Getting To Dos Hamacas
This is to help you get to Nosara from the airport into which you fly. There are only two major airports in Costa Rica, so you'll be arriving in either San Jose, the capital city, or in Liberia.
Liberia's a little closer, less than three hours' drive.
From the San Jose airport, it's about four hours, thanks to a new highway that eliminated much of the time-consuming mountain driving.
I've split the directions into two sections below, depending on which airport you fly into. So pick the section that's right for you. But first, read the preliminary stuff that applies to both.
Getting to Nosara from either airport will be a memorable, and probably a little adventurous part of your trip, especially if it's your first visit to Costa Rica. This page is designed to help avoid any anxiety you might otherwise have about that part of your journey. So print this out and bring it with you.
After landing in Costa Rica, you can either drive to Nosara in a rental car, or you can take a puddle jumper plane to the little Nosara airstrip, and have a rental car here waiting for you if you arrange it ahead of time.
I strongly advise against driving at night in Costa Rica. Directional signs are sometimes poor, or simply not there when you really need them, like at a fork in the road. There are some huge potholes. Ad at night there can be pedestrians, some very young and some very old, walking casually, or cycling, on the road. You will encounter a variety of creatures: cows, horses dogs, chickens, pigs. All these are interesting in the light, but daunting in the dark.
A couple more driving notes: The last significant town through which you will drive while still on a paved road is Nicoya. As you approach Nicoya, and especially after passing through it, be alert to the fact that there are a number of one-way bridges. You really need to be alert for them.
On one side of the each bridge there is usually a sign saying, "Ceda el Paso" meaning "Yield" to any vehicle approaching from the other side. Whether there is a sign or not, whether you have the right of way or not, go carefully and slowly at these bridges. Sometimes the signs are overgrown or simply not there.
A pile of trash or a tree branch, or some other object in the road can be a Costa Rican way of telling you to slow down and be cautious about some potential peril ahead.
Getting Here from the Airport in Liberia
The drive to Nosara from the Liberia airport is fairly straightforward, two and a half to three hours. From the airport, follow signs to Santa Cruz and then to Nicoya. You will turn right up reaching Nicoya and then go straight through the town, following signs to Samara (but only up to a point) and Nosara.
About 30 minutes after Nicoya, there will be a large gas station on your left, and important landmark. It's called "La Bomba," (the pump).
About 100 meters past the station, take the dirt road to the right, to Nosara (failure to take this right will lead you to Samara). Set your trip meter.
It's about 22.5 kilometers of dirt road to the "touristy" part of Nosara. After about 9 k, the route to Nosara makes a 90-degree right turn. A left at this point would take you to, you guessed it, Samara. Approaching Nosara, you will pass through a picturesque fishing village at Playa Garza. Then after a few more k's you will pass the Nosara Yoga Institute on your left, than after another k or 2, you will see on your right some shops, Coconut Harry's Surf Shop and Marlin Bill's Restaurant. On the left will be a French Bakery, Café de Paris. Welcome to the "American Project" section of Nosara.
One travel writer described the roads here as "an intestinal labyrinth." Don't worry. It's hard to get seriously lost, or stay lost for very long.
If you are coming to "Dos Hamacas," you'll need some more specific instructions to get here and we'll give those to you ahead of time.
If you get lost somewhere in the intestinal labyrinth, ask someone for help in getting to your specific destination.
Getting Here from San Jose
To get from the Juan Santamaria airport in San Jose, drive north on Highway 1, the Pan American Highway. You'll be driving toward San Ramon and Liberia.
After driving less than 10 kilometers, you will see a large nursery, "vivero" on your right. There will be an overpass in front of you, and an exit to your right. There will be a sign saying "Atenas 14 K" on your right also, with a couple of other town names and distances on the same sign. You take that exit to the right, and immediately turn left onto the aforementioned overpass.
Set your odometer and go 3.2 kilometers.
Turn left at the soccer field. It's hard to see because of the plants around it. Super La Garita in on the right.
Set your odometer and go 4.0 kilometers. Take a left just after you cross the railroad tracks. Then take another left, and you will cross the same tracks again. Go .3 k to the rotunda and follow directions toward Orotina.
You can read some tips for driving this new highway by clicking here.
The Autopista del Sol, or Caldera Highway, is Route 27.
Follow Route 27 until you see signs for Highway 23 towards Caldera and/or Puntarenas. This is after the exit for Highway 131 and Orotina.
Take Highway 23 towards Caldera and Puntarenas. You will be going Northwest and North, and will drive along the beach at Caldera.
A few miles past Caldera you will drive past the exit for Puntarenas / Highway 17.
Shortly after passing the Puntarenas exit, Highway 23 will dead end at Highway 1 -- you want to go North towards (but not all the way to) Liberia (I believe the road goes under the highway and loops around to a merge).
You will stay on Highway 1 for about 50 kilometers, and then turn left off of Highway 1 at a modern Shell gas station on your left. Immediately past the Shell station, on the other corner on the left is a barbeque restaurant named "Tres Hermanas," (three sisters).
You follow this road and the signs to Nicoya.
You will turn left upon reaching Nicoya and then go straight through the town, following signs to Samara (but only up to a point) and Nosara.
About 30 minutes after Nicoya, there will be a large gas station on your left, and important landmark. It's called "La Bomba," (the pump).
About 100 meters past the station, take the dirt road to the right, to Nosara (failure to take this right will lead you to Samara). Set your trip meter.
It's about 22.5 kilometers of dirt road to the "touristy" part of Nosara. After about 9 k, the route to Nosara makes a 90-degree right turn. A left at this point would take you to, you guessed it, Samara. Approaching Nosara, you will pass through a picturesque fishing village at Playa Garza. Then after a few more k's you will pass the Nosara Yoga Institute on your left, than after another k or 2, you will see on your right some shops, Coconut Harry's Surf Shop and Marlin Bill's Restaurant. On the left will be a French Bakery, Café de Paris. Welcome to the "American Project" section of Nosara.
One travel writer described the roads here as "an intestinal labyrinth." Don't worry. It's hard to get seriously lost, or stay lost for very long.
If you are coming to "Dos Hamacas," you'll need some more specific instructions to get here and we'll give those to you ahead of time.
If you get lost somewhere in the intestinal labyrinth, ask someone for help in getting to your specific destination.
