The weather was neither hot nor cold. It was perfect. We were there the last week in Jan. and the 1st week of Feb. The locals were unbelievably warm and friendly to us. My husband also speaks fluent Spanish so that helped us with communicating. We stayed in an "all inclusive" resort but left the resort grounds several times to get a little taste of what the town and people are like. I highly recommend scoping out local eateries outside of resorts to eat some delicious local food from small family owned restaraunts. The beaches all around Punta Cana were phoenominal. Clean sand and teal blue water with nice size waves to surf. We enjoyed a snorkeling trip where we swam with nurse sharks and sting rays.