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Punta Cana to Puerto Plata
Cocotours receives many requests for
transportation on this route: after all Punta Cana airport is
the main tourist gateway into the Dominican Republic, and Puerto
Plata is one of the country's best established resort areas. But
what surprises most of our enquirers is the distance - about 400
kms or 7 hours' drive!
To get from Punta Cana to Puerto Plata you have
the following options:
Cocotours Private Van from Punta Cana to Puerto Plata
This is the most reliable option because we operate our own
vehicles day in, day out, 24/7/365, come rain or shine. As
mentioned above, the drive from Punta Cana to Puerto Plata takes
about 7 hours in one of our comfortable vehicles (see photos
above). After eaving Punta Cana airport, the first half of the drive
from Punta Cana to Puerto Plata takes you south-west past the
towns and resort areas of La Romana, San Pedro de Macorís, Juan
Dolio and Boca Chica as far as Santo Domingo airport. At Santo
Domingo airport we make a vehicle change-over so that the
Cocotours Punta Cana driver can get back to his base that same
day. Once your into our Puerto Plata van, the drive from Santo
Domingo airport heads directly north on the new Santo Domingo to
Samana highway. Very little traffic on this stretch of the route
which traverses the Los Haitises National Park, with its
impressive and lush, hilly landscape. The last three hours of the drive are heading
west along the north coast. So in one day, you go from the
Caribbean Sea in the south, to the Atlantic Ocean in the north.
For a quotation, please full out the form on the left of this
page.
Public Transport
from Punta Cana to Puerto Plata
For those travelling on a shoestring, public transport from
Punta Cana to Puerto Plata may initially appear more affordable,
however the intercity buses do NOT operate around the clock, so
if your flight gets into Punta Cana airport in the late
afternoon or evening,
public transport is realistically not an option. The following
steps would be involved:
STEP 1 - Cocotours van
(15 minutes' drive) from Punta Cana airport to the nearest
Expreso Bávaro bus station in Verón, or the Expreso Higüey
station in Higüey, about 45 mins' drive from Punta Cana airport.
STEP 2 - The Expreso
Bávaro buses depart several times a day for Santo Domingo,
journey time is roughly three and a half hours. If there is no
Expreso Bávaro bus available, then Cocotours
could take you from Punta Cana airport all the way to
the Expreso Higüey bus station in the town of Higüey, the
nearest main town to Punta Cana and which is a
45-minutes drive from Punta Cana airport. The Expreso Higüey
buses leave for Santo Domingo hourly for most of the day, journey
time is roughly 3 hours. The Expreso Bávaro and Expreso Higüey
buses arrive at Parque Enriquillo bus terminus in Santo Domingo.
They are airconditioned, clean and comfortable, but generally have no toilets
onboard.
STEP 3 - Taxi from Parque Enriquillo bus station to
the Metro bus station on Avenida 27 de Febrero, a 20-minutes ride
away. An alternative
would be to take the Caribe Tours bus from the Caribe Tours bus
station in Santo Domingo to Puerto Plata, however generally the
Caribe Tours buses make more stops en route. Metro and
Caribe
Tours buses are airconditioned, and always have toilets onboard. A short stop is
normally made in Santiago en route where there are additional
toilets and cafeterias where food can be purchased for
consumption onboard. The Metro buses are famous for having
centrally controlled powerful a/c, so it might be a good idea to
have a warm sweater handy.
Scheduled Flights from Punta Cana to Puerto Plata
Currently there are no scheduled flights on this route. Every now and again new scheduled services are announced, however on the
route from Punta Cana to Puerto Plata most airlines give up
after a relatively short time, or they only operate in peak
season. Flights may be cancelled because of bad weather or
because too few tickets have been sold.
Chartered Flight from Punta Cana to Puerto Plata
There are single- and twin-engine planes available,
single-engine planes are not permitted to fly in hours of
darkness, and are less expensive than twin-engine planes.
The smallest plane has three passenger seats. Generally when you
charter a small plane with Cocotours, you can specify the time.
Our Cocotours airport-greeter will
escort you to your private plane and pilot, the flight takes
about an hour, and upon your arrival at Puerto Plata airport, we
can drive you to your destination in the north coast. If you'd
like to request a quotation, please fill out the form on the
left of this page. |