posted by Travel Cat on May 28
Samara Beach Vacation Details:
This is the beach resort to come to if you want sunshine, a long sandy beach and hardly any other people in your way.
We arrived in the afternoon at our Hotel - The Belvedere - after having to speak French to a passer-by to get directions……. It was lovely. Apart from the hotel booking us into the wrong room, it was everything we wanted.
The room was spacious and clean, the pool was right outside our room in some lovely gardens, the location was peaceful and not surrounded by any other buildings. Unlike Monteverde - the shower was powerful and actually had hot water!
The town itself is quite small, with the main shops and restaurants being down one short road which ends at the beach - and what a beach! The sand isn’t pristine white, but is soft and warm none-the-less - and goes on for miles. The waves are gentle but big, and the whole area is calm.
What To Do:
There are a few surf schools here, and one was reviewed in the Times Travel Magazine while we were there! But this is really a beginners beach so it was more ‘in the water’ for the people here than actually on the surfboard!
Suprisingly there were a lot a ’surf dogs’ here, who would play in the waves and on the beaches all day - some would even actively try to leap onto surfers boards as they came into shore! There was also a magical moment where 3 horses were playing around on the beach, dashing in and out of the spray.
A horse was also involved in my weirdest moment there, when after eating our giant pastas at the Pizza and Pasta a go-go restaurant one evening - a lone white horse trotted slowly past in the dark. Everyone stopped eating, and was compelled to watch this almost eerie moment in time.
It can get very hot here during the day, so don’t expect to do much walking about unless you don’t mind getting very sweaty. I’m not normally one to perspire on a short 20 minute walk - but here there is no escaping it! No word of a lie - nearly everyone I saw that wasn’t walking somewhere or surfing was sitting in the shade - even all along the beach in their bikini’s - in the shade.
Eating and Drinking:
Shake Joe’s is certainly the place to eat and drink on the beach with it’s giant sofa’s, great music and friendly staff, and with such a great view - you could easily while away an hour or so here, just relaxing.
It’s also a bit too relaxing at night when ordering a nice meal in one of the many restaurants in town. It seems as though there is no hurry at all to get your meal to you - with at least 15 minutes wait from ordering, and even a good 5 minutes wait for any additional drinks.
Our meals arrived one time, just after I had finished my tasty banana smoothie so I ordered another. After finishing our meals and having asked for the bill - the second drink turned up - then it took another 5 minutes to actually get the bill!!!! Only the Soda restaurants had a prompt service - and great prices on fish and meat dishes…….
Any Wildlife Here?
Yes, quite a lot actually. We saw Ctenasaurs (black iguanas up to a metre in length full size) running around the place at every turn, howler monkeys round the back of our hotel on several days, giant rust-coloured squirrels and a whole host of pretty birds in every bush. We saw many wall lizards, anoles and geckos - as well as a grumpy cane toad!
On the beach there are tiny see-through crabs and larger red crabs along the shoreline at low tide, black vultures, giant frigate birds and plenty of waders.
A whole host of butterflys, moths, dragonflies and damselflies - but also a lot of ants……..
When we next visit Costa Rica, we will definately return to this place - and maybe give surfing a go…….
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