I stayed at the Casa Marina in June 2007 for 2 weeks all inclusive with my boyfriend, and we loved it there. When we first arrived, it was raining and it was late afternoon and there was absolutely nobody around. We had to find our room ourselves which was quite difficult and annoying in the rain, and we thought we were going to have a terrible time from first impressions! But it soon picked up. We found early on that there was water leaking into our room from the room above, so we told reception and we were quickly moved to another room, which luckily had a better view too. The rooms are fine - it obviously depends on what you are used to, but as this was my first time abroad in a hotel, I was very satisfied with it, I don't really expect the room to be amazing anyway. We had 2 double beds (so we could choose which one to sleep on! ), a TV, chair, bathroom, and a lovely little balcony with patio chairs and a table.

When we ventured out for food on the first night, we were a bit clueless because we had just arrived and we found the restaurant by reception, which was just a general buffet, and we weren't impressed with any of the food so we filled up on loads of buttered rolls and bread. We were relieved to see people at last as we had thought that there was no-one else there! We thought this must be the only place to eat so we weren't thrilled, but the next day we found out we were completely wrong - so if this happens to you, just explore a bit further and you'll find it all - we were just really tired after the 9 hour flight!

There are 2 main buffet restaurants I think (it was nearly a year ago! there may have been 3!) and 2 special restaurants - Italian and Mexican - where you can reserve a table for a limited amount of nights. Breakfast buffets were brilliant - croissants, omelettes made with your choice of ingredients right in front of you, cereals, breads, toast, yoghurts...the lot. I always ate too much for breakfast and didn't feel hungry for ages. That didn't stop me pigging out on lunch though! We went everyday to the burger/pizza/hotdog/chips etc buffet (we love our junk food) which is right next to one of the two beaches. Dinner was not as good as breakfast or lunch - just the usual buffets, with similar stuff every night, but it was fine as we usually weren't hungry by that time due to the unlimited snacks and drinks throughout the day. Desserts were really nice though and so much choice. Just watch out for the kids dipping their fingers everywhere! The Italian restaurant is really nice - I liked the pizza, you get a starter, main and dessert with drinks as you would in a normal restaurant, except you don't have to pay at the end! Service was brilliant. The Mexican was not so good, but it's not to our taste really, so others may love it. The nachos were nice, but there were so many bugs crawling across the table all the time, which meant we had to cover up our food with napkins! You get some bugs in the other restaurants too but never as much as in the Mexican - and you get lovely little birds coming in for the breakfast buffets! - but the restaurants are outdoors so it's to be expected really.

Now for the most important part - the beaches! There are 2 private beaches, 1 is used much less than the others, which we preferred because it was quieter and less packed. This was the beach where we discovered the beautiful fish. We would go in the sea in the morning just before 12 and find schools of tropical fish swimming by us, coming for lunch. We started taking bread to feed them towards the end because we knew when to expect them! Snorkelling here was fantastic and the highlight of our stay, but you can see fish even without a snorkel often enough. The quieter beach is down some steps, whereas the other beach is on the same level as the grounds. We would swim by the cave and go really far out and see the most colourful fish you could imagine. There were plenty of sunbeds, although you have to pay to put the parasols up, which is annoying - I think it was about 3USD but don't hold me to that! The sand was absolutely scorching so I couldn't even run to the sea without burning my feet!

The other beach is nice too and has a watersport equipment desk where you can get snorkelling gear and banana boats etc to borrow, all included in the all inclusive package. This beach was rather overcrowded though so we didn't go there as much as the other one.

There are lots of things to do in the hotel. If you want to relax, there are some hammocks right by the beach, which we spent a lot of time in. You can go on a bike ride some mornings with a man named Mike and he takes you around the local area - you have to be fully kitted out with a bright orange bib and helmet of course, which can be rather smelly, but it was an interesting experience. There's 3 pools there, so you can move around between them, and there's snooker tables and table football. You can also play ping pong and lots of other games, as well as board games if that's your thing - you go to the little desk by the snooker tables and borrow the equipment. You are given towels for the day by giving your pool card to the towel desk and taking the towel back to get your card when you've finished with the towel. There are also a few gift shops to keep you occupied, as well as daily activities, such as volleyball, etc, and bingo - but bingo is ridiculously expensive!

The entertainment is ok, but we didn't really come for that and were often too tired to go to anything at night, as we usually got up early to swim in the sea, and were exhausted at the end of every day!

One thing we did not like about the hotel was that the local people bring their market stalls there occasionally at night, and they will not leave you alone, there is no simple refusal - you are hassled and they will remember your face everytime they see you. All the time people kept putting all kinds of jewellery on me (against my will!) and telling me to come back later with the money, as they trust me! And if you've got long hair, the women doing braiding will persistently offer you their services! One day we went out of the hotel to the Sosua beach down the road and there were markets there, and every single person stopped us and hassled us - we must have been stopped by about 30 different stall-holders - both on our way there and way back! And they try to make you feel very sorry for them so you will buy something - this worked on me and I bought a few things I did not want. But they do have some lovely canvas paintings. The surrounding area is a bit scary and you don't always feel safe. Stay clear of the roads, as they don't stick to any limits!

We went on several trips while we were there - Isle of Saona, Oceanworld (swam with dolphins), monster truck safari, snorkelling trip around Sosua. They were great apart from the latter as we both got very seasick and had to be picked up by another boat!

All in all, we were very happy with our stay at the Casa Marina Reef. It is a good 3 star hotel - not a place for luxury - but a really good hotel for variation and lots to do, and brilliant for snorkelling. We really enjoyed our stay. Reception and waiting staff were always very helpful and fluent in many languages. The all inclusive package was brilliant for us as we had so may soft drinks throughout the day and you can eat as much as you like all day! A lovely hotel, but I wold probably not return here, simply because I like to try new places, and I don't see myself going back to the Dominican for a good few years.

we stayed here for a week in june last yr. was a nice hotel overall, would definatly go back! there was always quite a bit of variety on the buffet food. we got coupons for the week to sample 3 of the a la carte restaurants which was really good-nice to be served instead of getting up and down constantly!

the pool was lovely, quite a lot of action going on but you could go down to the other pool in casa marina beach to have a quieter time if you wanted.

booked a trip through our hotel to ocean world- would definatly recommend it!!

there were loads of other trips you could book we did a few of them.
also really liked the snorkelling in the sea trip.

the rooms were pretty basic but never dirty at all, maids came every day to clean.

the staff were all really friendly and polite.

overall i would say definatly go there unless you want a posh room, and i would sure go back!!

I just got home today from Casa Marina Reef Resort in Sosua. I never cried so much leaving somewhere in my life. I was only there for 7 days and it was definately not long enough. I can't express how I truely feel about this resort. I am planning on going again in 3 months. The staff at this resort are above all the most hard working, kind, and entertaining people you will ever meet. Definately take the time out to talk to them :) ... I made so many friends and met such amazing people there. I highly recomend this vacation to everyone! I could probably go on for hours about how great this place is and even if you didn't leave the resort at all through your entire time there you would still have a great vacation. I wish I could let the resort themselves know how much they touched my heart and showed me how beautiful the Dominican people really are! eat, drink and be social :) .. you will find so many different people there that are sharing the same experiences and pleasures of life as you are. I love Casa Marina Reef Resort and I'm sure anyone else that is planning on going will too!!!

Jo-Jo from Canada

we went we stayed we drank! ask to stay at the casa marina BEACH it is much newer and better rooms Casa Marina REEF reef was ok but it needed some work, but who stays in the room the whole time right? it doesnt really matter, staff is really nice and helpful and super super liquor is good for after the bar closes because it really does close at 11pm SHARP and the drinks in the disco are $$ and you can get booze cheap at the store, we had a great time made some great friends and had a blast i would stay there again but make sure if you book for the beach be sure not to get stuck in reef like we did just complain and should beable to get the room you wanted, feel free to contact me if you have any questions