Beachfront 1st Level Townhome Truly on the Sand, in a Gentle Bay.

We've just come back from a week here and have nothing but good things to say about Mel and the property. It was exactly what my family and I (we have three teenage boys) were looking for when we decided to come to Costa Rica. The property is exactly as you see in the pictures. It's not fancy or updated to any great extent, but when you spend all your time outside, it doesn't need to be. It is right on a beautiful, calm and peaceful beach, perfect for swimming, or just sitting in a hammock chair watching the day go by. A grocery store is 20 mins walk away, and numerous restaurants are even closer. (all walking the beach) Inside, the house has everything you need - comfortable beds, a/c and fans, as well as a well provisioned kitchen and plenty of space. We highly recommend the day bed at the back of the apartment for afternoon siestas. The breeze and the sound of the surf made that spot very popular. What makes this property really special tho is the local knowledge Mel has from his 30+ years of visiting and living in Costa Rica. We took full advantage of this, travelling with Mel to a different beach each day to enjoy surfing, snorkelling and swimming. He also gave our boys surfing lessons. He has relationships with locals who cooked us amazing meals, did a daily cleaning and laundry service and took us out multiple times on their boat for fishing and snorkelling expeditions. (all of these for a reasonable fee). Oh, and he also arranged airport transfers for us. It's worth noting too that we were quite happy to interact with Mel a great deal on our trip, but he's very conscious that this may not be for everyone, so he'll leave you in peace if that's more your thing. Overall, this was a great trip and we hope to be back some day.

I rented Palma del Mar for its access to the water, and it did not disappoint! After a long trip, it was great to be picked up at the airport by Mel and driven to the house. We arrived as dinner was being prepared by Uhira. It was delicious! We had made arrangements with Mel to be picked up and for dinner to be prepared the first night. The house is spacious and open. This time of year it is hot (90) during the day and cooler (75) at night. The bedrooms are air-conditioned, and fans are throughout the house. We turned on the bedroom acs late in the day to cool the bedrooms and turned the acs off at night but left the bedroom fans on at night. The mornings were lovely and cool. It was amazing to wake up and walk out the door across the lawn to the beach. The beach is quiet with a few walkers in the mornings. It is pretty quiet during the day too. You can walk to restaurants in either direction. The real reason we went to Palma del Mar was for fishing. Our boys are 12 & 14 and they love to fish! They were up by 5 am each morning to head to the beach to fish and they went back down the beach at night to fish under the lights. Cody made himself available. He took the boys out (for a fee) 4 times fishing! He made dinner one night for us including ceviche with fish he had speared. He got us lobsters one night. We were able to use his kayak. Mel has paddleboards, surfboards and boogie boards available too. Mel was helpful with so many things. We even spent a day with him on an adventure! We also rented a car for 2 days from a local car rental company. They dropped off the car at the house and picked it up! We went on some amazing adventures, but the highlight of our trip was relaxing and the boys going fishing on Cody's boat and from the beach. The house is close to so many things! Mel was kind and helpful- he has been visiting CR for 37 years! A gem of a host and we are so grateful to have shared his slice of heaven called "Palma del Mar'!

We had so much fun! The location could not have been better. We arranged for Mel to have us picked up from the air port. His home is very nice and spacious, with an open air atmosphere in the main rooms. Bedrooms had AC. We loved being right on the beach. We were so close to everything we could mostly walk where we wanted to go. Congo Trail zip lining was fun. We even hand-fed some baby monkeys there. Our favorite restaurant was Surf Box for breakfast and coffee. At Hemmingways we had great Ceviche and Pizza right on the beach! If I go back I will rent a golf cart though.

Our family of 5 just returned from a week long stay at Mel’s house. It’s in a beautiful location: a small cove that was not crowded at all (our girls truly were the only ones on the beach most days). The waves can get big but most of the time they are the perfect size for just bobbing/hanging out in the ocean. There is a shaded table on the beach that was a perfect spot for us to hang out and read/watch the kids. Owner/staff: Mel was incredibly helpful leading up to the trip. He happened to be in country while we were there, and was kind to show us around some of his favorite places. He has been living part-time in CR for many years, and it is clear that it holds his heart. Yahaira is the cook and housekeeper, and she was wonderful. We highly recommend asking her to prepare a traditional welcome dinner ($40 + groceries). We ate the arroz con pollo leftovers the entire week and they were so good. We paid Kody for a morning of fishing, and we all caught something with his helpful teaching. After fishing he took us to a cove where we could snorkel. That night he came over and cooked fish for dinner-it was wonderful. The house has belonged to Mel for 30+ years. It is simple and has not been updated recently, as mentioned in other reviews, but we were comfortable and the location is wonderful. The AC in bedrooms works great, and we slept well. The common areas have strong fans, so even though those areas were warm they were fine. Be aware that you will need to bring soap/shampoo/etc (this is posted on the listing). There is a large market about a 15 minute walk from the house, which was very helpful. Things to do: We did the basic zip line course at Congo Trail (short drive from the house) and it was great. We visited Conchal Beach (all sea shells)-highly recommend for a morning or afternoon. We took a trip to Tamarindo for lunch and some shopping, which was fun. We ate lunch one day at Pleamar, a restaurant that is a short walk down the beach from the house. Excellent ceviche and really good fried fish. We came to Costa Rica to disconnect and have some relaxed family time. This house helped make that possible. We are thankful for the hospitality of Mel, Yahaira, and Kody!