I haven't seen any posts from people who have rented a house in north AC. We will be five people, and the rates look quite reasonable. Anybody have any experience with this?

Tiki,
We just returned from San Pedro and stayed in a wonderful house on the beach just a little north of town, but south of the cut. It was Casa Caracol and we LOVED it! Phil and Marie were great hosts. The house was perfect for the 6 people in our party and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for this type of accomdation. It had 3 bedrooms and two full baths and full kitchen and living/dining area.
The price was right too. Check it out under the lodging section on the website.
If you need any more info on this, please let me know.
Khaki

I've done both - and loved it. We stayed just north of the hand ferry in a beautiful house on the beach. Check out www.cayemanagement.com. It's a great way to go if you want to have a lot of quite time, cook some meals on your own. Only drawback is getting to/from town. It wasn't a bad walk, but the ferry stops at 8pm, and we never did take a water taxi, though there certainly available. You'll enjoy whatever you do!

How are the beaches for swimming at these rental homes? Is there a lot of sea grass, coral etc.?

Just spent two weeks at Corona Del Mar, Woody's Wharf, just south of town. We rented an apartment directly on the beach and had a blast. Tours leave right from the dock, a nail tech will come to your room for manicure/pedicure, continental breakfast and complimentary punch with and without rum daily, great friendly staff. One drawback is the noise of construction next door at Coconuts but that can't last forever. We were able to walk to many great places and met terrific people. Looking forward to a return visit. Be sure to go cave tubing--it was the best of our many, varied adventures. We live in a coastal resort area and loved the casual, relaxed pace, along with the great fish.

We also rented a home North a year or two ago.
It was truly a beautiful home and fantastic setting!!!
It was called Paradise Palace and we did get a good deal on it.
HOWEVER, remember to ask questions...
if the pool is filled, if there are screens on the windows, if the AC is working if there are no screens, and if it's a real phone or radio phone that doesn't work. lol
Actually even if you ask (as we did) ya never really know till you get there... In our case the pool was not filled and working till 5 of 7, and only 2 ac's worked in the entire home. (the kids had to bunk together in a 5 br home)
Oh... and if ya see a tv in a picture on the web site, ask anyway. The tv table was bare...
This was a few months after the hurricane so maybe the owners of this home honestly believed all was well. I have no clue, they never returned an e-mail.
BUT... what a beautiful home!

I highly reccomend Brianna's Beach House. It is a beutiful house located in one of the nicest areas of the island. It is north of the center of town. No need to hassle with ferry or water taxi scheduled. Very affordable! Near to Papi's Dinner, one of the best restaurants on the island. Next to to Jumping frijoles bar!