Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA
Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Thursday, January 6, 2011

San Clemente, Ecuador

I lived in San Clemente California, for a half-dozen years back in the 1980's. It is quite a treat now in the 2010's to visit another San Clemente - this one in Ecuador.  That's about where the similarities end.  San Clemente Ecuador is an undeveloped village where the residents for generations have taken to the sea in their small wooden boats to bring back the day's catch.  San Clemente California may have the glitz and the glamour, but San Clemente Ecuador has a beach that's wide and flat, people that are smiling and friendly, water that's warm as a bath, and an air temperature that rarely changes. I would bet that in some distant future this area, like much of the beautiful Ecuadoran coast, will see lots of growth.  There is already a gringo condo development half completed here.   And yes - that is corn lying out in the street, drying under the noon sun for some later meal either in a restaurant or family home.

  This is our beachfront hotel, Palmazul, an extraordinarily beautiful location, facility, and people.  What started as a two-day stay keeps stretching into another and another and another.........maybe we should just move in!

This is the view from our room.  It got so cold one night with the glass doors open, the surf thundering,  and the ocean breeze blowing that I almost had to put a sheet over me to sleep - but on second thought I didn't bother - maybe tomorrow night .............

Here's the beach from our hotel looking north.  Word has it that the two-house compound pictured is for sale.  Rumor is they want $170K total - pretty high prices in these parts.

At midday the boats are waiting above the high tide line for the next outing while the fishermen repair their nets in the shade.

Amy walking north during low tide.  I was surprised to see a 6 foot (2 meter) tidal variation.  Somehow I thought variation at the equator was much less. 

Happy gringa in paradise.


And after all that walking and sun and heat, the gringa must get her rest!  Hasta luego!

20 comments:

  1. Hey Joe, Great article! Did you buy a place in Ecuador? I bet you did! We are soon closing on a condo at Vistazul! I've never been to Ecuador so one would think I was a fool for buying a property in a foreign land without a firsthand look , but I think it's one of the best buys of my life! Maybe we can revisit this conversation over a beer in San Clemente one day!
    Mike Ladd Atlanta Ga 8/11/2012

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mike, How exciting for you! Congratulations! I wrote a few more blogs about the visit at this link:

      http://joesretirementblog.blogspot.com/search/label/san%20clemente

      Enjoy - hope to see you there someday. Joe

      Delete
  2. Hello Joe, my name is Anne-Marie.I now live in Florida, and I am contemplating going and live in Ecuador, preferably by the water. Is San Clemente a SAFE place to live? We just want a peaceful place with not much noise, just peace and tranquility. Could it be possible to rent a cute 2 bedroom/1 bath bungalow by the water and at a reasonable price for we are just living on SS ? Any info you can give me will be precious. Hopig o hear from you soon. Thanks in advance for your sound advice. ENJOY LIFE !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anne-Marie, My name is Judy. I could have written your article. My husband and I are living in Cape Coral, FL and we, too, are contemplating a move to Ecuador in the next year or two, preferably near a nice beach in a quiet, safe town. Looking for the same type of accommodations as well. Please let's keep in touch - maybe we can help each other through this together! We also have two small Chihuahuas, which makes it a little harder.

      Delete
  3. Anne-Marie, I didn't really stay long enough to be qualified to answer your safety question. I found San Clemente folks to be warm, friendly, helpful, and smiling. I had no problems. Here's a blog from an American who lives there now - see what she has to say: http://nanlevin.wordpress.com/

    Thanks for reading my blog, Joe

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes Anne Marie
    San Clemente and Manabi coastal towns are as safe as anywhere on the USA coast

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey Joe,
    Are you out of your mind....? You self aggrandizing, navel gazer. People I know who live in Ecuador hate the blogs and web-sites that promote more gringos moving in. The only result... increase in land/property values... local food and beverage costs increase... maybe the very indigenous folks who are friendly and make great neighbours (servants to you, perhaps)end up being negatively affected. Most intelligent people keep their mouth shut when they know about a good thing that will only be ruined because they needed to sound like a big shot. Seriously, don't let a great thing be ruined by tourists and venture capitalists looking for the next "big investment".
    P.S. Just returned from a fantastic visit to newly immigrated gringo family in Manabi....telling no-one about our intentions... as per the requests of most gringos who don't want their paradise ruined.


    Cheers, Will

    Enjoy the blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I lived in Ecuador for 12 years and still own land there. Who cares who knows. Nothing is a secret anymore where Ecuador is concerned. Why wouldn't you want other people to have information . . .this is not the 1970s when Ecuador really was a "secret".

      Delete
    2. Delena, Thanks for your comment.

      Delete
    3. Crazy comment you couldn't be more wrong, the locals love the tourism i also live in Manabi originally from Newcastle uk, what you find with the locals especially in the small fishing villages is that they have land to sell and maybe get a great deal, that they have been dreaming about for years,because expats can give them the cash that they need, you will also find that with that money they can pursue their own future in the big cities going to university buying other property etc, wake up man, the only problem an Ecuadorian has is if you try to change their culture,and talk about how better your own country is,learn respect and adapt to life and you will gain a lot of respect.

      Delete
    4. Thanks for commenting, si.

      Delete
  6. Will, Thanks for your comment. Great turn of a phrase, "self-aggrandizing, navel gazer." As you know from following it, the stated purpose of this blog is to capture, record, and share places and things of beauty and/or interest with friends and family around the world. San Clemente, when I visited 2 years ago, was a beautiful place with friendly people. I'm glad you enjoy the blog!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dear Joe
    Palmazul resort and future development is completed as of 2012. Looks great from the deck of a neighour. Here's to retirement... you actually don't live here in Ecuador...do you?

    Cheers again
    Will

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, I do not live there. I've been there only as a visitor. I've only spent time in Otavalo, Mindo, and San Clemente. Each of the three was a great experience - all very different from each other - but very enjoyable.

      Delete
  8. San Clemente is certainly a beautiful spot, and the growing Gringo community is a good thing for the risk-averse - one reasons why Quito and especially Cuenca are so popular. But all these blogs about living in Ecuador while providing extremely valuable insight into the reality of living here, without pretense, suffer from the Amazon syndrome of "people who bought this also bought this". The shortcoming is they tend to limit readers to only discovering the places already discovered.

    Quito and Cuenca are well documented, but information about the 100+ beaches in Ecuador is scarce and fragmented. For beach lover's like me and my family, finding concrete information about the beaches was the hardest part of our research. We are not retired, and we have a young child needing school. Where should we live? Can't handle an apartment, but don't want to live in the stixs. After several exploratory trips, we moved to Ecuador in 2013 and chose the Santa Elena peninsula for our home. Specifically a community called Capaes. Close enough to Salinas, but far enough for tranquility and privacy.

    The lack of information I encountered, prompted my mission to research and document every one of the beaches, hoping to lighten the load for others, and at the same time discover the full beauty of Ecuador's coastline for ourselves. Readers can find about 50 beaches documented so far, on my blog http://ecuadorbeaches.org. Hope this helps.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mark, Thanks for your comment - and sharing your mission about beach info.

      Delete
    2. Mark, I just finished reading a lengthy, scientific study regarding the tsunami risk for the Ecuadorian coast, and it's interesting that I came across your post. From what I interpreted from the report, the Santa Elena peninsula and the Gulf of Guayaquil, are at the least risk for tsunami, and if there was a tsunami, apparently the wave(s) would be a low to moderate size. Did you by chance research tsunami risk when choosing a coastal location in Ecuador?

      Delete
    3. Roberta, thanks for your comment. I don't know if Mark will see it though, as he has no direct way of knowing you wrote to him on this blog. (Nor do I have any way to contact him directly).

      Delete
  9. Just wondering if anyone is actually there now and has spoken to anyone from there since the earthquake last week? I am meeting with friends on Sunday to finalize a visit there this summer. We are concerned that our contact there has not been in touch.
    Ann

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ann, I am not in contact with anyone there nor have I seen any updates from a usually regular blogger: Living it Up in Ecuador.

      Delete