Help! How to get from Punta to Puerto Plata?

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student_traveller

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Aug 15, 2007
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I'm leaving for the Dominican Republic in 3 days. When I arrive I need to get from Punta Cana airport to Puerto Plata. A friend of mine went ahead of me, and he said he had no choice but to charter a plane for $700!! :surprised There's no way I can afford that.

Can anyone recommend a cheaper option?

many thanks
 
A

apostropheman

Guest
Regular Flights

punta cana to puerto plata daily leaving at 6:30pm and arrivine at 7:35 pm for $149 USD each way.

when i used them, xmas 2005, they were very punctual. i'd recommend getting there early as the planes are fairly small.
 
R

Rocky

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The plane that Apos recommends is definitely the way to go.
If you do it by public transport, it will be cheaper, but you'll lose the whole day.
 
A

apostropheman

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Rocky said:
The plane that Apos recommends is definitely the way to go.
If you do it by public transport, it will be cheaper, but you'll lose the whole day.
Click to expand...
...and it's fairly complicated and can be intimidating if you are not familiar with the routes.

i did the bus thing from punta cana to puerto plata once...and flew back.

http://www.dr1.com/forums/trip-reports/46199-my-new-years-eve-pc-sosua-adventure.html

flying is a lot better and at the posted price not that much more. i think it would likely cost about $50, or close enough, to bus it including taxis etc...vs $149. well worth the extra $$$ IMO.
 
A

apostropheman

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to you perhaps, and me having done it but we do not yet know if this is a seasoned DR traveler or a first time visitor.

and having done it by bus i highly recommend flying.

rubio_higuey said:
It's not complicated at all, bus - taxi - bus, what is complicated with that?

Moreover, there are detailed instructions posted. It's fairly easy.
Click to expand...
perhaps we'll get a few more details from the OP before we go sacrificing virgins...for the sake of $100:cheeky:
 
R

Rocky

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rubio_higuey said:
It's not complicated at all, bus - taxi - bus, what is complicated with that?

Moreover, there are detailed instructions posted. It's fairly easy.
Click to expand...
It's not exactly easy either, specially if you have a lot of luggage, which you have to keep an eye on all the time when the busses stop, in case someone absconds with your bag, as they are known to do.
When Apos did that trip, everything went right, for a change.
For the most part, things do not go that smoothly or as fast, in our land of SNAFUs.
Did you read his trip report?

I had no clear thoughts on a hotel and being a very busy season in a primarily AI town I did not have high hopes for decent, inexpensive accomodation and was prepared, in my mind atleast, to find a little bar, hang out until closing and then wait at the bus station until the first bus at 7:00am. I arrived about 11:00pm and figured that I could easily kill 8 hours if required.

I caught a taxi and asked the driver to recommend a hotel, hopefully near the bus depot. He suggested instead going to Higuey as it is less expensive, the bus leaves at 5:00am instead of 7:00am and it's closer to Santo Domingo.

The taxi to the cortecito area from the airport was to be $25 but for $35 he took me to a nice little hotel, Don Carlos, in Higuey very near the bus stop. The room was basic but clean and secure and 1000 pesos. He made sure I had a room and arranged for a taxi to pick me up there and take me to the bus at 4:30am.

SUCCESS!

I caught the 5:00am bus, which left on time, and was in SD about 8:00AM or so. I managed to get to the Caribe Tours, by taxi costing 100, pesos after trying it on foot but it is way too far and I was not certain where it was. Caught the 9:00am bus and was in Los Charamicos just after 12:40, 10 minutes late but happy! Flagged down a guagua and for 20 pesos was in Sosua minutes later.
You should have seen the look on Marco's face when I strolled in so early:surprised
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The look on my face was one of astonishment.
He probably set a world record that day.
It may have been largely due to the time of year and not running into traffic jams, specially in Santo Domingo, and despite his good luck on the way here, he still flew on the way back.
One miracle per year is enough.
 
A

apostropheman

Guest
i did a lot of research, DR1, google, etc...and with all that still ran into things that i did not know of or expect.

e.g. i did not realize that once in santo domingo changing bus terminals was a big deal. i rode from higuey to santo domingo on some regional/no-name bus that dropped me off at a parada in a location i was unfamiliar with. i had no clear idea where caribe tours was relative to where i was dropped off. this happened because i went to higuey instead of staying in punta cana as planned by taking advantage of an opportunity that presented itself.

changing location, PC to higuey, changed the bus i took and the destination in santo domingo where i was left to my own devices. thankfully i had enough spanish to get in a taxi and get to caribe tours in time...enough spanish to get from PC to higuey, get a hotel and get on a 5:00am bus at a poorly marked parada in a place i'd never been before in the first place. :surprised

all my plans "went out the window" as they usually do as soon as i set foot on dominican soil:cheeky:

i seriously doubt that most people would want to knowingly take all this on. i thought i understood what i was getting into but was wrong. luckily i love a little adventure...and it all worked out, that time :D
 
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rubio_higuey

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The no-name bus belongs to Sichoprola, it's not "regional", probably the most powerful transport syndicate in the country (why do you think there is no Caribe Tours or Metro service to the east)?;)

They probably left you under the 27 de Febrero overpass (elevado).

I ahree with you that unfamiliar person may get confused/scared.

But if they take expreso from Bavaro, they get dropped off at the last stop, can take a taxi there to Caribe Tours.

Btw, I am surprised there were no taxis where you got off, because I always see lots of taxis everywhere the busses stop.

So, why not sum this up:

If $150 dollars is OK, fly.
If you cannot affor more than $50, take the bus.
 
A

apostropheman

Guest
let's not pic nits...:cheeky:
rubio_higuey said:
The no-name bus belongs to Sichoprola, it's not "regional", probably the most powerful transport syndicate in the country (why do you think there is no Caribe Tours or Metro service to the east)?;)

They probably left you under the 27 de Febrero overpass (elevado).

I ahree with you that unfamiliar person may get confused/scared.

But if they take expreso from Bavaro, they get dropped off at the last stop, can take a taxi there to Caribe Tours.

Btw, I am surprised there were no taxis where you got off, because I always see lots of taxis everywhere the busses stop.

So, why not sum this up:

If $150 dollars is OK, fly.
If you cannot affor more than $50, take the bus.
Click to expand...
if you read my post you would see that i did make use of a taxi:tired:

why not offer a realistic evaluation of the situation, give options and if all else fails wait for the OP to reply so we know what their situation actually is. :bunny::bunny:

i don't think we're actually helping he OP or anyone else looking for this info by getting into this any further without more info from the OP.
 
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rubio_higuey

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Agreed.

OP... what is your situation? Let us know so we can best analyze your situation.

What is your budget?
Have you been to the DR before?
Do you speak Spanish?
Are you a seasoned traveller?
What is your age group?
Are you advantureous or risk-averse?
How much luggage will you have?
 
A

apostropheman

Guest
excellent!
rubio_higuey said:
Agreed.

OP... what is your situation? Let us know so we can best analyze your situation.

What is your budget?
Have you been to the DR before?
Do you speak Spanish?
Are you a seasoned traveller?
What is your age group?
Are you advantureous or risk-averse?
How much luggage will you have?
Click to expand...
 
S

student_traveller

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Aug 15, 2007
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Well I haven't been to the DR before and I'm a fairly inexperienced traveller. I checked out the bus directions and they seemed kind of overwhelming to me. I don't speak Spanish, and my flight doesn't get into Punta Cana until 4pm, so I'm worried at the prospect of getting lost in a new city at night.

Is there no other route up the coast besides charter plane? No bus routes that are more direct? Would a taxi be really expensive?

$150 is a lot for me but it is sounding like a better option for my situation. I'm meeting up with a friend so my costs won't be too high once I get there. But I'm going to have to come back from Puerto Plata to Punta Cana a week later, and the thought of paying another $150 hurts my student wallet.

Sincere thanks for the help.
 
R

Rocky

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student_traveller said:
Well I haven't been to the DR before and I'm a fairly inexperienced traveller. I checked out the bus directions and they seemed kind of overwhelming to me. I don't speak Spanish, and my flight doesn't get into Punta Cana until 4pm, so I'm worried at the prospect of getting lost in a new city at night.

Is there no other route up the coast besides charter plane? No bus routes that are more direct? Would a taxi be really expensive?

$150 is a lot for me but it is sounding like a better option for my situation. I'm meeting up with a friend so my costs won't be too high once I get there. But I'm going to have to come back from Puerto Plata to Punta Cana a week later, and the thought of paying another $150 hurts my student wallet.

Sincere thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
There is no better route, otherwise we would have mentioned it.
It's not a tough decision.
Either you spring for the 300 bux and have a great time, or you save 200 bux by taking the bus and you lose 2 days of your vacation.
If you bought a ticket to PC to save money, use that money to fly to POP.
 
M

Marilyn

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May 7, 2002
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Rocky said:
There is no better route, otherwise we would have mentioned it.
It's not a tough decision.
Either you spring for the 300 bux and have a great time, or you save 200 bux by taking the bus and you lose 2 days of your vacation.
If you bought a ticket to PC to save money, use that money to fly to POP.
Click to expand...

It makes no sense to me, why buy a ticket to PC when your destination is PP? is it that much cheaper? Especially for someone who doesn't know DR, knows no Spanish and is not a seasoned traveller, at the end you'll end up paying the same; for someoe who doesn't speak the language and is coming for the first time to DR, I recommend flying to avoid all these complications. Rubio, I know your intention is good and even I, being Dominican, wouldn't travel from PC to PP by bus, I would drive (renting a car is another option which I would recommend over flying since I am particularly not too fond of flying), but would not go by public transportation nor would I recommend anyone to do it, if it was going from PC to SD yes, but not from PC to PP.
 
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student_traveller

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Okay, now that I know there are no other routes between the 2 cities, I'll come up with the money for the flights.

I had to fly with United Airlines and they only fly into Punta Cana. My travel arrangements have been a pain in the ass, but it will be worth it once I arrive!
 
R

Rocky

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student_traveller said:
Okay, now that I know there are no other routes between the 2 cities, I'll come up with the money for the flights.

I had to fly with United Airlines and they only fly into Punta Cana. My travel arrangements have been a pain in the ass, but it will be worth it once I arrive!
Click to expand...
Happy travels.
Don't forget that you owe the Apos man a beer.
 
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