What 'planning' means before an airport opens
It is reasonable to plan a trip's shape well before its infrastructure exists — choosing a region, roughly deciding how many nights you'll spend at the coast versus inland, and working out which parts of the south-west you most want to see. None of that depends on CBJ being open.
What is not reasonable, and what we avoid doing for you, is planning around specific flight times, a fixed curb pickup point, or a quoted transfer price, because none of that information exists yet. Any site or operator offering to lock in a 'CBJ airport transfer price' today is quoting a number it cannot back up.
Our approach instead is to let you register interest for the route you expect to need — for example Cabo Rojo Airport to Pedernales town, or onward to Bahía de las Águilas — so that when operations, road access and rates are confirmed, we can reach you directly instead of you having to check back repeatedly.
Choosing a destination in the south-west
Most travellers heading to this region are aiming for one of a small number of anchor points: Pedernales town itself, the Cabo Rojo coastal area near the airport site, the protected beach at Bahía de las Águilas, the established hotel base of Barahona further along the coast, or the inland Lago Enriquillo basin.
These places are not interchangeable. Bahía de las Águilas sits inside a national park with restricted development, so it suits travellers prioritising an undeveloped beach over resort amenities. Barahona today has more existing accommodation and services, since it has functioned as the region's hub for longer. Pedernales town is the administrative centre closest to the future airport site. Lago Enriquillo is an inland detour built around wildlife and landscape rather than beach time.
Deciding which of these is your priority now will make it much faster to register the right route once CBJ transfers become bookable, and it helps you plan overland options in the meantime if your trip is happening before the airport opens.
What the advance interest list actually does
Joining the list is not a booking, a deposit or a commitment of any kind — there is nothing to confirm because CBJ does not operate yet. It is a way of telling us which route and rough travel window interests you, so that once transfer service is genuinely available, we contact people in the order they registered rather than launching to a cold audience.
We ask for a route (for example, CBJ to Cabo Rojo, or CBJ to Bahía de las Águilas), an approximate travel period, and a way to reach you — normally WhatsApp or email. We do not ask for payment information, because there is nothing to charge yet.
When CBJ's opening, ground transport and pricing are officially confirmed, we email or message everyone on the list with the real details, and you decide from there whether to book.
If your trip happens before CBJ opens
Given the target opening window, many trips to the south-west between now and then will simply happen without CBJ. In that case the practical routes into the region today run through Santo Domingo's airports or Barahona's María Montez International Airport, continuing overland on the existing Barahona–Pedernales highway.
That overland leg is a real, well-established part of visiting the south-west already, not a stopgap invented for this guide — travellers have reached Bahía de las Águilas, Lago Enriquillo and Pedernales this way for years. See our guide on reaching Pedernales today for the confirmed routes and what to expect from them.
Register your trip and we contact you when CBJ details are official
Send your destination in the Pedernales region, your travel dates and party size. We reply on WhatsApp with what is confirmed, and again once the airport's opening and rates are published.
Register on WhatsAppQuestions we get on this
- Can I book a CBJ airport transfer today?
- No. CBJ is not open, so there is no transfer service to book. You can join our advance interest list for the route you expect to need.
- Does joining the interest list cost anything?
- No. It is free and is not a deposit or a booking. We ask only for your likely route, travel window and a contact method.
- What happens after I join the list?
- We contact you once CBJ's opening, ground transport and rates are officially confirmed, and you decide from there whether to proceed.
- How do I get to Pedernales before CBJ opens?
- Overland from Santo Domingo or via Barahona's existing airport, using the coastal highway. See our guide on reaching Pedernales today.