Nosara to Jaco – how’s the drive

[rankingee]

I am currently planning my second trip to CR in December around Christmas. My first trip was to Mal Pais, Montezuma, and Tambor last month. This time I want to go to Nosara for about 4 or 5 days, then south of Jaco, playa Bejuco or Estrillos area for 4 or 5 days. I would like to fly into Liberia and out of San Jose. Just trying to figure out about how long the drive is from Nosara to Jaco for planning purposes.

Any information on this one?

thanks,
rich

[*Lotus]

You are probaly better off taking the pan american highway down to Jaco from Nosara via (new) Tempesque bridge. This should take about 5 hours on good paved roads, except for the drive from Nosara to Samara. You could drive the coast route that time of the year which is very scenic to the ferry which would take you to Punterenas, but the fery can be an ordeal. I’ve done both and enjoyed the ride down the coast but we stayed over in Mal Pais a few days before moving on.You would need a 4×4 for the coast route and it is recomended to have some sort of 4×4 in Nosara.

[rankingee]

Thanks so much Lotus,

Again providing us with excellent travel advice. I will definetly have a 4X4. Just trying to figure out how much driving I want to do on this trip and if trying to cover both areas (Nosara and Jaco) is too much for a 10 day time period. What do you think?

thanks again,
rich

[*Lotus]

I don’t know, if the main idea is pleasure I would stay in one place. But if it is business so to speak you might as well cover both areas. If you get to liberia in the afternoon you can certainly drive to Nosara the same day and get a nice early start to Jaco and be in your hotel late afternoon the day you leave Nosara. But I would stay in Playa Hermosa not Jaco, check out http://www.casapuravida.com for nice rooms and great hosts ask for the owls nest. Costa Nera is nice as well but a little more Rustic or there are a couple of bigger resorty type places as well. Maybe we’ll see you there we usually go for most of December.

[rankingee]

There is that great advice again. Actually, I am partially looking at the possibility of buying a house or condo in a development. There are really two areas I am considering. One would be in Nosara and the other south of Jaco. I have already been to Mal Pais and like the area but think it is a bit too expensive and a bit too much of a party crowd. So here is what I am thinking. Fly into San Jose and drive to Nosara. The plane gets in about 10:30am and by the time we get though customs and get a car, about 12:OOpm. Can I get to Nosara in 5 hours via the new bridge? Stay in Nosara about 4 days, then down the coast to Mal Pais for a couple days, since I have been there already, then down to south of Jaco (which I don’t plan to stay in) but your suggestion of playa hermosa I shall check out. Stay there 3 or 4 days, then back to San Jose for the flight home! I figure I can check things out and focus in on which area is most appealing to me.

Lotus, are you in CR, the states, or where. It appears you have lots of experience in CR.

thanks again for the info.
rich, lake arrowhead, ca

[*Lotus]

I’m currently in NYC but have just happened to spend a considerable amount of time in the places you are interested in(really I’m no expert on Costa Rica). It would be really easy if you could fly into Liberia…but either way your plan is doable. Talk to some locals about driving down the coast from Nosara to Mal Pais it really was a lot easier than some of the guide books made it out to be I think you can do it in around 3 hours(can’t remember how long it took us, but it was shorter than we expected), you will have to cross a few rivers but it’s pretty easy and fun! We stayed at the Blue Jay lodge in Mal Pais, owned by a very nice Tico family and set back in the jungle, you get a little cabina that is screened in on three sides..we liked it and it was around $50 a night. The only thing I would ad is that if you thought Mal Pais was expensive, Nosara is no less expensive. I think it is actually considerably more pricey than Mal Pais. Check that http://www.nosarabeachrentals.com site Linda one of the women that runs it has been there over ten years and may be a good place to start for some real estate info. This is definetly one of those places you want to see at different times of the year. Unlike the Jaco area where we have found the weather to be pretty consistent year round, except during say October/early November where you can get some pretty heavy rains. Nosara really drys out in the dry season!!

Edited on May 07, 2006 06:22

[rankingee]

Thanks again Lotus. Checking the airfares, it seems that if you don’t go in and out of the same airport, it really gets expensive. The cheapest for us into Liberia is Continental, but if you only go one way the fair is over $700, but with round trip about $450. Go figure. When we were in Mal Pais last month we took a quad up to Manzanillo and it was really a pretty quick ride for the distance on the map. Looking at the distance up to Nosara, it looks like a few hours would be realistic, plus, I like some adventure. I have a 4X4 where I live in the mountains and drive often on similar roads so it is no suprise to me. We stayed at hotel pachamama which was $50. a night, south of blue jay, and it was a really nice spot also. I dont really expect the prices in nosara to be any cheaper. I think the prices are fairly reasonable. I forgot whether it was you or someone else on this site that said they prefer the central coast.
What is your opinion?

Thanks again,
rich

[*Lotus]

I think it was me….I like the “central”lol location so to speak. Very close to San Jose, great facilities in Jaco when needed, Manuel Antonio, the mountains etc…and drive a few kilometers here or there and you can have miles of unoccupied beaches. Even in Playa Hermos you can walk a 1/2 a km south and surf by yourself.

[rankingee]

Thanks lotus. I will check out Playa Hermosa as a place to stay and just visit Jaco. From all that I have heard, I don’t think that Jaco is a place for me.

[DENISE]

last yr. i drove to Nosara to meet my husband and son….i drove with my friend Janet and my daughter….we had the best time,, the drive seems to go on forever but it is beautiful and not hard except by Norsaro..then the roads get tricky,,,,we went from San Jose and it took @ 6hrs….we had friends meet us in Nosara but they flew and it took them not even an hour from SJ….

we left Nosara to visit Mal Pais also…..the yr before we had stayed at the Blue JaY and loved it…this last yr we stayed at THE PLACE and didn’t like it….in fact i didn’t like Mal Pais anymore….it is so crowded, touristy, and construction going on like crazy….not my idea of relaxing….
we did buy land in Ostinal…near Nosara,,,,i love the beaches.. u can have the Mal Pais beaches…yuk
have fun
denise

[ttrinh]

Ostional? why did you buy there instead of nosara? was it cheaper? i heard it is a bit hard to reach in the green season.

tracy

[Author]

Posts