Taking Ferry trip from Puerto Rico to SD

[P.R._Surfer]

I dont think the gringos will be of much help in answering this question as i think a dominican can most likely answer my questions, but anyone is more than welcome to jump in.*****************************************I am planning a trip to the DR ( a island I have never been too), by way of ferry from PR (with my car--old 92 pontiac sunbird--not that great looking but good well maintained reliable engine and everything internal good condition) ------------------------------------------------------------------ We plan to arrive in SD on a friday get a hotel room stash our **** and party the weekend maybe??? in SD and hit local clubs and bars then on SUN or Mon plan to drive from SD to POP hopefully with some chicks we've picked up that arent whores expecting to be paid by the hour just regular girls wanting to hang out and have fun, but either way chicks or no chickswe explore the area for surf, stay for about 3 weeks or untill the cash runs out and then drive back to SD and then take the ferry back. _____________________________________My car has racks on top of it which willl have 2 surfboards on top and I'll be traveling with at least one friend and possiblly 2, we are all fluent spanish speakers, as we are born and raised in Puerto Rico and we are all 24, 27, and 26 years old. ***********************************Problem is even though my 2 friends are spanish, they are white hispanic with blond hair blue eyes, and I am a gringo born and raised in PR--(Puerto Rican in the heart though not the blood) with blond hair blue eyes also. So we are kinda gonna stick out like sore thumbs while driving from Santo Domingo to POP, especially with the surfboards on the rack and the Puerto Rican license plate. (QUESTION #1)What our chance of geting shaken down, and how bad will it be?---------Remember though we speak spanish as fluent spanish islanders.
------------------------------------------------------------------------(QUESTION #2)Has anyone ever taken the ferry between the 2 islands? So then we might message each cause I have some specific questions--especially regarding the transport of my car.
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(QUESTION #3) Regarding the car, the ferry charges $120 for a round trip ticket of the car on the ferry from Aguadilla in PR are there any aditional charges I should be aware of once I arrive in SD as I would hate to get there any then get a HU$$GE surprise but since I am not shipping in the car as some do from the US in a container ship but instead a driveon , drive off ferry and the car should be going back with me to PR, i dont believe this to be an issue, though does anyone have any info?------------------------it is completely paid off so I wont have a problem with title and registration--second the values of cars seem to be about the same in both islands--and the value of this car is only about 1500- 2,000 U$ in Puerto Rico and truthfully if the car breaks down or gets totaled there and never comes back I aint gonna cry (this is my beach car here--a piece of **** I really dont worry about to much of it getting stolen when I am in the water.)-----------------------------------------------My main concern is we are gonna have our clothes and gear in the trunk plus a big cooler full of food drinks and beer, plus after reading the forums, we are gonna bring a **** load of charmin to bribe the cops, LOL -( of course our **** will be hidden under towels and **** so cops wont see it if we get pulled over------BTW I have brand new Subaru Forester that i use for getting to work and going out at night.--------------------------(QUESTION #4)I here alot of talk of how bad the driving is, but honestly you guys sound like a bunch of pansies-------------------------------what you dont realize is all that chaos and breaking the rules actually creates its own rules and brings order to the mess, the driving sounds very similar as to how we drive here. ------------------So is it really that bad? Has any one ever driven on both islands and can u tell me the difference? So is it really that bad? Has any one ever driven on both islands and can u tell me the difference? ---------------------------------Besides my buddies and I have taken surf safaries before to countries such as INdonesia, Philipines, Tortola, Costa Rica and we have driven in them all, no problem, though I gotta admit indonesia tested the skills but still never once did i say to myself **** these people drive too crazy, it just seemed that they valued their life a little less ____________________________ Oh and we plan this trip for sometime in late october through mid november hopefully we catch some good cold front swells then. Also if I like the area I might just buy a cheap 1 bed room apt in a complex in Cabarete, I have seen prices in the 15,000 through 24,000 range but thats a whole nother thread.

[P.R._Surfer]

I didnt know how to make breaks in the writing so I had to use "--------------", sorry. Though it makes it easier to read , at least i believe so....

[Chris]

I think you'll have a fun trip - I don't think you'll listen to any old-timer's advice. We really are all pansies here. Do it, and let us know about it afterwards. The cops will be so amazed by the sight of you in the firebird with the PR plates and boards on top, that they'll forget to pull you over.

Don't break the rules of the road while travelling. Don't use illegal substances where the cops can find you and I hope you catch some waves.

Oh! about making spaces between the paragraphs, the enter key is usually the largest key on the keyboard, excepting if you're using a laptop in which case it may be as big as the spacebar. If the three of you really can't find the enter key, press the space bar down a little longer, and it will make spaces, till you get to the next paragraph.

[XanaduRanch]

Chris ... it's a Sunbird not a Firebird. If you have to ask why that's important, please don't. Just rent a copy of Smokey and the Bandit. See that black Firebird T/A? I've owned 4 of them just like it. That's not a Sunbird. LOL.

Is it that bad? I've driven in most of the places you've mentioned and a lot of others around the world from Africa to India to Southeast Asia. I have never seen such idiots. Great people here! But as soon as they get behind the wheel they act like Al Queda terrorists. Be careful.

At least I learned there was a ferry to/from Puerto Rico. You mean they don't charge you any refundable duties to enter with your car? Big loophole that one guys. Ship your car to PR and drive it in on the ferry? Doesn't sound right.

Tom (aka XR)

[Chris]

I think this one is a firebird ! Playing with fire y'know!

[P.R._Surfer]

XANDU there is only one problem with that loophole so to speak, and that is-- it costs just about the same to purchase a car here as it does in the DR. PLus I am sure they look at where your residence is, mine is PR, but yours probably is either the DR or somewhere in the states so then you start to look suspect (i would figure). Also if you think you can get a car way cheap in the states and then ship it down to PR then drive/ferry it over. Your going to get a big surprise-- we have heavy import duties/ taxes on all vehicles not imported by the dealers to make the price close to being the same--the automoble dealers have a powerful lobby in the local gov. and this protects them from locals going in mass to say miami buying and bypassing them. The only real reason people do it is because you do save about 6000 to 7500 dollars on a 25,000 dollar car plus the rebates, but then you have to subtract the cost of the flight, and if you dont know anyone to stay with, the cost of the hotel, plus shipping the car is about 1500 to 1800 $$$ then you have to deal with the hassle of getting your car (granted it is much better than the DR and they dont take your car apart or ask for bribes-- but it still takes a couple of days of dealing with gov crap) and again do you know anyone in PR to stay with or are you gonna stay in a hotel? and dont forget to subtract the duties which average 3000 to 4500 depending on type and make of vehicle plus XANADU you would then need to get it road ready!!! PR plates! and inspection sticker because rememeber you are going to have to drive it from San Juan to Aguadilla 3 hour drive plus the ferry is another 125 for the car and 100 for you. So I dont think it would be worth it....

On the other hand if your looking for a used 1992 dark red pontiac (same household from the day it was bought) with 168,000 miles on it, good well maintained engine and body, only been in one accident (I killed a cow late at night, stupid **** was standing along the road and then at the last second it decide now was the time to cross as i was doing about 45) then I'll be in DR sometime around oct and nov---and I'll even deliver the car to your driveway, LOL. And you wont even have to pay import taxes....

[P.R._Surfer]

hey chris as for you smart ass remarks about the enter key, the only reason I didnt use the key was I used to belong to a forum

with a similar format and pressing enter would do nothing.

When you would be typing your draft and hit enter it would space but when you uploaded to would revert back to a long long paragragh with no breaks,

the only way to put breaks was to either use html (which I dont rememebr the code and I am too lazy to look up)or make breaks manually by ******** or -------, so yeah I guess I was dumb for not trying the enter key, but no need to be a smart ass.

[AnnaC]

Ok this isn't a smart ass remark but save yourself a lot of grief and leave the car home. You said you've never been to the DR so go find out what it's like first.

Search and read all you can here.
And by the way after what you said to Chris, you may not get too many people answering. She was only trying to help.

Good luck

[FRANKY R]

I sugest you fly in for a weekend, since it is very cheap to fly for p.r. to d.r. you know check it out, and then decide.
as far as your coment about you being a gringo looking guy with blue eyes and blond hair don't worry about it there are a lot of gringo looking dominicans in the d.r. too. so knock yourself out.

[NotLurking]

P.R._Surfer, when you enter the DR with a car on the ferry your paper work is stamped indicating you brought a car with you. You will not be allowed to leave the DR unless you have the car with you or pay the duties on the car.

About Chris’ comment... In my opinion it was not smart ass (perhaps cute?). You asked a question and received an answer. There were no conditions on the type of answer or are there?

Chris was kind enough to offer you a good friendly answer and I think the comment was made tongue in cheek. If you take exception on such small things, you will not get very far anywhere you go.

Do enjoy your trip when you visit DR but please lighten up a bit.

Cheer,