But it keeps being Las Terrenas where people want to visit and move to. They always talk about Samana Santa Barbara becoming the next big thing but it never happens. The same with Las Galeras. I remember Leonel back in 2005 or 2006 visiting Samana and trying to talk it up. Not much have happened there since. On the other hand Las Terrenas keeps growing.Looks like they are rebuilding the waterfront?
You are correct about past promises, but this time it is for real. They bought out the entire row of homes on the left as you enter Samana, and are moving massive amounts of dirt to widen the road. The malecon is being revised to improve drainage during heavy rains, and they are constructing a new building to house all the restaurants. They are putting in a large port for cruise ships as we speak. Next to that they started a new baseball field.But it keeps being Las Terrenas where people want to visit and move to. They always talk about Samana Santa Barbara becoming the next big thing but it never happens. The same with Las Galeras. I remember Leonel back in 2005 or 2006 visiting Samana and trying to talk it up. Not much have happened there since. On the other hand Las Terrenas keeps growing.
I would really like to see it for pueblo Samana. It is a great scenery with the bay. For Las Galeras I am not sure I wish for it to really take off. There is a charm to it being deserted and quiet. Small cute bed and breakfast places and small bar/restaurants.You are correct about past promises, but this time it is for real. They bought out the entire row of homes on the left as you enter Samana, and are moving massive amounts of dirt to widen the road. The malecon is being revised to improve drainage during heavy rains, and they are constructing a new building to house all the restaurants. They are putting in a large port for cruise ships as we speak. Next to that they started a new baseball field.
The road has been paved from Samana to Las Galeras. They painted lines on the road, including reflectors and even guard rails. In Las Galeras they completed a baseball field with covered bleachers, nice grass and lighting. Near there they started construction for their first courthouse.
At the end of the road in Playa Grande they finished the renovations. We now have clean restaurants and bathrooms. All the older shacks are gone, and nobody is allowed to drive on the beach.
Renovations are almost finished at the all inclusive. I have not been inside, but they did a great job on the entrance. LG now has three hardware stores, two furniture/appliance stores, three small grocery stores, two fish stores, two bakeries, two meat shops and homes are popping up everywhere. At this point I would be content if it stopped growing, but who knows what will happen.
Interesting. Another big project.
The weird thing is that the first time the Samaná peninsula began to be prepared for tourism development back in the 1970’s, most of the government induced changes took place in Samaná city. A long time ago I read it was a small town completely made of wooden buildings and Dr Joaquín Balaguer’s plan to incentive tourism development included fiscal ones and a modernization of the infraestructure. That’s when much of the old town was bulldozed to make way for cement buildings, the malecón which until then didn’t exist, even the pedestrian bridge that goes to some of the keys in the bay wss created by the government. No doubt that was an idea they got by looking at the map of the plans the French had in the early 1800’s to built there Port Napoleon, which was suppose to be the new capital of the French Empire in the Western Hemisphere. The map shows some of those keys and the mainland connected by a bridge.But it keeps being Las Terrenas where people want to visit and move to. They always talk about Samana Santa Barbara becoming the next big thing but it never happens. The same with Las Galeras. I remember Leonel back in 2005 or 2006 visiting Samana and trying to talk it up. Not much have happened there since. On the other hand Las Terrenas keeps growing.