Money

The Dominican Currency is the Peso. The peso is divided up into 100 centavos, and the symbol for the peso is RD$ - not to be confused with the US dollar!

The peso comes in a variety of forms from coins of 1 pesos, 5, 10 and 25 coins to banknotes of  50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000.

Please do not accept any notes with rips, stuck back together with sellotape or that have writing on them (in biro or ink).

The 50 peso note and the 200 peso note are both purple-ish in colour so be very careful when you first arrive and also the 500 pesos note and 2000 pesos notes are similar as well.

The paper money is generally quite old, grubby and smelly as a lot of locals do not have bank accounts and keep their money in other "safe places" ie.,. inside their socks or underwear!

American dollars are a widely accepted currency in the whole of the DR, however if you pay for something in US dollars then the change given back to you will be in pesos, so watch out if you are not too quick on the exchange rates.  The Dominican pesos is still classed as a "closed currency" meaning that it is pretty much worthless back in your country of origin, so remember do not exchange all your dollars or pounds for pesos as if you have a lot of pesos left at the end of your holiday - you will probably lose out with the exchange rate in your home country

Changing money should be done either at your hotel, a reputable bank or a money exchange office.

Costs

The Dominican Republic is regarded as the Caribbean on the cheap and offers trememdous value for every kind of traveller wishing to visit here, from fantastic package deals on "the all-inclusive" slant to budget rooms and bed and breakfasts for the independent traveller to rent. Whilst saying this there are high end options too from Casa de Campo in the east, some mega 5 star international hotels in the capital Santo Domingo and luxury hidden away villas and mansions to be rented in the north at places like SeaHorse Ranch, in Sosua.

Where ever you are though bartering is a quintessential custom here and super fun. Please remember not to bargain in places like restaurants and casino's - prices are fixed just like home! You wouldn't walk into Burger King and start bartering over the price of a Whopper now would you - or would you?!

Beach vendors, markets and souvenir shops are great places to start and the general rule of thumb is at least to halve the vendors price and start from there - good luck!

Eating and drinking out in the DR is reasonable and won't break your budget. Some things are expensive over here especially imported items like electrical stuff and cars - but hey how many cars are you going to buy on your vacation!