That’s completely up to you. Some guests prefer Airbnb and we love how Airbnb showcases our property to lots of guests that otherwise wouldn’t have found out about us. On the other hand, you may prefer to save on the Airbnb fees and book with us directly. Regardless of how you choose to book, we are thrilled to have you, and guarantee the highest level of customer service! Casa NIri will be a dream vacation, either way.

Yes! We can book for you or you can contact reservations@terratournosara.com to book direct.

Pricing is as follows:

Liberia Airport-Casa Niri:

8 person van: $160 up to 5 people. $10 extra per person after 5 passengers up to 8 max.

Large van up to 20 people : $400

San Jose Airport - Casa Niri

8 person van: $300 up to 5 people. $10 extra per person after 5 passengers up to 8 max.

12 person van: $450

Weather forecasting is not all that reliable in Costa Rica, but this website can help with a short term forecast.

December & January: Rain is rare and daytime temperatures are very pleasant in the mid 80’s. The land is still usually lush from the rains that have ended in November.

February & March: This is the height of dry season with temperatures creeping up to the high 80’s and low 90’s. The lack of rain typically makes the landscape more dry than lush, although our area of Guanacaste stays more lush than other parts of Costa Rica even during the height of dry season. Cicadas are common in this season and the beautiful Guanacaste Trees loose their leaves. There’s some beautiful flowering trees to make up for the dry landscape.

April - June: There is always a chance of rain, but there may be long periods of sun as well. The increasing cloud cover makes it feel less hot, and you may still have periods of mostly blue sky, with some clouds shielding the sun. Some years rainy season won’t begin until May so earlier in April is safer for less rain. Except for when there’s a storm coming through, rains will likely only be for a part of a day, leaving beautiful blue skies for long periods.

July & August: Similar weather patterns are April - June, but often this is a period of less rain although weather patterns are hard to predict. Both sun and rain are common.

September & October: Historically the rainiest months, although it’s getting harder and harder to predict global weather patterns. Some of Sámara’s restaurants will close for the month of October, so if you visit during this month, you’ll want to take advantage of Casa Niri’s in-house restaurant.

November: Often a beautiful month of sunshine, but if the rainy season is going long, there could still be periods of rain, particularly earlier in the month. By December the rains generally have mostly stopped.

Sámara is a beautiful town with a wide range of activities for all ages. I do not think it’s possible to get bored here! See our guidebook to get some specific ideas. Our favorites are horseback riding, zip-lining, surf lessons, and hiking in the shady jungle. If you’re staying for longer, you can also consider a long day trip or overnight trip to the hot springs and Volcano in Arenal or to the Monteverde Cloud Forest.

Sámara Beach is a great place to learn to surf or just relax on the beach. There’s a number of great beach restaurants so you can dine with your toes in the sand (& grab a drink or snack if you don’t want to pack a picnic). The water is shallow for a ways out and while the waves are fun to play in, they are not overwhelming. It’s a great beach for kids. To us, it’s absolutely perfect.

There’s a lot of restaurants in town and we have selected the very best ones for you here. If you visit others you love please let us know!
Of course we also love Casa Niri’s in house restaurant, which is private for our guests. Explore our menu!

To reach Samara Beach from Casa Niri you will drive 2-3 minutes down a dirt road. Once you hit the main paved room, it’s just another 3 minute drive until you reach Samara town and beach.

Due to the steep hills and lack of shoulder on the paved road, it’s not advisable to walk or bike to the beach. Our neighborhood is great for walking around, but it would be too dangerous on the main road.

Casa Niri is located in the sought after neighborhood of Sámara Woods. Sámara Woods has some of the most breathtaking views of the ocean, but is only a 5 minute drive into Sámara Beach. Due to how steep and curvy the road is (& it doesn’t have a shoulder) we do not suggest walking or biking. But it’s an easy drive and a beautiful one! We are up at about 500 feet elevation which offers us a cool breeze, and definitely fewer bugs than down in town.

Sámara Beach is a great place to learn to surf or just relax on the beach. There’s a number of great beach restaurants so you can dine with your toes in the sand (& grab a drink or snack if you don’t want to pack a picnic). The water is shallow for a ways out and while the waves are fun to play in, they are not overwhelming. It’s a great beach for kids. To us, it’s absolutely perfect.

5-6 minutes away in Sámara you can find a few grocery stores, or we’d be happy to order groceries for you so you can spend your vacation relaxing and not worry about logistics of food shopping.

There’s two family doctors in town and they see both adults and children.
Dr. McLean (female) +506 8861-7281
Dr. Freddy +506 8302-2791 and for EMERGENCIES ONLY his personal cell phone is +506 2656-0992.
Dr. Freddy has an ambulance and access to a medevac helicopter. If something serious happens, he will take you to the best private hospital, likely in San Jose.

Our kids have been to both of them for swimmers ear and they were treated quickly and effectively.

A Dr. visit will likely be between $75-$200. I believe Dr. McLean is on the lower end and Dr. Freddy slightly more.
If you get international medical insurance, you still have to pay out of pocket, but then your insurance should reimburse you. Given the reasonable cost of care, we generally don’t get insurance ourselves. You may want to consider an insurance that covers medevac if you are concerned about it.

The closest hospital is in Nicoya, about 45 minutes away. I would only go there for something basic like stitches. Otherwise, reach out to Dr. Freddy for help reaching a hospital in San Jose. San Jose is a 4-5 hour drive, so the medevac is a great option to have. I do not know the price of the medevac as we luckily have not had to use it yet!

We definitely suggest renting a car.

We recommend a 4x4, although if you’re experienced and comfortable on steep dirt roads, it’s certainly possible in a manual low gear. We have parking for 2-3 vehicles at the top of the driveway, and for another one vehicle at the street level.

If you choose not to rent a car, there are local taxi’s available, but they will mostly speak Spanish and may not be available exactly when you need. There is one good english speaking taxi we know of, and Mery can help you call him, but he may not always be available.

If you don’t have a car, we can help you order groceries to minimize trips to town, but we can’t take responsibility if you have trouble getting a taxi.

Many tours, especially those with the more formal Samara Adventures will pick you up at Casa Niri.

If you don’t have a car, you may want to take advantage of our Cocina Niri menu to limit trips into town.

Ride sharing services like Lyft and Uber do not operate in our area.

Car Rental Agencies often run out of cars so we advise you reserve your car ASAP,

From the airport

I highly suggest renting through Adobe if you’re renting from an airport. (They don’t have an office in Samara unfortunately) They are a very honest and straightforward local company.

Adobe will pick you up just outside the arrivals terminal as you exit the glass doors leading out of the airport (look for a man with an Adobe sign) and he’ll help you with your bags and into a van for a short ride to the Adobe car rental office.

Renting in Sámara

If you rent a car in Sámara (there’s a National and Alamo), we can help you with a taxi to get to the car rental agency, which are both a 5-6min drive from Casa Niri.

Insurance in Costa Rica

Costa Rica has minimum mandatory car insurance. You can get out of additional insurance if you bring a printed out letter from your credit card company saying you have international car rental insurance through your credit card. (Call your credit card to request this letter).

With Adobe, they always tell you the cost of the rental, including insurance, up front. If you see super cheap internet prices, they likely have fine print saying the actual price may change upon arrival. Other agencies may not be as up front about this.

License Requirements

You can drive for up to 90 days in Costa Rica with a US or Canadian drivers license. Other countries, please check the requirements yourself. You must always carry your passport and your license when you drive. There are frequent checks and you will get a fine (or be taken to a station) if you do not have your passport and license both with you.

Unfortunately Casa Niri can not help with any more details of renting a car beyond our advice above. There is a separate service in Sámara called Booking with Maria, and she can help you with car rental and other special requests. Whatsapp: +506 8411 8618

Yes! Casa Niri would be happy to get you groceries before you arrive. During your stay we can also help you get groceries delivered. While we do recommend having a car, if you do not have one, you’ll likely want to use this service.

We do not charge anything for coordinating grocery delivery, but the store that delivers does seem to be slightly more expensive than the other stores in town.