Falco died there.

Everyone I know who has traveled to DR has hated it. It's cheap for a reason, and you'll get what you pay for. Accomodations and food are typically sub-par. The bugs are a problem. No five-star service. Nothing like Grand Cayman or the USVI.

We just booked a family vacation in Punta Cana for late January. The water is the only thing I have heard that is a negative. My kids like seltzer water so I think itll be okay. Im looking forward to it!

We did all-inclusive in Punta Cana, DR. We had a great time, the resort was good, food was okay. Beach was beautiful, pool was great. I don't remember having any issues with drinking the water.

This was only our second ever Caribbean resort vacation, so maybe our standards/expectations were not as high as others. But I know other families who have gone to the DR and loved it.

We did not encounter anyone trying to sell stuff, although I heard that was happening further up the beach from where we were.

Stay far far away from the DR, the food was awful, the drinking water isnt safe.

I think you would like the Beaches in Turks

Well, I can tell you their water from the sink/shower is not safe to drink, you'll need bottled water for sure. Their food is not that great. We stayed at a so-called "5" star resort for our anniversary trip in August and the food was not 5 star to U.S. standards. It was an all-inclusive so we were stuck with the food they offered. The beach/water was nice but they still had people trying to sell cigars and jewelry on the beach in front of our resort. They didn't recommend taking any tours that weren't sponsored by the resort or using any ATM machines or your credit card off the resort. We wouldn't go back there. I'd like to try another Carribean island, but it fit our budget which was tight.

My DH and I like healthy reefs for snorkeling, good food, clean/safe drinking water, few or no people panhandling...before kids we used to favor smaller islands like Cayman Brac, Bonaire, Belize atolls...but DR has so many good package deals I'm not sure why we haven't considering it before, and then there's the windsurfing up in Cabarete. Any thoughts on what you liked/disliked about your DR trip? Any recommendations or reasons to look elsewhere if we are considering an all-inclusive kid's club type place? Kids are 5 and 3.