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I’ll be coming to Cr in January and would like to drive to Dominical from San Jose through San Isidro.How are the roads? What are the places of interest on route? Any cautionary notes and what car rental agency is recommended in San Jose?Thanks JJ
The shortest drive is over the highest pass in the country @ Cerro Chirripo 12,530′. The downhill portion to San Isidro is not for the faint of heart (you will note all the drivers side dented vehicles). San Isidro is one of the bigger cities in what would be the start of the southern zone. The drive from San Isidro to Dominical is absolutely beautiful dropping down through a valley from mountains to sea. Good luck and you will want a 4WD if you will be driving north or south of Domincal very far.
The last time I drove it was from dominical to San Jose and it was 2 years ago. it was october and rainy season but wasn’t raining much that day.It took me about 4 1/2 hours going to the airportand I counted 15 landslides, some small and a few good sized. Too many trucks driving dangerously,and bad drivers. All the elevation gets high and it was cloudy. I stopped a few times to get some trucks off my rear bumber. This is why I didn’t buy some property I was looking at there. If I had to drive it again I would go the long way to Jaco and head south,it might take longer but alot easier on the nerves. Hope this helps.
I’ve driven this road many times and although it is a paved road, conditions are really dependent on the rainy season. A friend of mine who regularly goes from Dominical to San Isidro has told me there were many landslides this year as a result of the rain. I would ask in San Jose about the condition of the road as landslides should have been cleared by now.
Once you get into the mountains you will be on a single lane with lots of twists and turns and 40 km will be your average speed. You won’t save any time taking this route as opposed to the coastal highway and it’s not that difficult to get lost in San Jose (you have to pass through the city from the airport) but you will have some spectacular views.
I would highly recommend the coastal route through Jaco and Quepos and then on the dirt road from Quepos to Dominical. The mountain route is twisty and turny and there are lots of trucks driving like maniacs. If you go the coastal route, and you have some time, you can easily stop somewhere in Quepos/Manuel Antonio on the way. The road from Quepos to Dominical is bumpy, to say the least, but there are now bridges over all the river crossings. Also, I have talked to some people in Dominical and they said that a large portion of the road over the mountains washed out over the rainy season. They said that all traffic was diverted to the coastal route in order to get to Dominical. I don’t know the details as of right now, this was as of about a month ago. I am leaving tonight for Dominical and will be back Wednesday. I will do my best to give the complete update at that time.
drove from san jose to jaco then down to parrita manuel antonio quepos all the way to uvita. road from quepos to dominical is dirt therefore is bumpy but not too bad. it does turn back to pavement,at some point forget exactly when but its far down. was just there the 16 of nov till 3 of dec. so all coastal roads are in good shape.
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