After six days in the capital of the Dominican Republic, I took a Caribe Tours bus from Santo Domingo to Samana.
Caribe Tours is one of the best bus companies to use when travelling around the Dominican Republic. They have a more comprehensive schedule, travelling to more destinations than the other companies.
The main Caribe Tours bus terminal is on Expreso 27 de Febrero.
The terminal has free WiFi and free toilets!
Caribe Tours bus schedule from Santo Domingo to Samana:
The distance from Santo Domingo to Samana is 173 km.
I hiked up to the bus terminal a few days in advance and bought my ticket. You can pay with card, but I paid in cash. 500 pesos:
Of course, the bus ride was not without some adventure.
The bus, despite starting its journey in Santo Domingo, was late getting going.
There was AC, not set to totally freezing, and good WiFi!.
After 90 minutes, we stopped briefly on the side of the road. At 10km, we stopped again. And then again until the driver announced there was a problem with the water cooling system. This was due to a lack of proper maintenance. I have seen it all before. It’s company policy in much of the developing world. Worry about any potential problems when they actually occur.
Being labelled as the best and biggest bus company means you have a reputation to uphold. They failed!
The Santo Domingo Samana bus on the side of the road:
After 45 minutes or so, we are transferred to another bus, heading to Samana. It was a different company, so we had to pay an additional 200 pesos.
And we arrived in Samana 2 hours late.