CHARMING SWANS ISLAND HOME WITH SPECTACULAR OCEAN VIEW!

My wife and 5 children had a wonderful mini vacation at this property. The views from the upstairs bedrooms were simply outstanding and we all fell asleep to the moon over the ocean which could be seen right outside the windows. The house was well equipped and the owners were very nice and followed up with us frequently prior to our visit. Swans Island is a great place to go escape. We loved the local library and the views from the lighthouse were also outstanding.

Owen and Lucy

My wife and I spent our honeymoon at this property on Swans island during August of 2010.

Pros:
-Very charming, clean, well-maintained property. Private, wooded location.
-Bedrooms are spacious with clean, comfortable beds.
-Incredible view from the deck and bedrooms. Beautiful sunrises.
-Well appointed kitchen with grill and gas boiler (perfect for lobster) on the deck.
-Price. Even during the high season, the price of the property is VERY reasonable. And given the sleeping capacity, could be downright cheap for 2-3 couples.

Con:
-Information. I was forced to place multiple calls to the realtor/representative's office just to get the street address and driving directions to the property. Much of the information about the property is in a series of handwritten notes on the refrigerator. It would have been nice to get most of this information before arriving, or at the very least, compiled into a couple of printed pages. Example: Renters are supposed to remove their own garbage, but that would only be apparent if someone read all of the info on the multiple notes. We ended up having to move our garbage, as well the previous occupants' to the dump at the end of our stay.
-Beach. Or lack thereof. The oceanfront portion of the property is a seawall built of large round stones. They are pretty to look at, but treacherous to walk on. It was frustrating to have such a nice view, but no way to enjoy the ocean from the property itself. There are nice beaches within a 15 minutes drive.
-Damp basement. Even with two dehumidifiers running, the basement smelled very musty. We slept upstairs, but would have had a tough time in the basement bedrooms.
-The pond. The yard between the cottage and the seawall has been thoroughly dug up to put in a pond. While I am sure this will be an attractive feature in the future, it is a work in progress and is not represented in any of the photos of the property.

Tips:
-Make ferry reservations 1 month in advance. While the island ferry can accommodate up to 16 vehicles, reservations are allowed for only 4 cars per trip. Reservations make the process MUCH less stressful.
-Bring absolutely all food and drink you will need for your stay. The only exception is fresh seafood, which is cheap and plentiful on the island.
-We found cell phone coverage at the cottage pretty weak. But the signal improves dramatically closer to the ferry terminal.