Hi KathyA
I stayed at Casa Tortuga this time last year. (I can't believe its been a year) The beach is more like a drop off with a couple of wooden steps leading into the water. Yes it is grassy and I didn't do any swimming there, but that was just my personal preference. However, I found the beach area at Casa Tortuga was great for lounging and star gazing at night. They have hammocks and beach chairs in addition to the hammocks up on the balcony. As far as beaches, I spent time walking up and down the shore and some properties did have better beaches (non-grassy)which we took advantage of in addition to properties that had pools. We took the water taxi out to Captain Morgan's Retreat and thought they had a nice beach area as well. The beaches in AC are not like, say Cancun. But, I have to say even though I am a beach person, I loved AC much much better than Cancun. We arranged trips with Carlos (he will visit you when you arrive) and did snorkel trips to hol chan(sp), shark ray alley (don't be afraid), caye calker (you must do) and a day trip to the ruins which includes a trip to maruba spa (get a massage). That being said, you will LOVE Casa Tortuga and Maria will feed you very very well (I didn't miss too many meals).