Ocho Rios or Puerto Plata?

Both give you warm, swimmable sea all year, but the coastlines differ. Ocho Rios has small beaches where the reef keeps the water calm enough to snorkel straight from the sand, at Turtle Beach in the bay, Mahogany Beach and the coves toward Oracabessa. Much of the best sand lies in front of the all-inclusives, though, and some public beaches charge to get in.

Puerto Plata's own town beach is nothing special, but there is more variety along the coast: golden sand at Playa Dorada, a sheltered bay at Cofresí and a reef-calm horseshoe at Sosúa. Further east, Cabarete and Encuentro have long beaches with surf. The trade-off is winter swell on the exposed beaches and seaweed some summers.

Neither is a place to travel for restaurants, and in both the best meals come from simple local places rather than hotel dining rooms. In Ocho Rios that means jerk chicken and pork smoked over pimento wood in roadside drum grills, with patties and ackee and saltfish, and Blue Mountain coffee to drink.

In Puerto Plata it means Dominican home cooking in comedores, such as la bandera, sancocho and mofongo, and whole fish grilled on the beach. Sosúa and Cabarete add more international places along the seafront. Mamajuana takes the place of Jamaican coffee as the drink to try.

Puerto Plata has a real old town and Ocho Rios does not. Around Parque Independencia you can walk past restored Victorian houses with gingerbread trim and the San Felipe cathedral, then go on to the sixteenth-century fort at the end of the Malecón and the Amber Museum in its old mansion. It makes a satisfying day.

Ocho Rios grew up as a resort and cruise port, so the main site is Seville Heritage Park near St Ann's Bay, on the site of the first Spanish settlement on the island. A few plantation houses stand in the hills. For deeper Jamaican history you have to travel.

Puerto Plata has a little more going on after dark, mainly because the town has a place where people gather. Locals meet at the kiosks along the Malecón, the bars play merengue and bachata until late, and the beach bars of Cabarete are within reach for a bigger night.

In Ocho Rios, evenings mostly stay inside the resorts. A few beach bars and open-air clubs play reggae and dancehall, and the weekend street dances with big sound systems can be memorable. Otherwise weeknights are quiet, and every night out ends with a taxi.

Both are green, active bases, but the outdoors works differently in each. In Ocho Rios it is all about water coming down from the limestone hills: climbing Dunn's River Falls, the wilder pools at Blue Hole, tubing on the White River and the drive through Fern Gully's tree ferns.

In Puerto Plata, Mount Isabel de Torres rises right behind the town, and a cable car takes you up to cloud forest and a botanical garden. The Damajagua falls are its version of the waterfall outing. Its real distinction is the trade wind, which makes Cabarete a major kitesurfing and windsurfing spot, while Encuentro has surf breaks.

From its position in the middle of the north coast, Ocho Rios has the stronger choice of day trips. You can visit Noël Coward's Firefly, Bob Marley's birthplace at Nine Mile, Falmouth's Georgian streets, or cross the mountains to Kingston for the Marley museum and Devon House. Most of these mean hiring a driver or joining a tour.

Puerto Plata's trips are closer to home: Sosúa and Cabarete for half a day, Santiago and its cigar heritage an hour inland, the ruins of Columbus's La Isabela, or a boat out to the Cayo Arena sandbars. Santo Domingo and Samaná are too far to go and come back in a day.

For children the two are much the same: both work best from an all-inclusive with a kids' club, and both have a marine park with dolphins. Ocho Rios has more for active older children, with the falls climb, the rainforest bobsled and river tubing, but persistent vendors make the town hard work.

Puerto Plata's advantage for families with toddlers is Sosúa's calm bay. Its pavements and traffic are no easier, but Dominicans are notably warm towards children.

Neither is easy without a car or taxi, but Puerto Plata is a little easier. Its old centre and Malecón are pleasant to walk, and guaguas run along the coast to Sosúa and Cabarete. Motoconchos and poorly lit roads at night are the downsides.

In Ocho Rios, heavy traffic, missing pavements and constant offers from drivers make even short walks tiring. The route taxis are hard to work out on a first visit, so most people end up using hotel transfers. If you drive yourself, you will be on the left on winding roads.

Both are souvenir towns rather than places to shop. Ocho Rios is built around the cruise pier, with duty-free jewellery and liquor, a craft market where you are expected to bargain, and rum, Blue Mountain coffee and hot sauce to take home.

Puerto Plata's souvenirs are more tied to the place itself: amber from the mountains behind the town, larimar, which comes only from this island, and Dominican cigars. You can also browse the umbrella-hung street in the old town.

Ocho Rios is the dearer of the two, and you feel it as soon as you book. All-inclusives make up most of the accommodation and the good ones are priced accordingly, Dunn's River Falls and the other outings are charged at tourist rates, and because so much on the island is imported, even everyday purchases cost more. Eating at the jerk stands, using route taxis and sleeping up in the hills bring the bill down sharply, but a stay still ends up in the middle range.

Puerto Plata leaves more money in your pocket. Food, drink and transport aimed at locals cost little, and a package at Playa Dorada covers a lot for what you pay. The savings shrink if you rely on tourist taxis and excursions, eat in restaurants aimed at foreigners or buy imported goods, so how you get around and where you eat decide much of what you spend.

Neither has a theatre or concert season, and in both the shows most visitors see are put on by the resorts. The music sets them apart. Ocho Rios gives you live reggae, folk drumming and the occasional weekend dancehall stage show. Puerto Plata has merengue and bachata on street corners and weekend bands, plus a February carnival full of costumed devils.

Ocho Rios is the better place to properly switch off. Its upmarket hotels have spas in open-air pavilions on the cliffs and in gardens above the sea, and the routine is long mornings and hammocks. It is best to avoid the town on cruise days.

Puerto Plata has resort spas too, plus massages on the beach and a modest yoga scene in Cabarete brought by the surfers. Outside the resort walls, though, the town is loud with motorbikes and music.