The Sony TX10 looks like it could be fun since it's supposed to be waterproof. I hope the batteries aren't all spicy pillows and the cameras work.
However, if you want to get an Interchangeable Lens camera on the cheap, check out the Sony NEX series. I got one for about $100 and old manual lenses (sometimes with adapters) are pretty cheap. You can get decent images and usable video with nice background blur (bokeh), editable RAW files and JPEGs with automatic processing and be able to move to more modern cameras since E Mount cameras are still being released.