Sleeping With the Toucans 2007 Edition with Updates
-
Go back to Tamarindo and Northern Nicoya
Central Nicoya
Playa Ostionale
Nosara
Sámara
New Finds since the 2007 Edition
Skip to Southern Nicoya
Central Nicoya
The Central Nicoya coast faces west from Playa Junquillal down to
Punta Guiones then turns like an elbow and faces more or less south
from Punta Guiones to Punta Coyote. It's one beautiful beach after
another, the stretches of white or black sand separated by rocky
headlands, rivers, or patches of mangrove forest.
Highway 160
wanders down the coast unpaved except in odd patches, sometimes
one lane and sometimes
two, joining the little towns
and fording any number of
streams and rivers. The
road is poorly marked and
indistinguishable in many
places from the tiny
unpaved side-roads that
lead here or there and then
vanish. Most of it is likely
to be impassable in the
rainy season or after any
heavy rain, so ask first and
make sure your vehicle has
4WD and a good, high
clearance.
The main Central Nicoya destinations are Nosara and Sámara, and they couldn't be more different. "Nosara" for travelers really means the beach community at Playa Guiones and next-door Playa Pelada, a cluster of hotels, surf shops, restaurants and real-estate offices surrounded by a mostly part-time expat community. Through luck or wisdom, development here has spared the beachfront; everything is set back on the other side of a barrier of low trees and dune brush. It looks like what a beach is supposed to look like.
Surfing is the major Nosara occupation, but yoga and other wellness activities are a close second, anchored by the long-running Nosara Yoga Institute (www.nosarayoga.com). There are some great restaurants. We like the Café de Paris and have heard good things about La Luna and Almost Paradise as well. Nosara is about 45 minutes north of the paved road (CR 150) from Nicoya to Sámara. The first turnoff marked "Nosara" is a rough dirt road, but doesn't ford any rivers and is the most likely to be passable. You can also fly directly to Nosara on Nature Air or Sansa. The one down-side to Nosara is the incredible dust generated by the dirt roads in dry season. For this reason we actually prefer Nosara in the rainy months.
Sámara is not an ex-pat community - it's a real Costa Rican town. Unlike at Nosara, the first line of hotels, bars, and campsites is built right on the beach. You'll find surfers here, but the Sámara beach crowd is mostly kids swimming or playing beach soccer and families enjoying the sun. The atmosphere is bustling during the day and only slightly less bustling at night. For dinner, try El Dorado for great Italian seafood and wonderful desserts.
Photo © Berni Jubb
Just south of Sámara is the even-better lounging and swimming beach at Playa Carrillo. Bring your picnic and hammock and join the afternoon crowds - mainly Costa Ricans - basking in the sun or frolicking in the waves. Or just keep driving; there are fewer people the farther south you go.
Update (February, 2008): The Nosara Yoga Institute is now offering classes to the public. Stop by the office, just down the street from the Café de Paris in Nosara, for a schedule.
Luna Azul ($$)
Playa Ostional
Keywords: Wildlife, Relax/Get away
Photo © Luna Azul
Contact Information:506-8821-0075 (voice)
info@hotellunaazul.com
www.hotellunaazul.com
Essentials:
7 Bungalows, 1 Room
English, Spanish, French, Italian, German
All major credit cards accepted
Off-street parking
Swimming pool
Breakfast included, Restaurant, Bar
Room Amenities: AC ($10 extra charge), Ceiling fan, Refrigerator, Inroom safe,
Private outdoor space
How to get here:
From Nosara, go north on Highway 160 (dirt road) through Ostional.
Turn east (right) about three km past Ostional following signs to
Luna Azul. The hotel is on your left. If coming from Playa Junquillal
or Tamarindo (better in the rainy season), the turn is about three km
south of San Juanillo.
If you're feeling crowded even in laid-back Nosara, head up the coast road to Luna Azul in the hills between the little towns of Ostional and San Juanillo. You'll have to ford a few rivers on the way, but once you're here you'll understand why people leave the big city and move to Middle Of Nowhere, Costa Rica.
The bottom line is, it's beautiful. And it's totally private. Nobody's up here but your fellow guests, Rolf and Andreas your hosts, and a handful of friendly dogs. You can see a house here and there behind you in the hills, but there's a lot of barely-penetrable jungle in between. In front of you, it's nothing but trees and then, way down below, the ocean. This is one of those places where the world outside could disappear and you'd never know it.
Luckily you have a lovely, well-equipped bungalow with a private deck overlooking the garden. Your own private escape. If you feel like company, Luna Azul's public space is open, colorful, and inviting with plenty of comfortable seating by the pool. The restaurant offers pizzas and an Italian menu, but we were there on Tuesday when it's closed and guests have to head either north or south on the coast road for dinner.
When you feel like exploring, there's plenty around here to see. The adjacent jungle is a 150 hectare private reserve. It's a quick drive down to the beach and the Rosario river estuary. The most fun drive is about 15 minutes north - two more rivers to cross - to the little town of San Juanillo. There you'll find two beaches, one that you can drive to and the other accessible only via the footpath on the east side of the soccer field. Also right by the soccer field is the delightful Buddha Bar with its surprising combination of a bar (as you might have guessed), a Buddhist sanctuary (in San Juanillo?) and excellent food. Try the curry - a great accompaniment for a cold beer.
A few minutes south of Luna Azul is the town of Ostional and the black-sand Ostional beach. Thousands of Olive Ridley sea turtles come ashore here to nest in massive group arivadas. The arrivals cannot be predicted to the day but usually occur between September and November, in the heart of the Pacific Coast rainy season. Check with Rolf if you are interested in turtle-watching; he's a biologist and keeps an eye on turtle activity. They are present in the waters off Playa Ostional all year. Rolf can also tell you about all the other wildlife around here, from the crocs in the estuary to the pizotes (coatis) in the forest.
Take a day or two and leave the bustle in Nosara behind. For sheer hide-away appeal on the Nicoya Peninsula, it's hard to beat Luna Azul.
Lagarta Lodge ($$)
Nosara/Playa Pelada
Keywords: Hiking,Wildlife
Photo © Lagarta Lodge
Contact Information:
506-2682-0035 (voice); 506-2682-0135 (fax)
lagarta@racsa.co.cr
www.lagarta.com
Essentials:
6 Rooms
English, Spanish, French, German
All major credit cards accepted
Off-street parking
Swimming pool
Breakfast included, Restaurant, Bar
Room Amenities: Ceiling fan, Semi-private outdoor space, Internet (in
restaurant)
How to get here:
Just north of Playa Guiones turn off Highway 160 following signs to
Playa Pelada, then turn right following signs to Lagarta Lodge. This
road climbs the hill with several turns but is well marked with signs
to Lagarta Lodge. The Lodge is on top of the ridge on your right.
We were sitting on Lagarta's splendid verandah overlooking the Nosara River when a large family wandered in speaking a mixture of English and Spanish. They had come to see the lodge's Nosara Biological Reserve and began rattling off questions almost before Amadeo, Lagarta's manager, could say hello. Are there crocodiles down there? How far is it? Amadeo explained that the entrance was just off the verandah, and you started with 168 steps that led down to the trails along the river 50 meters below where we sat. One young woman, not altogether steady on fairly high heels, peered over the edge and asked if they had to walk - she imagined, perhaps, that an escalator was hidden in the bushes? Finally they all decided that their grandmother, who was speaking Spanish and looked as hale as any of them, probably couldn't make it, and they trooped back to their car. We had considered the trail ourselves, but were heading up the coast road that morning instead. Next time.
Lagarta Lodge is perched atop a steep ridge that rises above the southern bank of the Rio Nosara just before it opens into the sea. The slope down to the river is thick jungle, 35 hectares of it protected as the Nosara Biological Reserve. Across the river is a thicket of protected mangroves filling the space between the Rio Nosara and the Rio Montaña to the north. Shorebirds and river birds abound as do mammals and the ubiquitous river-mouth crocodiles. Entry to the reserve is included in the room rate and a guide is only $5 per person. But you have to like steps or be content to watch the birds and the lazy crocs with binoculars from the verandah.
Lagarta's rooms are simple but comfortable with views of the river and ocean on one side and the forest on the other. The two larger family rooms are the same price as the four smaller ones. Our favorites are #1 and #2, the upstairs rooms for couples. They have big balconies with great views and the ridgetop breezes make them plenty cool without air conditioning. Farther up the ridge is a guest palapa with several hammocks for those lazy afternoons when your room feels a bit confining and you want a truly magnificent view. Tucked between the rooms and the restaurant is a small swimming pool with chaises and a patch of sun. If the verandah doesn't give you a sufficient sense of hanging in the air over the river below, wander down the path to the Sunset Bar on a curve of the ridge right over the river's mouth.
Lagarta's restaurant is closed on Tuesdays, but on other evenings serves a homegrown blend of continental and tropical fare - check the blackboard in the restaurant for what's on offer. You won't want to drive back up here after dinner somewhere else, and you sure can't beat the view!
Giardino Tropicale ($$)
Nosara/Playa Guiones
Keyword: Downtown
Photo © Giardino Tropicale
Contact Information:506-2682-4000/2682-0258 (voice); 506-2682-0353 (fax)
info@giardinotropicale.com
www.giardinotropicale.com
Essentials:
8 Rooms, 2 Apartments
English, Spanish, French, German
All major credit cards accepted
Off-street parking
Swimming pool, Beach access
Breakfast included, Restaurant, Bar
Room Amenities: AC (extra cost), Ceiling fan, Refrigerator, Coffee
maker, Semi-private outdoor space, Free WiFi. Apartments have
full kitchens.
How to get here:
Turn off Highway 160 toward the coast (left if coming from the south)
at the second road into Playa Guiones. Giardino Tropicale is on the
NW corner of this intersection; their parking lot is on your right after
making the turn.
Staying at Giardino Tropicale is a bit like staying with your old buddies in Nosara. Our fellow guests when we were there have been coming back every year for more than a decade to stay with Marcel and Myriam, first at Lagarta when they were the managers there and then here at the Giardino. We spent a good deal of the afternoon just hanging out in the pool talking about bus journeys in Honduras and Nicaragua, border-crossing adventures, and the trials and pleasures of life in Costa Rica. It was hot. What better place to be than the pool or under the shaded patio with a beer?
Giardino Tropicale is about three blocks from Playa Guiones beach and two or three blocks from just about everything else of interest in the area. We headed to the beach early in the morning as soon as the sun crept over the hills behind us. The tide was starting in, but the beach was almost deserted - a few walkers, a few friendly dogs, a passel of shorebirds here and there. This is one of the Nicoya beaches with hundreds of little conical shells, long and tightly-wound like unicorn's horns. The surf was running a meter to a meter-and-a-half just off shore, and soon the morning's first exploratory surfers were out testing the waves. By the time we'd made a loop and headed back for breakfast, the beach was in full swing with plenty of riders awaiting every good wave. Even some sunbathers had taken up residence. It was the kind of day you dream of in January in the frozen North.
Back at Giardino Tropicale, we learned a bit more about Nosara and the local community's ongoing struggle not to become the next Tamarindo or Jacó. Marcel is a local campaigner for sustainability, small-scale enterprise, and preservation of the coastal environment. It's due to people like him that Playa Guiones is still shielded from commercial development by its scrubby dune forest. Nosara in general, despite its plethora of real-estate offices, seems determined to stay Nosara - laid back, not crowded, a little bit hard to get to. It is still the sort of place you can disappear to for a week or so to play in the surf, prowl the estuaries, or just be quiet and relax.
If you are planning to move in for a week, reserve Giardino's junior suite in the main house; it has two bedrooms, a full kitchen, and a huge wrap-around deck overlooking the pool. The upstairs deluxe rooms (A and B) have the best cross-ventilation as well as private balconies. The Giardino Tropicale restaurant (operated by different management) is just up the hill from the rooms and serves wood-fired pizzas as well as pastas and various specialties. Half the town seems to show up there in the evenings. Your advantage is that you're staying here, and all you have to do after dinner is roll down the hill to your room.
Update (February, 2008): Marcel and Myriam are now sponsoring an organic farmer's market on Saturdays from 8 AM to 1 PM at the Giardino Tropicale, featuring fruits and vegetables, food, music, local crafts and various sustainability technologies like solar heaters and water recovery systems. Check it out!
Update (March, 2009): Giardino Tropicale has added a new, larger and more convenient parking area, as well as new paths and gardens that integrate the hotel with the restaurant.
Harmony Hotel ($$$-$$$$)
Nosara/Playa Guiones
Keywords: Oceanfront, Yoga/meditation, Spa
Photo © Alison Tinsley
Contact Information:
506-2682-4114 (voice); 506-2682-4113 (fax)
reservations@harmonynosara.com
www.harmonynosara.com
Essentials:
10 Rooms, 14 Bungalows, 1 House (off site)
English, Spanish
All major credit cards accepted
Secure parking
Swimming pool, Spa
Breakfast included, Restaurant, Bar
Room Amenities: AC, Ceiling fan, Refrigerator, Coffee maker, In-room
safe, Free WiFi, Private outdoor space (semi-private for some
Bungalows)
How to get here:
Turn off Highway 160 toward the coast (left if coming from the south)
at the first, main road into Playa Guiones. The Harmony Hotel is on
your right; look for the two-meter high brick "beehive" towers.
The surfer's paradise of Playa Guiones is just a short walk through the scrubby dune bushes from the Harmony Hotel, but you'd never know it walking through the carefully-tended gardens and into the shaded lobby with its comfortable couches and easy chairs. Everything was quiet; the early customers at the bar and even the kids in the pool weren't making much noise. When this was the old Villa Taype, it was a surfer hotel and a local hangout. Newly made over as the Harmony, it's something different. The spa, the juice bar, the café tables scattered through the gardens on their round little lily pads of patios, the morning and evening yoga classes all suggest a retreat, a focus on wellness, a place for calm and contemplation and a certain amount of self-indulgence. But then there's the bright water of the pool right outside your front door and all those deck chairs and the constant lure of the ocean just past the trees. The layout is still like a beach hotel. What is this place, anyway?
We did some beach wandering, but decided to focus for the day on yoga, starting at 6 a.m. Josie's "gentle" class was challenging, but we and one of the spa staff were the only students so we could take it at our own pace. The setting is lovely - the covered platform with its wafting fabric "walls" nestles up to the jungle on one side and faces a pond with real lotus flowers on the other. We liked it so much that we came back that evening for a slow and even more challenging class before dinner. In between yoga sessions, Alison sampled the newly-opened spa. Her pedicurist was visiting from Sweden. In fact, the Swedish government had sent her to Costa Rica for the winter. How do we get jobs like that? In a bizarre twist, the nail polish applied to Alison's toenails was "water-based" and did not come off, not even with lots of polish remover. Do you know how long it takes for nails to grow out?
As evening came on we retired to the bar and another facet of Harmony Hotel emerged. The bar was full of pairs or groups of young people earnestly staring at their laptops, talking in low voices about finance and their clients' needs for more sophisticated search functionality. What was this, a Starbuck's in Palo Alto? We'll never know. Maybe they were really here for the surf. But it's a different vibe at Harmony; we didn't see people like this anywhere else.
Whatever you're coming here for, the Harmony gets two things as right as anywhere we've been. One is outdoor space - the "Cocos" rooms around the pool each have a totally private, open-air patio almost as big as the room itself with a table and chairs and a comfy hammock big enough for two. The other is the showers, indoor and out, that deliver loads of hot water through high-pressure heads for a serious full-body water massage - heavenly, especially on that private patio with the bright sun to dry you. Take off your clothes, blast off that ocean salt, and don't think for a moment about software.
Update (March, 2009): The Harmony has developed nicely over the last two years - the staff is more confident, the gardens have grown, the restaurant is serving great food. Ariadne led an excellent morning yoga class. The rooms are air conditioned, but also offer good cross ventilation. All in all, a great combination.
Hotel Belvedere ($)
Sámara
Keyword: Downtown
Photo © Hotel Belvedere
Contact Information:
506-2656-0213 (voice); 506-2656-0215 (fax)
hotelbelvedere@hotmail.com
www.belvederesamara.net.
Essentials:
20 Rooms
English, Spanish, German
All major credit cards accepted
Off-street parking
2 Swimming pools
Breakfast included, Restaurants nearby
Room Amenities: AC, TV, Refrigerator, Coffee maker, In-room safe
(extra charge)
How to get here:
As you enter Sámara, turn south off Highway 150 onto Highway 160,
following the sign to Carrillo. The driveway up to Hotel Belvedere is
on your left across from the El Samareño restaurant. The hotel is up
the hill directly behind the Budget car rental office.
Hotel Belvedere is one of those inexpensive, unpretentious, nothing fancy but perfectly comfortable, European (in this case German) run hotels that you can still find in the untouristified parts of Costa Rica. If you're rolling into Sámara with no fixed plans, looking for some relaxed company, and you don't have to be right on the beach, the Belvedere is the place for you. Sámara, keep in mind, is tiny - the Belvedere is on the outskirts, but it's still only four blocks from the beach.
The Belvedere has two buildings, one old and one new. We like the old one best. It's a rambling structure built onto the side of a hill, with guest rooms looking down on a swimming pool that seems to hang in space over the parking area below. The very best rooms are numbers 12 - 15 on the floor above the pool with a view of the forested hills to the north. Although not in any way swanky, the rooms are clean and comfortable with that recognizable (and very welcome) German practicality. Everything in them works! Around the corner is the breakfast room and "belvedere" - a breezy covered deck looking southwest over the town and toward the ocean. You're easily high enough to watch the coastal freighters skirt the Nicoya reefs on their way up to Nicaragua.
In the hot afternoons, you'll find most of your fellow guests propped up with their novels and a beer on the belvedere or lounging in the shade down by the pool. An advantage of an older hotel is that the trees have had time to grow, and the Belvedere is full of lush vegetation even though its grounds are small. Even the solar-heated jacuzzi is nicely shaded. Unlike down in town, up here on the hill there's a nearly constant breeze.
The Belvedere doesn't serve meals other than breakfast, but all you have to do is walk across the street to El Samareño for great local food at typical soda prices. Try the pargo entero - the classic Costa Rican version of whole red snapper, fried or grilled, head, fins, tail and all. I'm a pargo entero connoisseur, and El Samareño's is right on up there with the best. If you need variety, every place else in Sámara is just a 10 or 15 minute walk away.
Laz Divaz B&B ($$)
Sámara
Keyword: Oceanfront
Photo © Laz Divaz
Contact Information:506-2656-0295 (voice); 506-2656-0296 (fax)
lazdivaz@hotmail.com
www.lazdivaz.com
Essentials:
3 Cabins
English, Spanish, German
Cash or PayPal
Off-street parking
Breakfast included (Marlene Dietrich and Farinelli only), Restaurants
nearby
Room Amenities: Ceiling fan, Full kitchen (Tina Turner only)
How to get here:
As you enter Sámara, turn south off Highway 150 onto Highway 160,
following sign to Carrillo. Take the fourth right turn off this road and
go all the way down to the beach. The road bends sharply left and
runs along the beach; Laz Divaz is the second driveway on your left.
There are five divas at Laz Divaz. Three are colorful, whimsically-appointed cabins named and themed for Marlene Dietrich, Tina Turner, and 18thcentury Italian castrato singer Farinelli. The other two are Laz Divaz' owners, Berit and Sara. You'll find them on the beach south of central Sámara under the rainbow flag.
With just three cabins on a small property, staying at Laz Divaz is a bit like joining a family. It's likely to be a fun family, whoever your fellow guests are. And you're not only right on the beach, you're far enough from downtown - maybe a ten-minute walk - that the beach is not overrun with partiers from the in-town hotels. There are plenty of hammocks strung among the trees for when you tire of saltwater and sun. Laz Divaz is a kick-back kind of place.
Marlene Dietrich is the cabin closest to the beach and so has the best view from its wrap-around windows and shaded porch. Tina Turner is the farthest away but is also higher up and oriented to preserve the view. Tina also has a full kitchen so is a good choice if you're planning to stay awhile and don't feel like walking in to Sámara every night for dinner. It's also the most private. Whichever cabin you choose, it will be bright and whimsical and sparkling clean - a tropical oasis of light and pastels and pungent salt air.
It's worth talking with Berit and Sara if you want to learn a bit about culture and ecology in the Sámara area. They are among the driving forces for preservation of the Humedal Cantarana - the coastal wetlands north of Sámara on the road to Nosara. School children have proven to be a key ally in the struggle to protect the fragile coastal environment from over-development, and laz divaz (the two human ones) spend a fair amount of time in the local schools. You can admire some of the children's work in the Laz Divaz office. Or you may end up counting birds or planting trees as part of the family.
Laz Divaz bills itself as "straight friendly." They were certainly friendly to us!
Villas Kalimba ($$)
Sámara
Keywords: Downtown, Kid-friendly
Photo © Alison Tinsley
Contact Information:506-2656-0929 (voice); 506-2656-0930 (fax)
villaskalimba@hotmail.com
www.villaskalimba.com
Essentials:
Five 2-BR Villas, One 2-BR House (Off-site)
English, Spanish, French, Italian
All major credit cards accepted
Secure parking
Swimming pool
Breakfast included, Occasional dinner service, Honor bar
Room Amenities: TV, AC, Ceiling fans, Full kitchen, CD player
How to get here:
Follow Highway 150 (the road from Nicoya) through Sámara all the
way until it ends at the beach, then turn left. Villas Kalimba is on
your left just past the Mini-Super grocery store.
Villas Kalimba is as close as you'll get to luxury here in sort-of-scruffy Sámara, and it's just a block from laid-back, dogs and kids and pickup soccer games Sámara beach. It's also perfect for families or couples traveling together - each villa has two well-furnished bedrooms with a fully-equipped kitchen in between. A bonus here is the air conditioning which we usually eschew but in steamy Sámara we greatly appreciated. It's amazing the difference a slight elevation and cross-ventilation can make. Villas Kalimba, like many beach hotels, has neither so, yes, crank up that dial. The local grocery store is right next door; the surf shop and kayak rental are across the street. All you have to do is move in.
Even though it's right downtown, Villas Kalimba has lush tropical gardens, a high enclosing wall, and a private, intimate feel. You can hear the surf but not much else at night - at least on a weekday evening. Each villa has a shaded private patio with a dining table and chairs and hammock. Our fellow guests seemed to spend most of their time on their patios except when they ventured to the pool. The poolside palapa doubles as breakfast area and honor bar; the bar fridge is well stocked with Costa Rican beer and Italian wines.
Roberto, the owner, cooks Italian dinners for guests - his specialties are traditional pastas and grilled meats or fish - but only when he feels like it. It's a good idea to reserve ahead. We didn't and Roberto wasn't feeling inclined to cook, so we were own our own. This being Sámara, the beachside bars were either blasting with music suitable mainly for those much younger than we are or else dark and deserted. We took in the sunset beach-soccer - maybe two dozen players per team, but who could tell - and headed for dinner. Fortunately there are several restaurants within a few blocks. We opted for the El Dorado where I had an excellent cioppino. Walking back down the main drag, evening Sámara was coming to life with strolling crowds and streetside vendors hawking wood carvings, shell jewelry, beach gear, and artfully-crafted bongs. We heard some English here and there, but not much.
If you're looking for total privacy and you're not into the downtown scene, Roberto also has a lovely two-bedroom house for rent on the outskirts of Sámara - which means four blocks to the beach, not one. It has a full-size kitchen, Santa Fe style living room, its own pool, and secure parking. We met the friendly Canadians who had moved in for a couple of months. It was January and they didn't seem at all inclined to go back north anytime soon.
Under Consideration for the 100 Best in the 2010 Edition
Punta India, Playa Ostionale ($$)
Everyone in the neighborhood came to dinner the night we were at Punta India - this unassuming hotel is the social center for the area. Juan the chef was preparing just-caught yellowfin tuna, and was happy to just show ours to the grill before serving it. Excellent! The dark-chocolate concoction he delivered for dessert wasn't bad, either.
Punta India overlooks Playa Ostionale, two river crossings north of Nosara. The area is best known as a leatherback and ridley sea-turtle nesting area, but the turtles arrive in the fall, in the depth of the rainy season, when the road from Nosara is impassible and the longer way, from Tamarindo down the coast, is tricky. In the dry season Ostionale is a lazy beach town that comes alive in the cool evening for fiestas or the rodeo. We could see the fireworks from our room.
Punta India offers eight cabins, each featuring an upstairs bedroom designed for kids and a larger, air-conditioned downstairs bedroom for adults. Four of the cabins have upstairs sundecks; all have garden-level decks rendered private by judicious plantings. Social life, meals, and wifi access are in the airy rancho upstairs, which overlooks the pool and the beach beyond. There's some deferred maintenance at Punta India, but at the price it's not a complaint.
Coming north from Nosara on the coast road, pass through Ostionale and climb the ridge north of the beach. The right (inland) turn to Punta India is at the top of the ridge. Follow their signs - the hotel is about 1 km from the intersection.
Reviewed March 7, 2009
Hideaway Hotel, Playa Sámara ($$)
The Hideaway is a brand new and very welcome option for Sámara, a contemporary boutique hotel with American-style comforts and services in a quiet, out-of-town neighborhood. The southern end of Playa Sámara, home of the local fishing-tour operator and a lot of uncrowded sand, is just a block away. Rosy the owner-manager will organize your morning fishing trip and prepare your catch for dinner. There's a pool for lounging, plenty of parrots in the mango trees, and a good wifi signal. If you'd just as soon skip the beach-town scene, this is the place to be.
Rooms at the Hideaway are large and spacious, air-conditioned but with windows that open and screens if you prefer (as we do) natural air at night. Breakfast is also large, cooked to order, and included in the room rate.
The Hideaway is about half-way between Sámara and Playa Carrillo; follow the well-placed signs. If coming from Sámara, turn right (toward the beach) just before the ICE building with the cell-phone tower.
Reviewed March 9, 2009
Hotel Punta Islita, Punta Islita ($$$-$$$$)
Hotel Punta Islita is one of the oldest and grandest luxury resorts on the Pacific coast, offering top-of-the-line accomodations, expansive vistas, attentive service, manicured grounds and complete privacy. It is also an on-going demonstration project in sustainable tourism-driven community development, a putting-into-practice of the economic and business philosophy of Chief Executive Don Eduardo Villafranca. Guests come here for the spectacular setting, the gracious atmosphere and the sense of remove from even the minimal demands of a typical tourist experience. By doing so, they are employing virtually the entire populations of the local villages, starting new businesses, and supporting several flourishing schools and arts cooperatives. No visit is complete without a stop at the museo in Islita village to see the local artists' responses to works produced on-site by some of Costa Rica's cultural stars.
Accomodations at Punta Islita range from rooms that would count as luxurious anywhere to two- or three-bedroom houses featuring private gardens and swimming pools. A nine-hole golf course is nestled among the mangos below the villas. The entire beachfront is part of the hotel. Dinners overlooking the sea are candle-lit and romantic. Condé Nast rates Punta Islita as one of the 100 Best in the World. That's a lot to live up to, and one has the impression that everyone at Punta Islita is working on it, every minute of the day.
Punta Islita is about 40 minutes south of Sámara on the coast highway. The way is well-marked, but involves a river that can only be crossed in the dry season. In the wet season the signs are changed, and the drive is longer. An excellent map showing the dry- and wet-season routes is available on Punta Islita's website. Both Sansa and Nature Air offer flights to Punta Islita from either San José or Liberia, so many guests do not drive.
Reviewed March 10, 2009
Cristal Azul, Playa San Miguel ($$)
Henner and Zene gave us directions to Playa San Miguel, and promised to meet us at the beachfront bar to show us the final stretch up to Cristal Azul. Two rounds of fresh ceviche and beer later, we were on our way, winding steeply up onto the ridgetop to a west-facing point with a panoramic view all the way down to Punta Coyote. If you're looking to truly get away, or catch a glimpse of Costa Rica as it was when only a few surfers knew about it, Cristal Azul should be on your list.
Cristal Azul is the kind of place where you want to bring your friends and settle in for an extended good time. There are four rooms, a huge open rancho with bar, kitchen, well-stocked fridge, pool table and even foosball, a beautiful infinity pool that seems to slide into the ocean, and plenty of deck space for working on your tan. It's all yours. Henner is a charter captain, in case you'd like to go fishing. Your hosts will even do your shopping if you call ahead. If you're providing for yourself, think ahead - the nearest village pulperia is in the next town, and you won't find a supermarket south of Sámara. It's OK though. This is the beach. You can live forever on pineapples and ceviche.
Playa San Miguel is remote, about half way between Sámara and the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. You can drive the coast road from Sámara via Punta Islita and Bejuco, or work your way up from Cóbano to San Francisco de Coyote. There is also daily bus service from the ferry terminal at Playa Naranjo, if you're just planning to hang out at the hotel and the beach.
Reviewed March 11, 2009
Next Section: Southern Nicoya