Altos de Chavon

We will be in La Romana in November on the Carnival Conquest. I really wanted to see the village of Altos de Chavon. I understand there is a shuttle bus to the village for a nominal fee. How far is it to the village? I'm thinking it probably won't be an all day type of excursion, so what else can we do? Should we take the shuttle bus or try to hire a taxi to take us there and possibly take us on a private tour elsewhere aftewards? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Beth

I keep watching hoping you would get an answer. That's one of the ports we're visiting in Oct. I've heard it's an interesting town, but I can't find any information on how to get there or how far it is from the port. Please post if you find anything out from another source. I'll do the same.

Lynn

Hi Lynn,

I did find a little information, but it is older, so not sure how accurate it is. This port is a tough one on trying to figure out what to do. We aren't going on our cruise until November, so would love to hear from you after you get back :D

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/archive/index.php/t-1301051.html

This was from 2010 (in case the link doesn't work):

Just wanted to follow up since we have now been there an info was so hard to come by. There is a shuttle at the port. $7/pp round trip to Altos de Chavon. No additional fees to get through Casa de Campo. There is also a shuttle to downtown La Romana for $5/pp round trip. They drop you off at an area where there are vendors but you could walk around anywhere else you wanted. Shuttles round about every 30 minutes.

From 2011:

The shuttles are not cruiseline affilated, they are independently operated by a shuttle service. When you reach port there is a small Welcome Center and they sell tickets there for shuttles to LaRomana town and Altos de Chavon. The driver did not speak English so there was no information provided on what we were about to see or where we were going. This port is like no other I have ever seen. It is like no mans land, more like a guarded compound. The ride to Altos de Chavon was beautifully sculpted for the rich visitors and when you arrive it is well guarded. Walking around you can see the famous golf courses and go down nature trails to the river. At the base of the river you will find natives willing to take you down river on their boats, but we were too scared to go with them. It was a beautiful place staged for the rich and not really representative of the country.

Altos de Chavon is about a 20 minute ride from La Romana and the shuttle is only $7.00 round trip, not nearly as expensive as the cruise ship excursion.

We were in La Romana in 2011 and had a great time at Altos de Chavon. We took the shuttle into downtown first and got back on the first one we could find to get back to the ship, the vendors were horrible! We then took the $7 shuttle to Altos and we had the best time there. The ride is about 20 minutes and we probably spent 2 hours walking around. We stopped and had a drink in a local cafe and the people were so friendly. There are paths to walk around the whole village and beautiful views all over. It turned out to be one of our most relaxing and enjoyable ports, going downtown was one of the worst experiences, so it changed 180 degrees by going to Altos. I'm not sure if a taxi will take you there since you have to go into a private community to get to the village, but the shuttle is easy and runs every 30 minutes.

Thanks for the information. I really appreciate it. I was concerned since some of the people are saying it's not a good port. But if we can get a shuttle to that little town it sounds like it would be a nice way to spend a couple of hours. Again, thank you.

Lynn

We will be in La Romana in November on the Carnival Conquest. I really wanted to see the village of Altos de Chavon. I understand there is a shuttle bus to the village for a nominal fee. How far is it to the village? I'm thinking it probably won't be an all day type of excursion, so what else can we do? Should we take the shuttle bus or try to hire a taxi to take us there and possibly take us on a private tour elsewhere aftewards? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

Beth

Hi Beth, My wife (Lynn) and I are wanting to see this as well and we will also be on the Conquest in November. Please share any info you find.

Any recent info on this?

I'd be interested in hearing more (anything) re taking a shuttle and spending the day in Altos de Chavon. We are sailing next month and still have nothing booked for any of our ports. Unheard of for me and I'm starting to panic.

Can anyone help with more info please? Is this a good way to spend the day in La Romana?

We loved taking the shuttle and spending the day there. It was cheap, $7 a person for a round trip ticket. It is so much nicer than being accosted by the vendors in La Romana. There are some nice little cafes to sit and relax with a drink or snack and a lot of things to see in Altos De Chavon. The next time we stop in La Romana we will do this trip again.

Thank you! That's exactly the information I was looking for. And this is what we are going to do now. ::D This just sounds perfect for us. Thank you again!

Hi, we will be visiting La Romana in 2 weeks and are still not sure what to do there since everyone says it's not very safe. I see that you visited Altos De Chavon and was wondering if in addition to the shuttle that takes you there if there is an entrance fee to Altos de Chavon and how much is it? Any help you could provide is appreciated. Thanks

There are no additional fees to visit. There are a couple of little shops and places to drink and eat that are extra of course, but it will not cost anything extra to just walk around and enjoy the sights.

Wish someone that has been to La romana recently would chime in on the cost. I called Casa de Campo (Altos de Chavon is part for this resort) and the concierge said there are no more $7 shuttles...you must take a taxi. Also, she said there was a $25 fee pp. Soooo confused :-(

Planning on renting a car and do my own tour...probably pay the $25 pp which also give you access to their private beach, Minitas beach.

Wish someone that has been to La romana recently would chime in on the cost. I called Casa de Campo (Altos de Chavon is part for this resort) and the concierge said there are no more $7 shuttles...you must take a taxi. Also, she said there was a $25 fee pp. Soooo confused :-(

 

Planning on renting a car and do my own tour...probably pay the $25 pp which also give you access to their private beach, Minitas beach.

I read a review on this port a couple days ago and it said the taxi situation there is horrible :eek:. So I'm gonna give in and book through carnival. Don't need any headaches especially since we are traveling with children.

I hope everything works out well and you guys have a great time :)

Annie

Thanks...same to you and your family! We'll be there next week.

Before we went on our cruise I searched for info to Altos de Chavon and very limited so thought I'd share. We were in DR 08/20/14 and decided to take the shuttle bus at the port. You purchase your bus tickets at a stand w/in the building at the port which also has a duty free shop, bathrooms, and chairs to sit and rest. Outside this building there's taxi and Carnival tour buses and the shuttle bus that takes you to downtown plaza and Alto de Chavon. The price to go to Alto de Chavon is $7.00/person and if you want to go downtown $5.00. The tickets are color coded and you handed it in once you board the shuttle bus going back to the port. If you take the shuttle bus to Alto de Chavon and also purchased ticket to downtown marketplace, you will need to take the bus back to port and then hop on the bus that goes to downtown marketplace. The shuttle bus runs every 30min and 1hour so we found shuttle bus available to go back to port right away. The ride to Alto de Chavon took about 30mins one way. You will find taxi drivers once you get off the bus at Altos de Chavon offering tours. I did ask how much and he quoted $60.00 from Altos de Chavon to beach and downtown tour. Note the price is up to 5 passengers so it is best if you have more to be able to split the price.

Hope this helps a bit.

Hi, I spent a long time yesterday looking at excursions for my Nov. 1st cruise on the Freedom. Has anyone done the River tour through Carnival recently? any other suggestions? I am hesitant to book privately here due to many negative comments regarding transportation. Thanks

So there's still a shuttle to Altos for $7 then I take it? And no entrance fee right? Sounds like the town is not worth going? Is it a long ride to town? Can one walk from pier to town? And what about the Casa de Campo? Is that a completely separate place to go?

So there's still a shuttle to Altos for $7 then I take it? And no entrance fee right? Sounds like the town is not worth going? Is it a long ride to town? Can one walk from pier to town? And what about the Casa de Campo? Is that a completely separate place to go?

As mentioned above, there is a shuttle at the dock that you can catch for $7.00/person RT that will take you to Altos de Chavon. There is no entrance fee and the shuttle will take you back to the pier. The ride to Altos de Chavon was about 30mins one way.