Itinerary advice: Samara, Dominical or Osa?
 

Hi everyone. I've got 8 short days in Costa Rica and need to decide between Samara, Dominical or Osa. I'll be traveling solo and am looking for a good combination of beach time (lounging and surfing - as a beginner), some hiking/jungle time, and lots of time for landscape painting.

Samara looks nice for the beach, decent surf, nice town.

Dominical looks great for area hiking/wildlife, surfing (Dominicalito for me) and things to do.

And the Osa obviously for solitude, wildlife and some surfing.

Travel between places is an issue as I don't plan on renting a car, and bus/flight connections will eat up some time.

Any thoughts or advice? Thanks!

www.poinbreaksurf.com best for beginner surfing

www.playasamara.net for local vibe surf

Dominical more dodgy little surf shack town but more nature

Osa not much surf better nature harder to get to...

So Samara for what you want probably...

Happy Journey,

www.pointbreaksurf.com sorry dropped a t...

www.thebusschedule.com for cheapest xport

stay attached to your stuff and www.insuremytrip.com wise

Good surf around Dominical and Osa and easy to visit both. Not sure what qwo means by "dodgy" but both great areas to visit.

I would look into Dominical or the Osa for what you want, it really takes no longer to get there than Samara. Don't get the "dodgy" either, other than that it means surfers which sounds like what the OP is looking for :). What is your budget for a hotel per night?

Hi I agree with Tully, Osa or Dominical for what you are looking for. You don't need to stay in Dominical expecialy if you have a car there are many hotels up the coast from Dominical like in Uvita with Playa Hermosa a surf beach about 12km south. We stayed in a Lodge called TikiVillas (www.tiki-villas.com) a few weeks back which was great but you will need a car. We saw a lot of other hotels outside of Dominical in Uvita and south.

If you decide on the Osa, give yourself at least 3 days here, minimum.

You can fly into either Drake Bay or Puerto Jimenez, but getting around will take a little time.

So day one would be for transporting to the Osa and your lodge, day 2 for enjoying nature and the beach, and day three for departing.

I hope you'll consider spending the whole 8 days on the Osa, there is plenty to do and see and I think you will have an amazing time enjoying the rainforest jungle here.

Pura Vida,
Ballardo Diaz, Jungle Guide

Thanks everyone for your tips. My flight was cancelled due to the snowstorm in Atlanta, GA so have to now re-plan the entire trip, and I'm toying with the idea of ditching Samara from my itinerary, no matter how beautiful the beach may be up there!

Oh no! Sorry about that...big bummer. :-( Well, I hope you still make it to Costa Rica eventually.

I'm so sorry to hear about your cancelled flight. I live in ATL and the weather here is really bad at the moment. The problem here is that these storms usually involve ice and I don't care what people from the north say...you can't drive on ice!!!

We currently can't get out of our driveway...so even if they clear the major roads, many of the subdivisions are impassable. If people can't get to work, flights can't operate. I sure hope you can get to CR soon...but stay safe!