Bus transportation Question

first thing first: puerto plata not puerto plaza.
rental is up to you, i am sometimes puzzled by people complaing about dominican traffic, anyone who's been driving in a large city in the states or europe should be fine. granted, coming here first time around you can easily get lost in SD and run into real trouble even with the smallest accident but driving as such ain't that bad.
1. metro - airport can be done by taxi only. should be about 1000-1500 pesos, someone help here. it does not leave from the airport, metro station is in the city center.
the bus leaves SD to POP at 7am, 9am, 11am, 2pm (not sundays), 4pm and 5pm. you but the ticket at metro station in a ticket office. someone there will surely speak enough english to help you out. the ticket is about 400 pesos now. trip takes 4 to 4.5 hours. no need for exact change, they may accept dollars.
2. from puerto plata metro station you can take a bus to cofresi. public transport will be too much for you (you'd need to walk to the bus and then from the bus to the resort). normal taxi will be maybe 400 pesos but turista and no spanish will pay more. haggle and give no more than 500.
3. a dollar changes value daily but assume 40 pesos to one dollar. some places may charge you as low as 35 pesos when you want to pay in dollars, especially when amounts are small.
4. money can be exchanged anywhere. you will see places called CAMBIO, they offer the best rates, banks are also good. hotels will give you low rate, the same at airports. exchange there if you must. say, at the airport exchange 100 dollars if you want to pay for the trip to cofresi in pesos. if you want to take dollars and use them in payments remember to have small change, 1, 5 and 10 dollar notes. most of places, from shops and restaurants to pharmacies will accept dollars.

having answered your questions i strongly suggest you hire a driver to pick you up at the airport and take you to cofresi. a trip in taxis and buses will last a long time and you may find things uncomfortable, being in a new place and not understanding the language. also the whole trip (taxi, metro for two and then taxi again) may come to as much as a 100 dollars.
see this thread here:
http://www.dr1.com/forums/advertisi...o-lifestyles-puerto-plata-sosua-cabarete.html
send santiagueroDR a message to get you in touch with the diver and find his rates and availability. he can come to pick you up from the airport and take you directly to cofresi. may be a good deal.

i found two more threads, with direct email of the driver. why don't you email him and ask how much will he charge?

i am normally a stingy old witch but sometimes it pays off to spend. getting to POP by the means of public transport and taxis will be cheap but take a long time. and if you happen to arrive in the late afternoon and miss your last bus to POP you are truly busted. same if you arrive at night. so there, a driver will take about 4-5 hours in total and he can stop in SD or santiago so you can exchange your dollars at a decent rate of 40:1.

see threads:
http://www.dr1.com/forums/north-coast/127449-driver-sosua.html
http://www.dr1.com/forums/central/127150-driver-concierge-translator-security.html

that guy operates in santiago and north coast but i am sure he'll come to SD too. seems to be very business oriented. and no, i have never met the guy not i am i any affiliation with him. just noted the info and now passing it on.

let us know how it went and if you have any more questions fire away.

I'll also respond to the questions, but not add much new information.

1. Take a taxi from airport to bus. Metro bus may be a little nicer, but Caribe Tours has more buses going to Puerto Plata. Since there is not that much difference between the two, my suggestion would be Caribe Tours.

2. You will be coming with luggage and are new to the area. Take a taxi from the bus station to the resort.

3. Has has been indicated, figure 40 pesos to the dollar.

4. If you take Caribe Tours they have an exchange bank in the terminal. You will get better rates there than in Puerto Plata or the airport. I agree that hotels usually give the worst rates. If you must change money at hotel for some reason, change a little bit and get what you need at a banco de cambio in town.

Weelcome to DR1

This could get very confusing with no Spanish if they pull anything unusual, these buses are not unknown to break down and there be a change onto two separate buses to try to play catch up and bypass stops. Neither is it unusual for a driver to be a bit of a dick and just wave you on either way after being asked if he stops at such and such.
In fact this country as a whole is not at all tourist friendly, and I'd really really struggle to do anything without Spanish, I've been behind foreigners at the supermarket get stumped at the till when asked if they have a store card. If she can't even understand if someone is asking where they are going to should there be any unusuals then I'd get a recommended taxi from SDQ to Confresi as the Devious one mentioned.
I used to try to scrimp and save by flying into other airports, but by the time you've paid everything sacrificed for the saving it doesn't usually come out any cheaper if you can put a monetary value on your time also, just takes longer so...................................

I wouldn't let Giva scare you. When I first visited the DR I didn't know but a few words of Spanish either. You will get good information at either the Metro or Caribe Tours bus station and get to PP without going over the cliff. If schedule is a concern, then go Caribe Tours, because, as has been pointed out, there are more buses. If scheduling is not a problem, Metro is more comfortable. Take a taxi from SDQ to the bus station and enjoy your trip. Oh, btw, did I forget to suggest that I would NOT drive in the DR if this is your first visit!

barbel, click on a blue login (in my case on dv8 or to inquire about the driver on the santiagueroDR). you will see few display options including "send private message". click on that and i will send you there automatically.
otherwise click on that "driver in sosua" link in my second post and you will see a discussion we had about this guy including driver's details. we have been told that he speaks english so you will have zero problems to communicate with him.
my thinking, based on his prices in general, is probably 200 to 250 dollars for that ride. hopefully it will not put a strain on your budget and once you are here you can ask around and sort out your trip back.

i would normally say to go for a bus, but there will be two ladies, no spanish, first time in DR and clearly a bit worried. why start your holiday with worries and waste time on taxis, buses, exchange and so on?

again, once you are in cofresi - only 5 minutes away from where i live, btw - you will be able to relax and maybe see if you can do bus+taxi on a way back?

puerto plata is a bit boring but you may find things to do: seeing the old fortress and few remaining historical building, going up the cable car to enjoy a botanical garden with fantastic views over the town and joining a variety of organized trips: from seeing mating whales (only until feb/march), safari ride, horse riding to swimming in lagunas or waterfalls.