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→Boat hitchhiking: boat hitchhiking on the north coast
The right port in La Romana is, if you go from the Jumbo Supermarket (kind of a cultural centre for this city..) across the river. If you stand on the end of the bridge, you can see the sailing ships already under and left of you, now you just have to find the way down there (it´s a bit longer than it seems).
On the north coast, the sailing hubs are the Puerto Plata area (especially Luperon Harbor) and Samaná (Santa Barbara de Samaná). Luperon/Puerto Plata is where you'll find boats going to/from the Bahamas, and Samaná is a common stop coming to/from Puerto Rico. But the north coast has rougher seas and not many sheltered anchorages in general, so you won't get lots of sailing boats taking leisurely sails from town to town like in some parts of the Caribbean.
Ask for "el puerto/la marina de veleros (=sailing boats)".
== Experiences ==
*''I tried hitchiking in the northern DR twice during the coronavirus pandemic, and found it quite difficult. The first time, from Las Terrenas to Puerto Plata, no one ever stopped for me except guaguas, which I ended up taking instead after about 30 minutes to an hour waiting in each spot (though I had my pick of less-crowded ones, since another would come by about every 15 minutes). The second time, I was trying to get from the Santiago airport back to Las Terrenas. I understand people not wanting to let me inside their cars during the pandemic (I preferred not to do that either anyway), but I was disappointed at the large number of empty pickup trucks that passed without ever offering me a ride in the back. I did get three short rides from pickups or flatbed trucks, but it seemed like the only way to do it was to catch them when already stopped, and yell "una bola?" through their open window. I also got a couple short free rides from motorcycles. But my progress was painfully slow, and I ended up starting again the next day with guauguas. Maybe it was just because people are nervous during the pandemic, or maybe because my face was covered with a mask. Hope it will be better some other time! On the bright side, I didn't see any sign of it being dangerous at all.'' [[User:Treefrog|Treefrog]] ([[User talk:Treefrog|talk]]) 04:41, 19 January 2021 (CET)Treefrog
