They have some nice very tropical silk palms not real and thornless you could use. I have 2 at home they are pygmy date palms. Maintenence free :)

Thanks for the suggestion. At this point we're favoring live plants on the island though. The pool builder says he has a plan for how to get proper drainage and irrigation to the island, so my options are pretty open.

Are there any mid-size palms I should be considering besides the Pygmy Date? (I'm in an easy-growing area near San Diego coastal).

You might be interested in genus Arenga, like A.australasica, A.wightii or Ravenea glauca, Ravenea musicalis, Ravenea moorei. They all don't grow tall, like moist or soggy soil and look/are tropical.

Why not some banana plants?,they are not palms but I think they fit your needs

I think a king palm would look great !

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.junglemusic.net/palms/index.htm

Cat palm,loves the moisture,and should stay under 6ft!

Wow, what a great list!

I'm looking forward to researching all of these (before visiting some local nurseries). I just found a palm specialty nursery locally, so this should be fun :-)

Maybe you should go with a giant white bird of paradise instead. I think they look real cool when they get tall and arch outwards. They're sort of palm-like. And they're kid friendly. You can plant palms further away from the pool .

King palms could work well, and butterfly palms will also be a great addition. As the king palms grow the butterfly palms would make a great understory palm. Also you can put some bromelaids as a nice tropical gorundcover, or you can even mount some on the trees.

I think a King Palm would be great. Foxtail Palm or Fishtail Palm are nice too.

I would say Adonida ( Christams palm) grows max about 25-30 ft. Hyophorpe Bottle or Spindle. Pigmy Date Palm. Ptychsperma Elegans. Just a few that don't grow too tall.

Here's a pool in So Cal with Cycads adorning it... pretty nice.

Thats a very nice pool. Im going to guess that those cycads are Dioon Spinulosum.
-Alex

What's that tall palm in the background?

two cycads.. one spinulosum,one Encephalartos altensteinii. The palms in the background from left to right are Trachycarpus fortunei, Syagrus romanzoffiana, 2 ARchontophoenix alexandraes (just two fronds visible), Rhapis humilis and Phoenix roebellenii.