Santo Domingo Practical Guide: Las Americas Airport, Punta Cana All-Inclusive, Peso Economy, and Caribbean Hub Connections
The practical guide to Santo Domingo covers the two Dominican airports and their different visitor profiles, the Punta Cana all-inclusive economy as the most commercially successful beach tourism formula in the world, the affordable peso economy for independent travelers, and the Caribbean hub connections for island circuit travelers.
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Getting to Santo Domingo: Las Americas Airport
Las Americas International Airport, located 25 kilometers east of the capital on the Caribbean coast, is the primary international gateway to the Dominican Republic and receives the major North American and European airlines in addition to the dense Caribbean connection network. The airport is served by taxi, minibus, and the Sitrabazon transportation service to the city center. Most international visitors to the beach resort areas arrive via Punta Cana airport.
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Punta Cana: The All-Inclusive Republic
Punta Cana International Airport on the eastern peninsula is the busiest airport in the Caribbean, receiving more than 10 million passengers annually primarily destined for the hundreds of all-inclusive resort properties of the Bavaro and Punta Cana hotel zone. The Punta Cana resort complex is the most commercially successful all-inclusive destination in the world and the model for the maximum-extraction beach tourism formula that has been replicated throughout the Caribbean.
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Getting to Punta Cana from Santo Domingo
The Santo Domingo to Punta Cana journey is made by the Expreso Bavaro bus service in approximately four hours along the Highway of the Americas, or by the 45-minute domestic flight. The combination of Santo Domingo colonial heritage and Punta Cana beach resort on a single Dominican Republic itinerary is the most complete encounter with the two faces of the country that most visitors see only one of.
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Currency and Costs: Dominican Peso Economy
The Dominican Republic uses the Dominican peso, which has depreciated steadily against the dollar over the past decade, making the country one of the more affordable Caribbean destinations for dollar and euro holders. The all-inclusive resort economy of Punta Cana operates entirely in dollars while the Santo Domingo local economy functions in pesos with the tourist businesses accepting both. The street food and colmado economy is the most affordable food option in the capital.
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Health and Vaccination: Malaria Free but Dengue Endemic
The Dominican Republic is officially malaria-free in all areas outside specific rural border zones, but dengue fever transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito is endemic throughout the country including the tourist resort areas. The prevention of mosquito bites through repellent and appropriate clothing is the most important health precaution, alongside the standard travel vaccination recommendations of the destination country.
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Connecting Flights: Caribbean Hub
Las Americas airport in Santo Domingo functions as the primary Caribbean hub for Air Caraipes, the regional Caribbean airline, and provides connections to the Spanish Caribbean islands, the Eastern Caribbean, and Central America that make the Dominican Republic a useful transit point for Caribbean circuit travelers combining Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, and the island chain destinations.