ok I've narrowed it down to
Portofino resort..because they have free water taxi to town during the day and free use of water sports and the place looks cool on the web site.
or
Sundiver...because it looks fun and a bit of a ways from town which I like
or
Banana Beach...because it's cheap in oct.

1st time vistors..any input would be nice..ok to email me private if you want
Thanks Honey
oh staying at Capricorn seemed nice too :rolleyes:

You are about to be inundated with BB recommendations. Because it is your first time, you will probably find it more condusive to an intiial sampling of AC...but only because the other three are North.....unless you want more remoteness...

As a firsttimer just last week, I can see the advantages and disadvantages to being close to town. Depends on your preferences. I loved Belizean Shores. Full kitchen that we had Simon stock for us before arrival, the best pool on the island, and we still got to town free a couple of times because we got to know the folks making frequent trips we could crash. Have fun!!

I'm in the 'stay close to town' camp. In fact, I don't even want to stay as far south as Banana Beach. I just like being close to things. If you want to try lots of restaurants, hang at lots of different bars and go out at night, stay south of the cut.

I'm also in favor of staying close to town--just ret'd from my 1st *BUT NOT LAST* trip to AC and loved The Palms. Close enough to everything, but quite enough when I wanted a nap.

Question for the exp'd BB-ers re: weather north of the cut. One person I met said she didn't bother coming in to SP one day because it was pouring down rain where she was. It was sunny and beautiful where we were. Is that normal for storms in the area?

Showers usually come in with a defined squall and that means it may be nice and sunny in one place and a mile away it can be pouring rain. It's usually fronts that bring continuous rain over a larger area.