East Coast Basic Information

Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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I've compiled an up-to-date roundup of recent replies to the most frequently asked questions about the east coast. Posters are invited to add categories and update this information, which is valid at the date of posting.

The subjects covered are:

  1. Map
  2. Buses to/from Santo Domingo - direct and via Higuey, buses to airport.
  3. Non-AI hotels
  4. Health care facilities
  5. Schools
  6. Courier services

The main sources are DR1 posters Caribbeandreamto - Caribbean Dream - Tours & Excursions - Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
and
Yb1 - Punta Cana TV
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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1. Maps.
A selection of good maps of the area is available from: Punta Cana Map | punta cana tv

2. Public transport - this question comes up with increasing frequency.

B?varo/Punta Cana to/from Santo Domingo

Metro Bus and Caribe Tours do not service the east. Although they have local offices, they only offer private bus hire and Metro has its courier service with pick-up points in Punta Cana Village (Mail Boxes Etc) and at their offices near the Coco Loco crossing.

Direct service:
Expreso B?varo
From Punta Cana Bavaro to Santo Domingo
From Bavaro, one can take the Expreso Bavaro Bus directly to Santo Domingo. Travellers can board and/or purchase a ticket for Expreso Bavaro from the Bavaro Bus Station just a block south of the Friusa Intersection on the Avenida Estados Unidos 809.552.1678. You may also board at the Veron stop along the Carretera Luperon-Punta Cana 809.455.1473. Departure times from the Bavaro Bus Station are: 7am, 10 am, 2pm, and 4pm. Tickets cost RD$375 for both adults and children. Note that the Expreso Bavaro Buses leave from the bus station in Friusa and pass by the Veron stop on the way to Santo Domingo, so pick-up times are approximately a half an hour after the original departure time.
The buses are large and well maintained with air conditioning that can be self controlled from your seat. The driver will also put on one to two movies during the trip. Unfortunately, there is no bathroom on the bus so be prepared. Your next and only opportunity to purchase refreshments and/or use the restroom is about two hours into the trip at a highway rest stop called La Lechonera. The rest stop is basically a buffet style stop-off where you can purchase a wide array of chow such as chicken, fish, pork, rice, snacks, sweets and drinks. The restrooms are acceptable at the very least.
Upon entering Santo Domingo, the driver is flexible with letting passengers off. The normal stops are in front of the Dario Contreras Hospital on Santo Domingo’s east side, the corner of Calle Josefa Brea & 27 de Febrero and the last stop on Juan Sanchez Ramirez, off of Maximo Gomez. Simply ask the driver if you have a particular stop in between the ones previously mentioned and he will find the solution.

Getting to Bavaro from Santo Domingo
The bus is picked up just off the Avenida Maximo Gomez on Juan Sanchez Ramirez #31 809.682.9670 just about a half a block from the Supermercado Nacional. Departure times are the same as in Bavaro 7am, 10am, 2pm and 4pm.
Before leaving the city, the bus will make one more stop at El Parque Enriquillo on Avenida Duarte. Tickets can also be purchased at this location. If you forgot to buy a snack or drink for the ride, the Parque Enriquillo stop is your last chance. Outside the bus there’s plenty of vendors knocking on the window selling refreshments and you’ll have a few minutes purchasing time if need be.
Just like the bus ride from Bavaro to Santo Domingo, you will have one opportunity to use the bathroom and buy food or drink at the La Lechonera rest stop, about two hours into the trip.
The Bavaro stops begin at Veron, which is basically the entrance to the area of Bavaro. You will need to get off here if you are going to a hotel or resort in Cabeza de Toro as well as resorts to the south towards Juanillo, such as Club Med and the Punta Cana Beach Resort. The last local buses for both of these routes pass through Veron at 6:30 pm, so if you arrive later, the driver will drop you off at the taxi station just down the highway from the normal stop.
Once the Expreso Bavaro bus reaches Bavaro, it is no longer an express bus. From the bus’s first stop at Veron, to its last stop at Friusa, the driver will let passengers off wherever they please.
The last stop is called Friusa, located at the main bus terminal on the Avenida Estados Unidos about another half hour from Veron. Here you will encounter numerous local buses that sweep past nearly every hotel and resort in the Cortecito and Arena Gorda area. These local buses run much later, till 10:30pm, since most resorts are located in this sector and more hotel employees need to be shuttled around.

There are also 8am and 3pm departures that go all the way to Punta Cana Airport. If you take any of the other Expreso B?varo buses, get off at Cruce de Ver?n and stand at the roadside next to the Shell Station – Sitrabapu guaguas (minibuses) pass every 15 minutes or so and continue to the airport.

There is a more frequent but indirect service via Higuey. From B?varo/Punta Cana take a guagua to Higuey and ask for the stop where the buses depart for the Capital (Sichoprola)

3. Non AI hotels
Hotel Naragua - 20 minutes from airport in Cabeza de Toro
Welcome to the Frontpage
budget hotel, basic but clean, rooms around 40$US per night
809 468 3060

Hotel Flamboyan - 30 mins from airport
Bavaro Punta Cana Hotel - Flamboyan
809 552 0372

Hotel Cayacoa - near hotel flamboyan
809 552 0622 / 809 552 0624

The Bowman Hotel - 30 mins from airport
Plaza Brisas on Ave Espana
The Bowman Hotel - Home
809 552 0102
email: ebowman@bowmanhotel.com

El Castillo Real - 20 mins from airport, budget hotel (rooms from 700rd)
apartahotel castillo real

Las Piedras Guesthouse - 25 minutes from airport, near Fruisa bus station
doesn't have own website, this link gives description + map

Guesthouse Las Piedras, Punta Cana, Rep?blica Dominicana
email: guesthouselaspiedras@gmail.com / hotelpuntacana@gmail.com
809 889 2873

Cortecito Inn - 35 mins from airport
across the road from the beach in Cortecito
budget hotel
email: info@cortecitoinnhotel.com
809 552 0639

Hotel Natural Village - 30 minutes from airport in Bavaro (see map on their website)
very nice little hotel, clean, modern but simple, pool, Italian run restaurant on site.
Natural Village Club - Hotel Bavaro Punta Cana
double rooms around 80$US per night
Email: reserva@naturalvillagehotel.com
tel: 809 552 1164

Golf Suites Hotel - 30 mins from airport in Bavaro
http://www.thegolfsuites.com/
not 100% sure if they rent for one night only.
Phone: +1 809 552 8888
E-mail: info@thegolfsuites.com

more upmarket:
Golden Bear Lodge Cap Cana - 15 minutes from airport
Golden Bear Lodge & Spa
Phone: 1-809-469-7425
E-mail: sales@goldenbearlodge.com.do

Puntacana Resort & Club - 10 minutes from airport
Luxury Hotel Rooms and Suites in Punta Cana
around 124$US per night, incl. taxes
809 959 2262

4. Health care facilities - these are the three main private clinics in the B?varo-Punta Cana area:

Hospiten Hospiten

Centro M?dico Punta Cana Rescue Punta Cana Home

Centro M?dico B?varo Centro M?dico Caribe B?varo

5. Schools - these are the main private schools.

PCIS – bilingual PUNTACANA International School

Heritage – bilingual - Heritage School At Cap Cana

Calasanz – Spanish - Colegio Calasanz B?varo

Jardin Verde www.jardinverde.net

Dominico-Cubano Carrusel


Montessori (due to open 2011-2012 school year) Colegio Villa Montessori

6. Couriers
For receiving packets and correspondence from overseas:

MBE – Punta Cana Village and Palma Real Shopping Village (Business Centre)

CPS - Amstar Business Center, Suite No. 403, Ctra. Ver?n- Barcel?, B?varo
Phone: 809 455 1620

For courier service inside the DR
Metropac – at MBE PC Village and Coco Loco crossing, also in Friusa (to all cities serviced by Metro Bus)

Expreso B?varo (to Santo Domingo only from their Ver?n and Friusa offices)
 
Last edited by a moderator:

JennK

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Sep 25, 2011
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what a great list of information. we are a retired couple that just moved here and this list is very good information.
 

Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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An addendum to the non-AI Hotels list was posted in another thread:
KateP said:
A friend of mine is opening up a hostal in Pueblo Bavaro, just 10 minutes away from the airport. Here's the link to his website Hostal Manaca Bed & Breakfast . So now we'll have another relatively inexpensive option close-by...
 

SirMarjAlot

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Jan 1, 2012
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mongerplanet.com
Expreso B?varo Sunday timetable

First thanks for this excellent info,

Does the Expreso B?varo run 7 days a week?
My issue is - would be wanting to leave from Bavaro to Santo Domingo on a Sunday
and then returning to Bavaro on a Sunday 2 weeks later.

Hard for me to plan without knowing for sure, do things run normal on a Sunday?

Thanks
 

SKY

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Apr 11, 2004
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Bavaro Express runs seven days a week. Leaves Bavaro at 7AM, 10AM,2PM, and 4PM. Not sure of return times.
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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The return timetable from SD to B?varo is the same: 7am, 10am, 2pm and 4pm to B?varo; 8am and 3pm to Punta Cana airport.
 

SKY

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US Consulate Now Open in Bavaro

I don't know if this has been posted before so I will post it. In Palma Real Mall, Bavaro next to the Mail Box,etc on the second floor is a US Consulate Office. It looks like it is permanent, as it is not small.

So you can save a trip to SD for a lot of things you may need from the Embassy.
 
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Graciosa

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May 24, 2012
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Hello Chirimoya,

I have been trying to contact the Trinity Real School with the information in their Website, which is apparently very old. I am especially interested because there is information they offer special education. I have checked most bilingual schools in the Punta Cana/Bavaro area and the only one offering an Academic Accomodation Plan and IEP for students with learning disabilities is the CCHS. This school is expensive, and I would like to hear of more options of schools for a child who speaks little spanish and has a mild learning disability. I hope to be moving there by the end of summer and any information is valued as I have little time for admision and registration.
 

Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
17,850
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That school is not there any more: there is a school where it used to be called Dominico-Cubano, which does not appear to have a website. I'll ask the moderator to edit the list of schools.

I suggest you contact the two other schools - Punta Cana International and B?varo Bilingual - directly with a request for information. I will send you a Private Message with one contact.
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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New Timetable for Expreso B?varo in both directions - Santo Domingo-Punta Cana; Punta Cana - Santo Domingo

All buses from Santo Domingo now go to Punta Cana airport, travel time down from 4 to 3 hours thanks to the new Coral highway.

7:00am
9:00am
11:00am
1:00pm
3:00pm
4:00pm

Expreso B?varo:
Calle Juan S?nchez R?mirez near the corner of M?ximo G?mez, Gazcue, Santo Domingo
809 682 9670
Plaza Genaro, Ver?n: 809 552 1473
Friusa bus terminal: 809 552 1678

They have entered the 21st century and now have a Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/Transporte16
 

caribmike

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Jul 9, 2009
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Err... does that mean everybody has to go to the airport? No more passing by Pueblo Bavaro?
 

Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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caribmike said:
Err... does that mean everybody has to go to the airport? No more passing by Pueblo Bavaro?
Not sure, I'm guessing it goes to Punta Cana Village and the airport first, then doubles back to Ver?n and on to Friusa. If anyone has first-hand info please post here.


JDJones said:
Getting ready to update your book, huh?? You are an information JUNKIE!!!!!

Great thread, kiddo. Thanks.
Thanks! All the migration/residency rule changes mean some of the content in the book is out of date, and I need to wait till the situation becomes clearer before re-writing that section. Meanwhile I'm trying to complement the book by posting all new information that comes up online.
 

SKY

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Apr 11, 2004
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It ends at the large circle before the circle at Punta Cana Village. So if you go right you are at PC Village, left to Bavaro.
 

caribmike

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Jul 9, 2009
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It ends at the large circle before the circle at Punta Cana Village. So if you go right you are at PC Village, left to Bavaro.

OK, but will there be a shuttle or something or is one forced to take a cab or to walk from there (to Pueblo Bavaro, to Veron etc.) now?
 

Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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I think Sky means the highway. Caribmike is asking about the bus route. My sister-in-law who came to visit us yesterday got off at the airport, and at that stage the bus had not gone through Ver?n. She says there were still some passengers on board who presumably were continuing on to Ver?n and/or B?varo.