Active Pursuits

Beaches

Palmas del Mar Resort has 3 exceptional miles (4.8km) of white sand beaches (all open to the public). Nonguests must park at the hotel parking ($2 per hour), and there are showers and bathrooms near the beach. The waters here can get rough in winter but are generally calm, and there's a watersports center and marina.

Fishing

Some of the best year-round fishing in the Caribbean is found in the waters just off Palmas del Mar. Capt. Bill Burleson, based in Humacao (tel. 787/850-7442), operates charters on his customized, 46-foot sport-fisherman, Karolette, which is electronically equipped for successful fishing. Burleson prefers to take fishing groups to Grappler Banks, 18 nautical miles (33m) away, which lie in the migratory paths of wahoo, tuna, and marlin. A maximum of six people are taken out, costing $800 for 4 1/2 hours, $960 for 6 hours, or $1,280 for 8 hours. Burleson also offers snorkeling charter expeditions starting at $640 for up to 6 persons.

Golf

Few other real-estate developments in the Caribbean devote as much attention and publicity to their golf facilities as the Palmas del Mar Country Club (tel. 787/285-2256). Today, both the older course, the Gary Player-designed Palm course, and the newer course, the Reese Jones-designed Flamboyant course, have pars of 72 and layouts of around 2,250 yards (2,057m) each. Crack golfers consider holes 11 to 15 of the Palm course among the toughest five successive holes in the Caribbean. The pro shop that services both courses is open daily from 6:30am to 6pm. To play the course costs $85 for guests of Villas at Palmas of Four Points by Sheraton or $100 for nonguests.

Hiking

Palmas del Mar's land is an attraction in its own right. Here you'll find more than 6 miles (9.7km) of Caribbean ocean frontage -- 3 1/2 miles (5.6km) of sandy beach amid rocky cliffs and promontories. Large tracts of the 2,700-acre (1,092-hectare) property have harbored sugar and coconut plantations over the years, and a wet tropical forest preserve with giant ferns, orchids, and hanging vines covers about 70 acres (28 hectares) near the resort's geographic center.

Scuba Diving & Snorkeling

Some of the best dives in Puerto Rico are right off the eastern coast. Two dozen dive sites south of Fajardo are within a 5-mile (8km) radius offshore.

Set adjacent to a collection of boutiques, bars, and restaurants at the edge of Palmas del Mar's harbor, Palmas Dive Center, Anchors Village, 110 Harbor Dr. (tel. 787/863-3483), owns a 44-foot-long dive boat with a 16-foot (4.9m) beam to make it stable in rough seas. They offer both morning and afternoon sessions of two-tank dives (for experienced and certified divers only), priced at $99 each. Half-day snorkeling trips, priced at $60 per participant and departing for both morning and afternoon sessions, go whenever there's demand to the fauna-rich reefs that encircle Monkey Island, an offshore uninhabited cay.

Tennis

The Tennis Center at Palmas del Mar (tel. 787/852-6000, ext. 51), the largest in Puerto Rico, features 13 hard courts, two Omni courts, and four clay courts, open to resort guests and nonguests. Fees for guests are $20 per hour during the day and $25 per hour at night. Fees for nonguests are $25 per hour during the day and $33 per hour at night. Within the resort's tennis compound is a fitness center, which has the best-equipped gym in the region; it's open Monday to Friday 6am to 9pm, and Saturday and Sunday 6am to 8pm.