Current road conditions.

affald

New member
May 17, 2004
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Interested in four roads. Have 4x4.

Luperon to Punta Rusia. The direct one along the north coast, not the one through Mimon.


The three roads from santiago North.

Main

Touistica

The mountain road through Moca.

Thank you
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,964
936
113
Interested in four roads. Have 4x4.

Luperon to Punta Rusia. The direct one along the north coast, not the one through Mimon.


The three roads from santiago North.

Main

Touistica

The mountain road through Moca.

Thank you
Just got back from the main road to POP. High suck factor with the construction and traffic is awful.

The Jamao road is the poorest we've seen. I am told that there will be great improvements after the bridge is complete. We rode through shadows on Saturday and I "bought" three major potholes. I'm surprised we didn't bend any rims.
 

drstock

Silver
Oct 29, 2010
4,502
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Cabarete
I have been from Cabarete to Santiago a couple of times in the last two weeks. I used the Jamao road and found it not as bad as I feared. I am sure it will be better when the bridge is complete, but who can say when that will be, considering the old bridge collapsed in December 2016 and they are far from finished. I considered the Via Turistica, but quickly abandoned the idea after all the rain we've had recently.
 

JimW

Active member
May 21, 2014
52
56
28
Just back from driving to Punta Rusia last week (and also driving from STI airport to Sosua).

1. Forget the Ruta Turistica. While you can do it in a 4x4/SUV, the going is so slow it takes longer than the main Navarette/Puerto Plata. It's a shame, it's the most direct route, has a nice mountain view from the top and actually would be a nice drive. (assuming there's a paved road there).

2. As cobraboy mentioned, the main Navarette/POP road has a lot of construction and several slow spots but it's a sure bet. Take it.

3. Going to Punta Rusia (assuming from the turnoff on the Navarette/POP road just north of Imbert), I did it in an SUV last week. No problem at all. Yes, there are bad sections (potholes) where you'll need to go slow over and yes, at points the road is real narrow so if you get stuck behind one of the tour buses you'll have to wait a bit until you can find a stretch to pass but otherwise, no problem. Note if you're going to Punta Rusia for snorkeling (paradise island), don't believe when you hear it will only take an hour etc. It's easily an hour and a half trip FROM the turnoff on the Navarette/POP road and can take 2 hours if you get behind slow traffic so plan accordingly. If you're going for the snorkeling, try to get on the road either early (by 7-8am) or later (12-1pm) to avoid the tour buses.

4. Haven't taken the Moca road so can't comment on that.
 

JimW

Active member
May 21, 2014
52
56
28
oops, sorry affald, I didn't see you mentioned Luperon. The road I took is the one that shows up as "RT 30" on Google maps. If you're referring to the one, "RT 29" I can't directly comment on it but overall, any of the roads I was on during the whole drive to Punta Rusia were fully passable with a 4x4/SUV.