we will be traveling with a 4 year old and 7 year old and are trying to plan a feb/mar trip to the dominican. we think we will start our trip in santo domingo, rent a car, and stay in either las terrenas (playa bonita) or las galeras. we like calm waters, little wind, and little AI's as well as a taste of dominican life. we are also interested in snorkeling, seeing whales, visiting playa rincon, and visiting the waterfall in limon.
we have a few concerns/questions that i am hoping someone who has been to these areas can help us with. a/c or no a/c? i have read some complaints that without air conditioning linens, furniture, etc. may be damp and musty. will it be too hot not to have a/c?
is it safe to drive there and how bad are the roads? for example, is it possible to get from las terrenas to las galeras easily in a car?
is one destination better to stay in? in terms of beauty, safety, mosquitos, cleanliness, etc?
we would like to stay on the beach, but i have seen in a posted video that it appears that the roads are very close to the beaches. would we be sitting on the beach with traffic passing close by?
has anyone stayed at the coyamar in las terrenas? or sol azul in las galeras? is there a place that someone may recommend that is charming, near/on beach, with pool and in the $100 per night range?
thanks for your help!

As far as safety I've determined Las Galeras is a bit safer than Las Terrenas. There are some really sweet hotels to stay in Las Galeras, we loved the area, very lush , mountainous & beautiful.

http://www.hotelballenasescondidas.com/

For the whales.....you can see them from your hotel!

http://www.infolasgaleras.com/indexenht.html

Great site for Las Galeras.

PS Sol Azul looks great, nice to have the little pool for the children, Todo Blanco also sweet, no pool though.

My friend and I stayed at Palapa Beach Hotel for 3-4 nights in February and absolutely loved it. The hotel is right across the street from the beach. (You are right that the road passes near the beach. This wasn't a deal breaker for us, but if safety is an issue with the children you might want to take that into account.There are usually some shrubs separating the beach from the road.) The hotel includes a private pool and beautiful palapa thatched huts. The restaurant/bar is wonderful. Breakfast is included. You have your choice of 3 different selections. We got the fresh baguette and eggs cooked to order every morning before walking across the street to the beach. For other restaurants you can walk down the road or beach into town.
As for whale watching, make sure it is the right season. They are only there for a couple months out of the year. I think January-March. Check the tour place's policy about refunds if you don't see anything. Sightings are not guaranteed. So be prepared. The beaches in this area are absolutely beautiful and we appreciated that there were not high-rise buildings all over. There are several different beaches in the area-some harder to get to and more secluded than others.

They have completed the expressway to Santo Domingo which would make that part of your trip much smoother.

The waterfall in Limon is beautiful. We did the first part of the mountain on horseback and then hiked back down to the waterfall. Be sure to swim through the falls as there is a cool little cave behind it.