PLANNING YOUR TREK

Let’s get right down to the nitty gritty: you want to travel Dominican Republic (D.R.) on a budget without sacrificing experience. Here’s a step by step guide so you won’t miss an opportunity to save, plan, and experience D.R. the way you want to.

STEP 1: CHOOSING YOUR DATES & FLIGHTS, INFO ON VISAS/TOURIST CARDS/TAXES
STEP 2: COMING SOON
STEP 3: COMING SOON






STEP 1: CHOOSING YOUR DATES & FLIGHTS, INFO ON VISAS/TOURIST CARDS/TAXES
You’ve made the super rad decision to backpack Dominican Republic. Go you. Here’s all the info you need to choose the best dates to travel, visa requirements and flight information we totally wish we knew a lot sooner. There’s a lot of learning lessons in the next few tips, listen up amigos:

1. Choose the right time to travel for you. If you’re flexible, there’s a bunch of factors you’ll want to consider when choosing your travel dates. Such as:
   Holidays & Festivals
   Nothing worse than realizing you arrive the week after Carnaval is over. Womp-womp. We're compiling a list to share with you soon.
   High or Low Season
   High-season is between mid-November and mid-March; do you want to avoid the busiest times, or stick to them? It’s your personal preference: accommodations etc. will be more difficult to find unless booked about a month in advance, and everything generally costs more during high-season due to high-demand. Makes sense.
   Weather
   Here’s a big one that’s often overlooked. Probably because all the pictures we see of DR in our newsfeeds or online depict sunny beaches and blue skies. Hurricane season DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THIS BELIEVE IT OR NOT. But, it’s also not as bad as “hurricane” implies (usually). You’ll see the most rain and humidity from May-September, with it trailing off in October/November. Temperature-wise, it’s hottest August-November. Then it turns into dry season. High, dry temperatures make for sunburns waiting to happen, but it’s more comfortable for those who detest humidity.
2. You don’t require a Visa as a tourist staying less than 30 days, only if you are travelling for Business or attending school as a Student. 
   Check out the Government of Canada's website for more details here.
3. Save time and money booking your flights.
   I always begin the tedious journey of selecting a flight with Sky Scanner. Sky Scanner will also do a comparative search between all of these airlines in one quick and easy search. They also have a handy app and an option to get price alerts sent right to your e-mail so you don’t need to obsessively check every day. Want to know all of your airline options? Check this handy tool out here from Sky Scanner here. You can easily change the country of origin for a complete list of airlines that fly from whatever country you’re currently trekking.
   
   The next important thing to consider is if you will compromise flying direct or not to save a few bucks (most of the time having a layover knocks a bit off the price in my experience). However, not only does it take longer to reach my destination, I also find myself spending more unnecessary money in the airport because I’m stuck there for longer. The fewer snacks, meals and drinks I buy from the airport, the better. Knowing the cheap eats and beer waiting for me in DR, it’s painful to fork over USD$10.99 for a questionable tuna sandwich mid-flight.
4. Know the entry and exit requirements of DR.
   You can check out the Government of Canada’s website here by clicking “ENTRY/EXIT REQUIREMENTS” for the most up to date requirements. At the time of writing this article (September 2015), the requirements are as follows:
   -valid passport YES
   -tourist visa NO (but if you are travelling business or student, you WILL need a visa)
   -departure tax of USD$20
   -entry tourist card of USD$10
   Here’s where you can save the cash-ola: some airlines INCLUDE in the cost of your ticket, one or both of the departure tax and entry tourist card. That’s a potential USD$30 you can “save”. Keep this in mind when comparing flights – the flight that is cheaper might not be in the long run if you spend extra money in the airport, or have to pay the entry tourist card and departure tax fees.
   Here’s a list of the airlines that fly direct, with a breakdown of which ones include what fees and baggage allowances/fees from Canada to D.R.; you can find out this info by searching the airlines name on Google with “includes tourist card” etc.:
   
   

   Airline	Tourist Card USD$10	Departure Tax USD$20	Free Checked Baggage Allowance	Checked Baggage Charge
   Air Canada	Included	Included	None	1st & 2nd bags: $25+tax each direction
   WestJet	Included	included	1	2nd bag: $25-29.50 including tax each direction 3 & 4th bags: $75-88.50 including tax each direction
   Sunwing	Not Included	Not Included	2
   Air Transat	Included	Included	"Multiple"
   CanJet	Included	Included	2

   
   Now on to Step 2: PACKING, PREPARATION