Playa Sámara: the reef-protected bay that made this a swimming town

Why is the water at Playa Sámara so calm?#

Because of the reef. A line of rock runs across the mouth of the bay, from the headland in the west to Isla Chora in the east, and the Pacific swell breaks on it rather than on the beach. What reaches the sand inside is what is left over: knee-high, slow, and shelving so gradually that the water is waist-deep thirty metres out.

This is unusual on this coast. Almost every beach between here and Nicaragua faces open ocean and works as a surf beach first and a swimming beach second, if at all. Sámara is the other way round, and the difference shapes the whole town — the surf schools teach here because the waves are forgiving, and families come here because it is one of the few bays where a small child in the water is not a constant negotiation.

Where should you not swim?#

The ends. At the western point the water runs out along the rocks, and at the eastern end the Rio Sámara empties into the bay and carries a current with it. Both are obvious once you are looking for them — the water surface goes flat and slightly darker where it is moving out — and neither is signposted. There is no lifeguard on this beach.

What else is there?#

The beach is the town's main street. Restaurants back onto the sand along most of the central stretch, the places to eat are two minutes' walk from the water, and kayaks for the paddle out to Isla Chora launch from the eastern end. Sámara has held a Bandera Azul Ecológica rating — Costa Rica's audited national beach programme — which covers water quality and sanitation rather than scenery.

At low tide the sand hardens enough to cycle on, and the bay empties far enough that the walk towards the island is dry most of the way. At high tide the usable beach in front of the restaurants narrows to a few metres, which is worth knowing before carrying a day's kit down.