Public transportation puerto plata

You can get anywhere you wish to go in the Dominican Republic by public transportation. Most people living here don't have cars, so there are many public transportation options.

The best way for you to travel is by either Caribe Tours or Metro. Both run large, comfortable, airconditioned buses.

To get to Samana, there is a Caribe Tours bus that leaves Puerto Plata daily at 7am and gets to Samana about 10:30am. It leaves Samana for Puerto Plata at 4 pm, making it possible to do the roundtrip in one day if you don't want to spend a lot of time in Samana. If you wanted to visit Las Terrenas on the north coast of the Samana Peninsula, you could get off the bus in Sanchez, the town before Samana, and take public transportation from there to Las Terrenas. To get to Jarabacoa, take Caribe Tours from Puerto Plata to Santiago. Buses leave on the hour. At Santiago, you should be able to get a bus to Jarabacoa. I don't know what the schedule is. Or it might be better to get off at La Vega, the stop after Santiago, and take a bus from there. Perhaps someone else can be more specific on this. You should also be able to get to Monti Cristi by bus from Puerto Plata, but will need to transfer to do it. Hopefully someone else knows the best way to do this.

Going by bus on your own requires a little research, some effort, and a little inconvenience, such as transferring and waiting time, but you will save a great deal of money.

Just reread your post and see that you want to visit Los Haitises National Park. The best way to do this is to take a tour from Samana. I would strongly recommend using Victoria Marine/Whale Samana. You'll find there office on the side of Camilo's Restaurant, facing the central park. Going to the park on your own is not advisable. Best to go with someone who knows the park and its rules and can take you to the caves that are open to visitors.

By taking buses to the general locations you want to visit you will more than save enough to be able to use guides in the places where it is to your advantage to have them.

Harry said:

Hello , can anybody tell me if there is public transport from puerto plata to monte cristi , samana and jarabacoa please ?
We want to visit parque nacional los haitises , parque nacional monte cristi , punta ruccia and jarabacoa .
We want to visit this pleaces by orself because the tours are to expensive for us , enebody now a cheaper way to travel to this pleaces , with family over there or so , we willing to pay a good price for it .
Enebody now were te busstations are in puerto plata ?
We will be staying near bahia maimon in hotel riu bachata from 22-05 till 05-06 .

Regards
Adrienne and Harry

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Number One I would not stasy at Riu Bachata. It is an all-inclusive, quite nice and very comfortable. However, if you plan to visit even half of the places, you are wasting money ($$$) and lots of it.
I would fly Air Only and see if you could stay at Sofy's B&B in town. You see, The Riu complex is 15 km outside of town....
Now, to visit Los Haitises You take a bus from Puerto Plata to Santiago (Metro or Caribe Tour) then switch to a direct bus to Nagua, and then another bus to Saman?. You start at 6 a.m. and arrive in Saman? at about noon. I would plan on spending the night there. You can find trips to Los Haitises quite easily. Be sure and bargain..
For the trip to Monte Cristi, you take a bus-a local bus, Noelle at Sofy's can show you where to get one, and get off at Navarrete crossroads. Take another bus to Monte Cristi. Trip will take about 3 hours
If you want to go to Punta Ruc?a, just ask the driver of the bus to Monte Cristi to let you off in Villa Elisa, and at the crossroads get a pick up truck into the Punta Ruc?a area.
For Jarabacoa, take a bus to Santiago and then get another one to Jarabacoa. However, if you want to see the falls and do some river rafting, then you have to get off before reaching town and tell the driver to let you off at the Escuela Forestal. There you get a moto-concho into the falls and river rafting site.

You can email me if you need more help,

HB

Rent a car?

When in Boca Chica in early April, we (Two 30's women) rented a car and traveled all over. We drove to Santiago, La Vega and a few side roads. The only place I could recommend NOT to drive is in and around Santo Domingo, pretty bad for the uninitiated

Janice

Harry

Re direct bus from Puerto Plata, as I indicated in my previous post Caribe Tour has a daily bus from Puerto Plata to Samana. Going to Santiago, Nagua, etc., in order to get to Samana is too roundabout and time consuming to consider unless you can't make the direct bus. The bus leaves the Puerto Plata terminal at 7am and gets to Samana about 10:30-45. The departure time for return to PP is 4 pm. This bus runs 7 days a week.

Hillbilly indicates you should bargain, which seems to imply going with a Dominican in his yola, however, I would not recommend that. Instead, I believe that your best bet is to book a tour with Victoria Marine/Whale Samana. Its location is mentioned in my previous post. You may pay a little more, but you will have reliable transportation, certainty of getting into the best caves, and a knowledgeable guide. Going on your own should not be considered. This is a wilderness area, no marked trails, and most of the caves are reachable only by water.

Just in case you weren't aware of it, the Los Haitises National Park is not in Samana. It is on the other side of the Bay of Samana. So a boat trip across the bay is a necessary part of the tour.

If you can't get to the Puerto Plata terminal for the 7am departure, then go through Santiago as Hillbilly indicates. But this makes for a much longer, more tiring trip.

Harry,

I'll have to check out the price of the Los Haitises tour and post info in future.

Tickets are sold at bus terminal and are not available in advance. Since the trip to Samana originates in Puerto Plata, as does the trip to Santiago, getting a seat will not be a problem. Price of ticket on Caribe Tour to Samana is about RD$75. To Santiago it is about RD$45.

I can give you addresses to the bus stations, but unless you plan to walk to them, you won't need them. Cab drivers all know where they are located, as do the moto concho (motorcycle) operators. Of the two, Caribe Tour has the best service in that it runs the most buses. Metro doesn't have a bus to Samana from Puerto Plata, only Caribe Tour. And for the bus to Santiago from Puerto Plata, one leaves for Santo Domingo, stopping in Santiago, every hour on the hour from early morning until late afernoon or early evening.

Ken

Also should have mentioned that roundtrip tickets are not sold for Caribe Tours or Metro

Re: Hillbily and Ken

Harry said:

Thank you both for your help , what i need to know now is
1 )the price of the tour to Los Haitises , give or take abbit .
2 )when we visit the waterfalls in jarrabacoa getting of the bus in Escuela Forestal ,is it a long distance then to get there (waterfalls)and homuch can a motoconcho ash for it ? if there is a bus stop in Escuela Forestals to go back ?
3 )when we visit punta ruccia getting of the bus in Villa Elisa , is it a long way to punta ruccia ?do you must go with a vehicle and homuch the charge(give or take bit) or can it be done on foot ?
when you come back from punta rucia can we take a bus back on te same place (Villa Elisa)
4 )i suppose Navarrete crossroads is on the way to santiago when we goiing to the direction punta ruccia or monte cristi , wil the busdriver understeand Navarrete crossroads ? do we talking about guagua's here or metro or caribe ?when you get of the bus in monte cristi is it a long way to visit the national park ?
Were can we find the busstations in puerto plata metro and caribe, can you buy a ticket on te bus or must i buy tickets in advance , if we buy them in advance i need to ask for a roundtrip ?

Kind Regards
Adriene and Harry from Belgium

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Don't know the price but it should be about $20.00 per person, I think. Ken might know more. ot Eddy at www.samana.net.

Moto conchos are usually about $10 pesos, flat rate...You ride on the back of a little motorcycle.

It is 24 km into the beach at Punta Ruc?a. there are vehicles that will take you in. You have to bargain on the price, because being foreigners, they will probably be asking too much. I would be a long and very hot walk!! Yes you go back to the Villa Elisa and get another bus back to the cross roads in Navarrete (there is a traffic light there)..It is obviously a major intersection...

You will be taking guaguas.. I am pretty sure that there are Caribe Tour buses to Monte Criste, and they probably stop in navarrete...You could ask the motoconchos there at the intersection..

I didn't know about that 7 am bus to Samana. Excellent way to go!....thank you Ken...

HB

Sorry I don't know the answer of your q. but I need information on Dominican Republic. I need things like WHAT THE NATIONAL ANTHEM IS CALLED,WHAT THE NATIONAL MOTTO IS, A MAJOR EXPORT, AND A MOJOR IMPORT. Please help me with the qs because they are qs for computers! thanks


YOUR FRIEND,
MaddieO

MaddieO,

Please use your question to start a new thread. When you tack it onto a thread in progress, you undercut the person who asked the original question and also lessen the chance of getting help for yourself.

Ken

MaddieO said:

Sorry I don't know the answer of your q. but I need information on Dominican Republic. I need things like WHAT THE NATIONAL ANTHEM IS CALLED,WHAT THE NATIONAL MOTTO IS, A MAJOR EXPORT, AND A MOJOR IMPORT. Please help me with the qs because they are qs for computers! thanks


YOUR FRIEND,
MaddieO

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Kind of Stupid questions, really'!

National is called the National Anthem.
Motto: God, Country and Liberty (Dios, Patria y Libertad)
Exports: Sugar, Coffee, Cacao, Tobacco, Manufactured goods
Import: Cars, petrolium, appliances

Jeez..

HB

Re: Re: Hillbily and Ken

[B]Hillbilly[/B] said:

I am pretty sure that there are Caribe Tour buses to Monte Criste, and they probably stop in navarrete...

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Yes, there is a Caribe Tours that go to Monte Cristi. I am not sure but I think it costs about RD$100.00. But be awared that it only stops in Villa Vasquez, 26 kms before Monte Cristi and way too far from where you have to switch busses to go to Punta Ruc?a. Only good if you are going straight to MC.

Sorry if it confused you. I meant that the bus only stops once before getting to MC, that is it only stops in Villa Vasquez. If you are going to Punta Ruc?a then you cannot take that one.

Here my suggestions: take the Caribe Tours to MC, spend some time there and then go to Punta Ruc?a on the way back to Puerto Plata. Just take a small bus (anyone in MC will show you how to do it), drop at the cross to Punta Ruc?a (tell the boss driver to drop you there, remind him once or twice) and on your way you go.

heylo

hey,
I'm not sure what you are talking about. If you look at one of my questions can and will you help me with them? well g2g so bye!



YOUR FRIEND,
MaddieO