Guagua from POP to Costambar

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tammycarmela

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I plan on taking a guagua from POP airport to Costambar and La Profe 1 gave me a route that includes getting on the Puerto Plata-Rio San Juan and telling the driver I want "el hospital p?blico" as my first stop (followed by taking a C or F to the entrance of Costambar). What is the actual name of the hospital?

Also, I saw somewhere on the interwebz that guagua don't go to Costambar at all? I am fine with getting off at the gate if that is all they may have been referring to.

:confused:
 
La Profe_1

La Profe_1

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The hospital is the Ricardo Limon Hospital. I told you to go there first because you will take either a Rio San Juan guagua or a Puerto Plata carrito into Puerto Plata from the airport. Both of them pass the public hospital where you can change to the guagua that goes past the road that enters Costambar.

You can't take a guagua all the way into Costambar. You'll have to use a taxi or a motoconcho from the main road where the guagua will drop you off to get into Costambar.
 
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DMV123

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Wow that will be quite the trip. Here is what I recommend. If you cannot afford a taxi from the airport - take a carro publico to Puerto Plata.

If you take the gua gua all the way to La Javilla - it is the end of the line for the carro publico. At this point get a taxi, there are almost always taxis here. It will take you all the way to costambar for about 200 to 250 RD. A motoconcho from here to Costambar is 50 RD.

The gua gua or carro publico do not go to Costambar,they will drop you at the highway and it is quite a way to get to Costambar from there. Your option would be a taxi or motoconcho.
 
bachata

bachata

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tammycarmela said:
I plan on taking a guagua from POP airport to Costambar and La Profe 1 gave me a route that includes getting on the Puerto Plata-Rio San Juan and telling the driver I want "el hospital p?blico" as my first stop (followed by taking a C or F to the entrance of Costambar). What is the actual name of the hospital?

Also, I saw somewhere on the interwebz that guagua don't go to Costambar at all? I am fine with getting off at the gate if that is all they may have been referring to.

:confused:
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Catch a local taxi when in Puerto Plata, it won't charge you more than RD $200. pesos to take you to Costambar.
I guess you will be traveling at least with a carry on!!!

Don't show up at Blackbeard riding a motoconcho as girls won't pay attention to you.

JJ
 
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the gorgon

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DMV counsels

The gua gua or carro publico do not go to Costambar,they will drop you at the highway and it is quite a way to get to Costambar from there. Your option would be a taxi or motoconcho

wrong. you can get the carrito, JC, at the park across the street from the Ricardo Limargo Hospital. to Costambar gate, the price is 25 pesos.
 
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london777

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the gorgon said:
You can get the carrito, JC, at the park across the street from the Ricardo Limargo Hospital. to Costambar gate, the price is 25 pesos.
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The gorgon is correct.

You will have to walk (about half mile) from the Airport to the main road so I hope you don't have too much baggage.

Then you can catch any carrito (publico) or San Juan-to-Puerto Plata guagua which goes to the Hospital. While it is indeed called the Ricardo Limardo Hospital, as far as public transport is concerned it is just known as "el 'opital". They should all go to the Hospital, but very occasionally the driver may be bribed to drive straight into the middle of town along Avenida Luis Ginebra, thus by-passing the hospital. So when boarding, make clear you want to go to "el 'opital".

Get out opposite the hospital and there is a little park on your side of the road. The JC carritos to Costambar gate start from there. Note that they turn round at the gate and are not allowed into Costambar itself.

They run about every 15/20 minutes depending on the time of day and stop running around 8.00pm.
 
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DMV123

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Excellent - I learned something new!!!! Did not know there was a carrito to the gates in Costambar!
 
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tammycarmela

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Thanks for answering all, it's appreciated! These details are so helpful.

After reading your responses, I see there is more than one way to cover the route I've asked about.

So to fill out my question, here is the plan. We are bringing very light carry on only and are both fit, so walking some distance (2-3 miles) with tiny bags is no concern. We're in no particular hurry, but there is something to be said for a fairly direct route.

By the way, what IS the distance from the highway to Costambar? 2 miles maybe? Is the road to the gate simply not walked due to various unpleasant/dangerous conditions?
 
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dv8

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heck, you people never walk or what? 2 miles walk to the road from the airport? are you nuts? the walk should be no more than 10 minutes, for god's sake. it's a stone throw away.
take a guagua/car from there to javillar (in POP). from javillar a carro publico to costambar (i think it is a number J or maybe P), it will stop outside the gate.
there is maybe 10 minutes walk from the main road to the gate of costambar. you will have to walk inside of costambar too, depending on where you want to stay but really it should be no more than 15 minutes.
 
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tammycarmela

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The Exterminator said:
Hopefully you bring some money to the country because Costambar is not all inclusive...
T.E.
:pirate:
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At home we take public transport, walk or ride a bicycle so $60USD for one ride from the airport seems like a very silly way to spend money. Thus all my questions about how to get around reasonably. Which allows us to instead spend it in Costambar :cheeky:

We are so happy Costambar is not all inclusive. Those places are real sideshows. We are just coming to relax and Costambar seems like a great place to do exactly that.
 
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luzcace

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As the exterminator said, it is not all inclusive , even you just want to relax, still have to bring some cash, count on US 40 per night for a room,and groceries are slightly more expensive than downtown.
 
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tammycarmela

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Options! I love it! At first this seemed kind of confusing, but thanks to you all it now does not seem so.

Here's what I think from reading your advice. Please correct me if I am getting anything wrong:

Guaguas and carritos run roughly every 15-20 minutes and stop running around 8pm. Both guaguas and carritos have designated routes and stops where you get in and out.

There is a 10-15 minute walk from the airport terminal to the guagua/carrito stop where we wait about 15-20 minutes for a guagua or to flag a carrito.

By guagua from the airport we end up at the public hospital. We get off there and wait 15-20 minutes to get our next guagua not to the gate of Costambar but to the start of the road leading to the gates. The walk from the highway (aka main road?) to reach the gate is about 10-15 minutes.

If we choose a carrito at the public hospital we can get dropped directly at the gate of Costambar.

Once within Costambar walking about anywhere is maybe 15-20 minutes.

Route option 1:
Rio San Juan guagua to the public hospital (about 30 pesos each), change to guagua C or F (about 15 pesos each) to end at the highway intersection with the road leading to Costambar. Walk 10-15 minutes to the gate.

Route option 2:
Rio San Juan guagua to the public hospital. When we get off the guagua, look nearby for a little park and carritos marked JC on the top (25 pesos each). End at Costambar gate.

Route option 3:
Rio San Juan guagua to La Javilla, aka Javillar (??pesos). Take carro publico J or P to end at the gate at Costambar (?? pesos).

So I get guagua (minivan), motoconcho (bus), carrito (6-passenger taxi on a public route).

When someone says local taxi do they mean a carrito?
What is carro publico?
 
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tammycarmela

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luzcace said:
As the exterminator said, it is not all inclusive , even you just want to relax, still have to bring some cash, count on US 40 per night for a room,and groceries are slightly more expensive than downtown.
Click to expand...

Exactly right, this is what we are planning to do.
 
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dv8

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no, no, this carro publico that stops at costambar gate is actually JC (sorry, i did not remember the number). the price for a ride is the same in all carros publicos - 25 pesos.
and no carro publico or guagua has designated stops, they stop when you ask them to stop. and at a small price they can even leave their ruta and take you closer to home/airport if you ask nicely.
 
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tammycarmela

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So dv8, you are saying:
Rio San Juan guagua to the public hospital. When we get off the guagua, we should look nearby for a little park and a carro publico (not a carrito?) marked JC on the top (25 pesos each). End at Costambar gate. ?
 
La Profe_1

La Profe_1

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tammycarmela said:
So dv8, you are saying:
Rio San Juan guagua to the public hospital. When we get off the guagua, we should look nearby for a little park and a carro publico (not a carrito?) marked JC on the top (25 pesos each). End at Costambar gate. ?
Click to expand...

Carro publico and carrito are the same thing - cars that seat six plus a driver. Gua-guas are minivans that pack as many as possible into the vehicle.
 
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tammycarmela

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La Profe_1 said:
Carro publico and carrito are the same thing - cars that seat six plus a driver. Gua-guas are minivans that pack as many as possible into the vehicle.
Click to expand...

Great! Public taxi = carreta = carro publico.

You have all been so thoughtful with your answers. Thanks everyone!
:D
 
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dv8

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exactly. just anyone on the street: carrito a costambar? they will point you the way, no need for spanish :)
 
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london777

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tammycarmela said:
Guaguas and carritos run roughly every 15-20 minutes and stop running around 8pm.

So I get guagua (minivan), motoconcho (bus), carrito (6-passenger taxi on a public route).

When someone says local taxi do they mean a carrito?
What is carro publico?
Click to expand...
I think we have really beaten this topic to death, but just to brush up your local terminology:

The carritos (= publico = shared taxi) run 24/7 on the main routes such as Sos?a - Airport - Puerto Plato at about three minute intervals (though from 11.00pm to 7.00am you might have a 20 minute wait for one. Not a pleasant prospect in deserted areas like the main road near the airport). Note that the six passengers are expected to squeeze into four places. One antidote to this is to buy two seat-places each (it's still ridiculously cheap). Your baggage can go in the trunk/boot. This is free though a 20 pesos tip might be appreciated.

It is only on the side routes such as the JC to Costambar that they stop running during the night.

"Guagua" means any sort of bus from the people-carrying vans usually used on the San Juan to Puerto Plata route to the large and modern buses used by Caribe Tours and Metro. I have also heard it used for trucks and lorries.

"Motoconcho" means a motor-cycle taxi (and never means a bus). Not recommended for longer or main-road trips because dangerous, though I use them all the time for getting from A to B within the city. I have been in one accident on a moto-concho in five years of usage, and I know it is only a matter of time before I have another one.
 
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