from planted pineapple heads. 

Country life is refreshing.  

Wow. Very cool!  I can imagine how good it is!

@Guest2022 i am planning to relocate about 20 minutes more west of Monte Plata (on a rolling hill) and am concerned about wifi.  I work from home so of course it’s essential.  i may have to build a small cell site and pay an uplink provider. Any suggestions?

@cushion03yeti

Do some research on Starlink installation in that area

@Guest2022 Thank you.  Very pleasant read

@CHRISTOPHER DAVID56 will do. Thanks!