To/From Las Terranas by Bus

Aceman · Aug 30, 2009

I am deciding whether to rent a car or take the bus to Las Terranas from Santo Domingo Airport. I am not afraid of car travel as I have done it numerous times in the Caribbean and Central America. A couple of questions:

1) Do I really need the supplemental insurance the car agency will offer, or will a combination of my US Insurance (very comprehensive) and Credit card protection be enough?

2) Will I need a car once I get there? From what I have read it seems like I can both relax and party in Las Terranas and take day trips and/or rent a car or moped from there if I want to explore?

3) How much does it cost to get from the Airport to the Bus terminal in Santo Domingo? Do I need to take a taxi, or is there a bus that will take you there?

4) When I depart back to US, my flight leaves @ 11:00am from SDQ. Is there a way to get back to Santa Domingo that morning by bus in time to make that flight, or will I need to leave the day before if I do not rent a car.

I'm looking forward to this trip.

Thanks,
Ace

mountainannie · Aug 31, 2009

no

Aceman said:
I am deciding whether to rent a car or take the bus to Las Terranas from Santo Domingo Airport. I am not afraid of car travel as I have done it numerous times in the Caribbean and Central America. A couple of questions:

1) Do I really need the supplemental insurance the car agency will offer, or will a combination of my US Insurance (very comprehensive) and Credit card protection be enough?

2) Will I need a car once I get there? From what I have read it seems like I can both relax and party in Las Terranas and take day trips and/or rent a car or moped from there if I want to explore?

3) How much does it cost to get from the Airport to the Bus terminal in Santo Domingo? Do I need to take a taxi, or is there a bus that will take you there?

4) When I depart back to US, my flight leaves @ 11:00am from SDQ. Is there a way to get back to Santa Domingo that morning by bus in time to make that flight, or will I need to leave the day before if I do not rent a car.

I'm looking forward to this trip.

Thanks,
Ace

You don't need a car in LT unless you are staying in Playa Bonita or way out of town... if you are in one of the hotel near the village, you can hop a moto and have more fun.

You can only take a taxi from the airport in SDQ, there are no buses.

The bus from Caribe Tours goes to Samana and then there is guagua that takes you over the mountain...... very easy,.. very comfortable

Also there is direct guagua that takes you to LT but less comfortable for tourists with baggage.. although you could pay extra for two seats with bags... It leaves from the Samana stop behind La Sirena in the Zona... I will leave it to a current LT resident to post the schedule.

You can get your car insurance covered with coverage with American Express, I don{t know about the others. If you rent in LT be careful to check the deductible,.. because some of them have this weird.. like $3000 deductible. I think that ADA will give you comprehensive.

For an 11 AM flight, I would be in town the night before, but there are also flights out of Portillo that you can check that might give you a good connection to make you flight home

Enjoy your vacation

Aceman · Aug 31, 2009

Hi Annie -

I am staying in LT at a Hotel on Playa Las Bellanas. Not as far as Playa Bonita from what I see on the map.

Is that too far away?

Also, I think this is covered on these boards, but what is the cost of the taxi from the SDQ airport to the bus station?

Thanks Annie!

Ace

Facility · Aug 31, 2009

$30 from the airport to anyplace in SD is more or less standard fee, but don't assume it, _state_ it to the driver before boarding, otherwise after the ride they will request more.

Motoconchos are aplenty to and from Lass Bellenas, no prob.

Aceman · Sep 1, 2009

So it's $60 for taxi's plus the bus fares, and $40 for a hotel room cause I gotta leave the night before (my room in LT is already paid for) vs. $150 plus gas & the tolls to have access to a car for the entire week, and being able to leave for the airport very early the morning of my flight. I'm figuring if I leave by 5-6am I can find my way to the airport in four hours to make the 11am flight. Is that doable?

The only reasons to not rent a car is to be able to enjoy the scenery and not worry about the road, meet some locals or other tourists and to see the city of Santo Domingo for the night. Is it worth it for one night?

Thank you for your advice so far.

ben jammin · Sep 1, 2009

personally i would rent the car. the new highway to las terrenas is very close to the SD airport and easy to find. although it is walkable to town from playa las ballenas it is is a bit long and if carrying anything(groceries, booze,etc.)the car will come in handy. just be sure to have pesos for the tolls on the new highway when you leave the airport. my wife and i went last fall and took a taxi to/from SD, rented atv's while in las terrenas. if i had it to do over i would rent a car and do the atv's a day or two just to go to playa bonita and playa coson and do excursions for other parts of the peninsula. good luck, you will enjoy the area

ben

Aceman · Sep 1, 2009

Thanks Ben, that was my thought as well.

peace.

Expat-in-Cabarete · Sep 1, 2009

Just a piece of advice, contact your insurance company in the US to check on coverage. I had great coverage even when renting overseas from Geico. One day I decided to call to check on that again, and no more such coverage. Also coverage from US credit cards do not include liability. I even bought special additional coverage from Amex but there was no liability just theft included. My Visa card, I had to call several times, and indeed just theft, collision, etc., but no liability. I ended up having to buy from car rental company. Finally, do ask about deductibles specially from small car rental companies. It's true that they have $3,000 deductibles and don't sell any additional coverage.

I always rent from the US before traveling. I realized that budget rent-a-car has very good rates if you have a US drivers license. Yet, if you don't reserve, or go directly to the country site (instead of the US site) the rates are much much higher.

Have a great trip and enjoy your visit to LT

mountainannie · Sep 1, 2009

If I were out at Ballenas, I would want a car. Conchos can be hard to find out there. And you will get to see more of the peninsula which is great.

of course, you will miss the true LT experience, which is the motochonco!

REMEMBER BRING TWICE THE MONEY!

the restaurants in LT are the best in the DR!

Aceman · Sep 2, 2009

Expat-in-Cabarete said:
Just a piece of advice, contact your insurance company in the US to check on coverage. I had great coverage even when renting overseas from Geico. One day I decided to call to check on that again, and no more such coverage. Also coverage from US credit cards do not include liability. I even bought special additional coverage from Amex but there was no liability just theft included. My Visa card, I had to call several times, and indeed just theft, collision, etc., but no liability. I ended up having to buy from car rental company. Finally, do ask about deductibles specially from small car rental companies. It's true that they have $3,000 deductibles and don't sell any additional coverage.

I always rent from the US before traveling. I realized that budget rent-a-car has very good rates if you have a US drivers license. Yet, if you don't reserve, or go directly to the country site (instead of the US site) the rates are much much higher.

Have a great trip and enjoy your visit to LT

Thanks for the advice on checking the liability issue. I am going to check with my local insurer as my visa card does not cover this. I seem to recall they don't and I had to buy it on a trip I took to Mexico. I did rent the car from Payless, from their US site. but have never used that company outside the US. I guess I should investigate their web site a bit as well. Not sure they are a small company in the scheme of things.

Aceman · Sep 2, 2009

mountainannie said:
If I were out at Ballenas, I would want a car. Conchos can be hard to find out there. And you will get to see more of the peninsula which is great.

of course, you will miss the true LT experience, which is the motochonco!

REMEMBER BRING TWICE THE MONEY!

the restaurants in LT are the best in the DR!

I've seen videos of the motochoncos on You Tube and I definitely will be experiencing that, even if the car sits.

Plus, I want to be able to partake in the nightlife in LT, will I at least be able to get into town (even a long walk) and take a motochonco back to Las Belleranas when the Bars close so I don't have to drive?

Aceman · Sep 2, 2009

Expat-in-Cabarete said:
Just a piece of advice, contact your insurance company in the US to check on coverage. I had great coverage even when renting overseas from Geico. One day I decided to call to check on that again, and no more such coverage. Also coverage from US credit cards do not include liability. I even bought special additional coverage from Amex but there was no liability just theft included. My Visa card, I had to call several times, and indeed just theft, collision, etc., but no liability. I ended up having to buy from car rental company. Finally, do ask about deductibles specially from small car rental companies. It's true that they have $3,000 deductibles and don't sell any additional coverage.

I always rent from the US before traveling. I realized that budget rent-a-car has very good rates if you have a US drivers license. Yet, if you don't reserve, or go directly to the country site (instead of the US site) the rates are much much higher.

Have a great trip and enjoy your visit to LT

As it turns out my local auto coverage has no provisions for International Auto Rentals. With that said, my Visa Card does have CDW but does not cover things like liability or theft of items from the vehicle.

So I did a little price shopping, and discovered that the prices vary greatly for liability coverage if you need to buy it from the car rental company.

I did a comparison of Payless, Budget, Alamo, National and Thrifty for a week. All had an economy car with AC for between $167 & $173 USD with taxes & fees. But the liability insurance is another story.

LIABILITY RATES:
Alamo: $5.00/day or $35/week
National: $5.00/day or $35/week
Budget: $7.50/day or $52.50/week
Thrifty $9.00/day or $63/week
Payless: $11.99/day or $83.93/week!

And you also need to check the rates for CDW if you don't get it from your credit card or local insurer.

The bottom line is you think you are paying less with Payless, but when you add it up there are cheaper alternatives.

i did not include Europecar in this as it was impossible to get this info from them on the web, which is not cool.

ben jammin · Sep 2, 2009

Aceman said:
I've seen videos of the motochoncos on You Tube and I definitely will be experiencing that, even if the car sits.

Plus, I want to be able to partake in the nightlife in LT, will I at least be able to get into town (even a long walk) and take a motochonco back to Las Belleranas when the Bars close so I don't have to drive?

even from the farthest part of playa las ballenas it is definately walkable and safe. be sure to stop by the fishermen during the day if you plan on some cooking for yourself or appetizers at home base

they seem to always have fresh fish and other delicacies when the catch is good... enjoy

susan77 · Sep 3, 2009

Thanks Ace!

Thanks for the liability comparison, Ace! I will add that info to the Rental Guide we provide our guests--
We have rented from Thrifty at SDQ for $180/week- I take pictures of any "dings" on the car in case there are any questions when we return; but so far, we've had no problems!
I agree with all the advice you've received so far from Ben, Annie and Expat--We stayed at Kari Beach (Playa Balleanas) our first visit and walked everywhere-- Some of the best nightlife is along the "Pescadoro" which is an easy walk from where you're staying-
Now that we have a villa east of town, I still walk most places, and we use the rental car just to get out to Playa Bonita and back+forth from SDQ-
Have a great time!
Susan

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