Hoping for some help.

I'm looking at two options for staying somewhere from Nov-Jan.

We want somewhere in the Caribbean and these two are the front runners (Bahamas would be at Freeport).

We can get accommodation for $1000-$1500 a month on both, but for that price we can get twice the place on DR.

We love our beaches and are not partiers. Good internet is a must. We are budget conscious (in before "Don't go to the Caribbean then") so that will play a roll. We are worried about safety in DR. How do you get around (transport wise) in DR? We want to be somewhere that we can get to shops easily if need be. We are in our 30s.

Wanted some feedback from people who have been and/or lived.

Thanks in advance.

Tourist areas of DR are perfectly safe unless you try to buy drugs or do something equally stupid. Transportation is no problem, jump on the back of moto for 1$, will get you to shops or anywhere else you need. Cabs are available too if u are going >5 miles, cheaper than US but not real cheap as gas is expensive. Internet/power is the downside. For a short stay, finding a place with 24-hour power and reliable internet may not be possible. Even if the place has 24-hour power you may need to supply a UPS for the modem as it takes a second for the diesel generators to kick on and brownouts are daily.

who is "we"?

i hear nothing but great things about DR and nothing but touristy crap about bahamas, but my circle's priorities could be a bit different than yours.

Loosely planning on going to DR at somepoint in 2015 for a few months, will be following along as this 24 hour power supply thing seems interesting/bad.

I'm on a similar mission and really want to find some amazing islands that you could actually stay for longer than a couple weeks. Bocas del Toro and galapagos have been my favorites so far, but really interested in budget options in the carribean as well. Isla Margarita in Venezuela as well is one of those places everyone talks highly of. Zero of the problems and violence that mainland venezuela has from what I hear.

We've decided to probably do both

Starting with the Bahamas...

Thanks all for your input.

Hey guys,

can anyone give me an estimation of what we would get for a rentbudget of roughly 4k USD (3 people) in DR?

or Bahamas*