Santiago to Cabarete

Farmer

Antiguo
Dec 2, 2003
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Traveling in November. Best carretera from Santiago to Cabarete? #5 thru Navarrete? #25 thru Yásica Arriba? Or #21 thru Jamao al Norte? Planned on renting a small car but would any of these need a SUV? Thanks for your help.
 

JimW

Active member
May 21, 2014
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Small car? Only option 1, #5 through Navarrete.

#25 (Tourist Route) REQUIRES an SUV and even then it can be a difficult & slow journey. Haven't taken #21 lately but last time there were spots I wouldn't want to be in a small car (small car=small suspension=bad things happen)
 

jahjahwarrior

New member
Mar 14, 2017
137
5
0
I disagree, tourist route and jamao route both done easily in small car like Skoda Octavia. And much less stressful than navarette route. I would go through jamao.
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
18,948
514
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i will concur with the warrior. Jamao is an easy drive, but don't hurry. LOTS of twists and turns and ups and downs, like the road out of Sajoma, but longer. The road through Yásica is certainly more direct, shorter and more scenic. And it has been undergoing a lot of work recently. Certainly driveable in a small car. Dominicans do it every day. And from Sajoma it is much closer.
I can draw you a picture map of your route.

Have fun,


HB
 

drstock

Silver
Oct 29, 2010
4,502
2,086
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Cabarete
I did the Jamao road last week. Much better going up the hill from Sabaneta towards Moca but the drain work going down the other side has left many uneven parts. However, it can be done in any car, just keep you eyes open.
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,247
4,329
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not to mention the scenery ... on the Jamao route...

great ski country..... but no snow this year !!

EXTRA
I would do neither at night....
it's a daytime trip for me !!
 

JD Jones

Moderator:North Coast,Santo Domingo,SW Coast,Covid
Jan 7, 2016
11,698
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not to mention the scenery ... on the Jamao route...

great ski country..... but no snow this year !!

EXTRA
I would do neither at night....
it's a daytime trip for me !!

The key is drive slow. Take your time, stop along the way a couple of times and enjoy the view.
 

cavok

Silver
Jun 16, 2014
9,531
4,046
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Cabarete
I write this article and it has all of the options and maps. Hope it helps: https://cabaretecondos.com/santiago-to-cabarete/

Through Jamao is definitely the best way to go and the route you show on Google maps is definitely the fastest. I've travelled that route from STI to Cabarete at night and it's not as scary as one might think. There is very little traffic on that hwy at night. Just a lot of twists and turns.
 

Farmer

Antiguo
Dec 2, 2003
229
97
28
Thanks/Likes to all. Think I'll try Jamao. Will be watching the ski resort news for some early Nov. accumulations. I've done a good bit of driving on some other roads and can appreciate the "drive slow" advice. My last rental car trip from la capital to San Jose de las Matas involved a dead battery half way between Santiago and las Matas. The resourceful locals began stopping vehicles til they found one with the same distance between the battery posts, turned it upside down on my dead battery and the little rental continued its journey to las Matas. Yanqui ingenuity.
 

Farmer

Antiguo
Dec 2, 2003
229
97
28
Shout out to Doña Elva at who's Colmado Elva we were stranded. While we waited for the battery solution, we were treated to café. We sat down and my wife kept telling me to tell our host how much she liked a certain painting hanging on the wall. I resisted. Please don't go there I thought. Yup. You know how this story ends. We'd only known Doña Elva for a few minutes and already she was attempting to gift the painting to my wife. Lesson learned. Es tuyo tambien. So if you're headed to La Ventana for a dip (take mangoes, eat, get messy, fall in river, rinse, repeat), stop and give la Doña your business.