We departed Tamarindo on February 26th after a five night stay and then made our way to Samara, another beach resort on the Nicoya peninsula. It was about a two hour drive and we arrived at 1:30 pm at our apartment that we rented in advance for the next three nights and we were happy we arrived when we did.
The place we rented was named Casa La Guaria, advertised as being a 6 minute walk/200 metres to the beach. The photos of course were very eye pleasing and the price was about $115 CAD per night. Most accommodation in and around Samara were sold out so this looked good, it was a whole apartment with a lovely terrace so we booked it.
Without going on and on about the place and it’s location suffice to say in our opinion it didn’t fit the Booking.com description and we really couldn’t stay there.
Fortunately the owner who we had met at the apartment was very reasonable and waived the 50% cancellation fee, charging us only $20 US for the cleaning service he brought in before our arrival. He also gave us the wifi password and exit lock code so we could sit in the shade on his property and try to find a place to stay in Samara. It was extremely hot and humid outside so we were grateful we could sit in the shade and try to find another place to stay with a better location.
We came across Blue Iguana. A hostel that also had private rooms with bathroom, included breakfast, had a pool and a bar, was close to the beach and cost $90 USD per night. We gave them a call and they held a room for us. We breathed a huge sigh of relief.
The Blue Iguana was a little run down. It was primarily a hostel style place with as mentioned, some rooms with private shower and bathroom. Our room had two beds, AC and a bathroom with shower and was well, quite basic and we’re guessing clean but didn’t really look very clean. Still overall it was kind of funky and we made it work for three nights.
Samara was not what we were expecting. We’re not sure why but we expected something similar to Tamarindo, a built up tourist destination but it was much smaller and laid back. This was a good thing however there also seemed to be many places that were permanently closed so drinking and dining options were limited although the places we did eat were excellent.
The beach in Samara was similar to Tamarindo in that when the tide is out there is a very large expanse of beach to walk to get to the water and the water is very shallow for quite far out. Because of this both Tamarindo and Samara are good places to learn to surf because the shallow water allows for small waves to form. The biggest difference though was the water in Tamarindo was clearer due to less sediment in the sand as compared to Samara.
We were getting restless so three nights and two days were plenty. We had a lot of sun and were looking forward to our last stop, Monteverde, before heading back to San Jose.