Airport Transportation- POP to Samana Bay

Could anyone help out with some transportation info. What is the best and cheapest way from Puerto Plata Airport to Samana Bay. We are staying at Samana Bay Village Resort. Has anyone been there? We are arriving Oct 5th so an early reply would be appreciated.

Jim

Re: CHANGE YOUR PLANS.

Abe, when were you there last. The picture that RCI painted obviously was much differnt then your own. The place at the coconut palms had some real mixed reviews at other forums, some even stated it was bug infested and there were alot of little kids running around= noisey. Also there was no air conditioning.
Your comments would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jim




QUOTE]Originally posted by abe
I have been there and the resort is not, by any stretch of RCI's ridiculous imagination, a Gold Crown Resort. It is a collection of freestanding cottages that, at least several months ago, did not enjoy the basic requirement of a generator to supplant the sketchy local electricity.

When the power went off locally, the a/c did not work. Therefore the guests had to open the windows. There were no screens and the mosquitos descended.

The beach suffers from daily flows of seaweed that the employees spend the entire day raking. The water is not clear.

It is way out of town and, other than the wonderful Dominican people who are always the most gracious and hardest working in the Caribbean, this place is a grotesque disappointment.

Ask RCI to change you right now--choose, for example Coconut Palms Resort in between Sosua and Cabarete. this will reduce this godawful transportation challenge you now face and save you from a horrible week.

Having said that, the Samana region has plenty to recommend it, but this resort is not ready for prime time. [/QUOTE]

Hi Abe,
Yes I did end up going to Samana Bay resort based on feedback directly from the resort- gave them a call. Our visit there was one of the best holidays. The taxi that picked us up or more specifically the driver Diago, although it took 3 hours, showed us the sites and in fact we stopped a few times to meet and talk with the locals. If anyone wants to really see and meet the people this 3 hours is absolute gold. Diago was also a real great guy to talk with and we spent a good part of our time laughing and really learning about the culture. The resort itself is not a five star but they try real hard to be. From the desk to the maid that cleans the rooms I found to be friendly, helpful and in fact ended up making friends to converse back and forth on the email. After this experience I will never go back to a big resort in the Dominican. I actually met and have phone and addresses from people who reside in France, Germany, New Jersey and have been invited to their homes on future visits. I have never experienced this type of interaction in a big resort- Samana Bay Resort is a gold nugget fresh out of the ground. Once it is polished off a bit you realize its value. The Village itself was not really set up for tourists however the Mercado is an experience not to be missed. You will not find any tourist T-shirts but you can get some of that great Dominican coffee, rice, cigars and rum to mention a few things.
The tours offered by the Resort were great and very inexpensive- we ended up doing the jungle safari, visiting the national park (great caves and Mangroves) and scuba diving off Bacardi Island.

All and all one of my best vacations. I have travelled many countries and resorts and this will be on my list of favourites.
If you are into the super nite life and love to be surrounded by hundreds of people on the beach this is not the place.
If you want to be on a beach with a half a dozen or less people, great food with no line ups in the dining room and some of the best people you want to not only meet but make friends with, Samana Bay resort is the place to go. I will be highly recommending it to my friends and others in my travel club.

If you need other info etc. please fell free to email me.

Jim Brenner