For October. My DH wants to stay at an AI. I DON'T want to got to Dominican as I don't want to spend ALL my time in the resort. Live in PA, so would be able to fly out of Phila or Newark.
Suggestions?

Playa del Carmen has some nice AI's and there are plenty of day excursions to see Mayan ruins in Tulum, snorkeling, and the town is fun to walk around in.

I too would recommend Mexico's Riviera Maya area. We stayed at the Iberostar Paraiso Del Mar and loved it.

By the way...we also flew out of Phila. Booked with Apple Vacations.

My friends went to Excellence in Punta Cana last October. They had the same mixed feelings of not sure they wanted to go to the DR. They LOVED it! They said everything was amazing...food, activities, etc.

I also went to Secrets Excellence (it is now just called Excellence) in Punta Cana and loved it. However, there is much more to do OFF the resort in Mexico.

There are so many great resorts in Playa. We are staying at the Royal Playa del Carmen. great prices on bookit.com. I'd actually start there and check resorts available at good prices on Tripadvisor. You can get great deals out of Phila on flights with USA3000 as well as they have vacation packages.

Dollar for dollar you get more for your $$ and better service in the D.R. than Mexico, i.e. Cancun or PDC. We paid more in off season to go the Paraiso than we did go go IN season to the D.R. and had better service, food and attitude. Our favorite resort is Sunscape Casa de Mar in La Romana and you can book it through Apple

Thanks for the input. I'll check out Playa del Carmen, and maybe take a look at Dominican after all.
Keep the suggestions coming!

I agree with Playa del Carmen. We are also staying at the Royal Playa del Carmen in September. Our 2nd trip to that area.

We just returned from Cozumel on a cruise and we got a lot of bang for our buck there. That was our 3rd trip to Cozumel.

I've been to the DR once on a cruise and wouldn't return for a land vacation. You indicated you didn't want to spend all your time at the resort. Go to Trip Advisor and read the reviews. The reason they make the resorts in DR with so much to do is because leaving the resort, unless on a sponsored tour, is not recommended.

There is plenty of things to see and do in Playa. The Royal Playa del Carmen is within walking distance to 5th Avenue were the bars, resturants, and shops are located. It is considered a safe area.

This response is likely too late for gillybrit, but will hopefully help others who search for similar info.

I fully agree that PDC and Akumal on the Mayan Riviera have more wonderful off-site activities than you could ever hope to fit in a week. But we still really enjoyed our stay in DR at Sunscape Casa del Mar. We liked walking east of the resort along the beach to visit the vendors and watch the local children play in the water at La Romana. As with elsewhere in DR, the vendors can be a bit pushy, but once we really started talking with them, we didn't feel uncomfortable. We had fun giving away baseball caps and t-shirts to the local children, but learned that two of the more needed items in DR are pencils and pens. Grab a bunch at your local dollar store before heading down. For a small contribution, you can give folks something they really need and benefit from a nice ice breaker that lets you start a conversation. (Leaving the resort is nothing unless you actually talk to people, right?)

We also hired a cab driver to drive us around for the better part of a day for $50. He had a handgun between the two front seats, which scared us a bit. Again, once we talked with him and gave him a baseball hat (this one hand-decorated by me cuz I'm a dork), he showed us a picture of his four-year-old daughter who has a hare lip and told us how much she'd love the gift.

I rarely see any posts about Club Med. Are those resorts not considered a good value? Thanks!

I also say look at the Royal Playa del Carmen. The town is wonderful with character and charm. It is so safe...people are friendly. The Royal is a great value for the money. You get top shelf drinks if you ask and the food is great. The resort is very nice and rooms are beautiful. It should be a quick easy flight to Cancun on USA 3000 from Phila. The resort is accross the street from the town, so you can walk everywhere. You can also walk to the ferry dock to go over to Cozumel for a day. It's a great trip. We thought we would see ruins,etc, but we really enjoyed the beach and just going out into town at night to rooftop lounges, bars. We loved it and are planning to return in the spring again. One of the most fun carribean/mexico trips I've had and there are many.