Planning a Trip

Getting There & Departing

Most hotels will arrange to pick you up in Carrillo. If not, you'll have to hire a cab for between $8 and $10 (£4-£5).

Nature Air (tel. 800/235-9272 in the U.S. and Canada, or 299-6000; www.natureair.com) also has one flight daily to Punta Islita that leave at 9:15am from Tobías Bolaños International Airport in Pavas. The fare is $90 (£45) each way. The return flight for San José leaves at 3:30pm. Nature Air also flies between Liberia and Quepos, and Punta Islita.

By Car -- Take the Interamerican Highway from San José. Forty-seven kilometers (29 miles) past the turnoff for Puntarenas, you'll see signs and the turnoff for the new Tempisque River bridge. After crossing the bridge, continue north to Nicoya. In Nicoya, head more or less straight through town until you see signs for Playa Sámara. From here, it's a paved road almost all the way to the beach.

By Bus -- Alfaro express buses (tel. 222-2666) leave San José daily at noon and 6:30pm from Calle 14 between avenidas 3 and 5. The trip lasts 5 hours; the one-way fare is $7 (£3.50). Extra buses are sometimes added on weekends and during peak periods, so it's always wise to check.

Alternatively, you can take a bus from this same station to Nicoya and then catch a second bus from Nicoya to Sámara. Alfaro buses leave San José roughly every hour between 5am and 5pm. The fare is $4.80 (£2.40). The trip can take between 4 and 5 1/2 hours, depending if the bus goes via Liberia or the Tempisque bridge. The latter route is much faster. Empresa Rojas (tel. 685-5352) buses leave Nicoya for Sámara and Carrillo regularly throughout the day, between 5am and 9pm. The trip's duration is 1 1/2 hours. The fare to Sámara is $1.60 (80p); the fare to Carrillo is $2.20 (£1.10).

Express buses to San José leave daily at 4 and 8:30am. Buses for Nicoya leave throughout the day between 5am and 9pm. Buses leave Nicoya for San José roughly every hour between 5am and 5pm.

Gray Line (tel. 220-2126; www.graylinecostarica.com) has a daily bus that leaves San José for Playa Sámara at 7am. Interbus (tel. 283-5573; www.interbusonline.com) has a daily bus that leaves San José for Playa Sámara at 8:15am. Both companies charge $29 (£15) and will pick you up at most San José-area hotels.

Orientation

Sámara is a busy little town at the bottom of a steep hill. The main road heads straight into town, passing the soccer field before coming to an end at the beach. Just before the beach is a road to the left that leads to most of the hotels listed below. This road also leads to Playa Carrillo and Hotel Punta Islita. If you turn right 3 blocks before hitting the beach, you'll hit the coastal road that goes to playas Buena Vista, Barrigona and eventually Nosara.

Fast Facts

In case of emergency, dial tel. 911. To reach the local police, dial tel. 656-0436. There's a small medical clinic in Samara (tel. 656-0166). On the road to Playa Buena Vista, just outside of town, is a branch of the Banco Nacional (tel. 656-0086). If you need a ride around town, or to one of the nearby beaches, you can hire a taxi by calling Balto (tel. 361-4167) or Jorge (tel. 830-3002).