Samara Beach is located on the Nicoya Peninsula along the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica.  The town is small with the main street leading straight to the beach.  Samara’s beach stretches for about 6 kilometers in length and 2 kilometers wide.  If you are looking for a long flat beach, Samara is the place.

Costa Rica Travel - Samara Beach

Costa Rica Travel

From the beach, you can easily view the small wooded island of Isla Chora, which includes a small sand beach.  The water is very calm during low tide, which creates the perfect opportunity for swimming and and relaxing.  During high tide, the scene changes as surfers arrive to ride the waves.  Several outfitters offer lessons and board rentals for $3USD per hour.

Costa Rica Travel - Samara Beach Isla Chora

Samara Hostels and Hotels

You can find several different types and levels of accommodation in Samara Beach.  For the budget conscious, consider camping on the beach at Camping Los Cocos, or if you are looking for a luxury getaway on what can be considered a resort free beach, check out the Samara Tree House.  Choose from six ocean front apartments with a pool and jacuzzi for up to $200USD.

Costa Rica Travel - Samara Beach Isla Chora

Getting to Samara Beach

Samara Beach is 4.5 hours from San Jose, 2.5 hours from Liberia and 45 minutes form Nicoya by car.  If traveling by bus, make your way to the Nicoya bus station where buses run every hour to Samara Beach. It’s sometimes a difficult road trip, but well worth it, to find undeveloped beaches during Costa Rica travel.

Costa Rica Travel - Samara Beach Boat Tour

Things to do in Samara Beach

During our visit to Samara, we practiced our surfing, ate lunch at a beach restaurant, hung out at the popular 2nd floor bar on the main street, and booked a boat tour with a local outfitter.  Our boat tour which was supposed to include fishing, snorkeling and dolphin watching, did not live up to our expectations at all.   We advise renting the kayaks and paddling yourself to the island of Chora on your own.   If you want to snorkel, bring along some gear. Be cautious of the guys selling daily boat tours. We discovered we basically were paying their gas money so them and their friends can go out fishing on our tour boat. A big sham.

Costa Rica Travel - Samara Beach

If you wake up early, walk north along the mainland beach where you will most likely see some horses near the water.

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