Manuel Antonio Area First Week of September

In general, would anyone recommend for or against a visit to the Manuel Antonio park area during the first week of September? I realize it is the rainy season, but I do not know if this means frequent torrential rain or just daily showers. Should I wait until after October?

Also what are the road conditions between San Jose and Quepos/Manuel Antonio? Sharp turns, narrow lanes, and vertiginous drop-offs or something easier and less stressful for the driver??

The drive over the mountains from San Jose, until you get to Orotina is many sharp turns, narrow lanes, one lane bridges, and steep drop offs with no guard rails. Do not attempt it at night for sure. Take your time and you will enjoy the drive, it's really beautiful. For the most part though the road itself is good all the way to MA.

Unless you can wait on into December, September is probably a better bet than Oct. or Nov. might be. The typical rainy season day is mostly sunshine in the morning and during the best part of the day. It starts clouding up about 3 in the afternoon and you might get an hour of rain, or it might rain off and on all night. It's a great time of year to be here.

Just came back from CR. I drove from San Jose to Manuel Antonio and had no problems. Yes there are twists and turns, but that is throughout the country. I also ended up driving back to San Jose at night and in the rain and fog. It slowed me down, but it wasn't a problem. I have driven all over CR, because I get car sick unless I'm doing the driving and it really was a piece of cake in my opinion. I did have a 4 wheel drive, but only used the "4 wheel" option once, but I was also doing some scenic off roading! I don't feel the driving conditions are as bad as people say. What's so hard about driving on a dirt or potholed road once in a while? Many of the roads are paved and just fine.

Hi, ther is not too much rain, and the road is not so bad.
Enjoy yout trip
www.jardintropicalbandb.com

October is the height of the rainy season, Sept isn't far off!

MANUEL ANTONIO

I'm sorry stevelyn, but it is irresponsible to encourage someone to drive at night in CR, especially over the mountains. I have driven it several times and don't want to have to do it again. I am not afraid of driving in the least, but there are factors driving here at night that most people would not be used to back in their home country. The pot holes are becoming less of a problem, but are still a factor. The biggest factor making driving at night dangerous is the amount of people and bicycles on the roads with no lights. It is not uncommon to encounter an entire family walking along the highway with no flashlight and they don't try to walk off of the pavement. They often will walk 2 or 3 side by side out onto the pavement. An experienced Tico driver told me that many of these people have never driven at all, especially at night and they just assume because you have headlights that at the same point they see your car lights they figure you can see them, so they see no reason to get out of the way. We have encountered cattle crossing the highway at night probably 10 times in the last two years. The mountains not having guardrails and almost no street lights through out the country, it just is not the piece of cake you make it out to be for most people. I simply think it's irresponsible to mislead someone that perhaps is coming to this country for the first time.

The Caribbean side of the country experiences it's best weather of the year in the months of September and October.

Manuel Antonio is a nice place to visit January - April when the Pacific side experiences it's best weather. Enjoy