Located just 20 KM to the east of the Capital of Dominican Republic you can find the main airport of this beautiful country.  Las Americas International Airport also known as International Airport José Francisco Peña Gómez on behalf of ex political leader of Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD). This airport is number one in passengers flow in Dominican Republic.

At entering the airport you must pass by the immigration area where you must pay tourist card (which has to be shown at leaving the country); it costs US$10; this card is normally made for a 15 days staying but if you plan to stay longer you have to inform this to Immigration Officer who must, in such case, extend the period to a 90 days staying.  This airport follows the same process accomplished in every airport of Dominican Republic .

Some important services offered by Las Americas International Airport are:

• Banking Services: ATMs
• Wireless Internet Stations (WI-FI)
• VIP Room
• Pay phone Services
• Luggage Protection Services
• Food and drink areas
• Rent-a-car Agencies
• Smokers Areas

The following hotels are close from the Airport:

• D’Cameron Hotel
• Coral Costa Caribe by Hilton
• Hamaca Beach Resort

This airport has international arrivals and departures from almost all countries of the world. The most famous airlines around the world are also found here such as Iberia, American Air-lines and many others.

Concerning transportation, the airport has taxi services and the possibility for you to rent a car. Las Americas International Airport is known as the safest airport in the Caribbean.

For flights information: 809-947-2225 / 809-947-2297
General Info: 809 549 0081

Dominican Republic weather is mostly warm at day, normally temperatures are good to have lightweight clothes like skirts and shirts, also is good to have some clothes to be well dressed at night, sometimes you want to go to a disco or restaurant that not allow you with snickers or sandals, in Dominican Republic is always a chance to rain specially at La Península de Samaná, Bonao, Constanza and the mountains so have in mind a lightweight jacket, remember rainy is mostly possible between May and September and sometimes in December, the place where most rain in Dominican Republic are Piedra Blanca (home sweet home) and Villa Altagracia both placed 30 minutes far from Santo Domingo going to north.

The geographical diversity in Dominican Republic demand several types of footwear (sandals, sneakers, boots) overall if you are going to leave the hotel or do some extreme activities, perhaps remember to come with your dress shoes to be used at restaurants and nightclubs, is good to tell you that Dominican Republic is considered one of the countries in the world that expense more money in clothes so at night people in here dress really well.

Many nightclubs in here have restrictions regarding dress, Dominican People always look their best clothes when socialize, we as Dominican love to dress as well as possible some people expense all their money just in clothes, some women in here can stop the traffic with her skirts, dresses or those hot jeans, people like sweet perfumes, I recommend to bring your summer perfume (usually smell well but not much), at day you can use your jean and blouse, but remember never to use beach wear at street at lease that you love to feel a glass of water in the desert (center of attraction).

Have in mind that some historical places like churches and some other sites in La Zona Colonial at Santo Domingo have rules about what is the appropriate wear to be in those places, normally they don’t accepts short skirts, I recommend to use wear that you considered adequate for the place that you are going to visit. Also Dominican Republic at La Zona Colonial is the only place in the world where you can rent clothes to be able to enter in those places, the rent will cost around 100 pesos (US$5) and will let you be considered able to in cause you will have a respectful wear (Please don’t forget your camera for that occasion and send me the picture).

Dominican People (I’m Dominican too) are pride of how we look and about our appearance, and expect the same from you, so our theory is live and let others to live, so feel free to wear whatever you want at any time, Dominican Republic is a versatile places to wear and to be, remember that you come here to get relaxed and have fun.

If you want to come to Dominican Republic as tourist you need to purchase a tourist card, may be included in your all-included package but if it’s not you have to pay US$10 at the airport, that card allows tourists to walk around freely in Dominican Republic for a maximum of 90 days, every time that you leave Dominican republic and get back you need to pay for that fee, this card is called Tourist Card, also they only accept cash, there are NO ATM’s near the migration office only outside so come with those US$10 or same amount in euros.

Currently, American residents (Canada, Puerto Rico, and United States) need only to present a valid passport, Air NEXUS Card, or U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document, also an Alien Registration Card could be considered as valid, click at New Requirements for American Travelers for more information (http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html ).

Dominican Republic Tourism Department also require a written authorization from a parent or legal guardian if you are planning to travel with a child under 13 years old, is mandatory to notify the Dominican Republic Consulate in the destination country, without this authorization you can’t fly with the child.

If you are coming from France you can stay in Dominican Republic up to 90 days (need to visit Immigration Department in Santo Domingo), what you need to enter is a Secure ID Card or a Valid Passport (Same for any people that comes from the European Union), you can bring to Dominican Republic all the things you want to satisfy your personal needs, but you have to pay a fee if you bring one of the following things:

• Automobiles, motorcycles, boats
• Machines, machinery spare parts
• Alcohol, wine, if are not considered for personal use
• Plants: you have to take care about this in Dominican Republic
• Cats, Dogs, Birds, and Snakes: Rabies vaccination certificate and health certificate needed, you can obtain that on your origin country, you don’t have to pay a fee for that, also Birds have to stay in quarantine for at least 10 days.
• Pornographic books and materials: importation prohibited.
• If you are coming from US remember that you cannot enter the country with more than 10,000 US$ Cash, same apply if you leaving Dominican Republic, otherwise you will have to declare your goods to your destination country.
• When I travel usually fly with some bottles of Brugal (Very Popular Dominican Republic Rum), you are allowed to fly with alcohol, wine or tobacco, but remember that’s only for personal use.

Visa Needs

Who needs a visa to travel to Dominican Republic? : All countries except for the following:

Nationals of the following countries are entitled to travel on Tourist cards if holding valid passports: Albania, Andorra, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Curaçao, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Finland, France and French Overseas Territories, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Monaco, The Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, San Marino, Slovak Rep, Slovenia, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, the UK, the USA (including Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and Hawaii), Venezuela and Yugoslavia Fed Rep.

If you are nationals of Argentina, Ecuador, Iceland, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Liechtenstein and Uruguay you can stay as tourists for a maximum of 90 days and may enter without a visa or Tourist Card.

If you have any issue and you need help and you are a US Citizen the U.S. Embassy is located at the U.S. Consular Section at the corner of Calle César Nicolás Pensón and Avenida Máximo Gómez. Offices are open to the public on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., but U.S. citizens must arrive prior to 7:30 a.m. for assistance.

Dominican Republic is one of the preferred tourist destinations in the Caribbean all over the year. At this beautiful place you can come any time over the year and you will see how wonderful the weather is in Dominican Republic, here you’ll be able to find beautiful beaches like Playa Grande, relaxing sports and a huge mixture of culture and races.

Every day is different than the previous one, especially if you come with a specific think in mind like see our colorful carnival, watch Dominican people playing our passion better know as Baseball (Pelota), or maybe if you want to see the magnificent Humpback Jump in the Samaná Península, also you may want to practice a little of scuba diving at Puerto Plata or Punta Cana, those activities are only available in certain months so keep visiting Dominican Trip and you will be updated with our calendar to satisfy your particular interest and what is the better season to come.

In Dominican Republic we have two high tourist seasons (summer and winter) in both seasons the prices raises and you will see larger crowd of tourist, my advice is that your can come at any time you want cause the hotel prices and weather don’t vary that much, Dominican Republic can not be considered as a cheapest travel destination for a person that travels a lot, however is one of the most affordable places in the Caribbean for all-inclusive hotels and resorts. At here you cannot rent camping house or rent a hostel room, food in Dominican Republic have an vast variety of flavors so don’t forget your Pepto-Bismol, the public transportation called “guagua”(Small Bus) or OMSA(Bus) could be a unimaginable experience, if you don’t like public transportation you can rent a car for an affordable price or use a Taxi (Car Hire) instead.

What attracts most visitors to Dominican Republic are the beach zone with the awesome crystal-water and sandy beaches where you only see palm trees and an amazing sunset, the freedom of clear your mind under those wonderful and romantic nights filled with our awesome “merengue” or “bachata” will become something that you’ll never forget.

If you want to come here and enjoy why Dominican People is so special you need leave the hotel and explore the town. If you are in Puerto Plata or Punta Cana, from the town is very easy to see the mountains that makes one of the most geographically diverse island in the Caribbean, if you like ecotourism and adventure here you would have the best opportunity of your entire life, can take no more than a week to scale a huge waterfall on a rope, travel with a mountain bike through remote dirt tracks, and how say the people of the “Rough Guide” ride the best windsurfing waves in the Caribbean, all depends of what you looking for.

Dominican Republic has one of the most exciting history and culture in the world, today you would be able to see some preserved paintings in dark caves made by “Tainos”, people how was all over the Caribbean Islands when Christopher Columbus’s arrive. Now is so different, this country is a nation in transition, owning the highest growth rate of any country in the Caribbean mostly for the income of all-inclusive tourism than come from over the world, over four millions of tourist each year.

Santo Domingo is the “Capital” of Dominican Republic, four times larger than the next biggest city called “Santiago de los Caballeros”, Santo Domingo have the biggest nightlife in the country, there leave more than 2.5 millions of Dominicans, is also the best place for tourist to come and see how diverse that city is. Santo Domingo is really beautiful and is surprisingly cheap, come to Dominican Republic and take approach of the only budget destination left in the Caribbean, where you can enjoy places like Punta Cana, Sosua, Cabarete, and many other places that we’ll be covering later on Dominican Trip.

One of the most important things before travel to Dominican Republic is knowing when to come, let me tell you that in our sunny country temperatures don’t vary that much the average temperature is between 28 and 31 C°, that happens in most places except in the mountains like Jarabacoa and Costanza where temperatures at night could be freezing, however if you want to feel the hot sunset Dominican Republic will not disappoint you cause here in this pretty country we have high humidity levels.

The best time to come to Dominican Republic is just when you want, cause the thing that may vary in here is how expensive could be to stay in here, if you come on heaviest tourist season you need to know that prices are higher, the top season here start in December and finish around March, in march at La Península de Samaná the humpback whales are giving birth in the hot waters of La Bahía de Samaná, personally I think that this is the best season to come cause at the time that you can enjoy our sun and awesome beaches you could see how the carnival really is (Fiestas de Carnaval), our carnival start in the last two weekend of January and continue until March (The best day is February 27th, Dominican Independence Day) throughout the entire country with special emphasis at La Vega and Santo Domingo, Dominican Carnival is maybe one of the oldest traditional festivals in our country.

Another wonderful time to come is during the Holy Week (Semana Santa), which starts before the Easter Sunday, mostly people in Dominican Republic are Catholics so usually they take vacations a during this week to visit families and rest on hotels and resorts. Semana Santa is maybe the week where more people visits beaches like Bayahibe, Juan Dolio and Boca Chica. At this week is hard to make a last minute reservation for hotel rooms, believe that could be a headache.

Semana Santa for Dominican People is like spring break for people in United States, so you need to keep updated with DominicanTrip because many beaches are closed to swimming and some sports activities like scuba diving, jet-skiing, even kayaking are prohibited in Dominican Republic throughout Semana Santa, we will be updating that info for you. Also Semana Santa is great to visit the City of Santo Domingo cause most people leave the city and go to hotels, beaches and to travel, I mean that is the only way to see Santo Domingo without the vast crowd of people that normally has.

Maybe you are tempting to take a flight and meet Dominican Republic at summer, usually the flight prices go cheap on that season, and many people come during July to August, but keep in mind that in summer here are more (extreme) humidity that can make temperatures feel higher, a good way to diminish that is though the sea breezes, you may feel the presence of our unexpected invitees “Mosquitoes”. Be carefully if you try to come in September, this month is called the Hurricanes month but is good to know that the last one that has hit Dominican Republic has Hurricane George in 1998, the good in this month also in August is that are less tourist are looking for fun.

The rainy season in this diverse country is from May to October, in some places like Samaná and North Coast it can last until December, also if you like to see Dominican Republic Baseball League the winter season starts in October and finish in January.

My advice as Dominican Republic Resident is that you can come any time you want here we have a awesome geographical diversity so maybe is raining in Constanza or Jarabacoa but you can just take a bus (“guagua“) or a taxi and go to Punta Cana or Puerto Plata, nothing is so far in here, for me the perfect month to come is November just before the tourist assault arrives or February when tourist leave Dominican Republic. That way you can enjoy more quietly in this beautiful country.