Motor Coach/Bus System Info

Okay  -  mid afternoon arrival in PUJ give you lots of time.  Bus station is not that far and the bus to La Romana runs all day long.

Bus to  Santo Domingo from La Romana is Sichoem, they run all day and into about  9 pm at night I think.

Santo Domingo to Puerto Plata - two options, same price -  Caribe Tours and Metro Bus.   Metro is a bit nicer and faster.  Its located in the business core area -  Churchill and 27 de Febrero.   Caribe is closer to the downtown area, not far from Presidents palace and Colonial Zone just off of 27 de febrero. 

Hope that helps!

Oooops welcome to the forums!

That is exactly the info I needed. Thank you so much!! 👍🏾👌🏾

You are very welcome

Welcome to the forum
Here are two web sites to look at:
Metro bus:
http://metroserviciosturisticos.com/
Caribe tours:
http://www.caribetours.com.do/

Bob K

Hello Planner and Bob!!

Thank you for the great information. I am making my fourth trip to DR since my first in May of 2013.  I am trying something different this time. Instead of induring the $100 cab ride from PUJ airport to La Romana, I am hopping the bus to La Romana. My hope is I find an honest cabbie to get me to the bus station and then from there I can hop on a bus to La Romana.  After two nights in La Romana, I will take a bus to Santiago for two days before spending two days in Puerto Plata. 

I get on the plane at 9am from Detroit and fly non-stop to PUJ.  My question is I tried to look at the Metroi website and unfortunately it is only in Spanish. Can one of you help me out with leaving Monday morning early from La Romana to head to Santiago?  I assume I have to go from La Romana to Santo Domingo which I have done before which was an easy and enjoyable bus ride.  I assume the longer ride will be from Santo Domingo to Santiago. Will I have to go to Santo Domingo or is there a La Romana to Santiago bus route option?  Once I get to my hotel in La Romana, I will check the site to see if any of you wonderful Expat's have checked in. 

Thank you for this awesome site. I am excited about seeing this beautiful country.

That is correct you will  leave La Romana on  a Sichoem bus for Santo Domingo.  From the  last stop near Parque Enriquillo   you take a taxi to  either Metro  (250RD taxi)  or Caribe Tours (200RD taxi)  to get you to Santiago

NO there is no direct bus from La Romana to  Santiago -  the concessions are owned by different  companies,  too bad they all cannot work together.

And a  taxi from PUJ airport to the bus station should be no issue,  all taxis from the airport are part of their concession,    check the tariff first before getting in!

All good info. Do make sure you know the price of the cab ride before you get in.  From the airport the fares are set and are listed at the taxi area when you exit.

Bob K

Thank you for your kind advice. Do you have a rough estimate on a taxi to the Bus station from the airport? $20 or less + tip? 

I also thought about trying to buy a ticket on one of the resort shuttles going to La Romana and then take a cab to my hotel.

Hopefully I will avoid a NYC cab ride where they circle me around Punta Cana for two hours for $100 US. 😜🙏🏾

metro is 370 pesos  $8.15 from Puerto Plata one way to SD. That's what I pay

Cab from the airport will probably be $25

Bob K

Sunday morning laugh.......(or cry)
So I found an English speaking baggage man who I tipped $10 US and said I need you to help me get a taxi that will take me to the motor coach station to take the bus to La Romana. He said no problem. Well after debating the cab fare and getting it down to $25 (thanks Bob) I was taken to a Busstation in Bravaro. They told me we don't go to La Ramona. I need a different bus. So of course my laziness to not learn Spanish was killing me. Ever try to debate in English with 10 Spanish speakers at a bus station?  Finally I got their spotty wi-do to work and looked up the instructions from Planner. I showed them that I need to go to the Punta Cana bus station. The cabbie of course claimed to have no idea of where that was. So I was already $25 in and they quoted me $100 to La Romana at the airport so I said lets just go to LR and I will pay you $100. He countered with $130. We settled on $110 😜 
But it gets better..... I was hot and sticky so I said can I get Cerveza for the hour ride. Of course! I bought one for the both of us which blew my mind because I guess there are no drinking and driving laws here. Well we started to make a connection and I found out he was from Higuey (so) Well of course we stopped there and partied at a little local bar and after more beer and dancing. We went to my Hotel Karma in La Romana. I had fun, spent more than planned but I am on vacation in this beautiful country so I refuse to not have fun.
Monday morning I will start my journey to Santiago for two days and then on to Puerto Plata for two days. I will follow Planner and Bobs directions this time .
BTW Planner, I had an awesome dinner (and too much Vodka) at Marinelly Restaurant. Then I danced with the locals.
I can't wait to retire here!

Sounds like you are having fun. Tonight we will be at the Toro's baseball game at 5pm. You are welcome to join us.

Absolutely!!!

Smooth sailing this morning from La Romana and easy cab ride to the Metro. Two hour ride to Santiago and will head to Puerto Plata on Wednesday morning.
Enjoyed the Toro's baseball game last night but left with it tied at 3-3. Big fun!  Beer for 85 pesos which is $2 in the USA. Unheard of!!!

Sounds like you have the system down and are enjoying your trip.  Keep up the good work!

Where are you staying in Puerto Plata?

Bob k

Good Morning Bob and Planner and Texas,

I am ending my wonderful trip in the Dominican and need your help/suggestions one last time. 

I am trying to avoid my $100 taxi ride to PUJ airport from La Romana so I am going to try this again. My friend at the hotel said I take the Express bus to Santo Domingo and then get on an express Metro bus to Punta Cana.  He said there was no direct bus from La Romana to Puerto Plata/Bravaro. He doesn't ride the bus much but when I was at the Metro station in Santo Domingo yesterday, I thought I saw a Puerto Plata direct bus.  My flight is at 2pm so I would probably plan to get on an 8am bus to Santo Domingo to make the Transfer to Metro and Puerto Plata.

Everyone agree with that one or is there another option?

BTW Bob, I stayed at Castillo Del Ambar Aparta Hotel in PP. 1500 DOP per day and it was clean and safe.  My big thrill was the cable car to the mountain. What a view!!!

Thank you all and I hope I get to meet some of you on my next trip!

Ok  I am totally confused by this. You are in Puerto Plata and need toget back to Punta Cana airport right???

Metro from Puerto Plata to Santo Domingo YES

Santo Domingo you go to Parque Enriquillo and  get the Bavaro Express  YES

Tell the driver you are getting off to go to the airport,  he will drop you at closest place and you catch a taxi to the airport.

TIMING - if your flight is  2pm you cannot do this in one day!

POP to  SD is  4 hours,   then taxi to  second bus station,   bus from SD to  PUJ is another  2 1/2 hours.

IF your flight is at  2pm  you need to be there at noon,  honey  you cannot make it in one day. You need to go to SD  night before, then leave SD  by  9 am latest.

Sorry Planner,
I think I confused the situation. I have been in La Romana the last two days.  My travel by bus has been from La Romana to Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo to Santiago, Santiago to Puerto Plata, Puerto Plata back to Santiago for a night and then on to Santo Domingo where I caught the bus to La Romana.   I was told to get to Punta Cana from La Romana, I had to travel back to Santo Domingo and take a Metro bus to Punta Cana. 

If I need to be in Santo Domingo by 9am, I will probably just play it safe and drop the 100 US for the cab fare and peace of mind.

Thank you for your help!!

Again you confused me -  do you fly out of Punta Cana????  Ten take the Bus  from La Romana.   You dont need to go back to Santo Domingo at all.

Sichoem  has buses running all day.