Pros
-Lots of room options, from inexpensive bungalows to hotel-like rooms
-Great place for solo travelers
-Feels like one big family. You'll make instant friends with people from all over the world. Games of Jenga around the communal table go well into the night.
-It's pretty clean; the maids do a great job.
-The food. It is absolutely outstanding and portions are quite generous. The dinners rotate nightly and all are served with a side salad.
-The surf instructors are experienced and helpful. Beginners will probably get up on their first day.
-It's quiet for sleeping since it isn't on a main road.

Cons
-The water didn't work for 14 hours during our stay. This is part of life for DR residents; however, when paying $60 a night for a room, I expect there to be a backup supply.
-The student-to-instructor ratio may be unfavorable. On one of the days we took lessons, there was only 1 instructor for 7 beginner students, meaning we had to continuously fight the current while waiting for our turn with the instructor.
-The morning schedule is too rushed. Even if you show up for breakfast right when it opens at 8:00, you won’t receive your food until at least 8:20 - but the truck for the surfcamp leaves at 8:30. Hence you often see people attempting to eat their eggs while riding on the back of the pickup truck. The camp ought to either serve breakfast a little earlier or have the truck for the surfcamp leave a bit later.
-We arranged for airport pickup but the driver wasn't there when we arrived, and the first 2 times we called the surfcamp nobody picked up the phone. Finally we were able to get ahold of someone and she claimed that the driver was there waiting for us. However, a cabbie at the airport knew the driver, called him on his cell phone, and found out he hadn't even left yet. (Later the surfcamp admitted that they had mixed up our arrival date.) In total we waited about 20 minutes outside the airport, were lied to about where the driver was, and spent $5-$10 using our cell phones trying to contact the surfcamp - but yet were not offered any sort of a discount/compensation.

Tips
-DO negotiate with them over the price of your room. Don't accept their first offer, especially if you are an American, because they will try to charge you a higher rate since Americans aren't accustomed to haggling.
-Don’t arrange airport pickup with them; not only is it unreliable as previously mentioned, it is also far more expensive than taking a taxi.
-There is wi-fi but it may not work in your room

A spot for chill out, meet great people, have partys and be happy!!!!

i like the small, cozy and colorfull bungalows a lot, with the nice natur around.
the food is soooo good, it's recommend to have dinner with "the big family" in the camprestaurant!!
stuff is helpful and nice, they organise a lot of good actions; barbecue, surflessons, beachhopping.... and help you planing.
the beachhouse from ali is also very recommend, nicest place to have perfectly lunch on a quiet place with beachview!!
and the priece is so fair to all the options!

If you like to meet a lot of young people, like to stay in a cozy, naturally, friendly and peacfull place, then is this:
*!!! BEST PLACE TO STAY IN CABARETE !!!* =)

Very social place, great food, nice camp, nice staff, cheap! it's 5min walking to town or Cabarete beach, the camp is in a secure area and you have a nice view on the lagoon. In the evening everybody of the camp eat on a big table together, so you meet nice people from all over the world (surfers, windsurfers, kitesurfers, divers, etc..., great ambiance!
They also have a nice beachhouse , a restaurant with a beatifull view of the beach, where you can relax and enjoy the great food!!
At Encuentro beach they have a surfschool, where you can have some lessons or rent boards, and to get there they give free rides with there bus.
They have a nice pool in tthe middle of the camp, with free WiFi

If you wanne stay in the place to be , Ali's Surfcamp is the place!!
...and don't forget to try the great seafood special, the churasco (meat) and the mamajuana (drink)!!!

I stayed myself 3 month's here and a had a great time, I don't have any complains!!

Try and see for yourself!

The staff are super nice and always there for you. They want you to have the best stay
We travelled as a group of 6, and they have nice big rooms with to bedrooms, big citchen and a bathroom. and it´s very nice to sit outside with the poolside wiev:)

I miss the most all the people and the good atmostphere-everyone´s family, if you want to:)
I miss least the one "cacorache" i found, but you can´t realy travel anywhere without meeting them...