Day 16-18: Samara

We made breakfast and enjoyed a chat with Lisa and Ted, our hosts. They loaned us their snorkel equipment and called a local they knew to rent us kayaks. We were going to kayak to Isla Chora to snorkel. Clint and Ariadne were going on the double kayak, and Theresa had to kayak by herself. The local told us it was going to be difficult to paddle against the waves due to the wind. 

It definitely was a workout to get to the island to snorkel, but it was worth it. There was just another small group there, so we had the whole island to ourselves. The water wasn’t super clear, but we could still find fish swimming around. We were a little concerned when we looked back to Samara and saw the black clouds. However, the guide with the other group told us we had about an hour or 2 before it would reach us.

We kayaked back to Samara. Clint and Ariadne fell out of their kayak first when they leaned too far left to try to stay steer the kayak away from some rocks. Theresa fell off when the local came out to help her get off. She thought she could glide the kayak straight to him on shore, but the crashing waves turned her kayak sideways before she made it in!

We stayed on the beach to swim some more because, of course, the dark clouds passed us now! It didn’t even storm! We went to a beachfront restaurant called Bahia. We all got a seafood dish and were amazed by the amount of seafood they gave us. We swam some more here. The waves were getting larger as high tide was coming in. We walked to the end of the beach enjoying all the surfers in the water.

The next day we went to Playa Carrillo where palm trees lined the beach. Perfect for some shade, but be careful for falling coconuts! The waves were big again. We all got tossed around by the waves. We shared two copos on the beach. Copo is what Costa Ricans called shaved ice, but theirs has condensed milk which made it so yummy! We went to dinner at Anglers and Clint had fish tacos. The marlin was just caught a few hours ago! We stopped by Sweeties by Celia and got apple crumble and lemon pie. 

We decided to explore the town instead of beaching the last day in Samara. We walked along the beach and checked out all the handmade crafts. Theresa even negotiated a deal for Clint’s 10 mil Colones beach towel and a handmade bracelet for Ariadne! 

We went back and enjoyed swimming in the pool for the remainder of the day. We went to Casa Esmeralda for dinner because the local kayak guy said it was his favorite. Theresa had their famous Mahi-mahi with avocado sauce. For dessert we had their banana split and crepe with fruit! Delicious!!