I know this is “off topic” so I hope all you forum Nazis will be cool.
I diligently checked, double checked, then redouble checked (I stopped just shy of a full blown triple check, that seemed excessive) the deep archives, but damn if I couldn’t find the exact answer to my question. The search function is not very user friendly.
Whats the best way to get from San Jose to the Mal Pais area?
Has anyone flown into the airport at Liberia? Liberia to Mal Pais?
Cheers,
Oliver
Check the Sansa web site to see if they fly from San Jose to Mal pias/Santa Teresa or the closest town around there. I think it is flysansa.com. Flying w/boards may be an issue, when they do take boards it’s 6’10" or shorter. I don’t think Sansa flies out of Liberia. If you go into SJ you may need to stay over night, but do it in Alejuela as it is about 5 min. to the airport as opposed to SJ which is MUCH longer. Vida Tropical in Alejuela is great to stay at. They have a web sight - google it.
liberia is way north of mal pais. you will still be doing a lot of driving if you fly in there. get a map of costa rica and check out just how far north it is.
easy way for me would be:
fly into san jose on martinair (2 boards under 10’ fly free, double bag). get a rental car and onite in san jose. up at 6 am and motor to puntarenas. take the 8:30 ferry to tambor. (the ferry boat guys are the ones with the shirts that say ferry on them. the scumbags are the guys without ferry shirts that will try to get you to give them colones for the passage). drive to malpais. dry season should be able to get there in a car. i went wet season and was happy to have 4wd. road is well marked.
i don’t know of any other airport near mal pais than at liberia. if you haven’t been to mal pais/santa teresa before, we are talking real small towns. real small. really, really, small.
and it is wonderful there.
You might also find that they will limit you to one board on the airline. This happened to some friends of mine on the flight to Liberia and the airline had no suggestion on what to do with the extra boards. They wound up getting a cab driver to store them at his house near San Jose. Fortunately he turned out to be a very honest guy and they got their boards back on their return. I would talk to the airline about what their board policy is but I would also be prepared for them to tell you something entirely different when you show up for your flight. All in all, I suggest renting a car in San Jose and driving - you will likely find that the added flexibility of having your own car more than makes up for the long drive to the coast.
Jeff
Call Tropical Tours for a shuttle, Ph. 011 506 640 0384. They will pick up anywhere in SanJose and deliver you to your door for $35 including ferry. $105 for three people. Half hour flights to Tambor are $66 one way, then you must take a short bus ride. I’d do the shuttle…less hassle and great sites to see along the way. I was just there with a 4x4 at the end of the rainy season. The zone you’re going to is unreal. Beautiful people, monkies galore, hippies, best food ever, some throwin low tide smokers. The locals beat up anyone who rides polyester boards.
Resin Research Epoxy and Sunova rules!
Love, Delbert Pumpernickel
Way back in college…you know the cheap skate days…I bought a $200 ticket to SJ and took three bus rides to Tamarindo…there’s a bus station in SJ and I stayed at a cheap motel next door…early the next morning I was off…about 6-8 hours later on the third bus, behind us was this small vacationer transport van with ‘Tamarindo’ across the top…I stuck my body out the window and started waving…“take me take me”…both buses stopped and I switched. Once there, I hooked up with this great couple from my state…they had a vehicle and they asked me if I wanted to tag along…so I did, for another week! We’re good friends still to this day. Once you get to Tamarindo you’ll have a better shot of getting farther south.
in my experience roads in CR range from crappy to horrible, get a 4x4 (not a regular car) and watch for potholes & loco drivers, of which there are plenty of both. 4x4 also handy for river crossings and dirt/mud roads that are everywhere.
PS: We were told, high crime rate in San Jose, stay alert, don’t get scammed or robbed. Despite that warning we got robbed (not even in the city but out in the boonies) by a nice older gringo couple who made small talk while we put our boards on the roof, meanwhile the woman brazenly stole a backpack from the car. Luckily the passports weren’t in it, as we were just leaving to head for the airport…
Check out natureair.com. It looks like you can get real close to Malpais. They fly out of a smaller airport in or near San Jose called Pavas. They have length limits on surfboards. It seems like a well run operation.
Roger
right on! thanks to everyone who replied, thats good stuff.
I was thinking about trucking down there with two boards in a big board bag, but I’ve read that some airlines only allow 1 board? has anyone heard of this?
I went down last year around this time of year (sigh!). The 4 of us each had a 9’-10’ bag with at least 2 boards. I think the official rules say this is a no-no but they never asked and we didn’t volunteer. We went through American and they couldn’t have been nicer. Charged us for 3 of 4 bags on the way down and one on the way back! All boards survived with nary a scratch.
It is always best to chat up the person behind the counter and be super friendly. Our counter person had just been to CR and had a great time so this worked in our favor. We tipped the bag handler handsomely and I am sure that helped.
Good luck. If you need some onsite assistance, I will gladly provide services in exchange for a plane ticket!
If you are driving yourself From San José: Drive to Puntarenas and take the “Tambor” car ferry to Paquera. Drive through Tambor to Cóbano. In Cóbano drive straight through town and turn left after 1 kilometer to Malpaís. After 8 km. You arrive at a crossroads just before the beach, turn right and the Tropica hotel is 800 yards on your left. The hotel is signposted from Paquera. 4x4 is not necessary, but is recommended in the rainy season. Total journey time from San José is 5 ½ hours, as we recommend that you arrive at Puntarenas at least one hour before the ferry departs.
From Guanacaste drive south through Nosara, Sámara and Coyote, ford the Río Bongo and continue through Manzanillo to Malpaís. Several stretches between Coyote and Manzanillo are along the beach, so make sure the tide is low. This route is only possible with a 4x4 during dry season (Dec.-Apr.). There are alternative but more roundabout routes north open year round.
There are several good shuttles from the airport in San José for under 50 bucks as mentioned above. I wouldn’t fly as it is costly and out of the way. You will have a blast there as it is almost always up on one of the many breaks. Have fun.