Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

It's been a year since we were in the Dominican Republic at a beautiful resort in Punta Cana celebrating our wedding anniversary and the marriage of some of our best friends. 

I did a full recap of our trip last year here where I talked about the resort, the food, the wedding, entertainment & fun, and the excursion we went on so I wanted to share that today for our Wanderlust Wednesday linkup.

I grew up in the Caribbean and spent a lot of my childhood traveling to different islands on vacation with my parents but there is something about the Dominican Republic that blew me away. It is probably the prettiest island I've visited to date other than Barbados so hop over and check out my review of our trip to Punta Cana.

Doesn't it look tropical heaven on earth?

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Link-up Rules:
1. Follow Kerri, Kate and myself on Bloglovin
2. Link up your favorite travel recaps or travel related posts
3. Grad our Wanderlust Wednesdays button and link back to our blogs
4. Be sure to visit other blogs and build your travel bucket list!

Breathless Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is one of the most beautiful countries ~ if not THE most beautiful country ~ I've visited yet. Our trip to Punta Cana was amazing - the beaches, the resort, the food, the weather and the people. It was magnificent, or as they say magnifico!

We stayed at Breathless Resorts & Spa, which is an adults-only, all-inclusive resort. It just opened in November 2013 so it's a brand new resort that's perfect for a destination wedding, honeymoon or just a vacation in paradise.

The Resort

The Food

The Wedding 

The reason we went to the DR was to celebrate the marriage of two friends and I have to say the ceremony and reception was absolutely gorgeous! I've been to destination weddings in Jamaica, Florida and several different tropical spots but this was by far the most beautiful wedding I've attended yet.

 

Entertainment & Fun

Our Excursion

We went on the Marinarium catamaran cruise which took us around the coast of Punta Cana and stopped at an area where we snorkeled around the reef and swam with stingrays and nurse sharks. They fed us lunch and tropical cocktails on the cruise and the crew entertained everyone with dancing and singing to local music. We had a blast! 

 

What I would give to be back there right now!

Living with the Travel Bug

I can't think of anything I love more than traveling. I love visiting new places, trying new food and exploring different cultures and scenery. Everything about traveling fascinates me and I especially love the feeling of finally getting to cross a new country or city off my bucket list. I try to do at least one big trip every year and a few small trips to different cities either by taking a road trip or quick flight. I've already planned our travel adventures for the first half of the year and hoping to add a few more places to the list.

2014 Travel Plans:

January: Vegas (more about my Vegas trip here)

April: New Orleans for a bachelorette

May: St. Pete Beach, FL for a wedding

June: Boca Raton, FL for an engagement party

And our biggest trip for the year...

We're heading to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic for a friend's destination wedding this summer! We've been saving for months and months for this trip so I'm SO happy to finally have the hotel and flights confirmed and booked!

Cute wedding invitations perfect for a destination wedding.

Their wedding happens to fall on the same weekend as our anniversary so it's a 2-in-1 vacation to celebrate with friends and then stay on an extra day to do our own celebration. 

This resort also offers a complimentary Anniversary package so I was excited to find out we get some extra stuff for free:

~ Bottle of sparkling wine

~ Fresh fruit platter

~ Romantic breakfast in bed with mimosas

~ 15% discount on all spa treatments 

I've never been to the DR and the resort is an adults-only, all-inclusive resort that just opened 4 months ago so I'm beyond excited and counting down the days to be on vacation with friends in paradise!

K and I also want to book an excursion for our anniversary day. We're tossing some ideas around ~ maybe para-sailing, horseback riding, jet skiing, swimming with dolphins or a catamaran cruise.

For those that have been to Punta Cana or a similar destination, what's your favorite type excursion or thing to do on vacation?