Punta Cana Lifestyle Magazine

Lifestyle THE GOOD LIFE
A Hole in One!
How a new business venture, turned into a new life!
Heather Hafner’s journey began almost 6
years ago, when she moved from the
United States to the Caribbean after
coming across a business opportunity at
one of most popular Golf Courses in the
Dominican Republic.
“We were seeking a winter hideaway to
get away from the Chicago winters and
stumbled across GO GOLF TOURS. We
had never been to Punta Cana before,
but knew the weather was great. We did
a lot of due diligence on the business
before the purchase with visits, meetings,
etc. as we love to golf and thought
it would be a fun business to own.”
These days dynamic Heather lives with
her husband and their two children in
Punta Cana, where Heather juggles her
roles of wife, mother and entrepreneur.
“The biggest challenge 6 years
ago, aside from being away from friends
and family, was the lack of resources --
grocery stores of magnitude, things to do
in terms of entertainment outside of
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golfing, not knowing too many people
and certainly not knowing the dominant
language.”
A lot has changed in Punta Cana since
then, “Over the past 6 years the grocery
shopping has changed significantly, we
have met a lot of interesting people, and
have had 2 children who were born in
Centro Medico Punta Cana. Movie theaters,
shopping and a great wine shop
have all opened. It takes time to get used
to it, but Punta Cana is very much a tourist
destination so you will find that many
people are bi-lingual or multi-lingual.”
She ads, “One of the biggest challenges
is that all binding contracts (legal) need
to be in Spanish. You learn to adapt to
another culture, this is not the U.S., nor
should you ever think it is. Being an expat
has it challenges from time to time,
but for the most part it has been quite
rewarding!”
White sandy beaches and great weather
aren’t the only things Punta Cana has to