Dominican Republic
 

I'm going to DR Memorial Day weekend and i absolutely can't wait! We'll be staying in Punta Cana at the Bahia principe. Just wondering if you guys are familiar with Dominican and if you have any recommendations on what to do there? Also, if you have stayed at this resort, which restaurants should we hit up?

Also, we booked our tickets off Hotwire, and didn't look at the details and noticed that we are flying into the Santa Domingo airport instead of the Punta Cana one - so it's a 3.5 hour drive to the resort! AHhh! Oh well, stuff like this happens and apparently this has happened to several people, so any recommendations on which transportation you guys used would be so helpful!

Also, lastly, did you guys worry about Malaria when you were there? I read some news that there were 21 cases of Malaria in the Punta Cana resort area - so just wondering if I should be cautious and bring some Malaria medicine with me, or if you think I would be ok on the resort.

Thanks so much for your help!

Have travelled road from Santiago to Santo Domingo in 1997 and it was not bad. Also travelled from Santo Domingo airport to the Coral Caribe by Hilton last August. Road was also not bad. Took taxis both times. From Santiago the fare for the over two hour trip was reasonable, from the airport in Santo Domingo to the hotel it was not, but I landed near midnight without having reserved transportation and was taken advantage of. Suggestion, know your mode of transportation and cost in advance.

Beach was excellent, but water at Roatan, Honduras was far more beautiful. Service at the Coral Caribe was definitely not up to Hilton standards. In Santiago could only get a room at a second tier hotel and was uncomfortable with the food, but had no problems. At the Coral Caribe, it never crossed my mind to feel uncomfortable. English was one of various languages spoken at the Coral Caribe by all hotel staff.

Visiting any third world country has its health risks, therefore have always exercised caution with the water, but have never worried except in India and India was the only place I have ever gotten sick. Worried there because it was filthy everywhere except the inside of the upscale hotels.

Thank you! I guess i'll have to figure out how i'm getting from Santo Domingo to Punta Cana..hope it's not that expensive.

can you recredit your hotwire tix for other flites and rebook to punta cana?

MUCH better than trying to drive all the way across a third-world country in a third-world taxi

of course, you could take a "guagua" minivan with the goats and chickens - really cheap!

or for $80pp you can fly via "takeoffweb.com"- and if there are four of you, he'll go as a special charter

or, if you are at SDQ on friday, you can "make a deal" on Martinair, IF they have seats: MP 607 dep SDQ 2:40pm (just make sure you're on the one that stops in Punta Cana-they have traffic rights-otherwise you're on the non-stop to AMS!)

The link posted above that offers the charter flights to Punta Cana depart from Herrera airport which is 45 minutes away from the Santo Domingo international airport. Unless your timing is perfect, you will end up spending more time trying to fly to Punta Cana then you would if you took a taxi straight from the airport. Depending on how many people you are going with it might be better to arrange a private shuttle to drive you to Punta Cana. The above link also offers that as an option and a 3 hour ride in a minivan is probably more comfortable than the tiny taxis that would be at the airport.

If you do decide to take a cab make sure you negotiate for the fare. Cab drivers in the DR are known to rip off tourists.

The trip from SDQ-PUJ by car is not very fun at night because there aren't streetlights, not every car uses headlights, and if you break down, you just leave your car dead in the water in the middle of the road, even if it is a hidden corner. The drive is TERRIBLE and TERRIFYING at night in the rain!

Malaria seemed to be isolated and related to the last hurricane
 

Malaria notice removed: The Center for Disease Control of the United States has discontinued their recommendation to take antimalarial drugs to travelers to the La Altagracia province, including the resorts at Punta Cana and Bavaro. The outbreak notice is lifted after no new malaria cases in travelers have been reported from the area since January, after 20 cases were reorted from 3 November 2004 to 10 January 2005.

See http://www.cdc.gov/travel/other/malaria_dr_2004.htm

This point can't be stressed enough. Driving the roads in the DR is dangerous, driving in the DR at night is left only for the insane....

We just came back from DR. Traveling at night is not bad if you used a reputable taxi service. We were there for 8 days did a lot of traveling by car as we stay in three different parts of tye country. We used one taxi service, the car was clean confortable and running well. We always call the driver and arranged our fares beforehand. ( I must admit i'm bilingual). I do recommend that you have a pick-up service waiting for you. Enjoy your vacation Punta Cana is beautifull. The weather is divine . The food at most resort is a combination of Dominican and international so eating should not be a problem. I recommend a mosquito repellent and sun block :)

Has anyone used the larger public buses to travel between the cities. Im going to be going Santo Domingo-Punta Cana or Santo Domingo-Puerto Plata, and then back to Santiago...do the buses pick up from the airport? Are they safe? Any idea on costs?

I didn't mind public transit in the DR, but I concur with the other posters -- it's not a place I'd want to drive in.