Taxi Rates

dcp6904

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Mar 22, 2012
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Is there a time honored, best method for a tourist to pay the rates that locals pay for a taxi in Puerto Plata/Sousa?
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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Is there a time honored, best method for a tourist to pay the rates that locals pay for a taxi in Puerto Plata/Sousa?

You can pay what the driver asks for or you can offer less and let the driver decide whether he will accept it. I have been living in the country for longer than most on dr1 and there is no magic rate for locals. If you have a driver you use regularly, you will pay a little less, otherwise it depends on what you offer and what the minimum is the driver will accept. If you speak Spanish and are able to talk like you know what is what in the DR, you may get a reduction. Otherwise unlikely.

I was in Cabarete with my son and daughter in law the other day and we had to get back to Sosua fairly quickly and all the guguas and publicos were passing by with a full load. So my son told me to get a taxi and he would pay. I had to get
pretty close to the stated price before getting agreement. And I speak pretty good Spanish and am clearly not a tourist.

The best thing a tourist can do is not tip. This is not New York. I never tip; the rates here are high enough to include a tip as far as I am concerned. Taxi prices in Santiago and Santo Domingo are a lot less.
 

Celtic Queen

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Jun 19, 2010
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I don't mean to hijack the thread...but since my question is related, I thought it might be ok? Different times on here, I have seen people talking about renting a car with driver for the day. I have searched, without success, for that information. We have a group of 9 that will need transportation on 2 separate days between Cabarete and Playa Grande (with points in between). Any ideas, other than us using 2 cars?
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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I don't mean to hijack the thread...but since my question is related, I thought it might be ok? Different times on here, I have seen people talking about renting a car with driver for the day. I have searched, without success, for that information. We have a group of 9 that will need transportation on 2 separate days between Cabarete and Playa Grande (with points in between). Any ideas, other than us using 2 cars?

Is there some reason why you didn't start your own thread rather than hijacking the thread of another OP? I hope that the moderator will move your post.
 

Celtic Queen

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Jun 19, 2010
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As stated above, my question is related...taxi rates on the north coast. And it's precisely responses like that that keep people from posting on here! I read everything on this site, every single day...and have for years. And yet, you seem to think it's within your right to belittle, critisize and judge...wow, especially when it is obviously related. Enjoy your DR1 site...I really won't be back. If someone can't ask a simple question without being made to feel like they're 2 inches tall. Melodramatic, maybe...but certainly not worth it to me.
 

Tamborista

hasta la tambora
Apr 4, 2005
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As stated above, my question is related...taxi rates on the north coast. And it's precisely responses like that that keep people from posting on here! I read everything on this site, every single day...and have for years. And yet, you seem to think it's within your right to belittle, critisize and judge...wow, especially when it is obviously related. Enjoy your DR1 site...I really won't be back. If someone can't ask a simple question without being made to feel like they're 2 inches tall. Melodramatic, maybe...but certainly not worth it to me.

@ CQ - I guarantee you still "lurk"....where else ya' gonna go, Sosua News, Dee Arshole?
Don't let one self-appointed moderator tarnish your enjoyment of the most informative/entertaining portals on the WWW.
Ken means well, and knows the North Coast, he just gets backed up occasionally!

@ Ken - Go have another prune juice on me, I have an open tab @ Cafe Cubano, tell them tio's tab!
 

DavidZ

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Aug 29, 2005
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www.vipcigartours.com
@ CQ (and others looking for a good driver on the North Coast) there are a few recommended drivers that get mentioned often here on DR1. Here is the guy I have been recommending and using for over 6 years...never a single complaint from me or others...he has access to various size vans as well as regular cars...he also rents jeepetas for less than most others:

Felipe Vazquez
809 787 0801
felipe0420@hotmail.com

He speaks English well and is a really nice guy, also very knowledgeable about the North Coast, and most of the country.

You can mention my name for a reference.
 

young seniors

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Feb 1, 2012
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Is there some reason why you didn't start your own thread rather than hijacking the thread of another OP? I hope that the moderator will move your post.

CQ..........sorry you are so upset, but i really don`t think Kens post is all that bad to warrant such talk from you. hope you continue to enjoy dr1
 

RV429

Bronze
Apr 3, 2011
1,574
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Is there a time honored, best method for a tourist to pay the rates that locals pay for a taxi in Puerto Plata/Sousa?

The best way is to use the "local" taxis. Not the tourist/airport taxis. Their rates are a fraction of the big boys.
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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As stated above, my question is related...taxi rates on the north coast. And it's precisely responses like that that keep people from posting on here! I read everything on this site, every single day...and have for years. And yet, you seem to think it's within your right to belittle, critisize and judge...wow, especially when it is obviously related. Enjoy your DR1 site...I really won't be back. If someone can't ask a simple question without being made to feel like they're 2 inches tall. Melodramatic, maybe...but certainly not worth it to me.

No apologies from me. It is a rainy day and I am in a bad mood. Since I have nobody close at hand that I can take it out on, I am less tolerant today than usual.

The OP started a thread about taxi prices for tourists as opposed to taxi prices for local, wondering how tourists could get the same price as locals, assuming there is a difference.

You posted, starting with "I don't mean to hijack the thread", then proceeded to do just that. Your post was not about taxi rates on the North Coast as you claim in your second post--nowhere in that post was taxi rates mentioned--but about how 9 people can get a car and driver on 2 separate days.

If you are upset or offended because I asked why you didn't start your own thread, I am sorry to hear that. But I am sorrier for the OP who started the thread and has not gotten one response, repeat not one response, since you got his/her thread going in a different direction.

My personal feeling is that moderators, out of respect to those who start threads, should be as diligent about hijacking as they are whatever else they are moderating.
 

Conchman

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Jul 3, 2002
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the best rates are from 'tecni-taxi' but they are not allowed to take people in and out of places 'controlled' by the taxi union. You will have to speak Spanish to call them, I would assume. Its also always good to negotiate the fare before getting in the taxi and you should always get a better rate than the 'published' rate, which is the union official rate and quite ridiculously priced.
 

La Profe_1

Moderator: Daily Headline News, Travel & Tourism
Oct 15, 2003
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Is there a time honored, best method for a tourist to pay the rates that locals pay for a taxi in Puerto Plata/Sousa?

In Puerto Plata, if you speak Spanish, the simplest way is to call Tecni-Taxi (809-320-7621). They are local and don't overcharge.

Someone from Sos?a will have to answer for that town.
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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Publico drivers are happy to provide taxi service and charge less than do the regular taxis. But to get one you have to go to the Publico terminal, flag an empty publico down on the highway, or be a passenger in a publico going in the direction you want to go and then ask the driver to take you to your specific destination. However, it may be necessary to speak Spanish.

Tourists that speak only English don't have many options.
 

La Profe_1

Moderator: Daily Headline News, Travel & Tourism
Oct 15, 2003
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Publico drivers are happy to provide taxi service and charge less than do the regular taxis. But to get one you have to go to the Publico terminal, flag an empty publico down on the highway, or be a passenger in a publico going in the direction you want to go and then ask the driver to take you to your specific destination. However, it may be necessary to speak Spanish.

Tourists that speak only English don't have many options.

Come to think of it, I have the telephone number of a publico driver from Sos?a who will provide private taxi service - for those who speak Spanish. Thanks for reminding me, Ken.
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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Come to think of it, I have the telephone number of a publico driver from Sos?a who will provide private taxi service - for those who speak Spanish. Thanks for reminding me, Ken.

I should have added having a number as another way to contact a publico driver. Many of them have business cards for this reason and will give you one if you ask for it (almost always in Spanish, however).
 

bachata

Aprendiz de todo profesional de nada
Aug 18, 2007
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If you are landing at STI I will recomend to email my buddy Johan
he just Email me to let me know he bought. 0 miles 2008
toyota Camry today. very reliable man.

JJ
 

dcp6904

New member
Mar 22, 2012
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You can pay what the driver asks for or you can offer less and let the driver decide whether he will accept it. I have been living in the country for longer than most on dr1 and there is no magic rate for locals. If you have a driver you use regularly, you will pay a little less, otherwise it depends on what you offer and what the minimum is the driver will accept. If you speak Spanish and are able to talk like you know what is what in the DR, you may get a reduction. Otherwise unlikely.

I was in Cabarete with my son and daughter in law the other day and we had to get back to Sosua fairly quickly and all the guguas and publicos were passing by with a full load. So my son told me to get a taxi and he would pay. I had to get
pretty close to the stated price before getting agreement. And I speak pretty good Spanish and am clearly not a tourist.

The best thing a tourist can do is not tip. This is not New York. I never tip; the rates here are high enough to include a tip as far as I am concerned. Taxi prices in Santiago and Santo Domingo are a lot less.


OK....thank you. But can anyone share any actual amounts ($$$) actually paid recently for comparison?? Say from the airport to Puerto Plata or from Puerto to Sousa?? Surely I should hot have to pay $40 from the airport to Puerta Plata.
 

dcp6904

New member
Mar 22, 2012
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The best way is to use the "local" taxis. Not the tourist/airport taxis. Their rates are a fraction of the big boys.


Thank you for that tip. How does one distinguish between these two types of taxis? Dave from Wisconsin
 

La Profe_1

Moderator: Daily Headline News, Travel & Tourism
Oct 15, 2003
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To get a local taxi from the airport, you have to call them for pickup. I posted a telephone number for Puerto Plata earlier. However, if you don't speak Spanish, you are pretty much stuck with the airport taxi mafia.

A local taxi will charge eight or nine hundred pesos from POP to Puerto Plata. That is slightly more than twenty dollars.