Dominican Republic Transportation Tips by marielexoteria Top 5 Page for this destination

The new highway Santo Domingo-Samaná and v.v.

Disclaimer: I read about this highway on one of the local papers and since I don't know anyone who can confirm this for me or haven't used it, use it as a guide and be prepared.

This highway will reduce the travel time between Santo Domingo and Samaná to 1.5-2 hours, as opposed to 4-5 hours as it is now going via Cotuí or San Francisco de Macorís. It's a highway with 3 (yes, you read it right) toll booths and you have to pay them on the way there AND back. The first one is on Las Américas highway, the second one at the highway's km 18 and the last one at a place called La Reforma. The prices are as follows:

- Motorbikes: FREE in all 3 booths
- Cars and similar vehicles (vehículos livianos): 40 pesos (first), 130 pesos (second), 155 pesos (third).
- Microbuses and minibuses: 260 pesos (second), no price info about the other 2 booths
- 2-axle trucks and buses (camiones de 2 ejes y autobuses): 100 pesos (first), 260 pesos (second), 320 pesos (third)
- 3-axle (or more axle) trucks (camiones de 3 ejes o más): 150 pesos (first), 480 pesos (second), 590 pesos (third).

The highway ends about half an hour from Samaná city, in a place called Rincón de Molinillos. From there you should take a right to go to Samaná or a left to go to Nagua.

Mode: AROUND

Type: Car/Motor Home

Santo Domingo-Punta Cana/Bávaro by public bus

This tip is for those of you who want to go to Punta Cana or Bávaro by public means and would rather not to spend a lot of money renting a car or calling a cab.

Take a minibus to Higüey at Parque Enriquillo, Santo Domingo. These buses are express buses but might stop to drop off or pick up passengers a few times along the road, they're comfortable enough for the trip and usually have a/c. When you come to Higüey, go to the Friusa bus terminal (Sitrabupu) and take one of their buses. All buses coming to Bávaro from Higuey go around all the hotels.

Buses from Santo Domingo to Higuey run every 15 minutes at peak times (8am - 6pm) and every 30 mins in off-peak times (6am - 8am, 6pm-8pm) and vice versa from Higuey to Santo Domingo (first bus leaves at 4.30 am)

From Bavaro to Higuey/and from Higuey to Bavaro, buses run every 15-20 minutes from Friusa bus terminal (Sitrabapu) next to Politur police station. After 10pm, service is around once every hour.

Of course, to visit Santo Domingo from Punta Cana or Bávaro you do this the other way around.

I haven't been to Punta Cana but I got this info from reliable sources.

Mode: AROUND

Type: Bus

Airports

For being such a small country, we do have a lot of international airports that connect us with a lot of cities in Europe, North, Central and South America and the Caribbean either by regular flights or charter services.

- Aeropuerto Internacional Las Américas (SDQ) in Santo Domingo.
- Aeropuerto Internacional del Cibao (STI) in Santiago.
- Aeropuerto Internacional de Gregorio Luperón (POP): in Sosúa, Puerto Plata province.
- Aeropuerto Internacional de Punta Cana (PUJ)
- Aeropuerto Internacional de La Romana (LRM).
- Aeropuerto Internacional El Catey (AZS) in Samaná.
- Aeropuerto Internacional La Isabela in Santo Domingo.
- Aeropuerto Internacional Arroyo Barril (EPS) in Samaná.

Mode: TO

Type: Airplane

Guagua (bus)

Caribe Tours and Metro are the biggest bus lines that travel across the country. They both have air conditioned, comfortable buses. They used to serve wafers and coffee before but I don't know if they still do nowadays. Competitive prices.

Some routes will make a few stops on the places where most people travel to.

There are more "informal" buses, minibuses, that travel back and forth between most cities. They're cheaper than Caribe Tours and Metro but they're not as comfortable. There's 2 kinds of these: those who are "express" and those who will stop wherever a passenger winks at them to stop or wherever someone is getting off. Those minibuses have a guy that stands on the exit, called "cobrador" and his job is to collect the fare. On the stop-basically-everywhere minibuses they'll hang half his body outside the door and yell the route they're traveling. They signal the driver by knocking on the bus once or twice.

Mode: AROUND

Type: Bus

Website: http://www.caribetours.com.do