Day Trip To Laguna Dudu
by Ally Hornsby
After living in Cabarete for over two months, I finally took my first ‘road/day trip’ in the Dominican Republic to Laguna Dudu! All of us eXtreme circus folk and friends visiting, piled into a vehicle with not enough seats available for the group. But who needs seats? We jumped in the back (don’t tell my mom!) and chowed down on all the local fresh fruit we’d bought at Miguel’s before setting out. (We also packed; water, small snacks, bathing suit, towel, change of clothing, money, sunscreen, bug spray, underwater cameras, snorkel and mask and a volleyball that unfortunately didn’t survive!) The drive from Extreme Hotel to Laguna Dudu, took about an hour and a half and included a beautiful view of the north coast of the DR.
Arriving there, we pulled in the parking lot. A fair warning, they did not allow us to take our container of pineapple in with us. But they also didn’t check our personal bags. Pack accordingly! We bought tickets to get in for 150 pesos (about $3.00USD these days). Once in, we found the restrooms in the cafeteria which is inside the park and open for you to purchase food and drinks. From there we adventured down into the first lagoon. A few of us decided to take the plunge for 25 pesos a turn, off the zip line and into the lagoon! I don’t know the exact distance of the drop, but let me tell you it feels long! I see myself as someone who isn’t afraid of heights, yet when they blew the whistle to ‘let go’ I thought to myself really???? But I did, a little late, and only regretted the fact that I didn’t point my toes! For style but mostly for the slap my feet endured going into crystal calm waters!! Let that be a warning to you all!
After we’d taken our plunges, we swam around the lagoon, enjoying the colours and 
relaxing vibe! Some friends snorkelled, and played with their underwater cameras and GoPros! The videos and photos captured definitely make me think I need to get myself a GoPro!!
Once we’d all had our fill of that lagoon, we found our way to the next lagoon. This lagoon was very different and somewhat in a cave! It was beautiful but the water was much colder as it was blocked from the sun. We used this time to take many, many photos! The colours look amazing and something about the lighting made everyone look as if they were swim suit models. There was also another lagoon across from the cave that you couldn’t swim in, that had the most perfect wooden dock for yoga poses, handstands and any other weird position an aerialist can find themselves in on the ground!
When we’d had enough we went back up to the main area and played around like children. There were soccer nets and the boys had a game together with our own volleyball. Us girls found ourselves doing more yoga poses for fun photos and then found ourselves on these strange swings hanging from the trees. They were like flat lying dream catchers and instead of sitting in them like most people may do, we climbed them, inverted on them and split on them in anyway we could figure out!
After play time, we all piled ourselves back in the car and headed back in the direction of eXtreme hotel. On the way, we stopped at a small beach. We spent the late afternoon enjoying this calm beach, with some tostones, fish, chicken for the meat eaters and fresh veggies! We swam in the calm waters and when we were al exhausted and ready for home, we set out for the hotel, arriving just after sunset! A great day with great people. Laguna Dudu is definitely a trip I suggest taking!
Footnote: renting a car is probably your best bet. Through my own research I’ve found OK car rentals in Sosua. They have options for different group sizes. For example a small car that still fits 4 people, is only $39.00 a day! This includes free mileage! To keep costs down, if you have one person willing to guagua their way into Sosua from Kite Beach to pick up the car, and do the same for the return even better. And, while you’re at it, return the car in Sosua in the morning and spend the day in Sosua, in the beach, snorkelling! You won’t be disappointed!!
