Puerto Plata, Sosua or Samana

Puerto Plata is both a large province with inland mountains and a large port town with a long Atlantic coastline with many differing beaches starting with Punta Rucia in the west and extending beyond Cabarete in the east. It has it's own international airport. There is a whole variety of secure and semi-secure accommodation to consider in the various parts and towns depending on your budget.

Sosua is a municipality of about 80,000 within Puerto Plata province and includes the towns of Sosua, Cabarete and Sabanete. It is home to a large anglophile community. There are all sorts of accommodation to suit ones budget in these towns. Sosua, whilst popular with expats has a mixed reputation and a quick google will tell you why. But then on the outskirts of the town is perhaps one of the upper end residential communities in the country, Sea Horse Ranch, which is home to some prominent families and politicians.

Samana is a province which covers the north eastern peninsula and most of the national park, Parque los Haitises. The province has a central mountain forested backbone with many fine beaches the best being along the Atlantic coast. It includes the towns of Las Terrenas, Las Galeras, Limon and Samana. It has it's own international airport which was opened with a growing tourism industry in the planning, but currently has limited international flights from Europe and Canada but not USA. There is a wide choice of semi and secure accommodation throughout the province which has become very popular as a second home base for wealthy Dominicans from the capital who drive up at weekends and holidays.

When it comes to crime statistics, these can be found online (OSC-IE  http://www.oscrd.gob.do/ ) in relation to crimes/accidents ongoing since 2011 including provincial breakdown.

The best advice is to plan a number of visits to the various parts of the country that interest you before making a permanent move. DR is a diverse country geographically, politically, economically, culturally and historically and whilst the majority of expats tend to be found in a limited number of locations, the coastline which appears what you seek, is large with many still untouched very beautiful beaches and big development potential for both traditional tourism and growing eco-tourism and infrastructure is improving year by year.