Metro and Caribe Tours Schedules S.D. to Sosua

Gregory Wales

Gregory Wales

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Some friends of ours will be flying into Santo Domingo, arriving around 1:00 AM, and plan, as soon as possible, to take a bus to Sosua to meet with our representative to get a key to our condo/apartment in Perla Marina. If I remember correctly, Metro runs less frequently but stops in Sosua Batay, is that correct? Whereas, Caribe Tours only stops at their station in Cherimicos (sp?). Our friends need to meet our administrator at Amber Guardian, which is above Harrison's, to get the keys.

Can someone give me information to pass on to my friends to help them plan the trip from the airport in Santo Domingo to Amber Guardian in Sosua? They will be traveling with only carry-on luggage and planning to visit for only five days.

Thanks for any information you can share.
 
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mido

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May 18, 2002
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Take a taxi from the airport directly to Caribe Tours Terminal, bus for Sosua leaves every full hour until 7.00 pm, get off the bus in Sosua and take another taxi to Amber Guardian.
 
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dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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metro autobuses schedule:
Metro Servicios Turisticos
they stop in the middle of sosua but they only leave 3 times a day.

caribe tours schedule:
Caribe Tours | Listado de Precios por Rutas
(you will need to specify direction and time of travel).
they stop in charamicos but leave every hour on the hour.

i noticed you state arrival as 1am. both metro and caribe leave to sosua at 7am the earliest. getting from the airport to metro/caribe, at this time of the night in about one hour. it's a loooong wait to 7am. i think your friends should eiether consider some local guagua (that is a company other than metro/caribe) or rent a car with a driver. i would not want to wait 5 hours in SD. plus i am pretty sure the buildings will be still closed...
 
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Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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dv8 said:
metro autobuses schedule:
Metro Servicios Turisticos
they stop in the middle of sosua but they only leave 3 times a day.

caribe tours schedule:
Caribe Tours | Listado de Precios por Rutas
(you will need to specify direction and time of travel).
they stop in charamicos but leave every hour on the hour.

i noticed you state arrival as 1am. both metro and caribe leave to sosua at 7am the earliest. getting from the airport to metro/caribe, at this time of the night in about one hour. it's a loooong wait to 7am. i think your friends should eiether consider some local guagua (that is a company other than metro/caribe) or rent a car with a driver. i would not want to wait 5 hours in SD. plus i am pretty sure the buildings will be still closed...
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At 1 am, your friends do not have many options.

Taking a local guagua is not one of them, in my opinion, unless they speak Spanish and are experienced in the Dominican Republic. Even then I would advise against it.

As I see it, they have only 2 good options:

1. Get a hotel room, rest, and take the bus after breakfast.

2. Take a taxi, or maybe somebody on the board can recommend a reliable driver, to Sosua. The problem with that is that when they get to Sosua it will still be in the night, maybe 4 or 4:30 because traffic on the highway will not slow you down. I doubt very much whether anyone will be available to give them a key at that hour.

If I were your friends, I would get a hotel room, rest for a few hours, than take the bus to Sosua, arriving at a reasonable hour.
 
Gregory Wales

Gregory Wales

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Ken said:
At 1 am, your friends do not have many options.

Taking a local guagua is not one of them, in my opinion, unless they speak Spanish and are experienced in the Dominican Republic. Even then I would advise against it.

As I see it, they have only 2 good options:

1. Get a hotel room, rest, and take the bus after breakfast.

2. Take a taxi, or maybe somebody on the board can recommend a reliable driver, to Sosua. The problem with that is that when they get to Sosua it will still be in the night, maybe 4 or 4:30 because traffic on the highway will not slow you down. I doubt very much whether anyone will be available to give them a key at that hour.

If I were your friends, I would get a hotel room, rest for a few hours, than take the bus to Sosua, arriving at a reasonable hour.
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This sounds like good advise, especially since they want to see the countryside when on the bus. I didn't realize the bus terminal was an hour from the airport.
Is there a hotel near the bus terminal you can recommend they taxi to from the airport?

Thank you all for your advice.
 
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dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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i do not really know SD but i think maybe a cabana rather than hotel? price is way better, rooms are clean, water is hot and there is usually food available. your friends could snooze for few hours before calling a cab and taking a bus to sosua.
 
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Expat-in-Cabarete

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Jan 17, 2009
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The Holiday Inn Santo Domingo is close to Metro, which I recommend over Caribe Tours which is a total disaster. Avoid it if ou can.
 
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Expat-in-Cabarete

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Because they are 99% of the time behind schedule. The buses are much older, the bathroom dirty, the drivers drive like crazy, stop to pick up and drop their buddies, the music is most of the time too loud, etc., etc. Yes, they have more daily buses to Sosua and are a couple of bucks cheaper, but that's about it.
 
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mido

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May 18, 2002
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Expat-in-Cabarete said:
Because they are 99% of the time behind schedule. The buses are much older, the bathroom dirty, the drivers drive like crazy, stop to pick up and drop their buddies, the music is most of the time too loud, etc., etc. Yes, they have more daily buses to Sosua and are a couple of bucks cheaper, but that's about it.
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I give up, I probably travel on all the exceptions, when they are on time, don't play music but movies etc. The bathrooms get dirty with the time, that's true, same with Metro Bus.
 
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london777

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Dec 22, 2005
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Expat-in-Cabarete said:
Because they are 99% of the time behind schedule. The buses are much older, the bathroom dirty, the drivers drive like crazy, stop to pick up and drop their buddies, the music is most of the time too loud, etc., etc. Yes, they have more daily buses to Sosua and are a couple of bucks cheaper, but that's about it.
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I am not a frequent bus user but I have ridden Caribe Tours about twenty times, including once to Ha?ti. I would like to try Metro, and their depot is much nearer my home, but there has never been a bus running at the time I needed one, so I have always gone by Caribe.

I can accept that Metro may be marginally better, and for those going to Sos?a the location of the terminal in El Bat?y is a definite plus. I cannot imagine the price difference is an issue, it's the less frequent departures that has always deterred me.

None of my rides on Caribe remotely fits your description. I have always been very satisfied. I don't like the music but then I don't like any sort of music imposed on me in any environment, shops, lifts, airplanes, or dental surgeries, etc. And it wasn't at all loud. The buses can get very cold, but I guess that's the same with Metro?
 
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dv8

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i also like metro more. travelled by caribe only once and the driver hit a truck in front of us. he was going crazy fast and only put on breaks at the very last moment so we bumped into slow camion with grains. pi**ed me off, one could see this tortuga from a long distance and there was plenty of time and space to slow down gently.
i see the same kind of driving in caribe all the time. at the exit from costambar by the university road (with lights) one risks life all the time, caribe buses pass at high speed and do not stop at the red light...
 
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Bigocean

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Gregory Wales

Gregory Wales

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Thanks Bigocean.

My question should have been worded better. Is the airport closed during the night or is there a place with airport security personnel present where travelers can wait for morning light to travel on by taxi?
 
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DRob

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Aug 15, 2007
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The airport is as safe as any other, so I would not worry too much about that. The main issue is that they'll be standing around for about four hours (2-ish until around 6, when they can take a cab to the bus station), presumably after a tiresome flight from Europe or NYC.

Assuming you can't encourage them to change to a daytime flight, I agree with dv8. They won't enjoy a 2 a.m. drive by a guy in a huge hurry, especially once they get off the new highway (from SD to Nagua/Samana). Suggest they get a cab and either go to the Holiday Inn or a cabana (which will be way cheaper), rest and freshen up, and head out to the North Coast later that morning or afternoon. It'll be far more comfortable and safer that way. There's not a whole lot of touristy stuff to do in Sosua at the crack of dawn, anyway, so they won't be missing much.
 
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santa110xyz

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Oct 25, 2005
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Need to go to SD. Never drove by bus there...better to go with Metro or Caribe Tours?
i'm a bit worried because of the pre-election week - hope it won't be too crazy in SD!
Does someone know a driver in SD? need someone for about 3 to 4 hours......no shopping tour.
just bringing me from bus station to an office, somewhere to have quick lunch and back to bus station
 
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dv8

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i say metro is better as it is located in a better/safer area. but if the office you are visiting is located closer to caribe go with caribe. in SD you can rely on taxis. i usually call, specify where from and where to, the operator will then give you a price and send you a cab. pay the arranged price and ask the driver to pick you up when you are done.
 
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santa110xyz

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Oct 25, 2005
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i need to go to the Ministerio de Educacion, Avenida M?ximo G?mez esq. Santiago, No.02, Gazcue;
which bus station would be near?
thanks for the information on taxi.
 
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