Río San Juan

This is one of only a few towns along the North Coast [1] that maintain their small-town peacefulness. There isn’t much in the way of nightlife and there aren’t many choices for hotels. What Río San Juan is blessed with, though, are some spectacular beaches [2] that make for fun diving and snorkeling [3].

Getting to Río San Juan

At the intersection of Highway 5 and Calle Duarte, buses, motoconchos, and guaguas all stop to pick up passengers.

Caribe Tours (Hwy. 5, tel. 809/589-2644) has a bus leaving for a 4.5-hour trip to Santo Domingo [4] for US$8.50 at 6:30 a.m., 7:45 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 2 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. every day.

There are usually a few people waiting on guaguas at this intersection so you can ask questions, but the ones headed for Cabarete [5] (US$2.25), Sosúa [6] (US$2.15), and Puerto Plata [7] (US$2.50) leave every 15 minutes 6 a.m.–5 p.m. daily. The guaguas going east leave every 10 minutes. To take one to Playa Grande [2] it only costs US$1, and to Nagua it is US$2, where you can then catch transportation to Samaná [8].