Kevin Contreras

Punta Cana Travel Agent Consultant

tba

Hawaiian Islands Travel Agent Specialist

Hawaiian Island Trips

Hawaii has been a special place for me. The 1st trip was for my cousin’s wedding, which also turned into the place where I got engaged. The 2nd trip was a family vacation which our daughter chose for her high school graduation present.

It was coming up on 5 years of dating and I knew I wanted my girlfriend to be my wife. With the news of my cousin’s wedding being on Oahu, I figured that would be the perfect place to pop the question.

We stayed at the Pacific Beach Hotel (now called Alohilani Resort). It features the largest aquarium in Hawaii and is right on Waikiki Beach. It was a neat experience eating dinner and having sharks swimming right next to you. The room was nice and clean, had an ocean view, but in reality, we were only there to sleep.

We had a group trip to Hanauma Bay to relax at the beach and do some snorkeling. This was by far, the best snorkeling I’ve ever done. Just an incredible amount of sea life, including sea turtles and eels. There was one particular fish that took a liking to my wife, it would not leave her alone, it constantly kept biting at her anklet, thinking it was food.

A must do on Oahu is the Pearl Harbor Memorial. It’s a moving experience even if you're not a history buff. Just seeing the landscape of everything and knowing what happened on the ground you're standing on. 

I played 3 golf courses on this trip. Ko’olau, which is in the Ko’olau Mountain range on Oahu, used to be the toughest course in the US. I’ve heard Covid hit the course hard and now operates as a 9 hole now. My dad and I flew to Lanai for the day to play Koele (now closed) and Manele. Manele may have the most spectacular golf hole I’ve ever played. A par 3 that tees off on a cliff and forces you to carry the Pacific 200 ft below, to the green on another cliff. There’s a reason Bill Gates was married on this hole.

My next trip to Hawaii was to the island of Kauai. We stayed at an Airbnb in Poipu. It was a nice condo just a couple hundred yards from the beach. The beach was a popular spot for our water friends as well. Large sea turtles would come onto shore every night, then swim on out in the morning. We even had a sea lion sleep peacefully on the sand. The life guards do an amazing job of keeping the public away from them.

Be prepared to see wild chickens everywhere, thousands of them. Sleeping in could be a problem for some, roosters are crowing at sun up everyday. Luckily I was up early everyday because I didn’t get quite use to the time change. The locals say that wild pigs are just as abundant, but I only saw a couple on this trip. They tend to not be out as much during the day with the heat.

We took on a ziplining tour from Koloa Zipline. They claim to have the longest ziplining tour in Kauai. This has been one of my kids favorite activities. It was about a 3.5 hour tour and had 8 different lines that went through the jungle and along the Waita Reservoir. The guides were great and helped you every step of the way.

Kauai Tubing provided a great time. It’s a mountain tubing adventure that takes you through waterways and hand dug tunnels. You are provided a helmet and a headlamp, which you will need. At the last tunnel of the trip, our guide asked everyone to turned off your headlamp and go through it. It was nearly pitch black and your senses, outside of sight, really kick in. It was my favorite part. There was a break in the action where lunch was provided for you as well.

A dinner cruise was something that my wife has been wanting to do, so she booked the Napali Sunset Dinner Cruise. It departed out of Ele’ele and took us west along the coast, then up north to the Napali Coast.  The Napali Coast was an area they filmed parts of the original Jurassic Park. During the trek, a pod of dolphins were swimming next to us, along with a handful of flying fish. Not something you see everyday, it was a nice touch.  The meal consisted of a cheese and tomato appetizer, along with a salad and shrimp appetizer. 8oz filet mignon was the main course with mashed potatoes, carrots, and asparagus. I was full after that and never tried the cheesecake that was served for dessert. Sodas, water, juices, wine, beer, and cocktails were also served for the duration of the trip. The weather was great and the experience was awesome.

I was able to play 4 courses as well, Ocean course at Hokuala, Poipu Bay, Princeville, and Kiahuna.  I was fairly lucky, only had 1 brief moment where it rained on me. Outside of that, I had a great time.

There’s still so much more that I want to see on the islands, I know I’ll be back!

Aruba Destination Specialist

A Honeymoon in Aruba:

We decided to take our 1st ever red eye from LAX-MIA. That's when we realized, we can't sleep on a plane:( Our 2 hour layover resulted with us sleeping on the floor at our gate. Once we stepped off the plane and felt Aruba’s warm, tropical breeze, we knew this would be a trip we’d remember forever. The “One Happy Island” was going to be just that.

We ended up staying at Holiday Inn Resort-Aruba. It was a nice place, had a nice pool and a couple places to eat within the resort. We elected not to do the All-Inclusive because we wanted to explore the island and not be be tied down to one place.  We did however, end up spending a lot of time at Hyatt Regency Resort-Aruba.  Had we done more research at the time, I feel we should've stayed here.  We loved the restaurants, the pool, swim-up bar, and just the overall vibe. 

Being the golfer I am, I had to take on Tierra del Sol golf course. It worked out great because Body and Soul Spa was adjacent to the clubhouse. My wife took on 4.5 hours of spa treatment while I took on 18 holes of desert, ocean golf.

We used Rancho La Ponderosa for our private horseback riding tour. The horses were amazing, we were beginners, but it didn’t matter. They followed every one of commands without resistance.  We traversed through the desert landscape all the way down to the Caribbean. Our guide asked us if we wanted to let our horses show us what they can do and gallop through the sand and sea. How can you say “No” to that? Everything was going great, until I started gradually leaning too much and seemed like I was at a 45 degree angle before I miraculously regained my balance. I was at the rear of our group, so no one saw what could’ve been the funniest thing they saw happened that day.

We did a half day Range Rover 4X4 tour that I believe is discountinued. The difference was the group of 30+ had about 8 4X4 vehicles where I was able to drive one of them. Kind of forced I should say. They were manual transmission and most of the group said they were unable to drive a manual. In hindsight, I’m happy I was able to do that.The tour guide lead the way and was able to communicate with us through speakers in the vehicle. We toured the whole island. We were taken to the California Lighthouse on the upper tip of the island, along isolated jagged coastline, to a small church, to the Natural Bridge (sadly it collapsed), donkey sanctuary, then to our lunch destination where they provided sandwiches. During our lunch break we were able to do snorkeling if we chose to. Of course I’m doing that. Saw various angel fish, needlefish, surgeon fish, and a few other species I’m not familiar with.

After lunch and snorkeling, we were off to Arikok National Park. There we saw the Quadirikiri and Fontein Caves. There’s 2 sunlit chambers and stalactites throughout. My wife was not too thrilled with the bats that reside in there, but I thought it was quite fascinating. The caves were the final stop of the journey before we headed back.

We did parasailing, towed tubing, a midnight party boat where you could use their water slide and  slide into the Caribbean, and some gambling.  I've never seen blackjack dealt the way I did there. The dealer would deal your 2 cards and only 1 up card for them. If you need to hit, the dealer would give you the next card in the deck. Once you're good, they then will take the top card from the deck and use it for their second card of their hand. 

Food was fantastic! From French cuisines to amazing Italian to an all you can eat Brazilian steakhouse.  But the one we talk about the most, the only place we went to twice was Iguana Joe’s. Their Caribbean jerk ribs were so good that we have never had anything since that matches the taste that came from those.

Speaking of iguanas, they’re EVERYWHERE!

Las Vegas Travel Agent Advisor

TBA

Dominican Republic Travel Agent Specialist

Anniversary Trip

For our 10 year anniversary, we decided that we needed a getaway without kids.  It took some planning since our families lived 1200 miles away.

I happened to stumble upon Punta Cana after seeing on TV, a senior golf tournament at a place I didn’t recognize.  It seemed fake, the sand was too white, the water was too blue, and the grass was too green. I had to look this place up for myself. Everything I saw online happen to match what I saw on TV. I presented the option to my wife (who happens to be a sucker for the ocean, beaches, and palm trees), and it was a done deal, we’re going!

After doing a little research, we wanted to do an all-inclusive resort that had plenty of food options, since we wanted variety. We didn’t do one on our honeymoon, and we were curious after seeing what it had to offer.  We decided to book a week at the Grand Bahia Principe. 

Once we arrived, we were greeted with a cocktail and once they learned we were there for an anniversary, they gave us a complimentary upgrade to the all adult section for our stay.  The room was vibrant, very colorful, had a tropical feel. The fridge was stocked with sodas, juices, Presidente (local beer), and a variety of mini liquor bottles. Anytime you took 1 (or all), they were replaced by the staff the next day when they cleaned the room.

Once we unloaded our luggage, the 1st thing we did was throw on our swimsuits and head to the pool (It was a very short walk from our room). We hop in and immediately go to the swim up bar. It’s a full bar, but the popular choice is definitely the frozen drinks. I believe they had about 8 different ones, ranging from pina colada, strawberry, mango, banana, and other special blends. The bartender was amazing to us. I tipped him the 1st day and it paid off the rest of the trip (they claim tip is already included with the purchase of the all-inclusive package).  Any time it was super busy at the bar, he would pick me of the crowd and serve me before the others.

On a not so busy day, we sat at the bar and I was introduced to Mamajuana by the bartender. It’s a local concoction that has the appearance of mulch it a bottle filled with whiskey. When poured, it was through a filter into the glass. It had a sweet, medicinal taste to it that packed a little punch. I was told the traditional way to make it is with rum, red wine, and honey. I’m sure there are numerous ways that it’s done. I feel you have to try it once if you're there

The resort is big! There’s shuttles that run constantly, almost like a Disney parking lot tram. There’s 5 pools (1 adult only), 7 restaurants, 8 bars, gym, spa, and many other things.  Make sure you book your dinner plans with the resort when you arrive, spots fill up quick. Options include, Mexican, Italian, Japanese hibachi, seafood, Greek, a few different buffet places, plus more that we never got around to.

A common theme I’ve had with my wife is, I golf, while she goes to the spa. I played 4 different courses on the trip, Punta Espada, Corales, La Cana, and Cana Bay @ Hard Rock. All were fantastic courses, but I listed in order of my enjoyment.

We set up a catamaran cruise. It was about a 4 hour trip that included lunch and unlimited drinks. After we set sail, the first stop was to a reef where we could go snorkeling. They provided the gear and off the side I went. The reef was probably about 10 feet down, so the longer you could hold your breath, the better. Saw an assortment of different sea life, but nothing that really caught my attention.

Next stop was an area where they housed stingrays and nurse sharks. It was a large netted off area where you can swim with them. I would swim down to the bottom and touch the nurse sharks. They would swim off as soon as you touched them, they didn’t want any part of us. I was able to get a picture of me holding one of the stingrays, he was large, about 6 feet in diameter.

And finally the last stop was the party in the water. We were out in the water about 200 yards off the coast and we jumped into the water which was about waist high. The captain turned into a DJ and the staff turned into the cocktail waitresses, serving everyone while we danced in the middle of the Caribbean.

Our last big activity was an ATV tour. It was a group of about 20 people, that featured 2 and 4 seater RAZR’s. If you don’t like getting dirty, stay away from this. You are going through mud and dirt the whole time. We were lead to various areas around Punta Cana, a local flea market, local’s beach, and an underground cave that was filled with the most crystal clear water. You have the option to jump off into it, if you like. You don’t have to twist my arm. It turned out to be like a cold plunge, wasn’t expecting it, but welcomed it with how hot it was outside.

I’m going to have to have an amazing experience to bump this vacation out of my top 3 of all time. I’ll keep on trying though!