Sosua is far and away the better choice. Try living in the DR without a supermarket!!! Plus we are getting a new big super modern market soon. Kinda like a small WalMart. Sosua has a beautiful beach located on a bay so that the water is clean and calm. Wonderful for swimming. Plus the beach has a line of shade trees so that you do not have to bake in the sun. Sosua is a small old town with winding streets and lots to do. Our new Mayor has made a number of very good changes. The town is clean, safe and growing with leaps and bounds and we have a new hospital right at the edge of town. We have our own International Airport located 10 minutes away. We are only 15 minutes from Cabarete which is a world class kite surf beach. We have three nice gyms if you want to exercise. The town is made of of many different nationalities and has an excellent school in Englsh with grades 1 to 12(Internatinal School Sosua) and its accredited so that you can go from there to an American college. Some of the nicest people I know live in Sosua. And best of all the North Coast very rarely gets hurricanes as they tend to go past the DR on the south side of the island and strike the capital and the south coast. We are not earthquake prone either. The last small equake was like in 1988 and it was not serious. Between the two its not a hard choice. Look forward to seeing you relaxing on our beautiful beach in Sosua.
To the OP:
Sosua is all those things, and more. It's a very pleasant town nestled into the middle of the North Coast. Two things, however:
First, and this cannot be overstated, Sosua has a notorious reputation as a sex tourism capital. The Mayor has tried her best to get stuff under control, but the prostitution trade is alive and well. The whole town isn't overrun by any means, but if you tell any Dominican (or half-savvy person back home) where you live, they'll wrinkle their nose and assume you're a monger, or a clueless tourist. I'll leave it to you to determine which is worse, or if you even care, but either way you should know.
Second, Sosua is a THIRD WORLD BEACH TOWN. It offers an abundance of sand, sun, sea, and small shops, but that's really about it. There's about 8 restaurants worth going to, some good golf courses, and other "beach touristy" things available. If that's what you want, and all you need, then you'll be fine. If you are into diverse shopping and cultural amenities, it's not the place for you. Forget art exhibits and concerts; there's no movie theatre.
Many people don't care about that, and enjoy watching their movies and Lady Gaga on HBO. Further, Santiago (which has all that stuff) is only about 1.5-2 hours away. But understand you are giving up a lot for the ability to go to the beach every day.
My advice would be to reconsider a town like Santiago or Santo Domingo, then go to the beach as often as it pleases you. Santiago is precisely as far from Sosua as Sosua is from Santiago, and it's helpful to remember that no part of the country is more than two hours away from a beach. You'll have a far better shot at integrating into society, doing some worthwhile work, and dramatically improved options for shopping, eating and other diversions. Oh, and Santiago (the whole Cibao Valley, actually) has much milder weather, and a cost of living that's a fraction of Sosua.