Travel within DR/Puerto Plata

AntiguaResident

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Jan 28, 2003
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Planning first time visit to DR. Has anyone stayed at Occidental Village on the Green, can't find a review. Can anyone advise travel time from Santo Domingo to Puerto Plata and the best way to do so? Bus, private car, Air Santo Domingo? What is a visit like over the Easter weekend - busy? Any hotels with especially good kids' clubs (ages 7 & 11). Many, many thanks!
 

CMS

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Jan 28, 2003
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Antigua,
Travel time from Santo Domingo to PP is about 3 hours. The best kids club is at Club Med but very expensive. All of the Occidental resorts have kids clubs but they are poor quality. Friendly staff members but few resources to work with.
CMS
 

rasilm

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Jan 1, 2002
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Travel time for SDQ / POP

If you will be landing into Santo Domingo airport, travel time to Puerto Plata will depends on the time you will be passing across Santo Domingo City traffic. With normal traffic the ride from the airport takes 3 1/2 hours, if for any reason you get caught in the usual traffic rush hour from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. it will take you 4-4 1/2 hours to get to Puerto Plata. Good luck!

Rafael
http://www.dominicantaxi.com
 

Rachael

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Feb 8, 2002
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Do some extra checking on the Samana Santa holiday. I visited this area during that time several years ago and found many businesses close too observe the holiday and that there is are no motorized water sports allowed during this time frame as well as limited loud music, cutting down on a couple of disco nights. Not sure if this is still in effect or not. That was about 7 years ago.
 

FireGuy

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Aug 21, 2002
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Travel within DR / Puerto Plata (POP)

Hi AntiguaResident,

Greetings from Atlantic Canada.

POP is about three and a half hours from SDQ (+ or - based on SDQ traffic) as Rafael says. This is for a car or taxi. Depending on the time you arrive you may have to stay overnight and travel the next day. Another alternative is to take a taxi to the bus terminal and then take a bus (Caribe Lines, I think) to POP; probably a bit longer than car or taxi. I seem to recall that they run hourly until sometime around late afternoon. Once again depending on your arrival time you might have to overnight in SDQ. Taxi from SDQ - POP $130 US as per http://www.dominicantaxi.com Bus SDQ - POP around $100 RD (about $5 US plus cost of taxi in SDQ). Cost of hotel in SDQ - depends what your expectations are.

Re: hotel
See http://www.debbiesdominicantravel.com/travel3.html There are several reviews there.

Main website address is http://www.debbiesdominicantravel.com not as given previously (sorry Dominican Babe).

Have a great trip - why not see if you can fly into POP direct?

Gregg
 

mkohn

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Jan 1, 2002
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Flying in to POP would be quicker, but it depends on the costs. The bus starts in SDQ and goes through Santiago, and you get a great tour of the countryside. The buses are air conditioned and the seats are comfortable.
Semana santa is the busiest time of year. There are also a lot of drunk drivers (mostly at night), so taking the bus is the safest way.
In the POP area are a cable car, Spanish fort and La Isabella. Sosua beach is very popular. It's about a 20 minute ride.
If you desire an American style breakfast outside of the resort, try Sofy's B&B in POP.
Have a great trip.
mk
Enjoy your trip.
 

WendyPavo

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Dec 13, 2002
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Definitely check the Dominican calendar (or check with a travel agent)!! Semana Santa is very much alive, and quite crazy. Many local businesses are closed, motorized water sports are outlawed, and hotels become filled with local Dominicans who party exhaustively for days and nights on end (quite similar to Mardi Gras in New Orleans)!!
As far as getting from SDQ to POP, you're definitely better off flying into POP if at all possible. If not possible, the public bus system (referred to simply as "Metro"), will cost you only 400-500 pesos/person (if I remember correctly). You're best bet for going this route is to take a taxi from SDQ airport to the Metro station, and then stand in line to purchase a ticket for the next bus to POP (there are typically 4-5 departures for POP each day - but this may be restricted due to various Semana Santa observances). Once you arrive at the Metro station in POP you can pretty easily catch a taxi to your resort (and I would highly recommend that your travel be completed during daylight hours).
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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1) Club on the Green is a very nice place that is along the 15th, 16th and 17th fairways of the golfcourse. It is children friendly and Dominicans love children. There are pools and play areas for them and the ocean is "right there" , about a 5 minuter walk...
2) As others have said, there are lots of things to do.
3)REALLY try to get into POP or Santiago, at least. Are you coming from Antigua?
4) Bus costs less than 150 peso p/p from SDQ to POP/ Taxi from POP to hotel will be maybe 50 pesos if you talk like you know what you are doing.
5) Sofy's B&B is a definate must for fabulous breakfasts.

HB
 

Marc

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Jan 1, 2002
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Samana Santa

I recommend checking the archives for "samana santa" (Holy Week). Locals, along with all of their trash, fill the North Coast beaches. AI's remain trash free but are packed solid with all kinds of locals from all over the place.

But if Easter is all you got, and you are committed to the DR...

my two cents.
marc
 

AntiguaResident

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Jan 28, 2003
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Dear Everyone: Thank you so much for all the info! Usually I am dishing out the info on the Antigua forum. We had planned to fly Liat from Antigua, but it now appears that internal flights from Santo Domingo are not that convenient (Air Santo Domingo). Since an air transfer somewhere seems to be the case for us, I think we may do American Eagle out of St. John's to Puerto Rico then onward to Punta Cana. May delay our trip until after the Easter weekend if things are so busy. Thanks for the tip on Debbie' site, good for Kids Club reviews. We never leave our kids at the clubs, but since the DR's courses are so good, I'd like to get in some golf with my husband. Think we will try to do Puerto Plata as there seems to some "cultural" offerings there for the kids, i.e. Taino Museum, etc. Many thanks again to all of you. Now how about a trip to Antigua......
 

Rachael

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Feb 8, 2002
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You buy, I'll fly!!! LOL

Good luck with your trip, I'm sure you will enjoy the DR no matter where you decide to stay.