FOR YOU, FOR FREE: 17 years' worth of firsthand Costa Rica trip planning and travel advice compiled into hundreds of articles, plus exclusive discounts. Created by a Costa Rican and a four-time published Costa Rica guidebook author. Welcome, amigos, and as we say in Costa Rica, pura vida!
Nikki is the CEO of Pura Vida! eh? Inc. (Costa Rica Discounts), and the author of the guidebooks Moon Costa Rica (2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025 editions) and Moon Best of Costa Rica (2022 edition) from Moon Travel Guides. Together with her Costa Rican husband, Ricky, she operates the Costa Rica Travel Blog, created the online community DIY Costa Rica, built the Costa Rica Destination Tool, oversees the brand-new (summer 2023) Costa Rica Travel Shop, and designed the Costa Rica Trip Planning 101 E-Course. Also, Nikki wrote the Costa Rica cover feature for Wanderlust Magazine's sustainability-focused Travel Green List issue, showcased Costa Rica destinations and experiences on Rick Steves' Monday Night Travel show and podcast/radio show, and served as the Costa Rica Destination Editor for Essentialist, a luxury travel brand. Want to show your appreciation for her free article below? Thank Nikki here. ❤️️
Get the Costa Rica info you need by browsing our article's TABLE OF CONTENTS:
water and sand at Playa Cangrejalview of Isla Chora from Playa CangrejalPlaya Cangrejalview of Playa Cangrejal from Road 160boardwalk at Playa CangrejalPlaya CangrejalRicky and Nikki; enjoying Playa Cangrejalview of Isla Chora from Playa Cangrejalsunset at Playa Cangrejal
Playa Cangrejal fast facts
English name: Cangrejal Beach
Distance from San Jose: 235km (approximately 4 hours)
Playa Cangrejal is a deep beach with compact light-brown sand and a shallow shore. Only a little shade is provided by the tall palm trees that line the back of the beach. A raised boardwalk that runs perpendicular to the shoreline provides bench seating. Playa Cangrejal occupies the west end of Playa Samara and fronts Bahia Samara (Samara Bay). The bay’s small waves are perfect for playing in and great for beginner surfers. Isla Chora, an island in the bay, is visible from the beach.
Crowds and noise
Despite its proximity to Playa Samara, Playa Cangrejal receives only a handful of visitors. People come to the beach to relax in solitude, so noise is kept to a minimum.
Cleanliness and Ecological Blue Flag rating
Costa Rica’s Programa Bandera Azul Ecológica (Ecological Blue Flag Program) promotes sustainability and public health. Every year, beaches in Costa Rica strive for top honors, which are bestowed annually according to strict ecological criteria. Beaches that participate in the program and meet 90-100% of the eligibility criteria achieve a 1-star rating. Further efforts invite beaches to earn additional stars (5 stars is the highest rating), including special colored stars. (To learn more about the program and discover what each blue flag rating means, see our related blog post: Award-Winning Blue Flag Beaches In Costa Rica: Photos & Map; Most-Recent Winners.)
Playa Cangrejal is not currently participating in the Programa Bandera Azul Ecológica. Therefore, it does not have a star rating.
Development at Playa Cangrejal
Hotels, restaurants, tours, bathrooms, etc.
There is no commercial development at Playa Cangrejal, though a tiny residential community with a few sodas (traditional Costa Rican restaurants) is located behind the beach (within walking distance). A handful of accommodations are in the area (mainly along Road 160), but none are directly on the beach.
Playa Cangrejal safety
Swimming and water safety
Swimming is allowed at Playa Cangrejal and is lovely in the shallow water and gentle waves that crawl up the shore. As always, exercise caution in and around the water, especially if you plan to visit with children or inexperienced swimmers.
General safety
Never bring items of value with you to the beach and always keep an eye on your belongings. Remember to lock your rental car if you have one. Do not visit the beach before sunrise or after sunset. If possible, visit the beach as part of a group to avoid being at this remote-feeling beach alone.
Playa Cangrejal location and road conditions
Access to Playa Cangrejal and 4×4 requirement
Playa Cangrejal is located on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast. It occupies the west end of Playa Samara, just west of the community of Samara.
In Samara center, the north-south Road 150 intersects with Road 160, an east-west route. An approximate 1-kilometer drive west from the intersection on Road 160 leads to the unnamed Playa Cangrejal beach access road. Turn left onto this road (just beyond the Las Palmeras condo complex) and it’s a 500-meter drive to the beach. A 4×4 vehicle is not required to reach Playa Cangrejal.
Some people who visit Playa Cangrejal choose to walk or bike to the beach from Samara center. It’s an approximate 1.5-kilometer walk or bike ride to Playa Cangrejal from the intersection of Road 150 and Road 160.
Map of Playa Cangrejal Costa Rica
Parking at Playa Cangrejal
There is no official parking at Playa Cangrejal. Locals park along the side of the road that backs the beach, near the row of tall palm trees.
Best reason(s) to visit Playa Cangrejal
The best reason to visit Playa Cangrejal is to sunbathe or swim at a beach in the Samara area that’s void of Playa Samara’s crowds. If you wish to station yourself in Samara to take advantage of the town’s many offerings, consider the peaceful, nearby Playa Cangrejal a beach that’s worth retreating to for a few hours of rest and relaxation.
Beach-hopping from Playa Cangrejal (or alternative beach options in the region)
Recommended day trips from Playa Cangrejal include visits to Playa Samara,Playa Carrillo, Playa Garza, or Playa Guiones.
Not sure which Costa Rica beaches are the best to visit? Let the beaches in this article inspire you:
Do you have questions about Playa Cangrejal, want to know more about the area surrounding the beach, or need help incorporating a visit to the beach into your vacation? No problem! When you’re ready, make an appointment here to communicate with me (Nikki) privately and we can discuss these and other topics to get your questions answered fast and your Costa Rica trip poised for success. Pura vida, amigos! 🙂
Hey, Costa Rica Travel Blog reader, thank you for visiting and reading our blog! We're truly grateful for your time and preference.
Do you know that your spam-free reading experience is most important to us? Unlike some other Costa Rica blogs, we do not to sell your personal information, and we choose not to display ads, sponsored content, or affiliate marketing on our blog so we can keep your visit as distraction- and junk-free as possible. Because we prioritize your privacy, we don't earn money when you visit us, when you sign up for our e-course, or when you click on our links, which means the time and work we put into this blog—including its 300+ articles—is entirely voluntary! If you find our content valuable, and you'd like to thank us for making the trip-planning process easier and your Costa Rica vacation more enjoyable, please consider making a small donation ($1, $2, $3, or an amount of your choosing) to our blog. Doing so is a great way to pat us on the back if you feel we deserve it. 😊 Pura vida, amigos!
Click on the button above to donate through PayPal. (If you cannot see the PayPal button above, click here.) A PayPal account is not required to make a donation; credit and debit cards are also accepted. PayPal donations are confidential; we never see your payment details.
Love our blog? Check out our other Costa Rica-related projects, too:
Summary
Article Name
Photos of Playa Cangrejal Costa Rica (Nicoya Peninsula) From Our Personal Collection
Description
We provide photos of Playa Cangrejal Costa Rica (Nicoya Peninsula), plus info about beach features, safety, location, parking, and more!
The comment section of this article has moved! If you have a question or comment about our article above or Costa Rica travel in general, please post it in our Questions and Answers Forum on DIY Costa Rica, our sister website, where you can also access our private Costa Rica recommendations, our Costa Rica Destination Tool, and our Costa Rica Recommendations Map. See you there, amigos! 🙂
Author
Posts
Viewing 0 reply threads
The forum ‘Costa Rica Travel Blog Forum’ is closed to new topics and replies.
Short on time? Use our FREE electronic quick guide to instantly locate the exact Costa Rica advice or information you need among the hundreds of articles on our blog. No email or personal information required.
This website uses cookies to operate and provide you with the best user experience possible. To ensure you're aware of and okay with this and our other privacy-related practices, please review our Privacy Policy, then click the button below to accept it.
If you do not accept the policy, we respect your choice 100%. Unfortunately, several of our website’s features, including our Questions and Answers Forum, rely on cookies to operate. Most are also run by themes, plugins, and other add-ons to our website that we do not and cannot control, which means the cookies you receive are mainly provided by third parties. Because simple actions like reading our articles, asking a question, and even visiting our website’s homepage require the use of cookies, it is not possible to explore or use our website without them. If you would prefer not to receive cookies, we kindly (and sadly) ask that you do not visit our website. (Alternatively, you can try setting your browser to remove or reject browser cookies before visiting our website, but you may find that our website doesn’t function properly without them.) By visiting or submitting information through our website, you acknowledge and accept our use of cookies, and the use of third-party cookies. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy.
Thank you for understanding!
Remember my preference
In order for our site to remember that you accept our policy, please enable the Strictly Necessary Cookie.
If you leave the Strictly Necessary Cookie disabled, we will not be able to save your preference. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to accept the policy again.
Tagged: beach, beaches, costa rican beaches