We booked the Aqualina oursleves and were very pleased with the overall service from the booking though to our stay. We were met at the airport (previiously arranged directly with the Aqualina - this saved time and was appreciated after a long flight). We were immediately impressed with our accomodation which was one of the ground floor studios; spacious, well furnished, very clean (cleaned daily, freshs towels provided for bathroom and pool if required), adequately equipped kitchen to prapare basic meals (and who wants to do more than that on holiday?), lovely view facing the gardens and sea. The location of the hotel was fantastic for us as we were on the water every day. We travelled with our own kites and were able to use the storage provided during our stay. The facilities were more than adaquate for our reeds. The small pool was very clean and a welcome addition to the beach. The beach bar served basic food with a friendly staff and all food purchased can be added to your room bill. We discovered that it is easy to walk to Cabarette via the beach and took us about 30 minutes - a beautiful start to the day and for us, a much safer option to the local transport (with the excpetion of taxis). There are shops in front of the Aqualina to buy kiting equipment, snacks (great on arrival) and massage (this was wonderful at the end of the week. Massage therapist is Canadian). The hotel staff at the Aqualina spoke varied amounts of English. The reception staff did speak English and very helpful, booking taxis etc. The Kite School Instructors (all English speaking, as well as other languages) were all IKO certified and very helpful. As a beginner, I received 11 hours of tuition and used the schools equipment. My husband (far more expereineced than myself) also benefited from some tuition. All in all, we really enjoyed our stay and am sure you will too. Cabarette itself was similar to English prices but our overall holiday, doing exactly what we wanted was cheaper than styaing all inclusive. We enjoyed eating breakfast at Friends which served lovely pancakes, croissants, muffins and great coffee. There is also a bakery next door. We ate several times at Pitu which served chaeper food than other places, pizza, mexican, great cocktails (happy hour, 5.30 - 6.30). Pitu is situated on the beach near the Irish bar (far too expensive, never went in!). If you want to stock up on kitchen supplies, Janets Superamarket was OK, but situated down town. There was another supermarket, just before you enter Cabarette from the Aqualina. We only managed one day trip. We recommend a visit to Mount Isabella. We took a taxi (which cost $40 - well negotiated) and used the cable car to get to the top io the mountain which was beautiful. We paid for a guide ($10 - negotiated) who was really informative and showed us about the botanical gardens at the top. We would have missed lots without him. Taxis will try to get you to visit the rum factory. Not sure of they are on commission but we avoided it as we heard it is so boring. Not much to buy in Cabarette apart from kiting and surfing 'stuff' which is slightly cheaper than England. However, CD's with merengue are available. A man near the Aqulaina sits on a rock and sells beautiful shells.
We have really happy memories!

Agualina was clean, safe and one of the nicest hotels in Cabarete (definitely the nicest in the kite beach area)
We stayed in 2BR penthouse - relatively reasonable price - $250 per night for 2 couples - it had one BR with King and 2nd BR had 2 queens. AC throughout
Large living/dinning room and good sized kitchen.
THe hotel has 24 hour security - reception was open from 9am -9am. Beach towels were provided.
All the rooms have unreal beach view.
Wireless Internet is available but spotty in the rooms - you need to go to the Kite Beach Bar outfront for best connection
There is some road noise if you want to keep windows and doors open - we just openned sliders on beachside and left windows on road side closed
If you want to eat in - La Rosa Super Market is down the street on the right side going to town - clean/decent. The only thing we would bring with us next time is Dishwasher liquid or tablets - hard to find in Cabarete and not provided by hotel. We tried the standard dish soap in the dishwasher routine - suds overflowed into kitchen and dishes were not very clean.

The restaurant out by the beach Kite Beach Bar - was convenient for breakfast/lunch - food was OK
Out in front of the hotel was Sports Cafe/Mini Market
The owner was great - Paulo - good italian sandwiches for lunch - breakfast, espresso and cappacino in the am. Sushi restaurant in front of hotel was excellent albeit expensive ($180 for 5 people)

The beach out front is not suitable for swimming if it is windy and people are kiting. The pool is excellent and the grounds are clean and well maintained. There is enough room to get away from screaming kids at pool but headphones or earplugs definitely help.

We were here on a mission to kite. The dare2fly school was great - Audrey, Andre and Lieosh were great instructors. The beach helpers (Dominican boys/men)were great caddies for kiting - doing everything for kiters - inflating kites, launching/landings, washing gear - all for about $7-$10 USD.

We travelled back and forth to town mostly by Moto-Concho. Motorcycles/Mopeds that would take 2 adults along with the driver for around 100 pesos - $2-3 USD
You can walk - it takes about 25 minutes on the beach - I would not recomend walking on the road - Outside of town cars can be going in excess of 60mph on the road

The town of Cabarete is not the cleanest place but this is an impoverished nation. People are super nice - if you want trouble - you could find it but common sense, being polite and generosity will go a long way to making your trip enjoyable.

The restaurants in town were for the most part decent - La Cassita de Don Alfredo was unreal - try the Cammarones - excellent. We ended up at Cafe Pitu for Cheap Pasta/Pizza on a couple nights. We were exhausted at night but if you want there is plenty of
nightlife.

We flew into Santiago - which was cheaper than going into Peurto Plata but it is 2 hour taxi ride from Satiago to Cabarete about $60 USD -
Peurto Plata is about 20 minutes from Cabarete
The flight into Santiago was mostly packed with locals - very cool people but loud and boisterous.
I would pay extra to go to POP next time

For Golf - I heard the golf course at Play Grande is awesome - one of the best on the island -about 45 minutes east of Cabarete

This is a very nice 4 star Resort not very big but the rooms are the best what I have seen in Cabarete. All units with large TV and AC.
Loved my 2 bedroom Condo with a large living room.
Wirless Internet at the pool and the Bar available with out additional charge.
Best place at Kitebeach for Kiters and their family, great pool and awsome beachbar with good food and cold beers.