| Bed. Breakfast. Pool. Pacific sunsets. Palms. Parrots. Monkeys. That's what we do have. What we don't have may be even better. No nerve-wracking traffic. No neon. No television or air conditioners (you don't really need either one here.) An interesting part is the 15-mile stretch of dirt road you have to cover to get here. Once you get over that (pun intended) you can enjoy paradise. Our mission in designing, building and operating Slow M'ocean is to offer great vacations in clean accommodations, set amid spectacular natural beauty, blending the hospitalities of Costa Rica and my native South Carolina. I'm Greg Smith, the owner of Slow M'ocean. In my former working life in the United States I was first, for eight years, a journalist, working mostly as a weekly newspaper editor in South Carolina. Then, for more than 25 years I worked in the hospitality industry in Pawleys Island, SC, renting beach homes and condos to tourists. Slow M'ocean is now home for me and for Susan Loudenslager, who spent the biggest part of her working life as a REALTOR in Brentwood, Tennessee. Slow M'ocean is perched on a hillside, five hundred feet above the breakers of Playa Guiones (Guiones Beach). Besides our small personal residence, we have two bedrooms for guests, in a separate building, each with its own private bath, and each with a balcony, complete with rocking chairs, overlooking the Pacific. Slow M'ocean is for those visitors who want the best view they can find in Nosara. One bedroom has a queen bed and a single bed. The other has two queens. Each bedroom has a ceiling fan. A caveat: it is not a short walk (but only a five minute drive) to the beach from Slow M'ocean. Susan and I make the hour and a half, round-trip walk regularly, for exercise, but it's rigorous, especially coming back uphill. Your first big lodging decision in Nosara is whether to be close to the beach with not-so-great views, or to have a spectacular view and be not-so-close to the beach. Slow M'ocean is for those who choose the latter. You can email us at slowmocean@yahoo.com for details about renting. Or you can call me in Nosara from the U.S. at 011.506.682.0616. In the states, you can get in touch by calling 615.371.8106. There is a lot of nature-based stuff to do here. You can see lots of great pictures by checking out various sites on my "Great Links" page. The surfing, salt water fishing, turtle-watching and bird-watching are world class. There's also horseback riding, kayaking, several levels of hiking, snorkeling and exploring the secluded beaches. The Nosara Tennis Association has three hard courts for early morning and late afternoon matches and new players are highly sought after. Slow M'ocean guests can play for a small fee. E-mail me if you want to plan tennis. Dining out is great, with more than a dozen open air restaurants, and two bakeries. There is yoga at the widely known Nosara Yoga Institute. There are several massage therapists in the area, and Slow M'ocean has its own massage table so you can have a massage in your own room or on your own balcony. Highly underrated by most visitors, in our view, is the Nosara "slow m'ocean" lifestyle, simply sitting in a rocker with a good book, pondering, reflecting, and enjoying the great view, watching and listening to assorted creatures, taking an occasional dip in the pool, and a nap every once in a while. To paraphrase a line from Cider House Rules: "To be able to see a long distance occasionally is beneficially expansive for the soul." The view from the rocking chairs on Slow M'ocean's balconies is "soul beneficial" for us, and we hope, for you one day soon. Below are some of the comments from some of our previous guests. Come see us! |
