Optimism abounds as people in Samara and Nosara have assessed damages caused by the 7.6 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday, September 5th with the epicenter in Cangrejal of Samara. Some have commented that it was fortunate that the earthquake happened during the day since injuries and structural damages were minimal. Add to that list that the earthquake happened during low season for tourism, minimizing potential economic losses for the tourism sector as well.

Recent arrivals to Nosara for a touristic visit, John Gillfillan and Lollie Solomon, were not terribly concerned about the situation.

In Samara, Marco Carmona, president of CASATUR, Samara's chamber of tourism, predicted that tourism will be affected this month but afterward everything will return to normal.  He pointed out that only constructions that weren’t well built were affected.  The hotel where he works only had damage to two porches of two of the villas and some tiles fell from the restaurant.

Marianela Araya Baltodano, assistant at Alamo Car Rental, confirmed that a few people have canceled car reservations for this month and tourists have shied away from the area during the few days after the earthquake; however the cancelations have been very few. 

On the other hand, Miguel Gomez, owner of a local restaurant and cabins, noted that some area business owners are not in an economic situation to be able to endure if tourism is low for four or five months.  Nevertheless, he acknowledged that it is fortunate that the earthquake happened during the day and during low season, minimizing the impact.      

While the quake shook Nosara town as well as tourist destinations in Pelada and Guiones beaches, the effects of Wednesday's quake on local businesses and hotels has also been minimal.

Marine turtles keep coming to Ostional

Local resto, The Gilded Iguana, is actually hard up for space in the height of the low season. “I've had a load of previous guests email to make sure we're okay, but I don't know if it's just a coincidence, but we're receiving more reservations now than in August,” said owner Joellen Hughes.

Reports from the Giardino Tropicale Hotel, Mango Properties Rentals, Hotel L’acqua Viva and Harmony Hotel said that everything was okay in their buildings and not cancellation has been made

“The building where we are is fine and in good condition,” said Diana Solano, administrator of Nosara Travel. “Considering that it's low season, people who are coming over Christmas are asking how things are, but we're not experiencing any reservations being cancelled.”

“We need to realize that it's nature and there's not much we can do about it,” she advised.

Things with the surf photography company Nosara Shack seem to be returning to normal, as they posted on their Facebook page that the “sand bars in Guiones look great! Maybe due to the entire beach now located a little higher off the ground but we're not complaining.”

Recent arrivals to Nosara for a touristic visit, John Gillfillan and Lollie Solomon, were not terribly concerned about the situation. Gillfillan, a former Los Angeles native has previously experienced severe earthquakes.

“As long as your house doesn't fall down, I feel like things go back to normal very quickly,” he said.

“We were actually getting on our plane when the news of the earthquake broke,” said Solomon. “All these TV's had 'Nosara' on the headlines, we had no idea what it was like but we looked at each other and said 'isn't that where we're going to be in three days?'”

Although the couple received some mixed opinions about coming to the area, they opted not to get sidelined, and instead trust in the situation, in a true show of the Pura Vida mentality. “We called our hotel to make sure everything was alright, and they said they didn't have any problems. I feel like it's fine now,” Solomon said. “Apart from the road being closed from Nicoya to Samara, having to detour through Santa Cruz, we didn't have many issues getting here.”

Their advice to wary travellers? “Once you get here, it's worth it.”

Yoga enthusiasts will be happy to know that the Nosara Yoga Institute will be accepting students scheduled to come for November training, Jeannette Vargas Ramirez, in charge of reservations, told VON.

Blue Spirit's yoga retreat also came through the earthquake, albeit with minor damage, according to their management assistant, Eduard Aviles.

“On Saturday (September 8th), engineers from the National Institute of Safety came and told us that the damage was superficial,” he said. “They told us that the foundation did not suffer damage. Blue Spirit will not be changing our opening from November 3rd.”

The National Chamber of Tourism (Canatur) indicated that all access roads to tourist zones have been reopened, that 99% of hotels in the country are functioning normally and that only 10% reported some type of minimal damage from seismic activity. 

The president of Canatur, Juan Carlos Ramos, is encouraging tourists not to cancel their hotel reservations, since “the Costa Rican tourist sector is working without any problem.”

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