A Wren Says

You’ve booked your trip. You are all ready to go to live it up at the resort. But now how are you even going to get there? If you book a trip through a travel agent, this will be easily handled. The agent should arrange ground transportation as part of your package. But if you are scheduling this trip yourself, here are some pointers.

It is fairly easy to arrange a ride when you arrive at the airport. As you walk outside to the ground transportation area, you will see a large assortment of agents from various companies. We arranged travel this way, and it was a smooth process. My companion went up to a desk to ask about a ride. That company didn’t have the space to transport us, but happily arranged for us to book with a different company. They all seemed to know each other and were very supportive throughout the process to make sure we got what we needed. Then while we were at the resort, there were transportation companies represented in the lobby. My companion spoke with them to arrange the ride back.

When it comes to paying for the ride, I can say the drivers were professional. The listed price was the price the driver confirmed at the start and asked for at the end of the ride. The only issue we had in terms of payment was that they preferred cash. Though the company says you can pay by card, the driver preferred cash. This was echoed by the agent working the desk. This extended so far as stopping at an ATM along to way for us to withdraw cash. (Side note: Make sure you let your card company know about your travel plans ahead of time so you don’t run into problems with authorizations when you try to withdraw money.) At the resort, there was an ATM on site that we used to pay for the ride back. We paid in U.S. dollars for the first trip, and pesos for the second trip. Both were accepted.

Of course, you can also choose to rent a car and drive yourself. The roads were well maintained, and for the most part traffic flowed in an organized manner. I was even surprised to see the traffic lights had a countdown clock.

There was a point in the journey where the traffic jammed in all directions. I am not sure what the caused it, but traffic lights meant nothing at that point. We were at a standstill, and the driver slowly eeked through, navigating the cross traffic that was also at a standstill. Traffic is bad in major cities around the world, so similar issues will find you everywhere. But if you are going to drive yourself, I suggest you review the local traffic laws ahead of time. And because you will likely be outside of your usual cell phone coverage area on your vacation, you should also download your maps ahead of time to be safe.

And that’s it. Getting to and from the resorts in Punta Cana is fairly easy and just one piece of your journey to paradise.