I also was told recently that the Dominican Republic is geographically as nice as Puerto Rico, but is down right dirt cheap.  For example; the person who went there for vacation procured a day long scuba trip, (which included the equipment, tranporation, food, and drinks) for a mere $7 US dollars.  The 5 star equivalent hotel he stayed at was $100 USD per night including all food and drinks.  Not to shabby for vacation, so I imagine full time living has got to be minimal.