While lodging in Santo Domingo Este, I realized that if I ever wanted to live in the Dominican Republic full-time without breaking the bank, it’d not be in the relatively expensive capital city. Therefore, I thought I’d check out a more cost-effective town called San Pedro de Macoris, about an hour east of the capital.
Of course, I had to take a day trip out there to explore a little, you know, “get a vibe”.
The Need
Obviously, I’d never made this trip before, so as usual, I hit ChatGPT, Gemini, Reddit, and the Santo Domingo/Dominican Republic Facebook groups to find the answer to the simple question, “How do I take public transportation from Santo Domingo Este to San Pedro de Marcoris”?
However, based on the lack of clear answers from the Facebook group members, apparently none of them – not even the long-time residents – had ever made that trip, like, EVER 🤔 Therefore, I decided to take a page from Thanos’ playbook 😄 👇🏾
The Logistics
After analyzing other sources, here’s the summary of how I made the trip:
- Took an Uber to the Transporte ASTRAPU Las Américas bus station
- Paid 200 pesos and took a small, cramped bus (“guagua”) to San Pedro
- Disembarked at an arbitrary location in San Pedro that was closer to my lunch meetup destination (see my Catedral Café RD review on Google Maps) than the official terminal
Coming back, I did the reverse:
- Took a local taxi to APTPRA San Pedro de Macorís Terminal
- Paid 200 pesos and took the guagua back to Santo Domingo
- Took an Uber back to my AirBnB
On the surface, it sounds so simple, right? But as you can imagine, there was a lot more to it! Surely what you REALLY want to read about is…
The Experience
Here we go, the authentic local Dominican Republic experience!
Finding the ticket Counter
First of all, CONFUSION. When the Uber dropped me off, I saw a little tienda under the APTPRA sign, with a ticket counter, and people with luggage sitting in chairs and waiting… so I assumed that was the appropriate spot to buy a bus ticket to San Pedro. I was wrong. The ticket agent looked up from her phone long enough to hear my question and then basically “shoo” me away to the spot next door 😕
I went next door, but they said they don’t sell bus tickets. However, some random lady sitting nearby saw my confusion. She kindly got out of her chair and partially walked me to a store entrance on the OTHER side of the first place I entered. She kept saying something like “la cafetería!”, leading me to think that she thought I was looking for a cafeteria! I was confused. Between the tough Spanish accents, noise, and random people trying to sell me stuff… I started to think that this was yet another case of “Google Maps is super-outdated because no one bothered to update it”.
However, I finally stood still, looked up really carefully at the signs, and found the right one!
Long story short, the correct spot is NOT the APTPRA kiosk, but inside an ASTRAPU location, where they do both package mailing AND selling bus tickets for local guagua trips. The ASTRAPU sign is there, but very old and faded, and hard to recognize. You’d have to know what you’re looking for or use Spanish and ask someone to direct you.
⚠️ Don’t Get Confused ⚠️
ASTRAPU is a public bus company and transport union, while APTPRA is a DIFFERENT bus company that serves a different route.
The actual ASTRAPU ticket counter is deep inside a small cafe with a narrow entrance 👇🏾
Buying My Ticket
The ticket buying process was a bit crazy. The ticket agent wasn’t nice nor welcoming, but she was efficient. I paid the 200 pesos, and she gave me a special card, along with my change, and told me to have a seat and wait. No schedule, no time estimate, nothing 🤷🏾♂️
I could not handle the uncertainty. About 5 minutes later I went back up to the kiosk and asked her when the bus would arrive. She looked up from her TikTok video, slightly irritated (as if I were bothering her) and told me “Ya viene en camino”, so I sat my extranjero ass back down 😅
But hey, at least the ticket was only 200 pesos. A taxi would be easily 15× that price… if you’re lucky.
About 10 minutes later, through the mini chaos in the tiny donut shop caused by just 3 people buying things, I heard someone calling “NUMERO DOS! NÚMERO DOS!”… I quickly realized it was ME! 😲 I quickly pushed my way through the shoppers, showed my ticket to the old fella, he took it from me and pointed me at the small and VERY PACKED bus (“guagua”) behind him, which was apparently about to leave.
It was so packed that I literally thought I was SOL and would have to wait for the next bus, but someone in the bus stood up to let me climb in all the way to the back and squeeze my skinny ass into a seat next to an obese woman with bad breath (maybe that’s why she hardly acknowledged me when I greeted her). And we were on our way.
Nobody Farted on the Bus 🙌🏾🥳
The bus ride itself was uneventful, just the normal landscapes, mobile service “dead zones”, and a few stops to let people off or on. There really wasn’t any talking or loud music. Even though we were packed in there like literal sardines, thank goodness there was some A/C, nobody had horrible body odor, and nobody farted 🙏🏾 😅
Within what seemed like a short time, we reached San Pedro. I checked Google Maps and saw that it’d be easier for me to disembark earlier than planned and just walk to my destination. So I did just that.
Coming Back to Santo Domingo
The return trip was a bit simpler. Once the (expensive!) taxi dropped me off at the bus terminal – an actual full-size bus terminal – a staff member noticed that I looked like a traveler… he got my attention and pointed at the appropriate window. That was some unexpected random assistance! 👍🏾
I bought my ticket for 200 pesos, but I had to ask the absent-minded ticket agent which bus to get onto… he pointed at an unmarked guagua. I immediately got on – once again, it was already packed like sardines – and were on our way.
Making my way back to Santo Domingo Este was far less anxiety-inducing for me because I already had the right expectations: none 😆 I knew to expect little or no signage, no listed schedules, no hand-holding, no real “customer service” to speak of… but random people might help without being asked, or if asked nicely. It is what it is… welcome to the Dominican Republic!
Final Thoughts
I didn’t think I’d ever write this but… as of this moment, I feel like the short-haul inter-city bus system in Colombia is more organized and somewhat superior to that of the Dominican Republic. Go figure!
However, my first long-distance (5+ hour) Sosua roundtrip was on a fairly comfortable mid-range bus. I want to try a more upscale bus ride before I leave this lovely touristic country!
Summary
As a budget-minded slow traveler, I always like to at least TRY getting around like the locals, whenever possible. These authentic experiences help me understand the culture a bit more, practice real-world Spanish, and avoid needless overspending. For example, factoring in my Uber/Taxi costs, this Santo Domingo Este – San Pedro de Macoris roundtrip cost me just under DOP 1,000 (about U$D 17) in total transportation costs. Not bad, all things considered.
I plan to take a similar day trip soon, but in the opposite direction to San Cristobal.
Hopefully this legwork and article help someone else out there. Cheers, and safe travels!
Opara's Journey 