Where You Actually Buy Groceries
DAILY LIFE
Ask anyone who lives here where the supermarket is, and the answer is almost always the same: Janet's. Located on the east side of town, Janet's has been the default grocery stop for over a decade, and it carries a wider range of imported and gluten-free products than its size suggests. In February 2025, Janet's expanded with a second location — Janet's Plus, inside a new commercial plaza called Janet's Mall — which brought a cluster of useful things within walking distance of each other: Groove Fitness Studio by Alden for a proper gym session, Gordito's Fresh Mex for tacos, Gypsy Bowls for smoothie bowls, and Linares Hardware for the inevitable home-repair run.
For a bigger weekly shop, especially with a car, Super Pola in nearby Sosúa is worth the short drive — considerably larger, and known locally for its affordable prices. Supermercado Playero is another solid option, known for its wide selection of local and imported products, fresh produce, and convenient location. Between trips, colmados — small, family-run corner shops — are everywhere and stay open later than the supermarkets, which matters more than it sounds like it should once you're actually living here.
Where People Eat When It's Not a Special Occasion
FOOD & DRINK
For a casual meal that isn't a special occasion, Mojito Bar is a reliable, affordable go-to — popular for a normal lunch or dinner rather than a big night out. Voy Voy Bar Restaurant is the laid-back beachfront favorite, known for casual food, drinks, live music, and about as true a Cabarete atmosphere as you'll find. For coffee and reliable wifi, Cabarete Coffee Company, Gypsy Bowl, and Vagamundo Coffee & Waffles are the three names that come up most often among people working remotely from town.
Where People Actually Work
Cabarete has had a working remote community for longer than "digital nomad" has been a term anyone used — kiteboarders and surfers who stayed for the wind and figured out how to make a living from here decades before coworking spaces existed. The clearest option today is The Surfasana Lab, a short walk from the beach with fast, reliable internet, a private call booth, and rentable kite lockers for people who want to work in the morning and be on the water by early afternoon. Beyond formal coworking, two Facebook groups do a lot of the informal work: Cabarete Nomads and Everything Cabarete are where people buy and sell used kite gear, surfboards, and scooters, and where most day-to-day questions about the town get asked and answered.
Where You Go When You Need a Doctor
Centro Médico Cabarete (CMC), built in 2009 and located between Cabarete and Sosúa on the coastal highway, is the town's real answer to "what if something happens." It runs a 24/7 emergency room, one of only two Level 4 ICUs on the entire North Coast, and works directly with more than ten national and twenty international insurance providers — which matters in an emergency, when the last thing you want to sort out is a claims process. For imaging and lab work, Diagnóstico Médico Dra. Mayans, based in the Ocean One plaza right in town, covers most routine diagnostic needs without a trip out of Cabarete.
For anything more serious, Centro Médico Bournigal and Hospital Brugal in Puerto Plata are 25 to 30 minutes away and handle specialist care; Bournigal's International Center specifically supports expat and tourist patients with insurance coordination and translation. For the most complex cases, HOMS Hospital in Santiago — about 1.5 to 2 hours inland — is generally regarded as the best-equipped facility in the wider region.
The Rhythm of the Place
THE VERDICT
None of this reads like a highlight reel, and that's deliberate. Cabarete's real appeal for the people who stay isn't a single spectacular thing — it's that groceries, a decent gym, urgent care, and a table at Voy Voy are all within a few minutes of each other, in a town small enough that you'll recognize the person behind the counter within a few weeks. Current listings across Cabarete's main areas give a sense of what day-to-day distances actually look like once you've settled on a neighborhood.
Preguntas frecuentes
Where do most residents do their grocery shopping in Cabarete? Janet's, on the east side of town, is the default supermarket for most residents, with a second location (Janet's Plus) that opened in early 2025. Super Pola in nearby Sosúa is the better option for a larger weekly shop.
Is there a real coworking scene in Cabarete? Yes — The Surfasana Lab is the most established coworking space, a short walk from the beach with fast internet and dedicated call rooms. Beyond that, cafés like Gypsy Bowl and Vagamundo double as informal coworking spots for anyone who just needs a table and decent wifi, and much of the remote-work community also organizes informally through Facebook groups like Cabarete Nomads.
What happens in a medical emergency in Cabarete? Centro Médico Cabarete (CMC), between Cabarete and Sosúa, runs a 24/7 emergency room and one of the North Coast's only two Level 4 ICUs. More complex cases are typically referred to hospitals in Puerto Plata (25–30 minutes away) or Santiago (1.5–2 hours).
Is Cabarete walkable day-to-day? Downtown/Cabarete Bay is genuinely walkable for groceries, restaurants, and the beach. Kite Beach and Playa Encuentro are more spread out and generally require a car or scooter for daily errands.
Curious what daily life looks like near a specific listing? Ask us and we'll walk you through what's actually within walking distance.