Important things to know about Dominican Republic

Planning your amazing trip to Dominican Republic? Here are a few things you should now that will help you plan

A car is the easiest way to move around

Although there are buses that are connecting the big cities, they are often extremely slow and they do not connect less visited places. There is no one bus company that does all of the routes, so for each place you want to go to you need to research which buses go where.

If you have the will and the time, by all mean do try to move around with public transport, it is an adventure!

But in case you have a shorter time or you want to visit more remote places, you should get a car. The island is full of car rental companies, some more known and some are run locally by local people (which are usually cheaper, but harder to find a reliable one). You can also use Uber and InDrive, but they are limited more or less for Santo Domingo and Punta Cana.

Us using public transport to go between remote villages

Prices are higher for tourists

Dominican Republic gets a lot of it's revenue from tourism. The more touristy the place is, the more anything will cost you (like anywhere else in the world). Unfortunately this caught up to the smaller places as well and now you can find overpriced food, drinks, accommodation and tours everywhere in the country, so get ready for that. Lucky for everyone, there is still a way to get around most of that, but it required a bit of effort. You can read it in the next part.

Enjoying on of the overpriced hotels in Punta Cana

It’s always cheaper when it’s done locally

The most expensive places are always the ones that have websites that you can find easily online. But if you want fair prices, usually all you need to do is to find a local that does the same thing you need but is less accessible. The business in Dominican Republic is a lot about connections, the locals have contacts to other locals and will be happy to connect you once you ask. The easiest way to do this then, is ask a local. If you do not have any local contact, then try searching your Instagram! Dominican Businesses are very active on Instagram and you will find a lot of the tour guides, restaurants, bars and local businesses there.

Enjoying a meal in a place recommended to us by a local friend

You should brush up on your Spanish

A lot of the locals do not speak any other language, and as you can imagine after reading the previous parts, the cheaper options will require you to speak Spanish. It is not impossible to get around without knowing Spanish, but knowing it makes the life much easier!

Me, not speaking Spanish to anyone :(

Final thoughts

The purpose of this post is just to make you aware of some things that I found important. The things mentioned in this post are not that bad, and you can always take the easy way and just pay a bit more. I hope you do find this information helpful!

If it did, tell your friends! If I missed something, tell me!