ultimately Eds, it comes down to how much you want to spend, how big (heavy) a camera you want to carry, not to mention worry about.
There are tons of smallish pt and shoots, some with reasonable zooms, some with more, some waterproof as mentioned.
Personally, I prefer a pt and shoot rather than a dslr or even a 2/3rds, more from the size and weight factor, but am realistic about the limitations of a pt and shoot vs a nicer camera.
I also prefer to have a not particularly expensive camera simply because I dont worry about it overly. Dont get me wrong, Im careful with it, but I dont worry about being held up or a worst case scenario situation happening.

there certainly isnt any clear answer here