OK Board, need your help....
 

Have been to Playa in Mexico for three straight years. Love it there. BUT, for next year, we want a change, see something different and have narrowed it down to Punta Cana and Aruba.

Thoughts?

People who have been to both or t one or the other, can you give me some feedback.

Mark

mark: I have been to Aruba.I could give you more advice if you can tell me what you are looking for in a vacation.:)

Basically if you are the type of vacationer that likes to lay on a nice beach and go to casinos...Aruba could be the place for you.Also if you like places that are Americanized.

If you want beautiful scenery,lushness,culture,alot of sites to see,snorkeling Aruba would not be the place to go.It is a very flat, dry island which would be good for the vacationer that likes to lounge around and not do much exploring.

I've been to Punta Cana twice, and once to La Romana (about two hours east of PC). I recently visited Aruba (along with Bonaire and Curacao). I would choose Punta Cana over Aruba any day. I don't want to offend anyone (because so many people feel that Aruba is the be-all/end-all), but I thought that Aruba was very Americanized, very commercial, very crowded, and very expensive as compared to PC. One of the benefits of Aruba, however, is that you can visit other hotels, beaches, and restaurants. PC is primarily all-inclusives where you will rarely have reason to leave the resort. If you liked Playa del Carmen (I've been there three times), I think you will like Punta Cana. There are lots of great deals to the Dominican Republic (similarly priced as the great deals to PDC), whereas there are no deals to Aruba. I particularly liked the Iberostar chain in PC, but did not care for the Allegro chain there (now owned by Occidental). I'm a real fan of Iberostars because they are a good value for your money. Besides the one in PC, I have stayed at them in La Romana (Hacienda Dominicus) and Playa del Carmen (Paraiso del Mar).

Thanks for the replies! I greatly appreciate it

your welcome mark..let us know where you end up going.:)

fluffnfold,
I don't mean to hijack this thread, but can you tell me about the Iberostar Paraisio Del Mar? I'm thinking of going there this December.

IB Del Mar is a huge resort. Lot of walking, but with all the food and drink possible, that was cool with us. Food is great, they have 4 specialty and one large buffet for dinner. The buffets are themed each night. Two lunch beuffets are open, one by the beach and one in main buffet restaurant. They have also recently added a small lunch buffet (hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, pork, etc...) behind the beach bar ont he beach.

Grounds are breathtaking and maintaine dbetter than any ground sI have seen, even int he US. These Mexican workers work hard and you see them working on grounds 24/7.

Pool is the largest I have ever seen. It is incredible. Three pool bars.

Beach has suffered some erosion but is still an awesome beach with crsytal turqoise water.

Been there twice. I would answer question you have. There are two major sites out there as well that carry a host of pictures. One off the top of my head is www.iberoistar.info.