Samara - Information
Imagine a long white sandy beach with shallow gentle waters and a picturesque island in the bay. Welcome to Samara, the paradise in the Nicoya Peninsula Region. Samara is a charming beach town shaded by lush palm and fig trees that seem to flow into the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Bars, restaurants and various hotels dot the shoreline offering tours, surf lessons, and equipment rental for those wanting to enjoy the mostly mellow waters. Many beaches in Costa Rica have rip tides, but Samara is surrounded by a coral reef lining an outer perimeter making the waters ideal for swimming without fear of rip currents.
Things to Do
The main road is lined with seaside restaurants, bars and small businesses which lead right down to the main beach area. Your choices of accommodations is excellent with small boutique hotels to quaint bed and breakfast locations in and around the beaches and hills. Most of the accommodations give wonderful views of the bay area allowing those great breezes to reach you while relaxing in your room. A lively disco club is located on the beach giving an option for DJ music with larger crowds from the smaller beach bar venues.
Anything in - on - or under the water can be experienced in Samara easily. With the calm waters it makes a perfect location for beginners that have always wanted to take surf lessons, scuba diving or parasailing. .Sport fishing is excellent in this area, snorkeling the reef in the shallow waters of Matapalo, or taking a kayak over to Chora Island where you can see a variety of birds and explore the pink sand beach. A popular tour is to ride horseback to the Tobacco waterfalls and dip in the natural swimming pools. Scuba diving is also excellent and is a great place to see the marine life, even for beginners. A great day trip from Samara is to take the scenic route to Diria National Park and combine it with a picnic for sightseeing and adventurous trails or the closer Ostional National Refuge to the north of Samara. You can venture over to Playa Garza to spend the day fishing or have some fantastic fish cooked up at the little Soda Playa Garza next to the Century 21 office.
How to get to Samara
You can get to Samara by plane from San Jose with daily flights by Sansa. It is approximately 4 to 5 hours by car from the International Airport in Alajuela taking the Inter American Highway towards Puntarenas and then up over the Tempisque River Bridge. Buses run from the airport regularly to Samara taking 6 hours for arrival. If you are coming in from Nicoya there is a well paved road all the way into Samara and easily marked for destinations.
Photo Credit: [David de Lossy] supplied by [photodisc] / thinkstock, School of Glassfish and Scuba Diver supplied by [istockphoto] / thinkstock
