Now Onyx, Punta Cana - family vacation - life thru my hazel eyes

Good morning and welcome back.

Dominican is my secret oasis. Home away from home if you will. It was one of the first vacations my husband and I took alone and I absolutely fell in love with their pink sand and palm studded beaches. It is what keeps me coming back, year after year. Here is a little bit about our latest trip to Now Onyx, Punta Cana.

Now Onyx is actually located in Uvero Alto. On their northeast cost, just north of Punta Cana. Forty minutes from the airport, wrapped between nature and ocean and set on a remote beach between Dreams and Breathless Resorts.

This resort opened its doors in 2017 and with more than 500 suites, 10 restaurants and five swimming pools, as well as kids’ and teens clubs, it is the perfect size resort. Not too big and not too small. Great for adults, weddings, parties and families alike. All-suite rooms start with two double or king beds with separate, open living space with sofa bed. All ground-level suites have swim-out exits.

Below you will find a detailed overview but we all know pictures speak louder than words…so here they are: enjoy!

OVERVIEW

Preferred Club Advantages:

access to a private pool in the back of the resort that is literally an oasis. Away from the craziness and parties at the main pool and perfect enough to recharge and unwind.
private butler who is available during your entire stay, accessible via WhatsUp app and will make reservations for you at the only restaurant that required it, Hibachi.
private beach area was clean, calm, chairs and towels always available.
if you are travelling without kids, you can have access to all areas, including Breathless.
the room choice are better. You can have a nice beach or beach front view and that is why we pay for preferred most of the time. I really enjoy waking up in the morning to watch the sunrise and listen to the ocean.
you also have a private check in and two lounges just for PC members

Preferred Club Disadvantages:

private beach area but on the opposite side of the resort.
preferred club lunch hut but again on the opposite side of the resort.
wish the preferred club pool was overlooking the ocean and not a construction site.
no wristbands. No security measure to let them know who is actually at preferred club or not. So you could walk around and use all of the facilities. They only asked for room number when entering breakfast, lunch or dinner. But never at the lunch hut.
lazy river was not really a river. It did not flow. There were no floaties so if you brought your own you could use it otherwise it’s really just the pool for swim up rooms. I used it to swim laps in the mornings.

Beach:

The beach directly in front of the resort was spotty. Some days it had more seaweed than others. But for the most part they kept it clean and it was good enough to jump in. However, it was more aggressive and not as calm as some of the parts north of the resort. If you walk just a few minutes towards Breathless, you will find a calm, shallow and beautiful beach. The water is so clear you can see through to the bottom and even come across some coral reef. Bring your snorkeling gear and enjoy every inch this beach has to offer.

Kids Club:

There were so many activities for the kids to do. You could literally drop them off in the morning and pick them up at night. If that is your thing. We don’t typically do this so the kids only jumped into 2 activities that were by the pool. They also have a video game room and many table games and activities for kids of all ages.

Food:

The buffet was the smallest of all the buffets we have ever been to. But there was plenty of food for all. Dominican is known for its bland flavors so you have to load up on sauces and s n p! All of the other restaurants were fantastic and their menus were just perfect. Even for our picky 5 year old.

Pools:

They advertise one of the pools as salt water pool and that it is not. It was just a regular pool. The infinity pool was very cool and different in that it has a glass edge so you could see people through the other side. Kids got a kick out of that one. The swim up pool is deep enough even for kids to play around in. It does connect to what they call a “lazy river” and it has a volleyball net in it. This is also the pool where all of the activities are done. From pole dancing aerobics class, to pool games, and announcements. There is a smaller kids pool in the back of the infinity pool and another more quiet area that also connects to the lazy river. All in all there are plenty of spaces and pools to relax and have fun. A mix of everything.

Entertainment:

All of the entertainment at the main pool is geared towards adults. You have to sign a waiver if you want to participate in any of the fun, crazy, silly games. But the workout classes are typically adult oriented as well.

Entertainment crew during the day is fun, not pushy or obnoxious. They come around and try to get people to have fun and most of the time they don’t even have to ask. People really enjoy being part of the fun. Evening entertainment is fun, creative and different. Kids and adults really enjoyed the nightly shows.

The drinks are great and top shelf.

Weddings:

This place is a wedding destination! We witnessed 8 weddings and sometimes 2 per day! They do a beautiful job and everyone seems like they are loving it.

Timeshares:

We had an option to show up for an informational meeting but we politely declined and no one was pushy. This was fantastic because most resorts will waste your time right as you arrive and that is the last thing I want to do after travelling all day with kids.

Rooms:

Our room was a Preferred Club, Ocean View, Double beds with a pull out sleeper. I love having the sleeper to use for my outfits :)! There are about 10 hangers in the closet and that wasn’t enough for 4 people but I personally didn’t mind. We had plenty of room to lay out our clothes. There are many drawers and shelving as well. In room iron, scale and a really great hair dryer. Incense was available which helped to cut through the really strong cleaner smell. I also like to bring my own Fabreez and Lysol as back up.

Overall the room was clean. We had no issues with housekeeping with the exception of 1 day. It rained in the afternoon and she did not get to clean our room until almost 5pm. But we made the best of it. The mini bar was stocked and we even requested Milky Ways a few times and they brought them upstairs right away. The view was great but there was a giant palm tree blocking some of our view. We didn’t mind because it also helped create some shade for our evening relaxation on the terrace.

We used room service one morning because our excursion had a super early pick up: before the breakfast restaurants were open. We ordered 3 American breakfasts and OMG it was way too much food. But they arrived exactly on time and it was fresh and delicious.

Butler:

Our package included a butler. Whom we did not use at all. Except for one thing: reservations for Hibachi restaurant. We really did not need him. Typically we buy preferred for the room location not for the butler. I like to be closer to the beach and that is the only way to do it, sometimes. All of the staff is super attentive and having a butler is really not necessary, at least for us. But if you like that sort of thing, this is the way to go.

Excursions:

In the past my husband and I have visited Saona Island. The last untouched paradise in the Dominican Republic. It is truly a once in a lifetime experience. I swore that we would be back and take the kids there one day. We loved the experience that much. However, this year my husband surprised us and purchased the Scape Park excursion and I am so glad he did. We really had a whole new appreciation of the Dominican and it was amazing. The full day experience included a boat ride through the amazing blue waters. Snorkeling. A private party, drinking and swimming in the DR’s natural pool = middle of the Sea. We proceeded to have lunch at one of the best beaches I have ever seen, Juanillo beach. This is one of the region’s most desirable stretches of white-sand beach! Best lunch we had in the DR ever and the best views ever! I’ll let my photos speak for themselves. We ended the day with a crazy safari ride to the Scape Park where we hiked through the jungle to natures most impressive turquoise waters.

Hoyo Azul:

This exotic journey is the face of the Caribbean’s amazing eco system. It is surrounded in lush rainforest, approximately 45 feet in depth, sits at the bottom of a 246-foot tall limestone cliff covered in vegetation. I mean come on! Breathtaking. But even more impressive than this was the fact that Adriana, without hesitation, grabbed a life jacket and jumped in. I was so proud of her but also myself. This checked off so many of my fears. Swinging bridges. Jungle and bugs. Caves! Deep waters. Did I mention caves?! But we did it. The 3 of us anyways. Donnie was happy to just watch us do it. However, we do have one regret. Adriana and I both wished we jumped into the cave from the top. Most people did it and I got scared but looking back. I wish I did. I was so overwhelmed with the entire experience that I was happy just to take dip into this amazing piece of nature.

A place where nature embraces your senses, takes you back through time and fills you with emotion. Scape Park

Summary:

We had another successful visit to the Dominican Republic. Will this be the last, probably not. Did we have reservations going in considering what was going on in the news, some. But overall we knew that going anywhere overseas, travelling to any destination there are risks. We took all of the necessary measures we knew we needed to take prior to going and we felt great about it. Kids had a blast. We stayed safe and watched our drinks and our food intake. Brought our own cups and straws. Stayed away from the raw foods and just had fun.

Reminder: when you are here on vacation, everything is on Island Time! So relax, have fun and don’t expect speedy services as if you are in the USA.

Until next time DR — we love ya…x, Dijana