Hi my boyfriend and I are finalizing our plans for next month :)
We are flying into Liberia (land at 2:00)
Our plan is to end up in Santa Teresa for a few nights.
On our way form Liberia we want to spend a night somewhere to break up the travel time. My research tells me its about a 6 hr drive, so somewhere about 3 hrs from the Liberia airport would be good. We will be renting a car.
Also when we return to US our flight is at 3:00, do we have enough time if we leave that morning to make our flight? If not we will leave the day before, is there somewhere else relatively close to the airport (maybe 1 hr) that we should stay that night?
Thanks so much!
We are flying into Liberia (land at 2:00)
Our plan is to end up in Santa Teresa for a few nights.
On our way form Liberia we want to spend a night somewhere to break up the travel time. My research tells me its about a 6 hr drive, so somewhere about 3 hrs from the Liberia airport would be good. We will be renting a car.
Also when we return to US our flight is at 3:00, do we have enough time if we leave that morning to make our flight? If not we will leave the day before, is there somewhere else relatively close to the airport (maybe 1 hr) that we should stay that night?
Thanks so much!
1
about 1.5 hours from the airport is la pacifica, just north of canas. http://pacificacr.com/english/it's a beautiful property, right on rt 1 but set back from the highway about 400 meters in a jungle-like setting. they have an excellent (if a bit expensive) restaurant. it is located very near las pumas wildlife rehabilitation center where you can see all sorts of wildlife - including jungle cats.
sunset is around 5:30 pm almost all year round and it is generally dark by 6 pm, so i wouldn't travel any further -- not a good idea to drive after dark, especially on rt 1.
i would advise you to spend your last night near the airport. hotel santa ana is very reasonable and about 5 minutes from the airport. http://www.hotelsantaanacr.com/ there is also rincon del llano http://www.costaricabeauty.com/viewprofile.aspx?i=1478&n=Hotel-Rinc%C3%B3n-del-Llano
for something to do on the morning of your flight: you can head into liberia for some shopping or banking and a choice of restaurants. about 14 miles south of the entrance to liberia is the turnoff for llanos del cortes waterfall - it's about 3 km off the highway.
of course, you could also spend your last night at one of the nearby beaches - playas del coco or playa hermosa -- either of these is about 30 minutes from the airport. this would be a great idea since you will have all morning to enjoy yourselves. http://www.elcocobeach.com/hotels/
Edited by: wiremu
by the way - the highway ( rt. 1) from liberia to canas is being widened into 4 lanes so there's lots of construction going on. slow down and be watchful.
Edited by: wiremu
4
Sure, it's not on the ocean, but my wife and I killed an afternoon and evening there in route to Nosara and enjoyed it alot! It's not touristy at all like say Tamarindo and its size makes it easy to get to know. The locals were very pleasant and I enjoy speaking la lengua which was kinda essential. In strolling around, we discovered several lifestyle stores and while my time in CA is not at all spent scoring recuerdos, my wife DID enjoy the shopping and the looking around was fun enough. No ruins, no surf shops, but a fine selection of restaurants that won't break the bank. Guess I'm easy to please, but seeing how los locales live and hanging somewhat with them is more my style than only interacting with them when they're waiting on me in a high-priced restaurant or cleaning my expensive hotel room.5
glad you enjoyed your time in nicoya. it really is just a commercial center and few tourists enjoy it as you have. it's great to spend some time in a town like nicoya which is very costa rican and get a good immersion in the culture.however, i still wouldn't classify it as a "fun city with lots to do." more like a "typical costa rican town with interesting shopping and some authentic, non-touristy, restaurants."
