La Romana or Puerto Plata?

Both are strong beach destinations, and in neither city do you swim in town. The difference is the sea itself. Around La Romana it is the calm Caribbean: pale sand at Bayahibe and Dominicus, sheltered by reef and gentle enough for weak swimmers, plus boat trips to Catalina and the starfish sandbars of Saona, which get busy at midday.

Puerto Plata faces the Atlantic, so it varies more from beach to beach. Sosúa's horseshoe bay and Cofresí are calm, Playa Dorada has golden sand in front of the resorts, and Cabarete and Encuentro bring surf, winter swells and sometimes seaweed in summer.

The food is much the same in both places: Dominican home cooking of rice, beans, stewed meat, sancocho and whole fried fish, and in both most all-inclusive guests rarely eat out. Around La Romana, Bayahibe's waterfront grills and the resort marina's polished international restaurants are the main choices. Puerto Plata has more variety along its coast, because Sosúa and Cabarete add a wider range of beachfront places, and mamajuana is on sale everywhere.

Puerto Plata has more real history. Around Parque Independencia stand restored Victorian houses with gingerbread trim, the sixteenth-century Fortaleza San Felipe guards the end of the Malecón, and the Amber Museum is housed in an old mansion. Together they make a satisfying day.

La Romana's main sight, Altos de Chavón, is a handsome twentieth-century copy of a Mediterranean hill village above the river gorge. Its small archaeology museum has good Taíno objects. Beyond that, the sugar town offers little more than a park and a church.

Neither is a party destination, and in both going out means merengue and bachata rather than cocktail lounges. The difference is distance. Around La Romana, the local scene is in town, a drive from where most visitors sleep, and the few bars at the marina and in Bayahibe wind down well before Puerto Plata's get going.

In Puerto Plata the evening happens on the town's own seafront, with weekend crowds along the Malecón and small clubs dancing until late. Cabarete's beach bars, about forty minutes east, give it a livelier option that nothing within reach of La Romana matches.

One coast is best seen from under the water, the other from the hills. La Romana sits on flat, dry limestone, so its outdoors is mostly at sea. Bayahibe is one of the country's main dive centres, with reef walls, wrecks and a museum of sunken cannons, and the national park adds mangroves, frigatebirds and Taíno caves.

Around Puerto Plata there is more to do on land. Mount Isabel de Torres rises behind the town with cloud forest at the top, guides lead visitors up the Damajagua waterfall pools, and the trade winds at Cabarete bring kiting and windsurfing. Divers may prefer La Romana, but most other outdoor travellers will find more around Puerto Plata.

The day trips are about equal, but they lead in different directions. La Romana has the stronger single outing: Santo Domingo's Ciudad Colonial, the oldest European-founded city in the Americas, is about an hour and a half away. Higüey's basilica, San Pedro de Macorís and the Cueva de las Maravillas are closer.

From Puerto Plata the capital is too far for a day. Instead you can go over the mountains to Santiago, west to the 1493 foundations at La Isabela, or out to the sandbars of Cayo Arena.

Both work for children in much the same way: you base yourself at a resort with a kids' club and add a few excursions. La Romana has the calmer, shallower water along its whole coast, the starfish sandbar on Saona, and horses and quiet roads inside the gated resort. Puerto Plata is better for active older children, with the cable car ride, the Damajagua pools and Cofresí's dolphin and sea lion encounters, while Sosúa's bay suits the little ones.

Puerto Plata is the easier of the two to manage without a car. Its old centre and Malecón are walkable, and guaguas run along the coast road to Sosúa and Cabarete, flagged down wherever you stand.

Around La Romana, the town, the resort, Bayahibe and Dominicus are scattered along the highway with scrub between them. Most visitors depend on transfers, taxis and tours, and get around inside the gated resort by golf cart. Only Bayahibe village is small enough to walk.

Neither city is a shopping destination, and both sell larimar jewellery and cigars. La Romana is the cigar-making town, so hand-rolled cigars are its most authentic buy. Its jewellery is sold at Altos de Chavón and the marina. Puerto Plata has more of a shopping street, with amber from the mountains behind the town, the colourful umbrella-hung lane in the old centre and a small mall near Playa Dorada.

Puerto Plata is the cheaper of the two for anyone who travels independently. Simple guesthouses in town, comedor lunches and coastal guaguas cost little, and its all-inclusive packages give good value.

La Romana can be cheap too if you stay in town, but few visitors do. The gated resort and its villas are firmly luxury, and the boat trips to Saona and Catalina, dive trips and taxi transfers all add up.

Neither has a theatre or concert season, and in both, live music mostly means merengue, bachata and resort shows. What sets them apart is one standout in each. La Romana has the open-air amphitheatre at Altos de Chavón, which occasionally hosts big Latin and international concerts above the gorge. Puerto Plata has its February carnival, with parades of costumed devils.

La Romana is the better place to switch off. The gated resort and several of the large hotels have proper spas, massage huts line the sand at Bayahibe and Dominicus, and the village goes quiet in the evenings.

Puerto Plata has resort spas and beach massages too, and Cabarete adds yoga classes from its modest retreat scene. The town, though, is loud with motorbikes and music, so you can only really relax if you stay inside the resort.