Isla Chora sits about a mile offshore and is a common kayak and paddleboard destination.
Blue Flag beach
Playa Samara is a broad crescent bay in front of the town of the same name, protected by an offshore reef and Isla Chora that break up incoming Pacific swell. The calm, shallow water and sandy bottom make it one of the more reliable swimming beaches on the Nicoya Peninsula, and the main break near Bar Las Olas is a common spot for beginner surf lessons.
Paved road (Route 150) runs directly into Samara town, where the beach fronts the main strip of hotels and restaurants.
Featured
Samara
Sportfishing charter based in Playa Samara running offshore, inshore, and shore trips aboard a 28-foot custom Super Panga. Captains Simone and Jonathan target marlin, sailfish, roosterfish, tuna, and dorado, and the operation is the only fly fishing guide service in town. Trips run in English, Spanish, and Italian.
Samara
ASVO (Asociación de Voluntarios para el Servicio en las Áreas Protegidas), a Costa Rican conservation NGO founded in 1989, runs a volunteer sea turtle station at Playa Buena Vista near Samara. Volunteers join nightly beach patrols, relocate nests to a protected hatchery, and monitor Olive Ridley and Green turtles as part of a national network of ASVO turtle stations.
Samara
Sportfishing charter based at Playa Buena Vista near Samara, running half day and full day inshore and offshore trips aboard a 30 foot center console boat. Captain Christian Chatard, previously a fisherman in France, guides trips for marlin, sailfish, tuna, mahi mahi and roosterfish.