It's not hard to keep in touch with home by phone or fax while you're in the DR because storefront phone centres are scattered about the country, though the price can be a bit steep. These phone centres are run by DR's many private telephone companies . The oldest, most venerated and by far the most omnipresent company is Codetel , which charges RD$5 per minute to North America; RD$18 per minute to Europe; and RD$26 per minute to Australia and New Zealand. The rates are a couple of pesos cheaper if you use a Codetel calling card , sold at Codetel phone centres in denominations of RD$25, 45, 95, 145, 245 and 500. You also have the option of going to one of Codetel's competitors that have sprung up over the past decade, the most popular of which is Tricom ; they charge RD$5 per minute to North America; RD$15 to Europe and RD$24 to Australia and New Zealand. Local calls cost RD$1 per minute, but it's important to note that a telephone call between towns in the DR is considered long-distance, and charged at the same rate as North American calls; all areas of the DR, however, are under one area code, 809. If at all possible avoid calling collect with any of these companies.

Dominican correos , or post offices, are notoriously slow; even if you use special delivery (highly recommended) you'll still have to allow at least three weeks for your postcard or letter to reach North America, and at least a month for it to reach Europe or Australasia. Postage costs RD$3 to North America, RD$4 elsewhere.

Email , on the other hand, is steadily growing in importance, with many phone centres in the larger cities offering internet and email access, and a few private cybercafés cropping up in the resort areas.

The country code for the Dominican Republic is 809.