Dominican Republic Currency and Money Guide

The currency

The Dominican Republic uses the Dominican peso, written RD$. Prices in shops, markets, buses and small restaurants are quoted in it.

⚠ What this guide does not publish, and why

You will not find an exchange rate here, or a list of what things cost. A rate dates a page the day it is written and a number that is out of date is worse than no number. Check the rate on the day, with your own bank.

You will also not find a confident sentence about whether US dollars are accepted. That claim is made by the country's own tourism board, but only inside a script payload that a reader following the citation would never see, so this cluster declines to publish it as fact. Assume you need pesos, carry them, and treat anything else as a bonus.

Cash, and where it stops being optional

Inside a resort you can generally live on cards. Step outside one and the picture changes quickly. A colmado, the corner shop that is the backbone of Dominican retail, runs on cash. So do guaguas, motoconchos, markets and most small kitchens.

Carry small denominations. Change for a large note is a recurring problem away from the resorts, and the person who cannot break it is rarely the one who can afford to.

Cards, and a specific risk

The FCDO records that bank card cloning and identity theft are a risk in the Dominican Republic. That is a named risk rather than a general caution, and it deserves a specific response:

• Use machines attached to a bank branch during opening hours rather than a free-standing one.
• Keep the card in sight when you pay. Do not let it be taken away to a back room.
• Turn on transaction alerts before you travel, so a cloned card tells you rather than your statement.
• Carry a second card, stored somewhere other than the first.

Practical habits

• Agree the price and the currency before a taxi or a tour begins, not after.
• Keep cash in more than one place, and do not count it in the street.
• Withdraw larger amounts less often. Every withdrawal is both a fee and a moment of exposure.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Dominican Republic safety and security: the record that the crime rate is high, that incidents range from opportunistic bag snatching and pickpocketing to violent crime and carjacking, that bank card cloning and identity theft are a risk, and that assaults against foreigners have occurred including at beach resorts. Accessed 18 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Dominican Republic travel advice: the index to the entry, safety and health pages this cluster draws on. Accessed 18 September 2026.