Before Your Dominican Republic Vacation

Here are the 'Essential Travel Tips' You Need!!

Whether or not you ultimately choose a Dominican Republic vacation, here are some things worth considering to ensure a happy holiday is had by all, wherever you go.

If you like traveling as much as we do, then by now you know how important it is to take some common sense measures before that special trip. Therefore we invite you to read our checklist of 'essential travel tips' to ensure you've thought of everything before you leave on your vacation!

Our main aim here is to provide useful information that will help you to get THE MOST out of your hard earned break.

Although we are keen to tell you all the good things about our country we are realists. In many ways The Dominican Republic is as near as you can get to a 'Caribbean paradise'…but no matter how perfect we'd like to hope you find it…you can always run into 'trouble in paradise' if you don't take some sensible precautions.

So the list we provide here aims to help you avoid any problems that you might encounter on your Dominican Republic vacation…or indeed on any vacation you take in the future.

Some of these things SHOULD be obvious but it never harms to have a useful checklist to make sure you haven't overlooked something, does it?

Essential Tips For Before You Go

Check your passport! OK so you say you could never forget it...well, as many people have found, that's not until you do! Check it is signed and don't forget to fill in the emergency information page (If you are saying to yourself 'what page?' then take a look now, you probably haven't).

Also ensure you have obtained any visa/s you might need and keep it/them with your passport. For instance, if you are taking a Dominican Republic vacation from the UK you will require a tourist card which can be obtained before travel through the Dominican Republic Embassy -

Once you have decided, when to go check that there are no recently released Travel Warnings or announcements about your destination you may have missed. You can usually find these on Government sites like –

UK - Foreign and Commonwealth Office - travel advice

A good tip is to make a couple of photocopies of the identification page of your passport.

(Note: If you have had to obtain a visa stamp for your trip you should get a copy showing the stamp too if possible).

Leave one photocopy at home! And take one with you, but keep it in an alternative place to your passport. This way it's MUCH EASIER to get hold of a replacement if the 'unthinkable' happens and your passport is lost or stolen. You guessed it...

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We think: You might find these links useful -

Wherever you go, make sure you find out what you can about local laws and customs.Never assume that things are just the same as at 'home'.

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Another tip: You can also find additional useful information here for your Dominican Republic vacation:

Make sure you have told family and friends where you are going, and how to contact you!

Ok we know you're going on vacation to 'get away from all that'… but EVERY YEAR hundreds of people around the globe are away on vacation when something happens at home and relatives have no way of contacting them.

If you are a US traveler it is also a good idea to register with the US embassy in the area you are visiting, you can do this before you go on your vacation (or business trip!) at:

http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/abroad_registration.html

And last but not least,find out all you can about MALARIA BEFORE your trip! This deadly disease is NOT really a major problem in the DR, although an outbreak in the major tourism center of the East Coast in 2004 did result in a number of infected individuals.

You should make sure you are informed about the malaria risk though, and a good place to start with is our Malaria page.

You should also check with your MD/GP and heed any current recommendations to take any necessary medications against malaria (these drugs normally require to be taken for a period of time before departure so make sure you see the Doctor in good time - that's AT LEAST a month in advance of your trip!)

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You might also find our 'Essential Dominican Republic Contacts' page of interest

'Embassies and others essential contacts!

But that's NOT ALL! Be sure to check out our additional travel and health tips:

Top of Dominican Republic Vacation Essential Tips page