ABOUT
Built by Someone Who Actually Lives Here
Last updated: 10 June 2026
I'm Zara. I came to the Dominican Republic on holiday in 2017. Then I came back. Then I stayed.
Nobody warns you about this, but it's the most common expat story here: almost no one means to move to the DR. The place just gets you. For me it was Cabarete that did it: the watersports, the beach life, the community. I stayed for those, and by 2020 I had residency, the bank accounts, the renewals, the whole paperwork journey this site now documents.
Home is still Cabarete, on the North Coast. It scores 8.2 on this index. I didn't bump it.
How a holiday became an index
-
2017
The holiday
A holiday in Cabarete. Then home. Then back again. The watersports and the community made the decision before I did.
-
2020
Residency
Made it official. The visa runs, the paperwork, the bank accounts, the renewals: the whole process this site now documents.
-
Since
Living it
Years of living in Cabarete for the wind, the water and the people, while running a Google Ads agency. Daily life split between spreadsheets and the sea.
-
Now
The index
Every town scored on the same five factors, with the working shown. The answer to the question every newcomer asks and nobody had properly answered.
Why this site exists
Numbers first
Before the DR, I qualified as a Chartered Accountant in the UK, then started my own Google Ads agency and spent the years since inside the numbers of more than a thousand businesses. Numbers are how I make sense of decisions, including the decision of where to live.
Nothing like this existed
I never had to ask “where in the DR should I live?” because I landed somewhere that happened to fit me. Most people are not that lucky. I've watched newcomers ask that exact question for years and get chaos back: 20-year-old forum threads, conflicting Facebook answers, listicles by someone who'd spent a week in a resort. Nobody had scored the towns on consistent criteria and shown the working. So I built it.
Every town on this index is scored on cost of living, safety, healthcare, internet and lifestyle. You can read exactly how on the methodology page. And because I still live this every day, when a score changes it's because something on the ground changed.
Start where you are
If you're at the “it was just supposed to be a holiday” stage, take the quiz. It'll tell you which part of the island is most likely to get you too.