Each person has his or her own definition of paradise. What I think of as paradise, someone else might think of as hell. The same could be said of adventure. While others may aspire to hike Everest, I'd prefer to hop on a puddle-jumper, fly into a little tropical oasis, drop a line in some unknown stretch of water and fish till the sun goes down. Wash it all down with a few beers and to me, that's paradise — and I just found it.

On a recent trip to the Dominican Republic with my wife, another couple and two buddies, we were treated like royalty at a gorgeous villa situated on a timeless, quiet stretch of land on the Dominican Republic's north coast. Located between the towns of Cabrera and Rio San Juan, the Golden Dolphin Villa provides traveling anglers with an ideal setting, amazing accommodations and plenty of room to kick back and catch a mix of fish.

A Villa Like No Other

When the villa's owner, Darryl Siemer first described the Golden Dolphin Villa to me, I knew there was no way I would be going down there without the wife — unless I wanted to come home single. We'd made deal a long time ago that has helped us keep the marriage intact. I can go on as many fishing trips as I want as long as she gets to ride along on at least one each year. And I choose those trips very carefully. I don't want to bring her to a lodge where she'll have nothing to do but wake up at the crack of dawn and watch me fish all day. She needs a place that offers a bit of luxury — relaxing by the pool, getting a spa treatment, going shopping in town. And the Golden Dolphin Villa has it all.

The villa is a nine-bedroom estate made up of two separate houses perched on a picturesque hilltop with a view of the Atlantic Ocean. One room is better than the next, and fountains and lush landscapes flow all over the property. There is even a regulation-size baseball field on the premises. You can create your own pickup game, challenge the staff or try to hit off some of the local kids, but be warned, while baseball is America's pastime, it's the Dominican Republic's passion. Everywhere you go you see kids playing catch, dreaming of becoming the next David Ortiz or Albert Pujols. Hitting off them is not as easy as you think.