check out www.vrbo.com or www.homeaway.com Loads of places to rent all over DR and good prices as well.

Thanks. What place would you recommend for rent in, to be closer to good snorkelling places and side trips (like nightly fishing excursions) ? Is it true that Dominicana is not a very good place for snorkelling ?

There are very few bungalow type places to stay near Punta Cana, which is just a resort area that was built out of the jungle. What predominates there are large all-inclusive resorts, and you just aren't going to find what you want, either from VRBO or Homaway or anything else.

There are two places in the DR you could look, and both have a healthy contingent of budget travelers. There are loads of simple places to stay in the Samana Peninsula, and we recommend some of them on this site (closest airport is Samana, which is served only by JetBlue). There are also some great places in and around the North Coast (airport Puerto Plata, which is served by several airlines). THere's a place in Cabarete called Natura Cabanas that might be right up your alley.

In terms of snorkeling, I think this isn't the best place. There are some good spots, but not that many, and most are on the southeast coast. The North Coast faces the Atlantic and is great for windsurfing. So my recommendation is to look in Samana and forget Punta Cana. You may need to rent a car, however, and that's expensive.

Thanks Doug_Stallings. Something tells me that, aside from the car rent being expensive, driving a car in Dominicana may not be fun at all
So may be we should look to some other places - may be Maldives ? We are looking for beaches that are not crowded, good snorkeling opportunities close to where we live, some side activities like fishing and kayaking, and private, secluded lodging.

Punta Cana is a man-made artificially "built" resort area with a bunch of resorts. I think for trying to rent a house you'd look to Sosua or Puerto Plata instead. We did this in Sosua but it was a long time ago so not really applicable except for the general idea.

I'm just not that big a fan of the DR so can't really get excited recommending it to people.

Sure, I guess you can look in the Maldives, but that would increase your costs by a factor of 10. And unless you live in New Delhi, they aren't anywhere near where you live.

There are many places in the Caribbean or Mexico that would do quite nicely for you, including a small house rental in St. Barth in the off-season, any number of places in the US and British Virgin Islands, some places in Jamaica around Port Antonio especially, and the Turks & Caicos or any of the Bahamas Out Islands. You could also go to Panama, where there are loads of places exactly as you describe.

Just not Punta Cana, perhaps the least suited place in the entire world for what you're looking for.

I'd look at the Caribbean coast of Mexico. Flying into Cancun then heading south, Playa del Carmen, Akumal, and Tulum.

I strongly agree with Doug's last sentence!

I think the hut or bungalow on a beach thing isn't all so common anymore in the Caribbean because that's really expensive real estate there.

In addition to Mexico which I've already mentioned, I'd more look to places like Central America (Belize, Roatan, Panama,etc.) or possibly Thailand or Indonesia?

Thanks for your suggestions ! I briefly checked Maldives, and, along with rates like $1000 pppn, there are some rooms on small islands on the order of $150 pppn (or $200 with all inclusive). Are they real, or these rooms will be lacking something very substantial ?

Since the Maldives aren't in the Caribbean, you might want to start a new thread with that question?

Those rates may be real, but I don't know anything about these resorts. Just realize that it's going to cost you at least $1500 per person and 24 hours of travel just to get to the Maldives since they are on the other side of the world.

If you dislike crowds and expense consider going outside the touristy areas. I like the Barahona area and a little South. Everything is slower and cheaper but not in a bad way. There are some resorts around but less of the bad side associated with the large tourist area.
This is my opinion and not meant to disrespect anybody who promotes tourism in Punta Cana.

I am looking for a quiet place with a good home reef for snorkeling. Apparently DR is not a good place in terms of snorkeling, AFA I understand. A few folks mentioned Cozumel, but I am a bit afraid of Mexico as it has a pretty bad reputation in terms of Montezuma Revenge