Guanacaste Honeymoon

I came across Casa Pastor on VRBO but later found that it is managed by Samara Rentals, one of the two major management companies in town. In 2007 we had our first experience staying in a vacation rental as part of a family trip and were struck by the differences in the units we rented. Some were nicely furnished and the one we were stuck in looked like a going out of business sale at a furniture store. It was plain to see the unit was a business, not a home.
So getting back to Casa Pastor; I selected it because it is only available with Alex and Carol Shepard are not residing there. If is furnished and feels like a home. The house is far enough away from town that it is quiet and it also has a nice little plunge pool to admire the views of Samara Bay and Isla Chorro. The house has a very open floor plan and the bedrooms are not connected to the main house by an internal hallway. There is a loft and it has a fold out couch.
Another reason I picked the place is because it has a queen size bed in the master bedroom. Not something most places have. The downside was that the mattress was very firm and there was not a proper box spring under it. I'm not yet 30 but felt I had a preview of waking up at 60 years old for the first half hour of the morning.
There were two other negatives that stuck out for me. One, perhaps was just a fluke, but the first time we used the washing machine it flooded one wing of the house. Thankfully all is tile and pretty weather resistant but getting 3" of water out of the house was not the highlight of our stay.
The other thing might not be unique to this house but the bug situation was not good. There is no air conditioning and the owner's assertation that the fans do an adequate job was correct when we were there. The problem is that you need to leave the windows open and all of the screens have at least one hole chewed in it big enough to poke your finger through. By the 4th night we had bed bugs and on the 5th morning ants invaded our shower for who knows what reason. You can imagine a bug invasion is not conducive to honeymoon romance. Besides these three things, I think a shorter stay and Casa Pastor would be nice. The price is reasonable and it felt like our own private resort. The gardens are beautiful and we experienced more wildlife than some people experienced on wildlife tours. Another memory is that just about every lock in the place has a seperate key that goes with it. To that end, you'll be issued a key chain that would do your high school janitor proud. There is a $25 key deposit and I think that is totally accurate based on the amount of hardware and labels that would need to be replaced. This can be an issue if one wanted to put a few keys on their boardshorts loop and jump in the ocean (don't leave anything in your car).
Lastly, I want to give the latitude and logitude of the place because you will soon learn that there are no named streets in Samara and all but the largest cities in the country. So fire up Google Earth and punch in 9°53'9.11"N 85°30'53.31"W to see where it's located. The sat shot is a few years old as it doesn't show most of the neighbors. It also makes the surroundings look like an apple orchard and in the rainy season it looks cut out of the jungle.
More and more houses are being built in the area so I'd invite you to check out sites like VRBO, Samara Rentals and Exclusive Escapes Samara to find a property that suits you.

Carrillo is about 7 minutes from Samara and we found ourselves making the drive several times. One such time was to go to this wonderful restaurante. The hotel and restaurant are run by an Argentinian couple. We spoke with one of the proprietors in fractured spanish and learned that the woman who was running the restaurant was her daughter. That made a lot of sense because we could tell she really possessed passion for her work.
The restaurant has about 10 tables and one corner of the open air structure is an ourside barbeque setup that I tried to capture in the photos. The service was great and they gave us delectable home made potato chips as we waited. Everything was very fresh (I may have seen my chicken walking along the road earlier that day) and the prices were very reasonable. My wife said it was the best meal of our trip and I'd say that is pretty accurate.
Drive to Carrillo and look for the signs. It is on a small road on the north side of the main drag, adjacent to the mini-supermarket. Latitude/longitude is 9 degrees 51'5619"N 85 degrees 28'46.51"W.

Mix unique, comfy lounge seating with beachfront dining and you're on the way to a great lunch. That was my first impression but it only lasted a few minutes. Shake Joe's does a lot of advertising and subtly markets itself to the tourist crowd. These are not bad things, but I was expecting so much more and the place has the ability to do so much more.
We were served subpar food by employees that were indifferent to our presence. Service was very slow and it was quite a let down. The setting is nice but that's about all I can say about Shake Joe's. Avoid it!

It seems that every restaurant in town claims to specialize in 'pasta and seafood'. What sets them apart? Restaurante El Dorado is another place I was looking forward to and we 'saved' it until our second to last night in town.
You won't find El Dorado doing any advertising. There are two 'free map' publications around town and it is in neither. In fact, I was hoping it had not gone out of business since my guidebook was printed but we were glad to find the restaurant busy and prosperous. Lonely Planet also gives the restaurant high marks. It is run by an Italian couple who came to visit Samara and ended up moving from Central Italy. The father and son attend to customers and the mother works the kitchen with a few helpers.
The menu is huge with pages of pizzas, seafoods, meats and pastas. One peculiar thing they did have was a tempting dessert cart that looked out of place in the open air, thatched building with grating made of twisted contcrete rebar.
We had bruschetta for an appetizer and it wasn't very good. Perhaps they were working with what they had but I've never had bruschetta on white Bimbo sliced bread. Fortunately the main course was excellent. The prices are right and the service is friendly and attentive. If you're in Samara for dinner (closed Thursdays), this is a great choice.

Costa Rica's Pacific Coast is known for great surfing. Big waves and strong currents are not good for swimming so much of the coast can be an intimidating place to swim at. Samara is on a bay and has some of the best swimming (if not the best) in the country. The beach is very gradual and you'd be hard pressed to find a rock to stub your toe on. The slope is so gradual that waves break three or more times before running out of steam.
Our days at the beach were very nice. The only qualm is that we didn't feel like we could let our guard down as much as in other countries. We may have been a little paranoid but we were never robbed either.
There are at least three surf schools right on the beach and budding surfers seemed to be a good match for the shallow waters and gentle waves. A few cafes are also waterfront and perfect for a midday respite.
Snorkelers will be dissapointed as the water is murky but this is pretty typical of beaches on the west coast. There are some outfitters that will take you out where the water is clearer.
For swimmability and fun, this beach reminded me of beaches along the coast of Georgia and South Carolina.

When you get back from your trip, people who know anything about Costa Rica will invariably ask you "did you do a zip-line tour?" If you're in Samara, you can go out into the jungle with Wingnuts and see what all the fuss is about. After all, zip line canopy tours were invented just a few hours from Samara.
I've seen photos of more elaborate tours but Wingnuts is nice in that it is only a few minutes from town. It was vvery close for us as we stayed at Casa Pastor which is adjacent to the land the tour is on. In fact, the shuttle van parks about 20 yards from the house gate. You do have to meet them down at their office to get fitted and pay (afterwards).
Wingnuts has been around for about 12 years, as Manu explained to us. His parents own the property and he and his buddy/fellow guide Freddy built the course. There have been some minor changes but it is largely the same as it was back then. Manu's parents came to Samara from Vancouver when he was 1 and they have some prime land holdings. Both guides speak fluent english. They have 3 time slots for tours beginning at 10:30 and ending at 2. Their business was pretty steady as we were able to observe it from our house.
Some people in travel forums have knocked Wingnuts for not having double cable lines. To me, this wasn't a big issue as their runs were not really long and the cable/equipment they use is over-built for the use.
Expect the tour time to vary depending on how many people go as they have to strap you in and out at every platform. You are always either attached to the cable or safety lines on the platforms. You can imagine that this takes a while with big groups but my wife and I were the only ones on the tour and it took us about an hour and a half in the trees.
In summation, you could probably drive a few hours on decaying roads to more elaborate tours but does that sound like fun? The guides are very personable and you can tell they enjoy their 'work'.