Late Night Caribbean Blegging

So it’s late, nothing of import is happening. Well, I guess Bernie won the most anti-Obama state in the nation, but I guess it’s not that important. Anyway, a set of questions from my well-traveled readers. This summer is not going to lead to a lengthy vacation. If there is an out-of-nation trip, it’s going to be a week in the Caribbean in late June-early July. Given the wife’s Spanish-speaking nation proclivities, that’s likely to be the Dominican Republic. That would be cool, but given that she also has beach-loving proclivities that I don’t share, it’s also probably likely to be a beach in that nation, possibly the whole Punta Cana thing. I guess I can live with this. But some questions.

1) If you’ve been to the DR, what do you recommend in terms of beaches? And do you recommend non-DR trips in the region and if so, why?

2) Is Punta Cana really the only quality beach area in the DR? Are there other options? Understand that a first-rate beach is necessary, at least for a few days.

3) Are there beaches in the area that can be combined with something else to do that I would like, i.e., pretty much anything that’s not sitting on a beach?

4) What is the value between the all-inclusive and not all-inclusive? In my mind, all-inclusive means “pay a lot of extra money for third rate food” but maybe I am wrong.

5) Are there specific hotels you all recommend? And if so, why?

6) What else? I am not used to traveling in this manner. I’d rather stay in a hut in the mountains for $5 a night. But alas, that is not going to happen. So any advice is much, much appreciated because I feel like I don’t really know what I’m doing here.