after reading the posts we do want a pool, we like staying in condo's, kitchen is nice. we saw a few people recommended the palms or the carribien villas. we like the look of both from their web sites, the deciding factor is who to dive with and where to stay based on that. the recomendation for the palms was to dive with ramon's next door, the person who stayed at carribean villas said they dove with amigo's del mar and they picked them up on the pier, does any one have a preference between the two, we are novice to imtermediate diveres weve been certified since 1990 but took a 6 year break until two years ago and have gone diving one week each year since. we want a friendly helpful crew with personal atention and a nice boat with easy exit/ rentry.

I'm not familiar with the Caribbean Villas but I didn't think that they had a pool just a hot tub.
Just as an aside, I want to make sure that you aren't getting Caribe Island and Caribbean Villas mixed up, are you?

I really like the Palms even though its pool is in the back courtyard. Certainly you could use Ramon's for your diving and it would be convenient but I still prefer Amigo's and they will pick you up anyway.

When you talk about ease of entry/exit on the boats, do you mean that you need a boat that doesn't require you to climb a ladder after your dives? By far, the majority of the dive boats in San Pedro are set up for backroll entry (I love that) but getting back into the boat requires a ladder.

I was looking at carribean villas, i guess I thought they had a pool and hot tub, that would make a difference. the dive company in Cabo we use was ironically also named amigos del mar they had a trimaran that had a step off the side and platform on back for enty, guess we got spoiled the web site for amigos shows an nice boat for the blue hole dive the pro 48, guess we'll just do what everyone else does and roll off the back for the local dives, thanks for the info.

The Pro 48 is like what you describe and that's what they use for the Blue Hole day trip and the other Atoll day trips. They don't use that boat for local dives.

By the way, you should use the search function (if you haven't already done so) and enter the names of the hotels that you are interested in. You will get any number of posts/threads come up to help give you more information.

Caribbean Villas has a dive arrangement with Amigos del Mar, ask CV about the special dive prices. AdM will pick you up at CV dock and return you there and store and clean any dive gear you own between each dive. Great divemasters with AdM - I think they would be sensitive to your concerns of large groups, recomend you ask them. CV does have an exclusive feel since it is small and has so much land, gardens and 300+ foot beach. It does not have a pool; it has 2 hot tubs. CV has an arrangement with a condo/hotel down the beach where you could use a pool - about a 5 minute beachwalk. Xanadu is just down from CV; they have a new beachside pool and a good dive shop next door - they are also a very nice, small resort. And the Palms is quite nice. Happy trip.

Please, do me a favor. If you want to pool, be sure to ask your prospective hotel the dimensions of it so you aren't disappointed. Once, my pet PRH was full so we had to go to Paradise Villas for part of the trip. It was a nice enough place and it has a nice enough pool, but I'm only 5'4" tall, and at the deep end, it just came up to my neck. And about five good crawl strokes, and you are at the end. From what I've seen and heard, most hotel pools on AC are that way. There may be others I'm not aware of, so those of you are, please enlighten us. But, do be sure to check on the size of your potential pool, or you may be sadly disappointed.

are you wanting to swim laps?

I think Banyan Bay has the largest pool on the island.

Caribbean Villas is a pretty place but right next to a municipal pier where the barge frequently makes noise all day or all night. Also, condos being built there,too, with construction noise all day. You might like some place a little quieter.
Lacy
Caribe Island

Hi Toad! Maybe not laps, but at least far enough to think you did something akin to swimming!