Dominican Republic Family Vacation pictures! ❤ I love vacation. I love travel.
Last week we came back from our very first Dominican Republic family vacation. We’ve been in Europe last summer visiting my parents in Ukraine, but this is our first all-inclusive Caribbean trip. We loved visiting beach resorts before we had the baby and were very excited for our very first Dominican getaway with the little one. I would have lied if I called this a calm relaxing trip, but we did have the most amazing time! Traveling with kids is never a breeze, but it is so worth it. The feeling, when you learn the world from scratch through the eyes of your little toddler, is just unexplainable. And Dominican was a great place to live these precious moments. I loved being present right there and then, doing nothing but being with my family, having fun together and making memories.
Where We Stayed In Dominican Republic
Lots of you, who followed along my insta-stories throughout the trip, asked about our air travel with the baby and how we entertained him during the flight. So I thought I should share some tips that helped us with a smooth ride to our Dominican Republic family vacation. Don’t forget to check them out at the end of the post!
We stayed at The Reserve at Paradisus Palma Real, which is a great option for families with young kids. It’s a huge complex made up of two resorts, but guests can use the amenities of both if you stay at the Reserve. There are tons of eating options and many areas to explore, which was really nice. It’s also only about 20 minutes away from the airport, which is very convenient, when you have a little one on your hands, who doesn’t have a lot of patience for long car rides.
The weather was absolutely perfect throughout all of our stay, so we spent most of our mornings playing on the beach and by the kids pool in the afternoon. Our son wasn’t much into the waves on the beach, but he looooooved the pool.
Every morning our son’s first words would be “brrm-brrm” as he was getting ready to go out and jump into a golf buggy to explore the resort. Swim diaper – check, inflatable swan – check, gangster hat – check. Let’s roll!
For the most part, food was good. We’ve had the best grilled lobsters here, and the ceviches are always a highlight when visiting the Caribbean. The rest of the food I would describe as typical resort food – not a culinary experience, but we’ve had worse. The great thing was that it’s never ending and always available and accessible. Which is very important for an always hungry toddler.
Visiting flamingos at the pond nearby our breakfast place every day!
Visiting Monkeyland
We also ventured out of the resort for a half day trip to the Monkeyland. The residents are little squirrel monkeys that weight only about 2 pounds. When you arrive, you get a bowl of fruits to feed to the monkeys, and they immediately jump all over you to get their treats. It was such a cool experience even though our son had a few freak out moments at the beginning. To be honest, even I was terrified of them at first, but we both warmed up to them very quickly, and our boy even tried feeding an orange slice to a monkey once himself.
Cocoa trees everywhere! We learned the process of making fresh organic chocolate and bought some souvenirs.
Tired sleeping baby is a good baby! Perfect time to capture unbelievable panoramas of Dominican villages for mama and papa.
We loved our Dominican Republic family vacation so much! We came back refreshed and with so many precious memories.
Now for the tips on air travel with a young toddler
AT THE AIRPORT:
Carry the baby on you as much as you can, while getting through the security. I love baby carriers like Solly Wraps and Ergobaby
Get to the gate early and ask the agent if there is an empty seat next to you or if there is any way you can be moved next to an empty seat on the plane. If the plane is not fully booked, they will try to accommodate your request.
TOYS:
I brought a little backpack stuffed with toys – a few of his favourites and some new toys he hasn’t seen yet. He loves stickers and they are my life savers these days! Any reusable stickers that would stick to any surface like windows, trays, etc. are a great entertaining option for toddlers on the plane. We used this Sticker Book
Other great activities suggestions for the plane ride are: play-dough, Magnetic Drawing Board
SOME THINGS I ALWAYS PACK:
I always like to bring change of clothes for us and the baby, Tylenol, Q-tips, diaper cream, thermometer, Teething Drops
BACKPACK DIAPER BAG:
Backpack diaper bags are an absolute MUST for traveling!!! They are so much easier when you are bending over in the airport. I like to use this one
MIND SET!!!
I think mindset is sooo huge in traveling with kids! It’s easy to get anxious, but they always end up being a million times better than you think. So don’t stress about it, and just have the mindset that you are going on your dream trip, and try to get excited rather than nervous. Just relax and have fun with your little ones.
The best thing to do for your kids when traveling is to make it about them. Make it fun for them, make it an adventure or a game. The more interested in it they are, the less stressed you’ll be, and the more memorable their experiences will be.
I hope you found this post helpful. I’d love to hear your tips too, so let me know what works for you, and I’d love to add them to my list.
Happy traveling!
Other Travel Posts
Vacation in Costa Rica with little kids
Vacation in Mauritius – this was a trip before we had kids, but I would love to come back there one day with my kids.
Visiting My Homeland Ukraine – with everything that’s going on there now I am just so heartbroken… I am very grateful for the memories from this trip that I get to keep.
It looks like you had a great time!
We definitely did! Thanks so much Shareba!
Thank you so much for the post! We will be traveling with our toddler and baby soon and staying at the same resort. Can you tell me if you had a stroller with you, what you did about a car seat, how you handled sleeping arrangements with your toddler ( did the hotel have beds?). Any other general recommendations about the resort and things we need to do beforehand, anything else? This will be our first time traveling internationally with our kids.
Thank you!
Hi Niya! Sorry for the late response, but yes, we did bring the stroller with us and no car seat. Baby slept in the crib, which was provided by the hotel. You’ll be just fine! Hope you have a great experience!
Thank you for sharing this post and pictures! We’re heading to the DR next month to stay at the same hotel and I’m growing anxious by the day. How did you all handle the whole milk and water situation for your little one’s meal times? Did the hotel offer bottled water, and if so, what brand was available? Your post has been super helpful – thank you, again!
Hi Candice! Thanks for stopping by. Yes, hotel did provide with bottled water. I can’t recall the brand though..