By yourself? I would not recommend it.But it can be done, just that you will probably get taken advantage of , unless you hook up there with another group, which is not hard to do at all. I run into guys from Brooklyn ny all the time over there, sometimes they are even in the same Hotel, which is the best scenario since you can then even split cabs etc.
Been traveling there 4 years , every July, normally 5-8 of us, only 2 of us dont speak spanish,myself included, everyone else does. 2 guys are Cuban, they know exacly what they are doing , and we still hire a bodyguard for the whole week and travel together. In the Capital SD, its pretty safe, but street hustlers will still try to take advantage, and they are pretty good at it too.
At night, Ive pesonally witnessed dead bodies the aftermaths of shootings. they didnt even cover them like they do here, also burning tires & unruly crowds(around election times),lots of potentially dangerous stuff. One woman whos Husband was with a Film crew, she was staying in the same hotel, told us a story of walking with her kids and all of a sudden bullets were flying.
The word is pretty much out that if you fuck with/hurt the tourists, youre dead meat but it can still be dangerous. Stray bullets dont know the rules.
Several times while sightseeing, AR-15/M16 armed security guys(Dom Army I think) would follow us just to be sure we were safe while taking pictures. So I would strongly advise you to go with a group of guys. Its a lot more fun that way, anyway. I cant imagine going there by myself.
The all inclusive places are boring,dont expect too much action there you need to go outside at night,thats where the real fun is.
If anyone is going to be in Santo Domingo 7/23-8/1 (the Merengue festival week) I would be glad to buy u a Presidente beer on the El Malecon.