Taxi's

Rachael

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Feb 8, 2002
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Do I remember correctly that taxi fares are set by the DR Government? If so does anyone know where I can find this information before my trip. It will make planning easier in the long run. Thanks for your help with this.
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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In Puerto Plata the local taxi association will have a fare schedule, indicating how much is charged for local service and travl to Sosua, Cabarete, Samana, Santo Domingo, etc. This schedule is for the members of the association.

In addition, there are public cars, called publicos, that generally run between Puerto Plata and neighboring locations. They are quite willing to serve as taxis and will charge less than the taxi does..

In Santo Domingo, there doesn't seem to be a fare schedule. For example, it always costs me about RD$10 more to go the hotel from the Caribe Tours bus terminal in one of the taxis based there than it does to get from the hotel to the bus terminal.

You are not going to find a website listing taxi fares.
 

Rachael

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Feb 8, 2002
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Ken...Thanks for the info

Do the publico's run at night? What I am trying to coordinate is getting from Playa Dorada around 6:00 or so to hit Sosua and have dinner and watch the sunset. This would be on a Sunday or Monday night. Would like to stay in the area to enjoy some drinks etc. What do you think is the best method to accomplish this??
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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Rachael,

You said "we". How many in your party?

Publicos are the cars with red boxes on the top that say Puerto Plata-Sosua (Puerto Plata is abreviated). The usual price is RD$15/person to Sosua, but they may increase that after 6:30 pm. I know the publicos that go toward Cabarete increase their price after 6:30 pm.

To get a publico to Sosua, you will need to walk out to the highway, cross the road, and wait for a publico to come along. Most likely he will toot when he sees you standing there, but otherwise wave him down. The normal load in a publico is 2 in front with driver and 4 in back, which is RD$90 for the car. Assuming there are just two of you, for example, you shouldn't have much trouble getting to Sosua. If you have a big group, you may have to split up because the may already have some passengers picked up in Puerto Plata.

Keep in mind that the driver has 6 seats he wants to fill, so you can have his whole car for RD$90, the back seat for RD$60, and front seat for RD$30. When my wife goes to Puerto Plata, she always pays RD$30 so she can have the front seat to herself (she has a knee problem) and is not squeezed in by another passenger. If there are two of you, you could pay RD$60 and have the back seat to yourselves. If the car comes and there is one in front and one in back, tell the driver you will pay for the back seat and he will quickly move the person in back to the front.

If you know where you want to go when you get to Sosua, ask the driver how much it will cost to go directly to that location. Otherwise you will be dropped off on the highway and have a walk of a block or two into town.

The publico starting point in Sosua for cars to Puerto Plata is in front of the fereterria next to the Texaco gas station. To keep cost down, it would be worth going there and asking driver how much it would cost to go to your hotel in Playa Dorada. Whatever it is, it will be cheaper than taking a taxi.

Later this afternoon or tomorrow for sure, I am going to find out if the price changes to Puerto Plata after 6:30 pm. I'll post what I find out. I'll also get an idea of what would be charged to take a person or persons to their hotel in Playa Dorada.
 

Rachael

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Feb 8, 2002
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Ken...wow, 2751 posts to my 32 and only a month apart!

Thanks so much for the info. There are going to be either 4 or 5 of us traveling so I was pm'd that it would be a good idea to take the bus down to Central Park first, to get an empty publico. Do you agree and is there a set schedule that you may be aware of?(Assuming of course that you are living there)