Sun and Sand for Two at Moody/Ogunquit Beach, Maine

We spent a terrific week in "Riptide II." It's half of a duplex, which was no problem as we never heard the family of three in Riptide I except when they were talking on their porch. This unit is on the second floor over a garage that stores life jackets and beach toys for guest use, so no noise from below. Because it's on the second floor it catches sea breezes. There are decks on two sides, with peekaboo views of the ocean from the east deck and a stunning view of a salt marsh from the west deck, as well as from the kitchen and bedroom. This also means you can be in sun or shade, whichever you prefer, by picking one deck or the other.

The furnishings are all top quality, and the kitchen had every type of pot, pan and utensil we needed. The LR couch and various types of chairs provided comfortable seating with adequate light, and we found the queen bed comfortable. There were a fairly new washer and dryer for either unit to share the use of.

The salt marsh is part of Rachel Carson wildlife refuge, and we did two canoe trips exploring the various channels, using the canoe that the owner provides. Because low tide is quite low, the best canoeing is in a 3 to 4 hour window around high tide.

Nearest beach access is just under 1/4 mile away, but for 1/2 to 1 hour either side of high tide you cannot leave the access point because houses abutting the beach own the beach to the high water mark. At other times you can walk easily north or south along the beach, staying below the high water mark. The beach is VERY wide at low tide, and you will never feel like you're in a crowd there. There is also access to a completely public section of beach about 3/4 of a mile to the south.

You can walk or bike quiet roads along the shore, about 1 mi. to the south and 3 mi. to the north. Biking anywhere else requires riding the wide but noisy shoulder of Hwy 1, not for the faint of heart.

We walked the beach 3 miles to the center of Ogunquit, twice. One of those times we came back the same way, the other time continued on to Marginal Way, a pedestrian walkway that goes a mile along a scenic rocky section of the shore to Perkins Cove, where there are lots of restaurants. You can get a trolley bus from there to a stop on Hwy 1 that is exactly 1 mile from Riptide.

With a great kitchen at Riptide and a terrific supermarket 3 miles away (reachable by bike w/o going on Hwy 1), we had few meals out, but there are plenty of places a short drive away.