How we found our place
on the Dominican Republic
North Coast.
Coral Breeze Vacation did not begin as a business idea. It began with a family looking for sunshine, a different rhythm of life and a place we could imagine returning to year after year.
This is the story of how the Dominican Republic, Cabarete, Encuentro Beach and the North Coast slowly became part of our lives.
Read our storyIt started with a simple question: where could we imagine our next chapter?
During the pandemic, we began thinking more seriously about the years ahead. Retirement was getting closer, but this was never only about retirement.
We wanted somewhere warm, somewhere close to the ocean and somewhere our entire family could genuinely look forward to returning to.
Like many families, we had travelled to several Caribbean destinations. We visited the Bahamas, Cuba and Punta Cana. Each trip gave us something different, but we were still searching for a place that felt like more than another vacation. Dominican Republic North Coast was it!
“This is it.”
After arriving in the Dominican Republic, my wife looked at me and said those three simple words.
Punta Cana had introduced us to the country, its warmth and its people. But as much as we enjoyed being there, our story with the Dominican Republic was only beginning.
We still had to discover the side of the country that would ultimately feel like home.
This felt different.
Our first stay on the Dominican Republic’s North Coast completely changed the way we wanted to experience the country.
Puerto Plata, Sosúa, Cabarete and the communities between them felt less like places designed only for visitors and more like places where everyday life was happening around us.
We gradually stopped limiting ourselves to all-inclusive resorts. We rented homes, drove ourselves around, went grocery shopping, tried local restaurants, explored beaches and occasionally took the wrong road.
Those ordinary experiences ended up being some of the most important ones. They allowed us to see the North Coast not simply as a Dominican Republic vacation destination, but as somewhere we could actually live, explore and return to.
Sunshine and beaches were only part of the decision.
Finding a place we loved was one thing. Finding somewhere that could realistically work for our family was another.
Our daughter’s education mattered enormously to us. Discovering that the North Coast offered excellent private-school options such as International School of Sosúa (ISS) and ESD European School made us realize that living here could be much more than an idea for someday.
The pieces were beginning to fit together: the climate, the ocean, the communities, everyday services, education and a lifestyle our whole family could enjoy.
The North Coast was no longer just where we wanted to vacation. It was becoming somewhere we could imagine building part of our life.
Eventually, we stopped feeling like we were only visiting.
The more time we spent on the North Coast, the more people we met.
Some became friends. Others introduced us to restaurants, businesses, beaches, surf spots and parts of the region that we probably never would have discovered through a conventional travel guide.
Around Cabarete and Encuentro, we came to know people whose daily lives revolve around the ocean — surfing, kiteboarding and the outdoor lifestyle that makes this part of the Dominican Republic so unique.
We also met other Canadians and Quebecers who had made the North Coast part of their own lives, along with local entrepreneurs and families who helped us understand the region beyond the tourist experience.
Those relationships are a big part of why Coral Breeze Vacation and our Caribbean Journal exist today. Many of the recommendations we share come from places we have actually visited, people we know and experiences we have had ourselves.
Then we found Encuentro.
The area around Encuentro Beach gave us the balance we had been looking for — close enough to Cabarete, Sosúa and Puerto Plata, while still having its own quieter character.
Eventually we found our condo at Coconut Grove, near Encuentro Beach. It became the home base we had spent years unknowingly searching for.
Our place first.
A vacation rental second.
Coral Breeze Vacation is our family’s home on the Dominican Republic’s North Coast.
When we are not there ourselves, we decided to share it with travellers who may be looking for the same kind of experience we eventually discovered: the freedom to explore Encuentro Beach, Cabarete, Sosúa, Puerto Plata and the rest of the Dominican Republic’s North Coast at their own pace.
That is also why this website is becoming more than a place to describe a two-bedroom vacation rental. Our Caribbean Journal, local recommendations and travel information are an extension of the same journey that brought us here.
We found our place here.
Maybe you will find a little piece of yours too.