Where to stay in Sámara: town, Carrillo or the hills

For a vacation rental in Sámara, the easiest base is the town or the edge of Playa Sámara, where you walk to the beach, restaurants and groceries. Playa Carrillo, 4 km south, is quieter and needs a car, and the hills trade gravel roads for views and silence. From Liberia airport it is about 2 hours.

Which part of Sámara should you rent in?

It depends on whether you want to walk or drive. Sámara is a district of Nicoya canton, and for a visitor it comes down to three areas: the town with the beach in front of it, Playa Carrillo with the small settlement of Puerto Carrillo, and the hills and back roads that climb inland from both. Two Weeks in Costa Rica describes a downtown of a few blocks right on a beach of nearly 2 km, and Costa Rica Vibes notes that most vacation rentals sit outside town, where you may need a car to reach them. So look at the map before you look at the photos.

A simple rule: with small children or without a car, pick the town or the beachfront; as a couple or if you want quiet, pick Carrillo or the hills, and rent a car.

What is it like to stay in town or on the beach?

It is the option for doing everything on foot. Downtown has the restaurants, shops, tour operators and some small hotels, per Two Weeks in Costa Rica, which also says you can get around by walking, cycling or taxi. The same guide lists Sámara among Guanacaste’s safer swimming beaches thanks to the reef offshore, and that is what settles it for a lot of families.

Beachfront in Costa Rica means the door closest to the sand, not a private beach. Law 6043 on the maritime zone keeps the first 50 meters from the high-tide line as a public zone (Semanario Universidad, April 2026), and in 2023 the ICT reminded the Municipality of Nicoya, in a query about Playa Carrillo, that this strip is for public use and free passage. You always share the beach. What changes from one stretch to the next is the feel: near the center there is more going on, and on quieter stretches, like the one our house is on, guests say they have the town close without the traffic.

What about staying at Playa Carrillo?

Carrillo is for people who want the prettier beach and less going on, and who accept relying on the car. It is 4 km south of Sámara per Mytanfeet, about five minutes’ drive, and Two Weeks in Costa Rica describes Puerto Carrillo as a very small town on a hill with a few hotels, vacation rentals, simple restaurants and a couple of basic grocery stores. Nothing is built on the beach itself: there are concrete tables under the palms and you park along Route 160. For most everything else, you drive back to Sámara.

For a family it works if the house has a kitchen and someone drives; for a group that wants to go out to dinner every night, the town of Sámara is closer by.

Is a house in the hills or on a quiet road worth it?

Yes, if you want a view and quiet and do not mind driving every day. The land rises fast behind town: the guided hike in the Werner Sauter reserve ends at a viewpoint over the town and the beach, per Two Weeks in Costa Rica. Costa Rica Vibes says the unpaved roads around Sámara are driven often and usually well packed, but in the rainy season, which on the northern Pacific starts in May per the IMN, mud and potholes change the picture.

Before you book, ask whether the last stretch is gravel, whether it is steep, and whether a standard car makes it up in October. For reference, Two Weeks in Costa Rica recommends a high-clearance vehicle all year on Route 160 north and says a 4x4 may be needed in the rains, as of September 2026.

House or hotel for a family or group?

For six people a house usually comes out ahead; for two who do not plan to cook, a hotel makes sense. Two Weeks in Costa Rica’s list of Sámara hotels (October 2025) runs from $50 to $150 a night at Hotel Belvedere up to $275 to $350 at Villas Kalimba. A house is priced as a whole: ours starts at $303 a night for up to six, about $50 a person when it is full. With your own kitchen you eat breakfast and dinner at home, and the kids nap while the adults stay on the porch.

What you give up with a house is the front desk. That matters more in Sámara than elsewhere, because the area has water outages for parts of the day and occasional power cuts, as we say on our house page. At a hotel someone fixes it on the spot; at a house, you message the host.

Do you need a car, or can you walk everywhere?

It depends on where you sleep. In or near town you can walk, cycle or take a taxi, and Two Weeks in Costa Rica says a standard two-wheel-drive car covers most things; outside town, the car stops being optional. Costa Rica Vibes puts a rental at $40 to $70 a day plus fuel, as of October 2026. If you stay at Carrillo or in the hills, count on driving to every meal you do not cook.

How do you get there from Liberia and San José?

From Liberia airport it is about 110 km and 2 to 2.5 hours on Route 21 to Nicoya and Route 150 to the coast, paved all the way, per Costa Rica Vibes (updated October 2026). Without a car, Tropical Tours runs a shared shuttle from the airport at 9:00 and 15:00 for $50 per person, about 3 hours; a taxi is $100 to $130, and the public bus, changing in Nicoya, is $5 to $10 and 2.5 to 3 hours.

From San José it is 4.5 to 5 hours and about 235 km (Two Weeks in Costa Rica says 4.5 hours, Pura Vida Traveling 5): west on Route 27 or Route 1, Route 18 across the Tempisque bridge, then Nicoya and Route 150. The direct bus is no longer Alfaro: since November 2023 route 1507 has been run by Transporte Inteligente de Guanacaste (TIG) from its terminal on Paseo Colón; tickets and departure times are on tiguanacaste.com once you pick a date, or call +506 4110-0500. A private transfer from Juan Santamaría airport is $304 for 1 to 6 people plus VAT on Two Weeks in Costa Rica’s 2026 rates. By air, Sansa flies to Nosara but not to the Carrillo airstrip, per its destination list as of October 2026. If you have not booked flights yet, compare the two airports in San José or Liberia.

Where do you shop, and what services are there?

In town, and for big shops, in Nicoya. Sámara has two banks with ATMs, Banco Nacional and Banco de Costa Rica, and the machines close from 22:00 to 5:00 per the Sámara Info Center, so get cash during the day. Costa Rica Vibes counts several small grocery stores downtown, and the farmers market runs on Saturdays from 7:00 to 14:00 in the municipal park, per Two Weeks in Costa Rica. Puerto Carrillo has a couple of basic grocery stores. The hospital for the area is the CCSS’s Hospital de La Anexión in Nicoya. If you arrive after dark, buy the first dinner and breakfast on the way.

Where to stay

Casa Almendros is ours: a beachfront house on a quiet stretch of Playa Sámara, with the sand a few steps from the back gate. It has three bedrooms, each with a bed for two, a ceiling fan and its own air conditioner, two full bathrooms, an outdoor shower for the sand, a full kitchen, Wi-Fi measured at 122 Mbps, a dining table for eight and a travel crib on request. It sleeps six, the minimum stay is two nights, and it starts at $303 a night.

It suits families and groups of friends who want the beach at the door and the sunset from the porch more than a polished interior: it is a simple Costa Rican beach house, more than 50 years old, with rattan furniture. Local restaurants are a short walk, but the center of Sámara is a drive or a taxi away, so if your plan is to walk into town every evening, a house in town will suit you better. Check-in is between 15:00 and 20:00 with the local manager, and Liberia is about 2 hours away. For three days of plans, read Is Sámara worth visiting?, and for the rest of the area, our Sámara guide.