Travel Review: Dreams Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (Part 1)

I recently traveled to the Dreams Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. I brought my husband, my son (age 5) and my daughter (age 2). Dreams, an all-inclusive resort, is located on the same property that used to be the Sunscape Resort. The city of Punta Cana has over 70 resorts, most of them being all-inclusive.

We stayed for five nights and enjoyed every minute! One of the reasons we chose Dreams Punta Cana was that they offered an Explorer Club for Kids, which was included with your stay. The Explorer's Club is a fully supervised program for children ages 3 to 12. The program changes daily and the kids have many choices of activities in which to participate. The club is near the main building, but no parents are allowed inside.

Explorer Club is a fenced off area with a life-size pirate ship which has a water slide into the shallow pool. The kids can also use the jungle gym or play in the sand with resort-provided sand toys. There is an indoor clubhouse where the kids can have a snack or play inside if it's too hot or raining.

Some of the other activities are: sandcastle competitions, treasure hunting, shuffleboard on the beach and playing musical chairs. If your kids don't feel like participating in organized activities, they are welcome to swim in the Explorer Club pool or play at any of the other areas at any time. The camp time can be as structured or unstructured as the kids desire.

The camp opens at 9am, closes again from 5 to 6pm and then stays open until 9pm. The camp takes the kids to have dinner together in the buffet restaurant. The kids meet up at the clubhouse at 6:00, and then they walk over to the restaurant together to have dinner. This is a great opportunity for the parents to have a romantic dinner alone in other restaurants besides the café.

After dinner, there is usually a movie shown at 7:30. If there is no movie scheduled, the kids put on a show in the theatre. We watched the show one night and the kids were adorable! The camp counselor leads the kids in songs and games such as hot potato or musical chairs. Then the kids dance a little and are generally having a good time onstage. After the show, the parents pick up the kids and by then it's 9:00pm.

If your child is under three years of age, there is another area especially for them called "Kid's Club". The Kid's Club is located near the beach, on the other side of the resort from the Explorer's Club. The parents are required to stay with the kids in this section. In this area, there is a shallow pool (18 inches), a sandbox with resort-provided sand toys, toddler swings and rocking horses (the type you find at your local playground).

What's nice for the parents is that there is a shaded area and lounge chairs available so you can still relax and enjoy your vacation while your kids play. There is also an indoor clubhouse but it was lacking in the fact that the toys provided were old and worn and there weren't too many toys to play with.

As you can see, there are plenty of activities to keep your kids happy when you are a guest at Dreams Punta Cana. The staff members there are enthusiastic and they always remembered my kids' names.