Rita's and Steve's house is beautiful and worked well for our family of 5. The location was great, being a 10-min drive from Hopkins Village and a 2-min drive from Sitee River Marina. The people of Hopkins Village were friendly, kind and welcoming to our family. The owners and their property manager, Janette, were very helpful and always reachable by email for questions or advice on local attractions. The only problem we had with our stay at Shallow Bay was the condition of the beach, which was overwhelmed by Sargassum seaweed during our stay and was not usable. This changed the character of our trip significantly, as we were unable to use the beach and opted to take day trips to less impacted areas. This issue is effecting the entire region (not local) and is worth researching when planning a trip.