Dudù Blue Lagoon
Dudù Blue Lagoon is located in Cabrera and is considered the #1 natural place to visit in the north shore of the Dominican Republic. It costs only 100 Dominican pesos per person (about $2.50 Canadian) to enter the lagoon and centone area but the majority of the cost lies in getting there. Several tours include a stop at this site along with visits to a plantation and several popular beaches. But, if you just want to go straight to the lagoon and spend as much time as you'd like, you can hire a cab to drive you there and wait until you're done. Yes, it's completely normal in the D.R. for the driver to wait a few hours in more remote areas. I thought that was weird too. We negotiated a return fare of $125 US for 3 adults and two kids. It saved us some money and we had plenty of time to enjoy delicious fried chicken for lunch, a few cuba libres, a rope swing over the lagoon, and a swim in the glistening cenote.
The water really is as blue and clear as these photos show. Can you believe it?! The ride from Cabarete was about an hour 20 minutes. When you finally arrive the site is very unassuming and I thought, this is it? There is a small hut at the entrance in which you pay your entrance fee, and walk through to reach the sun drenched, nicely manicured garden. One path marked Cenote will bring you to stone steps that lead down to the freshwater cave with a soft sand bottom, which you can scuba dive through and reach the stunning blue lagoon. We weren't quite equipped for underwater adventure, so we chose to access the lagoon by the open restaurant area, which had a stone staircase down to the waters edge and a beautiful view from the bar. When I first saw the Blue Lagoon, it took my breath away. Pictures do not do justice to this natural wonder.
It is worth noting that everything here is rustic. The stairs leading down to both cave and lagoon are steep and very rough, with splintery makeshift rails to give you some help. We discovered that not many people, including visitors, spoke English. Yet another reason for us to learn a second language I suppose. The menu was in Spanish too, so we spent some time translating what items included the word "pollo" hoping for chicken instead of a full fried fish (eyes and all) which was also pictured on the menu. We ended up with two plates of fried chicken and french fries, which my Dad and Todd thought was one of the best they'd ever had. The washrooms, like most places in the DR, were lacking in light, soap, and flushing toilets, but there WERE washrooms so I guess that's a plus. Always bring hand santizer!
This was such a cool trip, and I'm so glad we went. Todd slid down the rope zip-line and jumped into the lagoon. It was a pretty scary leap to watch him take! When I went to take a picture from where he jumped in, I discovered there was a nest of hornets and dashed out of there yelling - THERE'S HORNETS!!! but Todd already knew that I guess. Adds some incentive for jumpers to get to it quickly I suppose.
The centote was incredible. A scenic stone stairway takes you down to the caves enterance. The first thing I noticed was how the reflections of the water danced brilliantly across the roof of the cave. Next, how green and crystal clear the water was, with a soft sand bottom. There was an area perfect for wading children, and then a drop into the cave for swimmers. The water was cool but not freezing, and had it just been adults, I would have floated there blissfully for an hour. We all experienced something we hadn't before at the Blue Lagoon, and I would recommend it to anyone.
Wondering about the Emergencia photo? Just as we were getting into our cab, we were asked by the only Spanish/English speaking tourist there to take a Dominican woman with us who had passed out in the lagoon! She was carried into the front seat, her partner jumped in, and we crammed into the back seat for a bit of a tense ride to an E.R. Not being able to communicate clearly with the cab driver was scary and we had no idea of how serious the situation was since we didn't know what happened - a bee sting, asthma attack, heatstroke or something else? The next town back he was able to drop them off and I guess we'll never know the ending of that story. Luke was in awe of the situation, but Eve was totally chill about it as you can see in that last photo. Wild.
Hope you enjoyed a look at our day at the Blue Lagoon in Cabarera. It was a fun adventure for us that we won't soon forget.
