Getting Here
Airports & how to arrive at Villas Espavel
Liberia, Costa Rica (LIR) is the closest airport to Sámara at just 2 hours away. It is a small and easy to navigate airport.
San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO) is 4.5 hours away and is the largest airport in Costa Rica, still small by US Standards
Getting to Sámara from the Airports:
Taxi or shuttle
We can line up a taxi or a shuttle van from either airport. The taxi from Liberia costs about $150. The shuttle costs about $50/person and only leaves at specific times.
Rental car
If you only want to rent a car for your journey from the airport to Sámara, you can rent from Alamo or National and return the car here in Sámara.
If you would like a rental car for the entire trip, you can rent a vehicle in Liberia and shuttles run to the car rental agencies from the airport. There are various national car companies to choose from. If you are looking for a Costa Rican car rental company, we would recommend Adobe Rent a Car. You can visit their website by clicking HERE.
Bus
From Liberia to Nicoya and then Nicoya to Samara – it is likely a 3.5 hour adventure depending on connections. To do it, walk out of the airport to the highway and catch a bus bound for Nicoya. Once you arrive in Nicoya ask for the “estacion de autobuses que van a Sámara” It is about a 3 block walk to the other bus station where you can catch the bus to Sámara.
Driving in Costa Rica
Driving in Costa Rica is totally feasible. You’ll just have to accept that the roads are narrow and many have potholes you wouldn’t believe. The most surprising thing you’ll notice immediately is that Costa Rican drivers love to pass. Drivers will do it on blind curves, heading uphill or around a line of 5 vehicles. Because of the condition of the roads it is safer to not drive at night. There are no street names and very few road signs. We use Google Maps and Waze to navigate us when we are moving around San Jose or around the country.
Getting around in Samara
One of the best things about vacationing in Sámara is that you don’t need a car. You can rent a bike while you are here, walk around town and to and from the beach and hire wheels if you want to go to neighboring beaches.
Bike Rental
If you want to have human powered wheels while you are here, which we highly suggest, we can help you arrange a bike rental. We have space to park and lock your bikes here at Villas Espavel.
Taxis
There are many taxi drivers in town who can bring you home from the beach or take you out to or back from dinner. They can also take you to neighboring beaches.
Quads
If you want to even more adventure, you can rent a quad and explore neighboring beaches, the teak forests and hills above Sámara and generally have a gasoline powered blast.
Golf Carts
If you want to putter around Sámara a golf cart could be the perfect answer. It gets you to and from the beach and out to dinner in an easy, low effort way.
Cash: You will need cash. Remember it’s always better to pay in the currency of the price, you’ll lose on the conversion if you do it at the store register. There are several bank machines (cajeros) in town. We use the machines at Banco Nacional next to the just before the church on the way to Samara and the BCR machine on the side of the soccer field.
Road Signs
“No Hay Paso” means don’t come this way and is used when there is a One Way street heading in the opposite direction that you’re traveling.
“Ceda el Paso” means yield. You’ll see this on all of the bridges between Nicoya and Sámara which are all one lane bridges, so one direction of traffic must yield to the other.
