From San José

First, you need to get to Puntarenas. When driving from San Jose, there are two roads one can take to get to Puntarenas.  The first one is the Pan-American Highway (Carratera Interamericana Norte), i.e. Route 1. This is an older, more winding road, and takes about 2h30. There is a newer toll road, called the Caldera Highway (Autopista del Sol), i.e. Route 27. Taking this route cuts the driving time to about 1h30 - 2h00 from San Jose to Puntarenas. This is the recommended route. Make sure to have some colones on you to pay the tolls.

Then, in Puntarenas take the ferry to Paquera which takes you in around 1h15 across the beautiful Gulf of Nicoya. Click here for more information about the ferry.

Final step, now that you arrived to Paquera, you need to drive to Santa Teresa. Cobano is the town before Santa Teresa, and you can follow signs to there, or Santa Teresa or Malpais to make sure you are going in the right direction. Once you get to Cobano, turning left after the bank will take you to Montezuma. Continuing straight will take you to Santa Teresa. When you reach the crossroads at the entrance of town, turn right (north) to enter Santa Teresa and turn left to enter Malpais.

From Liberia

If you're driving from Liberia we normally recommend bypassing the ferry, and driving down the peninsula. This is a shorter drive, but sections of the roads are in worse condition, and not all turn offs are clearly marked. Because of this, we highly recommend a 4x4, and using a GPS program such as Waze is necessary.

Sometimes the GPS programs will recommend a route that looks shorter, but will end up taking longer, because of the condition of the roads. It may direct you through rivers that may be unpassable at certain times of the year. Because of this, we recommend the route that takes you through Santa Cruz, on passed  Nicoya, then Jicaral, Naranjo to Paquera to Tambor, and then on to Santa Teresa. 

From Montezuma

An asphalt road goes up from Montezuma to Santa Teresa. In Cobano, at the crossroad, turn left towards Santa Teresa / Malpais. Be careful, the signs are not very visible. Go down for 10 km to the coast and arrive at a crossroads: El Cruce. Turn right Santa Teresa, left Malpais.

From Sámara through the hinterland

From Sámara, direction Nicoya (35 km). Go through Nicoya, then direction San José (route 21). Follow this asphalt road in good condition, pass the towns of Jicaral, Lepanto, Playa Naranjo, continue on a road in bad condition until Paquera (ferries to Puntarenas). In Paquera, take the direction of Tambor (route 21) and get to Cóbano, from where you take the road down to the coast. In total: about 180 km. Approximate time: 4-5 hours.

From Sámara by the coastal track

It is possible to drive between Sámara and Santa Teresa / Malpais by the coast but only in the dry season and with a 4×4. It takes a minimum of 3h30 to complete this 110-120 km route, which uses rocky tracks in poor condition. In any case, do not go in the rainy season because the creeks and rivers are overflowing and you can no longer cross them. From Sámara, go to Playa Carrillo, Punta Islita, San Miguel and San Francisco de Coyote, Playa Bongo and Manzanillo. The track passes by the beach of Manzanillo, where the rhythm of the tides is an obstacle that must be taken into account.

BY TAXI

You can also book a taxi to get to Santa Teresa or Malpais.

To book your taxi, contact us via WhatsApp +506 8986 3331 indicating your place of departure and arrival.