Our stay in Montezuma
Apr 8th, 2004, 06:58 PM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 824
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Our stay in Montezuma
I have just about covered all of our trip last month to Costa Rica in my previous posts except for our stay in Montezuma.
Montezuma was the highlight of our trip. We drove down from Samara along the coast and reached downtown Montezuma about 2PM on a Sunday. We had no reservations and had just an idea that we might want to stay at El Sano Banano. We stopped at their restaurant/office on the main street and found that they had no available rooms on the beach. The fellow at the desk showed us a room above the restaurant but could tell that we were not too thrilled with it. So, he offered to call another inn for us, one with an ocean view. He found us a room at Amor de Mar.
Amor de Mar is a beautiful inn with about 11 rooms. We got a room downstairs on the corner with excellent ocean views and a private bathroom. The bathroom is kind of small and the shower never got hot but the room was fabulous. We had the river on one side and the ocean out in front. No one spends any time in their rooms anyway except at night and the sounds of the surf all through the night and the birds in the morning was very memorable.
What a relaxing place to enjoy the sea. There's a big lawn area with hammocks and chairs and then extensive tide pools in the rocky headland. One of the tidepools is as big as a small swimming pool and we really enjoyed floating on our backs in it as the surf moved in and out. Truly unique.
The folks at Amor de Mar put on a great breakfast on their porch overlooking the ocean. It's not included in the room rate but well worth the few dollars they charge for it.
Across the road is the trail up to the waterfall. Here's another great pool for swimming with cool, refreshing water. If we were mountain goats, we would have climbed up to the upper fall which has a rope swing that you can see from below.
We also hiked down to Punta Tambor Falls which is about a seven mile r/t scramble along the beaches south of Montezuma. Unfortunately, a huge rock had fallen into the pool below the falls making it unswimmable and not very photogenic. Still, the hike was great and very scenic. You can also take a horseback trip to the falls if you don't want to hike. The last beach has to be traversed at low tide, so the hike has to be timed properly.
We had a very nice dinner at Lucy's which is right next to our inn on our first night in Montezuma. Lucy's is right next to the sea and is outside under a palapa.
The next night we ate at Playa de los Artistas. This was the only restaurant in Costa Rica where we had to wait for a table. But, it was well worth it. It was the most memorable meal that we had on our trip. The place is unique. Each table is different and situated in the sand right next to the beach. The house itself looks like it belongs in Mendocino or Big Sur. In fact, this place is what Nepenthe should be. Great setting, great bar, great food and service, and reasonable prices. We had two whole barracuda dinners for just $20. The white wine is served in a beautiful ceramic pitcher that keeps the wine cool throughout the meal. The meal would have been great anywhere but in this setting it was truly extraordinary.
We left our car parked the entire time we were in Montezuma. The only place we would have driven would have been to Cabo Blanco which was closed on the Monday and Tuesday that we were there.
We would like to go back and spend a whole week there. Maybe splitting the time between Amor de Mar and El Sano Banano on the beach which looked very nice. But, we will probably fly into Tambor instead of drive and maybe, when we leave, we'll take the one hour boat to Jaco and see some of the central coast. So, I guess we will need at least two weeks for our next trip to Costa Rica.
Montezuma was the highlight of our trip. We drove down from Samara along the coast and reached downtown Montezuma about 2PM on a Sunday. We had no reservations and had just an idea that we might want to stay at El Sano Banano. We stopped at their restaurant/office on the main street and found that they had no available rooms on the beach. The fellow at the desk showed us a room above the restaurant but could tell that we were not too thrilled with it. So, he offered to call another inn for us, one with an ocean view. He found us a room at Amor de Mar.
Amor de Mar is a beautiful inn with about 11 rooms. We got a room downstairs on the corner with excellent ocean views and a private bathroom. The bathroom is kind of small and the shower never got hot but the room was fabulous. We had the river on one side and the ocean out in front. No one spends any time in their rooms anyway except at night and the sounds of the surf all through the night and the birds in the morning was very memorable.
What a relaxing place to enjoy the sea. There's a big lawn area with hammocks and chairs and then extensive tide pools in the rocky headland. One of the tidepools is as big as a small swimming pool and we really enjoyed floating on our backs in it as the surf moved in and out. Truly unique.
The folks at Amor de Mar put on a great breakfast on their porch overlooking the ocean. It's not included in the room rate but well worth the few dollars they charge for it.
Across the road is the trail up to the waterfall. Here's another great pool for swimming with cool, refreshing water. If we were mountain goats, we would have climbed up to the upper fall which has a rope swing that you can see from below.
We also hiked down to Punta Tambor Falls which is about a seven mile r/t scramble along the beaches south of Montezuma. Unfortunately, a huge rock had fallen into the pool below the falls making it unswimmable and not very photogenic. Still, the hike was great and very scenic. You can also take a horseback trip to the falls if you don't want to hike. The last beach has to be traversed at low tide, so the hike has to be timed properly.
We had a very nice dinner at Lucy's which is right next to our inn on our first night in Montezuma. Lucy's is right next to the sea and is outside under a palapa.
The next night we ate at Playa de los Artistas. This was the only restaurant in Costa Rica where we had to wait for a table. But, it was well worth it. It was the most memorable meal that we had on our trip. The place is unique. Each table is different and situated in the sand right next to the beach. The house itself looks like it belongs in Mendocino or Big Sur. In fact, this place is what Nepenthe should be. Great setting, great bar, great food and service, and reasonable prices. We had two whole barracuda dinners for just $20. The white wine is served in a beautiful ceramic pitcher that keeps the wine cool throughout the meal. The meal would have been great anywhere but in this setting it was truly extraordinary.
We left our car parked the entire time we were in Montezuma. The only place we would have driven would have been to Cabo Blanco which was closed on the Monday and Tuesday that we were there.
We would like to go back and spend a whole week there. Maybe splitting the time between Amor de Mar and El Sano Banano on the beach which looked very nice. But, we will probably fly into Tambor instead of drive and maybe, when we leave, we'll take the one hour boat to Jaco and see some of the central coast. So, I guess we will need at least two weeks for our next trip to Costa Rica.
Apr 9th, 2004, 06:15 PM
#4
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hey Otis, could you please tell more on your drive from Samara to Montezuma (how long? Is it safe? How bad are the roads? Are there any signs?) thanks, Steve or you can email me at [email protected]
Apr 10th, 2004, 08:10 AM
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 824
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
In response to the above post, I'll just copy what I wrote on another thread:
"We really did enjoy our drive from Samara to Montezuma. We read about it in the National Geographic guidebook and it was one of the highlights of our trip. Imagine driving from Carmel to Big Sur before Hwy 1 was paved and then imagine that the area was still settled only by the Californos and still part of Mexico. Then, imagine that global warming has increased the temperature of the ocean by 25 degrees. That's the coast south of Samara. Beautiful!"
In March the river crossings are no problem, but we could see that that would be different in the rainy season.
There is also some beach driving along the route from Rio Bongo to Playa Manzanillo. This was a lot of fun but would not be passable at a very high tide. There is an inland alternative, however.
We had to turn inland at Playa Manzanillo because there was a big festival in town which blocked us from driving towards Mal Pais.
The roads are actually well signed but I would not have done the trip without the map in the National Geographic book.
Oh, by the way, we did the drive in a little Diahatsu Terios. We never needed the 4 wheel drive capability anywhere in Costa Rica but the slightly higher ground clearance helped. The Terios is not a true 4 wheel drive vehicle anyway because it does not have low range.
"We really did enjoy our drive from Samara to Montezuma. We read about it in the National Geographic guidebook and it was one of the highlights of our trip. Imagine driving from Carmel to Big Sur before Hwy 1 was paved and then imagine that the area was still settled only by the Californos and still part of Mexico. Then, imagine that global warming has increased the temperature of the ocean by 25 degrees. That's the coast south of Samara. Beautiful!"
In March the river crossings are no problem, but we could see that that would be different in the rainy season.
There is also some beach driving along the route from Rio Bongo to Playa Manzanillo. This was a lot of fun but would not be passable at a very high tide. There is an inland alternative, however.
We had to turn inland at Playa Manzanillo because there was a big festival in town which blocked us from driving towards Mal Pais.
The roads are actually well signed but I would not have done the trip without the map in the National Geographic book.
Oh, by the way, we did the drive in a little Diahatsu Terios. We never needed the 4 wheel drive capability anywhere in Costa Rica but the slightly higher ground clearance helped. The Terios is not a true 4 wheel drive vehicle anyway because it does not have low range.
Apr 12th, 2004, 11:32 AM
#7
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 10,212
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Otis,
It's great that you traveled the road from Samara to Montezuma! When we were there last month we talked of doing that. We were mostly discouraged by people we talked to. I guess the locals don't consider it a big deal, but we thought it would be quite an adventure and I guess we missed out! Sometime. . . .I, too, would like to know about the map you looked at.
It's great that you traveled the road from Samara to Montezuma! When we were there last month we talked of doing that. We were mostly discouraged by people we talked to. I guess the locals don't consider it a big deal, but we thought it would be quite an adventure and I guess we missed out! Sometime. . . .I, too, would like to know about the map you looked at.
Apr 12th, 2004, 07:23 PM
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 824
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It's Christopher Baker's book. Amazon has it:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...ce&s=books
We used Fodors, Frommers, and Lonely Planet for where to stay but we used National Geographic for where to go. Oh, and we also had the Footprint guidebook which was disappointing since their South America book is outstanding.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...ce&s=books
We used Fodors, Frommers, and Lonely Planet for where to stay but we used National Geographic for where to go. Oh, and we also had the Footprint guidebook which was disappointing since their South America book is outstanding.
Apr 27th, 2004, 09:58 AM
#9
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
HI- just wondering how long it took you to drive to Montezuma from Samara. I'm going to Costa Rica next week, and we're going not sure if we should drive from Montezuma to Samara, or if there's a bus we can take. Thanks in advance.
Apr 27th, 2004, 04:37 PM
#10
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 10,212
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Don't mean to butt in, but in case Otis isn't watching the board and since your trip is coming up in just a few days. . . .there isn't a bus that will take you this coastal route between Montezuma and Samara. The locals think it is a little crazy for anyone to drive it! We were told that it would take 4-5 hours (but, hopefully you will hear back from Otis who actually did this adventure drive)!
Apr 28th, 2004, 12:17 PM
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 824
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The drive took about 4 hours but that included several stops at beaches and viewpoints. I would not try this route in a rental car if it has rained a lot recently because there are several river crossings (which were no problem in March).
While in Samara, I do remember seeing some flyers for 4wd van transportation to Montezuma. Since we had a car, I did not read them carefully. You might want to email one of the hotels and ask them about transportation options. A lot of people live on that road so there has to be some way to get through even in bad weather.
While in Samara, I do remember seeing some flyers for 4wd van transportation to Montezuma. Since we had a car, I did not read them carefully. You might want to email one of the hotels and ask them about transportation options. A lot of people live on that road so there has to be some way to get through even in bad weather.
May 3rd, 2004, 02:59 PM
#13
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 104
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi Otis,
I'll be heading to Costa Rica next week, and i'd like to spend about 3 days on the Nicoya Peninsula. I'll be on my own without a car, and want to be on a nice beach, have access to the town, and I'd like to be able to meet some locals and, what the hell, other tourists too
-Which beach, Samara or Montezuma, do you think would be better for that? (I've read that Pl Tamarindo is like southern Florida or California).
-Do you have any idea if Sano Banano is geared towards couples only?
-So happy to hear about a good restaurant. Was Playa Los Artistas within walking distance of Amor de Mar?
Thanks for your help!!
I'll be heading to Costa Rica next week, and i'd like to spend about 3 days on the Nicoya Peninsula. I'll be on my own without a car, and want to be on a nice beach, have access to the town, and I'd like to be able to meet some locals and, what the hell, other tourists too
-Which beach, Samara or Montezuma, do you think would be better for that? (I've read that Pl Tamarindo is like southern Florida or California).
-Do you have any idea if Sano Banano is geared towards couples only?
-So happy to hear about a good restaurant. Was Playa Los Artistas within walking distance of Amor de Mar?
Thanks for your help!!
May 3rd, 2004, 04:25 PM
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 824
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Matisse
We liked both Samara and Montezuma but would probably return to Montezuma for an extended stay. If you just want to sit on the beach, Samara is great but Montezuma has several hikes and is near the Cabo Blanca Reserve which we did not get to visit because it was closed on Monday and Tuesday.
Sano Banano might be a little isolated for someone traveling alone. You'll meet more people staying in town.
The Playa de los Artistas is just down the road from Amor de Mar, only a few minutes walk. If you don't want to eat alone, just hang around the bar for a while and you can probably hook up with others who are waiting for a table. People seemed very friendly there.
You can save time by flying into Playa Tambor if you don't want to do the bus/ferry/bus combo. There are also a couple of nice hotels at Playa Tambor if you want something more upscale than Montezuma.
We liked both Samara and Montezuma but would probably return to Montezuma for an extended stay. If you just want to sit on the beach, Samara is great but Montezuma has several hikes and is near the Cabo Blanca Reserve which we did not get to visit because it was closed on Monday and Tuesday.
Sano Banano might be a little isolated for someone traveling alone. You'll meet more people staying in town.
The Playa de los Artistas is just down the road from Amor de Mar, only a few minutes walk. If you don't want to eat alone, just hang around the bar for a while and you can probably hook up with others who are waiting for a table. People seemed very friendly there.
You can save time by flying into Playa Tambor if you don't want to do the bus/ferry/bus combo. There are also a couple of nice hotels at Playa Tambor if you want something more upscale than Montezuma.
May 4th, 2004, 09:59 PM
#15
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 104
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Otis,
Thank you for responding.
Based on opinions I've read - including yours - I think I'll go to Montezuma. I called Amor de Mar, and they told me to email them a request, which I did 2 days ago. Still waiting for a reply...
Thank you for responding.
Based on opinions I've read - including yours - I think I'll go to Montezuma. I called Amor de Mar, and they told me to email them a request, which I did 2 days ago. Still waiting for a reply...
May 5th, 2004, 09:28 AM
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 824
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Matisse
Part of the charm of Amor de Mar is the laid back staff. The place is not run like a Hilton. If you do stay there, pay your bill in cash. Otherwise, there is a surcharge for credit cards of about 5%. When we were there, almost all the other guests were German and the ladies that work there spoke German fluently.
Have a great trip!
Part of the charm of Amor de Mar is the laid back staff. The place is not run like a Hilton. If you do stay there, pay your bill in cash. Otherwise, there is a surcharge for credit cards of about 5%. When we were there, almost all the other guests were German and the ladies that work there spoke German fluently.
Have a great trip!
Mar 3rd, 2008, 04:55 PM
#19
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 824
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Wow shillmac, I'm honored that you followed our recommendation. You have been so helpful to so many on this board including us.
We would love to go back to the Nicoya Penninsula but we have also heard so much about the Osa that we will probably go there first and, hopefully, in the not too distant future.
We would love to go back to the Nicoya Penninsula but we have also heard so much about the Osa that we will probably go there first and, hopefully, in the not too distant future.
Mar 3rd, 2008, 05:22 PM
#20
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 10,212
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You'll love it! Hurry before it is gone as we know it. . .sad commentary, but real estate is being gobbled at an alarming rate and there are "things" afoot down there besides peccaries and jaguars. . .
