Puntarenas or Playa Samara?
 

Would you suggest Puntarenas or Playa Samara for a week long stay?

DH & I are hoping to snorkel, kayak and laze around a bit - that's DH's part! We have our own snorkel gear and I've read there are good reefs at PS, is there good snorkelling a Puntarenas?

I've seen the tours for the Playa Ostional Olive Ridley turtles and Arenal volcano and would be very interested in going to these. Is Puntarenas or PS a better locale for these?

Any white water rafting in the area?

Would you suggest staying in one place and doing day trips or breaking the trip into 2 locales for these activities?

We'd be looking for budget lodging.

Puntarenas was a port of call on our Dec cruise and we were so taken by it, we want to return to CR for the week before Christmas this year (2010).

Any input/suggestions much appreciated!

Enjoy-la!

In my opinion, you will be better off at Samara. It is much smaller and safer and has lots to offer. There is surfing, snorkeling, fishing and every other water thing you can think of. There is lodging for every budget. Check this website - www.samarbeach.com

As for the turtles, you will have to check and see when they are there.

I don't know of any whitewater rafting in that area - I think the closest would be Canas for the Rio Corobici - about 2 to 2 1/2 hours from Samara. Near the Rio Corobici is Las Pumas, a refuge and rehabilitation center for big cats.

I think if you just want to relax, stay in one area and make day trips. It does take longer than you think to get around in Costa Rica so your day trips would be limited but certainly possible. Arenal is not feasible for a day trip from either Samara or Puntarenas - it's about 4 hours away. For instance, you can spend the day or part of the day at the beautiful beach in nearby Carrillo and visit the little "zoo" that has some forest animals that you would not ordinarily see. It is not really a zoo but a rehab facility so the animals change from time to time. Your hotel can also set you up with other day tours.

Thx a mint for your detailed info, hsmithcr!

Do you - or other Fodorites - happen to know if:

- there are kayak rentals in Samara(real kayaks, not the sit-up ones)? We'd love to kayak on our own to Isla Chorba and snorkel for a day.

- what's the most thrilling zipline in the area? We did the Turu Ba Ri one and that was fabulous, not sure if others come close to it.

- are the bike rentals in Samara reasonably priced? We're thinking of not renting a car. Could we bike from Samara to Carillo? I've read it's about 3mi away but not sure if that is accurate/what the roads are like.

Any recommendations for budget lodgings?

I was looking on a map and couldn't figure out how far away Arenal Volcano was...great to know it is too far. I thought it was more like 2.5 hrs so on the outskirts of do-able for a very long day trip. Google maps couldn't give directions for it...LOL!

We will have a full 7 days, not including travel to/from Costa Rica. Maybe we will rent a car for the first 2 days and spend a day in Arenal then drive to Samara.

I've read about the turtles and the moon phases; would love to see them but are restricted in our travel dates. I guess we'll just try our luck with the arribada and ask the locals when we arrive.

We won't bother with white river then - thx. Lots more planning to do...

Enjoy-la!

I loved Samara, and would like to go back. It was easy to walk around, people were friendly. We stayed in the tree top apartment at the Tico Adventure Lodge. (Corny name, but it was a good budget place for us.) We had 2 bedrooms which had AC, the main room with kitchen was open air. The best was the deck, with hammocks, which surrounded the apt on 3 sides. (Note- because it was open air there were ants at times, there was mosquito netting over the beds.

We did not kayak when we were in Samara, but we saw people ocean kayaking in real kayaks each day. I recall kayak rentals. Bicycle is a good way to get around in Samara. You could certainly bike to Carillo Beach. I do not know prices, but i would think that a week long rental would be reasonable. There are several web sites with general info on Samara where you can probably get up to date information. Also you can email the hotels you are looking at. I do know surfing lessons were reasonable, as were turtle tours.

We loved Samara also and stayed for a week in a casita we found on VRBO. I think it was under $500 for the week and included a full kitchen, fabulous view from the mountainside and a plunge pool. We spent our evening on their rancho watching the sun set.

There was plenty to do and our son paid $40 for three surfing lessons and 12 hours of board time for the week.

We wandered all the way south to great surfing beaches and north to Tamarindo, which sent us retreating back to quiet Samara.

The casita was on the owner's compound located up a private road. The owners are there most of the year in their house and you really will not know they are there. There is a second casita that shares the pool, but we did not find this to be an intrusion in any way. I'm a sheet snob, so the only thing I would do differently is to take some great sheets, as the ones there were pilled. ... Not so great with the afternoon's sun on your skin.

While there was a bit of construction below us, that should be completed by now, as it's been just over a year ago.

http://www.vrbo.com/79286

http://www.vrbo.com/79302 (We stayed in Casa La Papaya)

Enjoy!

Thx a mint kencolian & mom23rugrats for your replies and extra info. I've been looking at a lot of lodging sites but Tico Adventure Lodge hadn't come up on my radar yet, so thx for that. You got a sweet deal at CLP, mom23rugrats (=

I have seen a lot of surfing schools/lessons in the area - didn't know it was so affordable. Looks fun but not for me since I'm a very weak swimmer and water shy - tho I love to kayak and I snorkel with a vest.

One thing that has me puzzled is there is a lot of surfing offered at this beach, but I've also read there are reefs for good snorkeling. I'm not sure how the 2 are possible since it'd be hard to snorkel in waves that were good enough to surf on. Anyone have any insights on this?

Enjoy-la!

As for snorkeling and surfing, I haven't done either at Samara but it is possible that for snorkeling, they take you on a boat to a more or less sheltered place. This is what happened when I went snorkeling in Cahuita on the other coast.

klam - don't think snorkeling on the Pacific side will be anything like Caribbean, Bahamas, etc. Costa Rica has lots of wonderful activities, but snorkeling isn't top-rated. We went off Playa Flamingo, took a catamaran to some offshore islands and had a great time - wonderful food and drink, kayaks once we got out to the island, but the visibility underwater just doesn't compare to Great Barrier Reef or Caribbean. It is supposed to be better around Cahuita on the Caribbean side, but I haven't tried over there.

If snorkeling is a priority, you might rethink your destination.

The beaches at Samara are very long and crescent shaped. The same areas for surfing are not necessarily the areas where you would snorkel. Also, the best surfing was at high tide, which is not when you would want to snorkel at some beaches, or you might want to at others.

Thx a mint for the extra replies on snorkeling. It is a priority for the trip as I imagine we'd take our equipment down and spend the day at the beach snorkeling and lazing. Maybe alternating these days with daytrip days.

I hadn't considered that we'd need to hop on a boat to get to a snorkel site. Was just thinking we could walk into the water like Entrega Bay, Huatulco, or Malmok Beack, Aruba. I'd read the reefs are at both ends of the beach and seen the google maps. mom23rugrats, you bring up good points. Thx all for the heads up on this...I will definitely need to look into this more.

Enjoy-la!

klam,

Just a note... Colibri is correct in that, if you've snorkeled in the Caribbean, you will be disappointed with the level of snorkeling on the west coast of CR. It's just not as clear and some of the beach towns have issues controlling their gray water, which cuts the visibility. That is one issue that sends you to some of the out islands.

mom23rugrats, thx a mint for your help with this. I looked into it some more and it seems that Samara is much better than Puntarenas - the other locale we were thinking of. I guess we'll go with realistic snorkeling expectations.

It may be a bit silly but I'm hesitant to go to the Caribbean side given the post on these threads about the serial rapist. I believe serial attackers get more and more violent. I don't think I could recover mentally from such an ordeal and really don't want to be worrying about something like that on vacation. I know one always has to have their wits around them, even when travelling, but going into a known area like that to me is like picking up a snake.

I'm now thinking we'll fly into SJO and spend 2 nites in the Arenal Volcano area to take a nite hike to the volcano and enjoy the thermal pools, then heaad to Samara. We'd have only 5 nites in Samara then. With a canopy tour and turtle arribada on 2 days, that should give us enough to fill our time there and still relax. Looking more into this.

Enjoy-la!

That's similar to our trip last year. We did avoid the east coast, but as I understand it, that rapist has been convicted and is currently incarcerated.

That being said, we were in Panama last summer and encountered some other tourists who had driven down from Puerto Viejo. They were a large extended family with some darling teens. The teen girls indicated that they just did not feel "safe" in Puerto Viejo. They could not explain it more, even when asked, but these were seasoned travelers.

I believe in trusting your instincts.

Let us know if you have any more questions. We're happy to help!

We spent a week in Samara in November. There is a trip report here somewhere. We loved it. We stayed at the Treehouse Inn, which is a great, small beachfront property. The town is small, safe, and friendly. There are kayaks (the real ones) for rent on the beach. But the one disappointment was the snorkeling. The water is not nearly as clear as the Caribbean. We were told that it was still rainy season and the rivers were running high, causing water in the bay to be cloudy. We were also told that it is better in dry season. Other than that, Samara was a great destination.

Thx a mint for such a warm welcome to these boards, mom23rugrats! I was so thankful that the rapist was in jail finally, as I've been following that thread. Unfortunately, it sounds like a very tenuous situation.

SteveH5863, great to know kayaks are available; I will look for your TR (=

Enjoy-la!