Remember that lovely wedding and honeymoon that you had in the Dominican Republic. Remember how the whole thing came off without a hitch. Well.. that’s the problem… if you are one of more than 200 British and Canadian couples it may in fact have come off without a real marriage.

Investigators have uncovered what they suspect is a wedding scam involving more than 200 British and Canadian couples who paid hundreds of dollars for Dominican marriages that were never officially recorded.

Four people have been detained — all employees of the Central Electoral Board that oversees civil marriages, but no charges have been filed. CBC News reports:

In a preliminary report sent to the board last week, the National Department of Investigations said uncertified officiants are suspected of colluding with hotels to swindle foreign couples.

The Tourism Ministry’s website says registration fees of about $455 are required for Dominican weddings, though the fees can be higher if a resort plans the ceremony.

The allegedly fraudulent ceremonies took place from July 2007 to present at resorts in the eastern Dominican Republic, where foreign couples frequently travel for weddings and honeymoons.

Look at it this way, it may have been one of the most elaborate wedding rehearsals ever.

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Visit Curacao (Curaçao) with the Amateur Traveler: This video is from a snorkeling excursion with a snorkeling trip with Bounty Adventures and their sailing sloop the Bounty.

CHEAP CARIBBEAN VACATIONS

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Saturday, July 8th
Time to say hello to Vieques again after a nine year absence. We drove from San Juan to the Fajardo ferry terminal and parked in the long term parking ($40 for a week). We bought our tickets ($2 each) and waited for the ferry to arrive. Prior to boarding everyone lines up in a fairly disorganized queue at a metal gate. When the gate opens it’s everyone for themselves and a rush to board. However, I’d expected this and told my kids this short term discomfort would soon be forgotten. If you expect the ferry to be like this you’ll deal with it OK. If you like airport style comfort, just pay the extra and fly. Once on the ferry everything is fine, it’s fairly new and well air-conditioned to the point of being actually quite cold. The ferry ride takes around an hour and then you disembark much the way you embarked. After the ferry docked Penny from the Seagate picked us up at the harbor & took us to the hotel. We stayed at the Seagate (787 741 4661) on our last trip and had a fabulous time and when we decided to return to Vieques the Seagate was our only option. It’s a nice perk that they’ll pick you up from the terminal so that you don’t have to deal with renting a taxi for what is only a pretty short ride to the hotel in Isabel Segunda. It’s set high up on the hill behind the Fort (El Fortin Conde de Mirasol) and offers 6 apartment style accommodations plus some additional houses & properties on the ground. It’s very down to earth and you feel at home the moment you arrive. The grounds are lush with tropical vegetation and you almost feel like you’re in El Yunque. Note - this is not your 5 star bells & whistle sterile casino style spa resort. If you like that try the Martineau and good luck to you. If you are less pretentious, like discovering the real island feel and like more down to earth surroundings the Seagate is for you. We love it and will not stay anywhere else.
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