As others have said, there is no best dinghy as it depends on your
circumstances. But here is what we use and why:

Caribe 9X with 9.8 hp Nissan with flat pitch prop and Doel-Fin

We cruised the east coast and Bahamas last year and needed a dinghy that
could go reasonable far and fast and carry two adults, a 40 lb dog and some
groceries/laundry/etc. The above rig will do that and plane with all of the
load. It wouldn't plane with all of this stuff without the flat pitch prop
and Doel-Fin.

We carry the dinghy on aft davits so the short length is a plus. If this is
not an issue I would go up to 10 feet- it will plane easier. The Caribe is a
bit heavier than some but it is built tough- look at the heavy molded rub
rail for example. And it is hypalon which is essential for long term storage
in the sun. The X version indicates a double layer floor. The lighter RIBs
have no floor but we used one like this for a while and found that walking
on the sloped floor was difficult and the double layer floor was well worth
it. If I had to manually haul it up regularly I might go with the lighter
models, but on davits an extra 20 lbs or so is tolerable.

The Nissan is one of the lightest 10 hp outboards and has a bullet proof
reputation. I have also used the Yamaha 10 hp. It is much heavier but I
think is better built. I particularly liked the front mounted shifter.

David