Questions from Canadians coming for 4 months

Welcome to the forums!!! Depending where you plan to go you can exchange your Canadian dollars to pesos.  Sometimes the exchange rate will not be great.  You can get the best rate by using your ATM card to withdraw money but double check your withdrawal fees.

I have a group insurance package available eith prescription and dental included at 1,550 RD.  howeve your wifes pre existing conditions MAY not be included.  Depends what they are.

With insurance you walk into private clinic or hospital and you are covered up to your limits....

Spanish classes - depends where but most places have them in some form

Hi Planner! Thanks so much for the reply! This is 'the wife with the ailments' writing to you now.  We plan on purchasing Medipac insurance before we come down, should we still buy DR insurance through you when we get there? My health problems are all digestive, have had several tests but they have not been able to diagnose me with anything but IBS.

We are going to be staying in Las Terrenas, and have taken some beginner Spanish classes here but would like to learn more while we are there.  What can you tell me about Las Terrenas? Is it dangerous to be out after dark? Is it terribly touristy? Is it very windy? We have done some research of course but the more info we can get from people actually living in the country the better!

As for exchanging money, we will be bringing cash, so we won't be using the debit card hardly at all.  Would it be best to exchange our cash into USD cash here before we go or wait until we get there, go to the bank (or other exchange place) and exchange our cash in DR pesos once we get there?

Thanks!

I'm a Canadian from Ontario. We were in the Dominican in September to explore for our 2 month stay in January.
You can exchange your Canadian money at the bank, the airport also has an exchange booth and you can exchange your Canadian dollars there. I am exchanging my money to pesos in Ontario before I go

Another question, we would like to take a refresher course for scuba diving and then do some dives.  Any suggestions as to the best local dive shops and the best diving spots in the area?

we stayed at a resort near las terrenas before. It is windy and the surf is high. You can go whale watching from there too.The town was nice though. I don't know about after dark

Hi amesei! Is it less expensive to change your money into pesos here in Canada?

I used Continental Exchange. They are usually in a mall.
I believe they are the best rate according to our travel agent

Two places here NEVER to exchange money is the AIRPORT and a HOTEL  you will get killed on a poor exchange rate.

Have you been here before????

Welcome to the forum

Bob K

I agree with Bob, airport and hotels have WORST exchange rate.

Great dive school in Las Galeras, ask for Paul.

Insurance - yes you should have local.insurance.  I will.message you.

Thanks Planner and Bob we be sure not to exchange our money at the airport or hotel.

We have been to Punta Cana a number of years ago, just for one week at a resort, but we loved it and have always planned on going back to DR one day.

Thanks for the info on the dive school, we will definitely go there.

Will an International drivers license allow us to drive there? Is it necessary to get an International drivers license?

Your license is good for your tourist visa time only, 30 days...

Where would you go to exchange your money?

An exchange house in the town or city you are going to. Any taxi driver can tell you the best location, its where they will go.

Best places for exchanging money is at one of the change houses (cambios) or the Western  union, or a Caribe tours office.  Worst place airports, hotels and street changers

Bob K

You are right Western Union is always good....

when I was still making the error of sending $ to mi amour,  (Later marrird & divorced)  western union had the highest fees of all. therefore I never tried to change $ with them,  so cannot endorse them.. the street $ changing stallsl always gave  1/2 or full peso more than anyehere else.  I used Banco Santa Cruz  in Sosua for all my banking.   excellent personal service.  Carlos the manager,  is more helpful than you could expect.  not many branches, but , worth the time.   for example,  when I had to leave, for vision problems,  emptied my accounts.  going back to sosua after 3 years, went into the bank & inquired about opening an account.  Carlos came out of his office & said, " we didn't close your account, we put it on hold",  that meant I didn't have to go through the time to open a new one. just could then use my U.S.debit card to transact buisness .  santa cruz usually 1/4 t0 1/2 less a peso than you could get on the street.   don't fret changing $, it is not a diffucult thing.  there are sites that daily give the gov. rate.  you can always get a little more.  another thing, never change all your money at one time.  just enough for a day or two.  never let anyone know how much you're changing.  word spreads faster than the wind.  have fun and welcome to this wonderful isle!!.  by the way,  Carlos loves  to bake bread, cakes & such,  he also likes motorcycles.  he is down o earth,  plus speaks excellent english.  truly a hell of a guy!!!  more examples.... pm me.

The issue often is that things quickly change here.  IF you are not here on the ground now you often do not know the changes.

For changing money  Western Union is right up there. FOR sending money - whole other story. DOn't confuse the two.

Planner is right .  Changing money is lots different then sending or receiving money. There is no commission or fee to change money.

As to Santa Cruz I have to agree we have been using this bank and Carlos for 11 years now.  They seem to go out of there way to help us gringos.

Bob K

HI everybody Just wondering if any one knows the exchange rate in the D.R. for exchanging Canadian dollar to D.R. peso.  Changing our Canadian money in Canada to the D.R. peso they are giving 38.42.pesos to the dollar. and is there anywhere you can exchange Canadian  dollar down in the D.R. or do the prefer U.S. dollar as it is not really worth it for us to change our money to American as the exchange rate is so low.
Thanks for any info you can help with.
Rigger

there are sites that give daily quotes for any countries money. pm me & I'll forward one to you.

What a site gives and the real rate here are totally different. They do not completely value Canadian dollars here. If you do the math you will find it is better to use ATM machines in most cases.

Today the current US rate is 44 to one here.

thanks for the info.  never delt with canadian money.  I do know that the site I use is spot on.  it is an informational site.  they do not solicit to change it for you.

Its  all about perceived value and market honey. They use american money regularly, less so Canadian money. Less market, less value.

Thanks so much everyone for all the very informative information and think we will just bring down D.R. pesos that we can purchase up here in Canada as we have a site that gives us the rate of exchange here and seem to be a fair rate of exchange and will use the banks down there for any other money we will need, and will be in touch soon in a private message to you Planner.
Thanks again
Rigger

You are very welcome!

Here is a site to check http://www.wallycabarete.com/html/wally_cambio_en.php The rate you will get can vary a bit but this is pretty close to the "street" rate here.

Currently (yesterday) the rate was 37.5 for CA and you will get about 38 or bit above at Caribe tours and such

Bob K

Thanks so much Bob for the information hope everything is going great with your Mom as I do believe you are still in the States taking care of her and hopefully we will have the opportunity to meet and get together one day as my wife and I are hoping to move to the Dominican republic in the near future.
Thanks Rigger

Thanks for the thoughts. 
She starts treatment next week.
I will be home (DR) Saturday. 
Yes it will be nice to get together.

Bob K

I visit and live in the Dominican. I have a wife and house there. Exchange your money from Canadian to R.D. As far as medical goes, don't  get sick! I'f you do,head back to Canada. Remember this is a third world country.  Do a little more research before coming involving Canadians. Try DR1.com.  Good luck

Hello, I've been coming here for years and I've determined that the best thing to do is get a Scotia bank account in Canada, with yourcanadian card you can withdraw cash in pesos directly from yourcanadian account

my S.S. goes into my bank account. I have a visa debit ard.               when I need cash I go to banco santa cruz, give them my card & tell them how much I want, they run it thru the card machine & presto! cash. they charge a buck & a half, or it might even be a little less.   I have an account there in dollars & pesos. my money is in a florida bank, no problem.

We use Santa Cruz as well. When I need cash I write a check on my  US account (usually for a couple of months of expenses).  Easy and simple. They do hold the money but you can get 33% of it in 5 business days and the rest 20 days later.   Not a big deal for me

Bob K

Trust me, get a Scotia account, if you didn't know Scotia is one of the biggest banks in the Dominican, you don't have to bring a lot of cash with you, changing money down here isa real pain, all you. Need is your scotia card, it will also work in other bank machines with a large service charge, if you use the Scotia card at a Scotia bank here there are no extra charges.

SCOTIA BANK

The subject was Canadians coming here, thanks for the American advice but Scotia is a Canadian bank

I wouldn't recomend buying pesos in Canada either, you will get robbed, I bring a little canadiancash only for when I get back to Canada, I've played the American money game also, buy low sell high but every bank charges you toget American money and there are monthly charges on the account, when I tried to get at my American money account from the Dominican I wastold I had to change it to Canadian first, it's just not worth the hassle, I repeat, SCOTIA BANK

all internatioal banks are 100% owned & operated by dominicans independently from the mother company.

What are you trying to say gypsy? I deal with Scotia in Canada and Scotia in the Dominican, trust me, it's just like banking in Canada