From Cabrete to Punta Cana - too much for 7 days?

See if you can rent a car at the one Airport and leave it at the other,
then things can work out for you all.

Good Luck

It is doable. Two years ago my husband and I did STI-PUJ-SDQ in 8 days.

Sti- Saturday-Tuesday
Puj- Tuesday-Friday
Sdq Friday-Sunday

I have never been to Samana, other than flying thru to pick up passengers on the way to POP, so I'm not aware of the driving distance, but I am sure if you plan on staying in Punta Cana, you should do that on the last night, before flight................

With a vehicle, you can go anywhere on the Island, except it would be a push to make it to Punta Cana from Caberete, but that is do-able, though I wouldn't suggest it.

I play things by ear and it works for me and I do it with public transportation...................

But being it a bunch of you, do it by car or better 4 wheel drive jeep........

Not sure about POP to Samana & Samana to Punta Cana. but last year I took a bus from Santo Domingo to Samana and I hated it. The lady who owned the hotel I stayed at told me about a charter flight back to santo domingo which took 25 minutes and cost like 50 or 60 dollars. It was well worth it. I was in Samana for 8 days and did not need a car. Maybe someone on here has more info about charter flights or you can talk to the hotel people. If you can find charter flights if will save you alot of time and make your trip much easier.

Flying a charter flight from POP Airport to Samana and then from Samana to Punta Cana will cost around $200 apiece, for that one way trip, but I would use that $1,000 towards car rental, gas and more........

If I were by myself, I might consider the one way flight, but with the 4 or 5 of you it's an adventure and probably pleasureable ...........

with the new highway it should be an easy go....so have fun...
hammerdown

The new highway will help, but count on a "on the road day". I've done the trip from Samana to Punta Cana straight to SD, then over to Punta Cana. It is a ways, no matter how you grease it.

Just as a comment...unless you dig driving...you probably are being a little ambitious... why not love where you're at and save PUJ for another trip ?

how much do you like driving? how much time do you want to spend on the beach? at what time does your flight arrive, What time do you leave? What activities do you want to do? What is the main purpose of your trip? is it to explore or is it to relax. because I will tell you that after my vacation I needed another vacation to catch up with my sleep. Here is what we did maybe it will give you an idea.

Sat - arrived in STI went out to dinner and dancing
Sun - Damajagua in POP
Mon - Whitewater rafting in Jarabacoa
Tue - Left santiago around 8 am arrived in SDQ at around 10 dropped off some stuff at my aunt's and left for PUJ. arrived at PUJ at 2 or 3 pm. checked in and went to the beach.
Wed - excursion on a 4 wheeler
Thursday - Parasailing and snorkling, massage at night
Friday - horsebackriding, checkout, drive to SDQ arrived at around 5 or 6. hung out with fam and drank about a case of beer
Sat - hangout slept late, took my husband around colonial zone, shopping at the market.
Sun - Went to church babtized my cousin's daughter, ate sancocho stopped at helados bon and headed out to airport.

Puerto Plata airport to Cabarete... less than 30 minutes.
Cabarete to Samana... 2-3 hours depending on your exact destination.
Samana to Punta Cana, i dunno

bovinda said:

Thanks for all the feedback guys. It may indeed be overambitious, but we went ahead and got tickets today, so I've still got 24 hours to change my mind. We ended up swinging it so we'll have about 7.5 days altogether (flying into POP, leaving PUJ). Since there will be five of us, we'll probably split the driving. We'll start in Sousa/Cabrete, swing over towards Samana, then head on South to Punta Cana.

Any ideas what driving times are like between some of these destinations, just to get an idea?

Say, between Sousa and Las Galeras, then Las Galeras to Bahahibe? That's what I'm sort of thinking right now...

I'd love to throw a trip over to Jacaroba in there somehow for their mountain biking, but I think that would probably be ridiculous, wouldn't it? :ermm:

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Did you make arrangements for full coverage with a major car rental company at the POP, Airport...........

You can rent an economy size veh, but you need that freedom, to be free...........because, buses here, taxis there and getting around the country, when you want to can be a pain..............Think of it as taking a trip to California, you need transportation, your own. because you can go where you want, when you want, but you'll find out .............

The average places you will go in caberete and area, without venturing into the hoods, you'll be fine............When I'm there I borrow my friends Maxima with no problems..................If you see a bad road condition, you can always turn around and take another road or nagotiate around whatever slowly and safely.....................

The roads are not that bad, just watch out for the other drivers........And there is a big price difference between a SUV vs others...............

I have been thru ghetto neighborhoods where an army jeep would have problems................but I'm sure you won't be going there......

That's why I mentioned an economy vehicle, to save you money .........

Get something big enough to carry, you, your friends and your luggage, only ...............But I answered that question before when I suggested an economy car, I just didn't go into detail, but I was looking out, for your pockets and believe me, if I was wrong, someone on this forum would be jumping down my throat.....................

I don't live on the Island, but go as much and as often as I can afford.......I speak from 6yrs, visiting and venturing the Island and retired 5yrs ago after serving on the Philadelphia Police Dept for 32yrs.I would not steer you wrong .................

PEACE OUT --------Enjoy your trip

PS. If you or your girlfriends are not traveling with male companions , PLEASE READ the SANKY FORUMS first, because my chocolate flavored brothers ,on the Island are PLAYERS ..............FULL of GAMES of the HEART :ermm: :bunny::bunny::bunny:

We rented an economy car. it took us everywhere where we needed to go. I will tell you that if you go to samana and try to go to Playa Rincon you will have a hard time getting the car down there with you and all your friends. Last year when we went with my fam I had to tell them to get off and they had to walk about 1/2 kilometer.

Whitewater rafting was alot of fun. the guides are professional and you really get a work out. when we went in September so water level wasn't very high but it was still a lot of fun. call rancho baiguate maybe you can bikeride and do the rafting in the same day.

the 4-wheel excursion was also fun. wear tons of sunblock. I got a rash from all the sun. The excursion took us around the country side, to a small farm, then to a cave that had a underground pond, then to Macao beach. oh they also took us to some store, make sure you don't spend too much time in the store because that time is taken away from your beach time.

Parasailing was nice too. all they do is strap you to a parashute then they release the ropes and drive the boat you go up, and they leave you up there for about 10 or 15 minutes. it wasn't scary at all it felt peaceful and romantic up there.

My advice to you would be to head out to Samana early Wed morning. if you leave early you can go to EL Limon Waterfall AND dive. the next day you can go to rincon and las galeras.

Expect the trip from Samana to PC to take you about 5 to 6 hours and if you stop to explore it will take you a lot longer. You can take the samana sdq highway then sdq to pc. or you can go the scenic route. go to Monteplata, look for Bayaguana, there is Salto Alto, salto comate, or comatillo. I honestly can't tell you how long it would take you to get to PC if you take this route.

You can do everything you want, but I suggest you don't really drink so you can get up early the next morning and be on your way by 8 am or even earlier if possible.

bovinda said:

See, Mujer, that sounds like the kind of trip I want to plan! Did you guys drive that or did you do public transportation?

Also, how'd you like the whitewater rafting in Jarabacoa, and the 4-wheel excursion?

We want to both explore and relax, but if we're leaning one way it's probably towards explore. These guys mainly want to mountain bike and do some diving/snorkeling, but I'm pushing for the Damajagua falls and beach lounging as well.

I'm ideally thinking for our trip, based off your outline...

Sun - land at POP around noon, go to beach, probably stay at Rocky's
Mon - Damajagua falls
Tue - Mountain biking
Wed - Diving and snorkeling in the AM, head out to Samana in afternoon, don't yet know where we'll stay I think you should just head to Samana EARLY in the AM
Thurs - See beaches in Samana, diving
Fri - Head out to somewhere in Punta Cana, explore on the way
Sat - Diving, snorkeling, lounging - how hard is parasailing? (That sounds like fun!)
Sun - Home in the AM after breakfast

Alternatively, instead of going to Samana, we might head out to Jarabacoa and try the whitewater rafting and/or mountain biking for a couple days.

I'm just not sure...anyone have any suggestions?

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My chocolate flavored sisters are players , also..............:surprised

Full of games of the heart, also ...............:bunny::bunny::bunny:

Those of you that encounter the Island Beauties............BEWARE irate:

Again, read the Sanky Forum, that may save you and, or, your friends more money than that economy car I was talking about, as far as the FUTURE, that is ...........:ermm:aranoid::surprised