Punta Cana to Puerto Plata

Just did this trip today and figured it was worth posting in case anyone was considering coming this way. I went up thru the new Samana highway and it was one of the most enjoyable trips I've ever done. I would go as far as to say that I've fallen in love with the DR again It took me just under 6 hours, leaving Punta Cana at 5:00am which definately helped a lot. Here are the directions in case someone needs them:

Head towards SD on the normal route.
Right after the pay toll (after the Las Americas Airport) start looking for the Samana signs on the right, the entrance is close to the horse racing track and is a bit tricky. I almost drove past it.
First toll was under 50 pesos. From then on, you just stick to the highway and stop again a few times for pay toll. All told I paid under 400 pesos.
Onc you reach the end, you can go east towards Samana or west towards Nagua. Head west.
Follow this road the whole way. In Nagua, look for the signs to Cabrera. There aren't many for Puerto Plata.
Most of the road is newly paved or well patched but is a 2 lane road so do be careful thru the villages with the dogs, motorcycles and kids walking around.
After that just keep to this road and it'll lead right to Puerto Plata.

Very simple trip and quite stress free. The best part is where the Samana highway goes thru the Parque Nacional los Haitises. BEAUTIFUL!

Hope this can be of help to someone!

pgbeau1 said:

Wow, just under 6 hours, that is amazing. I have spent lots of time in Punta Cana and going back and forth to Higuey and to Santo Domingo. And I know how long that takes, 5am start or not.

And I have spent a lot of time going from Puerto Plata to Sosua, which itself is 40 minutes; and I've driven Sosua to Gaspar Hernandez at least 30 times in last 5 months, and that takes another 35 minutes at best. And I've driven to Samana, so I know how long it takes to get there beyond Gaspar Hernandez and Rio San Juan to get to Nagua and where the new highway connection is there.

Six hours just seems amazing, that means it takes like 1.5 hours to get from one end of new highway to other from Nagua to SD.

Good to know it is that short a drive from PC to PP.

Click to expand...

I have to admit, the brand-smacking new Hyundai Accent I rented helped a lot too.. Managed to get from PC to the Samana highway in just around 2.5 hours. Then no one was on the Samana highway so I was able to go a steady 110kph (the "radars" apparently didn't see me lol) In my '99 Peugeot I would have probably taken 7 hours or more! Then again, I know that route quite well so that probably helped too...

rlwpromo said:

Hello Kate,

I will be making this trip in two days and have never been to the DR before. Would you be able to send me specific details for road name and numbers from Punta Cana to Puerto Plata?

Much appreciated!

Rob

Click to expand...

From Punta Cana to Santo Domingo, follow the signs. Once you reach the Samana Highway it's straight all the time to the end where you'll see the signs for Nagua. That's on highway 5 and you'll stay on it til Puerto Plata. The only "tricky" part for me was in Nagua itself where I turned towards Santo Domingo instead of Cabrera. Other than that, just kept on the road and followed the flow!