Spending night at airport SDQ to POP

You might want to think about the option of having a taxi take you to your POP hotel directly from the airport, instead of wasting time and money in finding a place to stay until 5am. You will also avoid taking taxis to the bus station, taking the 4 hour bus ride and then taking a another taxi from the bus station to your hotel.

Taxi from SDO airport to POP will probably be about US$150 to US$200, negotiate before you get into taxi.

If you decide to go the taxi route... you can contact Wenselaw directly via phone at 809-866-0438. Reliable driver based in Cabarete. He does speak english & it's not a new trip for him. Recent costs in $200-$250 range.


Probably better to have him (or someone else) waiting than trying to pick out a driver on the spot for a cross-country trip in the middle of the night.

He could also take you back with an early morning departure from Cabarete, say 4 or 5am to make your flight.

I don't know if you can (or would want to) stay overnight at SDQ...this isn't JFK or LAX...if you do decide to leave in the morning, you have a few reasonable options:

A "cabana" near the airport....these are hotels which rent in 4 hour blocks...most are actually VERY nice inside (but will likely only have one large bed, and will probably run around $20 for the night...then a cab to caribe in the morning.

Or, probably bettter idea: There are decent hotels in Gazcue, not far from the Caribe tours station, in the $25-30 a night range. The cab from the airport to Gazcue, or Caribe Tours for that matter will be about $30 (for both of you). The cab to Caribe from the hotel will be $3-$5. The bus runs every hour at the top of the hour. The cost is 250 pesos I believe (about $7) and takes about 4.5 hours (to Sosua). Be sure to take the Caribe Bus PAST Puerto Plata to the final stop, SOSUA...then grab a cab (about $15) or public transport (about $1 each) from there. Get pesos from a bank or ATM as soon as you can...I don't think Caribe takes $USD.

From Sosua to SD the buses run every hour at 20 minutes past the hour, I believe the first one is 5:20 am and the last one is 6:20 pm.

There's a good sized grocery store (Janet's) with a full and reasonably priced liquor selection about a mile (on the same road) before Ocean Manor. There are also a couple of small colmados in the area where you can pick up beer, rum, and other items...If you take a cab from Sosua, you can ask the taxi driver to stop at Janet's and wait for you on the way to the hotel..or you can walk there or take a moto-concho after you check in.

SDQ to Cabarete

I'm understanding that you want to just wait a few hours at the airport terminal before taking a taxi to Caribe Tours. You should have no problem just sitting at the airport. Right before exiting the airport for ground transportation there is seating in food court-like area. I can't say it is comfortable - just imagine yourself at a table at any fast food restaurant chain, but there is plenty of seating. Jetblue has flights that come in at 3:00am in the morning and I think Spirit too, so you will not be alone in the airport.

Next, your hotel is outside of Cabarete it appears. You looked up the schedule times correctly except you want to go to SOSUA and not Puerto Plata (most likely it is the same bus but the las stop and your departure time from Sosua will be earlier). Caribe Tours does not go all the way to Cabarete, so that is why you want to take the bus until its last stop in Sosua. From Sosua you can take a taxi to your hotel in Cabarete--I'm thinking it will run you about $15US for the taxi from Sosua to your hotel. I can't remember exactly how much the bus ride costs but it is somewhere around $250-$300 pesos or $7-$9US. I've always paid in pesos at Caribe Tours. I can't remember if they exchange money there or have an ATM, but I would imagine they do but I'm not 100% sure. It's about a 4.5 hour ride as someone mentioned.

Since you are trying to take the last bus out of Sosua, make sure you confirm the time and go early.

As far as coming back, you can again wait at the terminal although that does seem awfully long. But if you don't mind, you will not be alone. You can wait in the arrivals food court in the same location as noted above and then go upstairs 2 hours before your flight to check in. If the taxi drops you off at departures you can just go downstairs to arrivals, as I don't think there is too much seating upstairs--but there may be.

Hope this helps and enjoy your trip!