Please don’t go to Samara Beach…
Posted on 29. Apr, 2011 by jess in Central America, Costa Rica, Travel Tips
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Costa Rica may be a well established destination on the tourist trail, but the Nicoya Peninsula is still very much the country’s own Wild Wild West. Lucky for us, what started off as a transportation nightmare led us to discover our favorite beach on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast.
We had no plans to visit Samara Beach. Sure, it was suggested in the guidebooks like countless other Costa Rican beaches. However, despite naysayers’ warnings that efforts to traverse the entire peninsula by bus would prove futile, our plan was to get from Playa del Coco in the north down to the popular, once-isolated beach town of Montezuma on the very southern tip of the Nicoya. We pushed along all the way to the sleepy, scorchingly hot inland city of Nicoya, the peninsula’s namesake, before realizing, weary and dusty from an already long afternoon of bus travel, that there was indeed no way to get down to Montezuma without paying a private taxi $120 to make the remaining five-hour, tire-busting trip.
After chatting to several very helpful taxi drivers and a group of American language students on their way back to Samara after a trekking adventure, we spontaneously decided to join our fellow ‘gringos’. The next bus to Samara Beach left just thirty minutes later and arrived within an hour.
As soon as we arrived, we were enchanted by the beauty of the beach from the start. We basked in the late afternoon sun, admiring the tropical palm trees which line the miles of wide, white sand beach. The town itself is really only a collection of hotels and restaurants along one road perpendicular to the coast and a smattering of hotels and beach lounges on the beach.
Despite the well-developed tourism here, this beautiful beach location is noticeably absent of all-inclusive resorts, and the tourists here are different than the older retirees of Playa del Coco or aging hippies at Montezuma, populated instead by younger couples and smart travelers looking to escape all of that.
The area is certainly almost exclusively populated by tourists, ex-pats and locals working in tourism, but Samara Beach does not feel contrived the way that many Costa Rican destinations have now begun to feel. There are no chain hotels, no fast food restaurants, and no multi-story buildings. When you look back at the land from the water, the buildings peek out from amongst lush jungle and striking cliffs. The best thing about Samara is that the endless amount of sandy beaches always feels fairly empty, no matter how full the hotels actually are.
The ocean here is shallow, and the waves are present enough to learn to surf but unforgiving enough to enjoy a day splashing around in them, not the case in many locations up and down the Pacific coast from Mexico through Nicaragua (exception: San Juan del Sur). After a day in the waves, there are sunset beach lounges with mellow music, creative cocktails and international cuisine. The magical sunsets during our stay turned the sky various shades of purple and pink, causing a wall of bikini-clad amateur paparazzi to form, trying to capture the stunning scenery.
Even though there are quite a lot of international (mostly American) tourists, Samara Beach still manages to feel like an off-the-beaten-path location – which, of course, the town is not. Visitors here can surf, kayak, take a boat ride, book a sport-fishing trip, go diving, head inland to the jungle nearby for canopy tours, or rent a bicycle or hop on a horse and ride up and down the miles of deserted coastline. Samara even advertises itself as a key spot for destination weddings. The hotels remain reasonably priced, although budget accommodation in Samara Beach, as in Costa Rica in general, is harder to come by. We stayed at Casa Valeria, which Frommers calls the best budget option on the beach. The hotel has 9 stand alone beach bungalows for $50 and a pair of cheaper rooms for $30. The only hostel in town, Bryan’s Hostel, cost $16 per person per night in a dorm or $40 in a private room and includes a buffet breakfast.
Samara Beach is the Costa Rican vacation we really wanted, fulfilling perfectly the image still being sold in the travel brochures. The level of tourism here makes for the perfect peaceful escape – all of the organization you need and none of the banana-boat and disco clubs you don’t. The problem with Samara Beach is that it is at its tipping point, and while the balance is now is perfect, more tourists arriving each year might convert the place into another overly Americanized beach like Montezuma, Playa del Coco or Jaco Beach (lined with Quiznos and Pizza Huts).
This is why we beg you…please don’t go to Samara Beach. But if you do go, which you really should, please don’t tell anyone else about this perfect Costa Rican beach location.
Continue reading here for tips on other places we politely ask you not to visit (or at least not tell anyone else about)….
18 Responses to “Please don’t go to Samara Beach…”
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Erica
29. Apr, 2011
Sounds perfect! I totally [won't] go here. *ahem* But really, sounds amazing!
Erica recently posted..Fitting In – Guadalajara- Mexico
jess
30. Apr, 2011
Totally! Not to build it up too much or anything, but it’s as touristy as we can handle minus all the disappointing aspects of tourism, at least for now. You know, until too many people go there
At least spend local while you’re there, please please!
megan
30. Apr, 2011
Oh wow…sounds like a special place.
I was thinking of heading to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica (I’ve only got a couple of weeks when I’m there in a couple of months) but you may have changed my mind…but don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone
megan recently posted..A denim epiphany
jess
08. May, 2011
Hi Megan! The problem is that the Caribbean side is also gorgeous and really laid-back. We’ve got a post coming up this week on the Caribbean vs Manuel Antonio and about a ride up the Caribbean coast…might make your decision even harder
Pete | Hecktic Travels
30. Apr, 2011
Us too, we totally will (not) go here. Even though it looks and sounds amazing
Pete | Hecktic Travels recently posted..Coastlines of Uruguay – A Photo Essay
jess
30. Apr, 2011
Great Pete! Glad to hear you totally do (not) want to visit Samara Beach! We want to hear all about it if you do go, which, of course you should (not)…
Debbie Beardsley @ European Travelista
30. Apr, 2011
Oh boy, this beach sounds perfect! That hammock has my name all over it! Gorgeous. . .
jess
30. Apr, 2011
Hi Debbie – nope, Samara is terrible, run-down, totally not worth the trip at all (wink wink). The hammocks made us laaaaazy by the way
Anna
06. Feb, 2012
Hi, would you recommend having a small wedding ceremony in Samara beach? We were planning on Montezuma but want to see other options that might be better and closer to the airport. Any advice would be appreciated!!!
Thank you very much!
jess
06. Feb, 2012
Hi Anna, great question. We’d actually really recommend considering somewhere easier than Montezuma. The beaches are beautiful there, but it is quite difficult transport-wise, that’s true. We loved the privacy of Samara, and while more people opt for weddings in Jaco or Tamarindo beaches, Samara has all the right elements that would make a wedding magical. You can also fly in to Liberia airport (or San Jose) and drive over no problem. There is plenty of public transportation as well. Check out http://samarabeach.com/wedding.htm for a bit of basic wedding info! Good luck Anna, and of course, congratulations!
Anna
08. Feb, 2012
Thank you so much for response. I’m looking into Samara beach now. One more question regarding weather, do you think it will be very rainy in the second week of November?
Thank you so much!
jess
11. Feb, 2012
Hi Anna – happy to help. November on the Nicoya peninsula is the tail end of rainy season. I can’t 100% say for sure either way, but I know that at the tail end like that, there is usually a period every day when it rains. Not sure in this case if that is every night, each morning for an hour, etc, but that should be it. Most likely the rest of the day will be sunny and dry. You might want to contact the people who run the Samara Beach website and see if they know better, or just call one of the larger hotels and they should be able to tell you no problem the exact details on a November visit. Good luck!
Laura @Travelocafe
29. Apr, 2012
It looks like paradise. You would limit acces to paradise for us… I guess I understand why…
Laura @Travelocafe recently posted..The Botanical Garden from Valencia. Kitties and Flowers
Dani
29. Apr, 2012
Laura – Samara definitely felt like paradise! If you go, just don’t tell anyone
crazy sexy fun traveler
29. Apr, 2012
Looks so nice! If I get time, I will visit it
crazy sexy fun traveler recently posted..ROME GELATOS
jess
30. Apr, 2012
No don’t!
But if you do, definitely make sure to get some sunset shots – they are still some of the best sunset photos we have! So beautiful there!
Wanderplex
02. May, 2012
Thanks for sharing your secret!!!! It looks absolutely idyllic and it’s nice to see places like this that aren’t all built up with resorts and bars etc.
Wanderplex recently posted..Portable luggage scales are worth their weight in the fees you’ll save
Dani
03. May, 2012
Thank you
It was so idyllic – I really hope it stays that way and that Samara will never ever turn into a resort town!d