The Roavi Blog
Stories from people who live there.
Travel tips, city guides, and local insights from the Roavi team.
1173 articles
Travel Tips
Apps to Meet Locals While Traveling in 2026: The Ones That Still Work, Compared Honestly
Most lists of apps to meet locals are from 2015 and half the apps are dead. This is the 2026 version: which apps still work, what each is for, what they cost, and which one fits the kind of trip you are taking. Written by the founder of one of them, with the others given their due.
Oscar Garcia··5 min read
Travel Guides · Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo in December: Dry Season Returns, Dominican Christmas Fills the City, and the Malecón on New Year's Eve
December is the start of Santo Domingo's dry season: around 29°C, breezy evenings, less humidity and only short showers. It is also the most Dominican month of the year, with aguinaldos, charamicos in the parks, Christmas Eve as the big family night and New Year on the Malecón. Prices are fine until the 20th and busy with returning Dominicans after.
Oscar Garcia··2 min read
Travel Guides · Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo in January: Dry, Breezy, Three Kings, Altagracia, Duarte, and the City Back to Normal
January is Santo Domingo in the dry season: around 29°C, nights around 20°C, steady breeze, little rain. It is a month of holidays, Three Kings on the 6th, Altagracia on the 21st and Duarte on the 26th, and the month the diaspora flies home and prices settle. The winter baseball finals, whale season starting in Samaná, and the Zona Colonial at its most walkable.
Oscar Garcia··2 min read
Travel Guides · Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo in February: The Driest Month, Carnival Every Sunday, and the Independence Parade on the Malecón
February is the driest, breeziest month in Santo Domingo, around 29°C, and the month of carnival: parades every Sunday across the country, culminating in Independence Day on the 27th and the national parade on the Malecón. Weather, where to see the diablos cojuelos, what the 27th looks like, prices and what to pack.
Oscar Garcia··2 min read
Travel Guides · Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo in March: Warming Up, Still Dry, and Semana Santa When Easter Comes Early
March in Santo Domingo is the end of the dry season: around 30°C, nights around 21°C, humidity starting to climb, still little rain. When Easter falls early, Semana Santa lands in March and the capital empties toward the beaches while the Zona Colonial fills with processions. Whale season ends in Samaná. What the month is like, what Semana Santa changes, prices and packing.
Oscar Garcia··2 min read
Travel Guides · Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo in July: Hot, Humid, Afternoon Storms, and the Merengue Festival on the Malecón
July is Santo Domingo at full summer: around 32°C, humid, with short heavy storms in the afternoon and long sunny mornings. Dominican schools are out and the diaspora visits, so the city is lively. Hurricane risk is still low until August. The merengue festival takes over the Malecón at the end of the month. How to do the heat, what's on, prices and what to pack.
Oscar Garcia··2 min read
Travel Guides · Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo in August: The Hottest Month, Hurricane Season Gets Real, and Restoration Day on the 16th
August is Santo Domingo's hottest month, around 32°C and very humid, with afternoon storms. From mid-August hurricane season becomes a real factor: most years nothing hits the capital, some years a storm disrupts a week, and insurance plus a flexible booking is the right answer. Restoration Day on the 16th is a national holiday. Prices are low for hotels and the city is still full of visiting Dominicans in the first half.
Oscar Garcia··2 min read
Travel Guides · Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo in 3 Days: The Oldest City in the Americas, the Malecón, Baseball, and One Day Out
Three days in Santo Domingo: one for the Zona Colonial, the oldest European city in the Americas, one for the modern city, the Malecón, the caves and a baseball game or a night out, and one for a day trip to Boca Chica, Bayahibe or the mountains. What to book, where to stay, how to get around, and how to eat Dominican.
Oscar Garcia··2 min read
Travel Guides · Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo in 2 Days: The Zona Colonial, Then the City Dominicans Live In
Two days is what most people give Santo Domingo, on the way to or from Punta Cana. Spend the first in the Zona Colonial from morning to Plaza España at night, and the second in the modern city: the Malecón, the caves, the Faro, the market and a baseball game or a night in Gazcue. What to skip, where to sleep, and how to get back to the coast.
Oscar Garcia··2 min read
Travel Guides · Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo in One Day: What to See from Punta Cana or a Cruise Ship, and What to Leave
One day in Santo Domingo, from a Punta Cana resort or a cruise ship at Sans Souci or Don Diego: it is enough for the Zona Colonial done properly and one more thing. The hour-by-hour plan, what to drop, how to get there and back, and why doing it yourself beats the bus tour.
Oscar Garcia··2 min read
Travel Guides · Cartagena
Cartagena in January: Dry, Windy, Busy Until Mid-Month, and the Hay Festival at the End
January is Cartagena's dry season at full strength: around 31°C, almost no rain, and the trade winds blowing hard enough to make the sea choppy and the islands trip a wet one. Colombian holidaymakers fill the city until about the 15th, then it empties and the Hay Festival and the music festival arrive. Weather, wind, crowds, prices and what to do.
Oscar Garcia··2 min read
Travel Guides · Cartagena
Cartagena in February: Dry Season, Fewer Crowds, and Barranquilla's Carnival Two Hours Away
February in Cartagena is dry, hot and breezy, around 31°C, with the Colombian holiday crowd gone and prices down from January. The big event is next door: the Barranquilla Carnival, the second largest in the world, two hours up the coast, in February or early March depending on Easter. Weather, how to do the carnival from Cartagena, crowds, prices and what to pack.
Oscar Garcia··2 min read