Punta Cana to La Romana and Bayahibe: The Short Bus Route

Why almost nobody does this route by bus

La Romana and Bayahibe are the most common day trip from Punta Cana, thanks to Saona Island and Casa de Campo, and yet the journey is almost always made on an organised excursion or a private transfer, which on similar corridors usually costs over 100 USD per vehicle. The reason is simple: the Autopista del Coral was built with cars in mind, the resorts sell the transfer at the lobby and no coach operator markets the route as a line of its own. That does not mean there is no way to do it by public transport, it means you have to combine legs and accept some uncertainty. We cover it because, at roughly 100 km and under 2 hours, it is the short route of the east of the country.

Option 1: local guaguas via Higuey

The way most locals do it is in two legs. First a local guagua from Bavaro to Higuey, the provincial capital, which usually takes around 1 hour. Then another guagua from Higuey to La Romana, roughly 1 hour more. Each leg usually costs a few hundred pesos, always in cash, and leaves when the vehicle fills up rather than at a fixed time. These are minibuses with no guaranteed air conditioning and no space designed for big suitcases, so it works with light luggage. Ask at your hotel where the guagua to Higuey stops that day: the stops are on the street and they change. It is the cheapest option and the one that asks for the most patience.

Option 2: the Punta Cana to Santo Domingo bus, getting off at La Romana

The Expreso Bavaro bus from Punta Cana to Santo Domingo leaves from the Cruce de Friusa stop in Bavaro and its highway passes right by La Romana. It is a coach with air conditioning and a luggage hold, more comfortable than the local guagua. What we have not confirmed is whether it lets passengers off at La Romana or what it charges for that leg: ask when you buy the ticket and do not assume the answer is yes. The operator asks you to be there one hour before departure and usually runs about 6 departures a day, with times pending confirmation, so check the timetable for your travel day. We confirm the fare with you before booking, once the seat has been checked with the carrier.

Continuing from La Romana to Bayahibe

Bayahibe is about 20 minutes from La Romana by taxi or by local guagua, which leaves from the town centre. If you arrive with Caribe Tours from Santo Domingo, its La Romana terminal is on Av. Padre Abreu in the centre, and from there you take the taxi or guagua to Bayahibe. If you arrive by guagua from Higuey, it will drop you at a stop in the centre and the next step is the same. La Romana airport (LRM), heavily used by charter flights and cruise passengers, is about 15 minutes from the centre and a bit over 20 from Bayahibe. Keep in mind that the boats to Saona Island leave Bayahibe in the morning: if Saona is the plan, sleep in Bayahibe the night before.

When the bus makes sense and when a private transfer does

The bus makes sense if you travel light, have no fixed arrival time and want to see the country from the inside: for a few hundred pesos you cross the province. A private transfer makes sense if there are 4 or more of you, you carry big suitcases or you have a boat, cruise or flight at a set time. This combination is not on our ladder of assisted routes, but La Romana to Santo Domingo with Caribe Tours is. We offer an assisted booking from 24.95 USD per person on the routes we cover, requested 3 or more days ahead, nothing to pay when you ask, reply by WhatsApp or email. We are an independent intermediary with no commercial agreement with the operators.