Back in March '09, I rented a taxi for the day and he took me to Puerto Plata
from Cabarete on a tour that was to include a stop at Fort San Filipe, shopping in town, visit a cigar factory and the cable car ride to the top of Mt. Isabela. It cost me $80 American. It was like having my own personal chauffeur for the day. He waited at all stops for however long I wanted.
I didn't do the shopping part of the trip and the cigar factory was closed for the day, but all in all it was a great bargain. You could NEVER get a taxi in the US to do what he did for the same price, EVER!!!
What I'm thinking, if you don't want to do the shopping part of the tour, have the taximan take you to the Brugal Rum factory in P.P. instead.
Ask the taximen around town if they do day "tours" of Puerto Plata. And I believe that for the $80 that I paid, you can split that cost among yourselves for a really cheap way to spend the day.
