One of your big expenses will be transportation. The expense will be either large up-front payment and lower monthly running cost, or no upfront but higher monthly running cost.
In Bavaro/Punta Cana area everything is far away. from Punta cana to Bavaro (Arena Gorda) it's almost 30 minutes drive by car. There is virtually no public transportation (if we do no count interurban buses that connect Veron with Punta Cana, Higuey, and Bavaro) and you can transport only along the simple route they run (one and only).
So you will either have to use taxis or motoconchos (motorcycle taxis). Taxi base rate is about 10 dollars (or more) just to get in (compare to Santo Domingo US$3.50). Motoconchos are about twice as expensive as anywhere else for the same distance traveled.
Your other option will be to buy/rent a car, motorcycle or scooter.
Car has high up-front cost (there's a lot of articles about car costs and purchase, so do a search) and maintenance fees will also run high (all spare parts are about 30% more expensive than in the US), plus fuel costs are about 50% more expensive than US. You will also need (and WANT) a full insurance, which is about 5% p.a. of a car's value.
Motorcycles and scooters are less expensive (you can get a new good scooter for under US$2,000 and good quality motorcycle for roughly the same price), mechanics are plentiful and cheap, parts are widely available (on every other street corner in most DR cities, does not apply to Bavaro, but still plentiful) and are reasonably priced, and you will have inexpensive transportation. You can roughly get 70 miles or more on 1 gallon of premium gasoline on scooter/motorcycle in-city driving.
Scooters may consume a bit more fuel than motorcycles but are automatic, easy to learn to ride, and can serve for cargo hauls as well (e.g. transporting your gas tank to a gas plant, grocery shopping, etc.)
Scooters/motorcycles are plentiful in Bavaro/Veron, but are not that widely used for transportation between the areas (e.g. between Veron and Bavaro/Friusa, etc.) lots of curves and crazy drivers on the road. If you need to drive a lot along that route then you will need a car.
Now, if your transportation is provided for, none of this applies.
I can hook you up with a 2009 Aprilia RS125, GP edition in orange and black, great con, all the paperwork legit and in Bavaro.
