Negril or Punta Cana?

Both are first-rate beach destinations with calm, warm, clear water, so what you are choosing between is the shape of the coast. Negril is one long, gentle curve. Seven Mile Beach runs north from town, Bloody Bay is quieter at its end, and to the south the sand gives way to the West End's limestone cliffs, where you get into the deep water by ladder or by jumping.

Punta Cana's 50km of shoreline offers more variety in its sand. There are the sociable resort strands of Bávaro, polished Juanillo and wild, surfy Macao, plus catamaran trips to Saona Island. The one drawback is the sargassum seaweed that washes in some summers.

Negril makes it easier to eat local food. Jerk pork smokes in roadside drums, beach shacks grill the day's catch, cookshops on the West End road serve curried goat and escovitch fish, and Rastafarian ital stalls cater for vegetarians.

In Punta Cana most meals are resort buffets and themed dining rooms. Dominican cooking such as la bandera, sancocho and mangú is there, but it is found in workers' comedores you have to seek out. Neither has fine dining or a market scene.

Neither is a place for sightseeing. Negril's one landmark is the 1890s lighthouse on the West End cliffs, and Punta Cana offers little more than cigar displays and the chapels inside resorts. Any interest in history or heritage means leaving town in both cases.

The two are about equally lively but go out in different ways. Negril's evening has a routine: sunset and cliff divers on the West End, then barefoot beach bars on Seven Mile Beach that take turns hosting the party night, with rum punch and few real clubs.

Punta Cana's nights mostly stay inside the resort, with a show and a disco that closes around midnight. Those who head into Bávaro find big acrobatic party clubs, a club set in a limestone cave and colmados playing bachata, though every move between venues means a taxi.

Negril has more to offer outdoors, on land and at sea. You can snorkel the fringing reef straight off the cliffs, and the Great Morass and Royal Palm Reserve sit right behind the beach. Within a couple of hours are Mayfield Falls, YS Falls, the Blue Hole and the crocodile mangroves of the Black River.

Punta Cana's land is flat cattle and coconut country, so its outdoors is mostly on the water: Saona's starfish pool, kitesurfing at Cabeza de Toro and deep-sea fishing for marlin. On land there are short lagoon trails at Indigenous Eyes and the Hoyo Azul sinkhole. Neither place has proper hiking.

Both rely on long drives, but the rewards are different. From Negril the best trips are rural: rivers and waterfalls, the Appleton Estate rum distillery and the fishing village of Treasure Beach, while Montego Bay and the great houses make a long day.

Punta Cana's highlight is Santo Domingo's Zona Colonial, the oldest European city in the Americas, though it means a long day on the road. Closer to hand are the basilica at Higüey and the stone village of Altos de Chavón.

Punta Cana is clearly the stronger family choice. Many resorts are built around children, with waterslides, kids' clubs and food all day, and outside them there are zip-line parks, cenotes and sea-lion encounters.

Negril has the gentle, shallow water of Seven Mile Beach and some family resorts, but little else for children. Some hotels are adults only, and the persistent vendors and open ganja culture put off some parents.

Negril is the easier of the two to get around, though neither is easy. Everything lies along one road, so you can walk the sand on the beach side or flag a shared route taxi to the cliffs, with no booking needed.

Punta Cana's resorts are spread along about 50km of coast behind gates and long driveways, and there is no centre to walk to. Most journeys mean a hotel taxi, a transfer or a tour pickup, and guaguas only cover the main roads.

Punta Cana gives shoppers a little more to work with. Larimar, a blue stone found only on this island, is sold alongside amber, hand-rolled cigars and faceless dolls at the Bávaro beach stalls, and there are open-air malls in Bávaro and at Cap Cana.

Negril offers a craft market and beach vendors with carvings and Rasta-coloured clothing. Jamaican coffee, rum and hot sauce are the best things to take home.

The two cost about the same, but they save money in different ways. In Negril the cheap option is to live like a backpacker, in a West End cliff cottage, eating at jerk stands and getting about by route taxi.

In Punta Cana the saving usually comes from an all-inclusive package booked with flights. The extras are what cost more: fixed taxi fares and excursions. Apartment hotels in Los Corales are the budget alternative.

Negril is the clear winner for live music, and it is all reggae. Bands play roots, ska and Marley songs on beach stages most nights, and well-known Jamaican artists turn up in winter.

Punta Cana's entertainment is mostly resort theatre shows and glossy acrobatic spectacles, with merengue and bachata bands at beach bars the most authentic part. Neither has a theatre or concert hall.

The two are level for relaxation, but the calm comes in different forms. In Negril it is small-scale and independent. On the West End you can take a room in a cliff-top garden, stretch out on a deck above the sea and have a massage in the open air, well away from the vendors who keep interrupting in the middle of Seven Mile Beach.

Punta Cana keeps its calm behind the resort gates. The big hotel spas, with steam rooms and water circuits, are easy to book and dependably good, but they all follow the same pattern. What matters more is whether your resort is aimed at families, at parties or at adults only. Neither coast has a bathing or spa tradition of its own.