Getting There
(Map of Costa Rica)

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You can fly into Costa Rica to one of the two international airports. The larger airport (a major expansion (more gates, more retail, large arrival baggage facility, controlled access, etc.) just completed) is located in San Jose, the capital of the country. San Jose is located in the geographic centre of the country and is about a 5 to 6 hour drive from Villas Canadiense (we are located at N9 degree, 58 minutes, West 85 degrees 44 minutes if you are travelling via GPS receiver). The roads are paved except for the last 20 or so miles. You will find commercial traffic heavy but the trip is interesting and the roads are well marked. If you fly into San Jose, you may want to take part of the first day and arrange your car rental, etc. If this is your first trip, we might suggest that you stay at the Hampton Inn which is just outside of the airport property. The Hampton Inn is a major international chain of quality hotels. You can readily find them and book rooms by phone. The phone number in San Jose, Costa Rica is 506-443-0043. They have English service at the front desk, a pool, a small gift shop, shuttle services and an excellent continental breakfast. There is also a great chicken restaurant right next door and several "typical" restaurants only a short couple of blocks north

If you choose to drive from San Jose, the roads are well marked and the new bridge across the Gulf of Nicoya is now open. Financed by the Taiwanese goverment, this bridge bypasses the old ferry service (lots of fun but sometimes a bit of a wait). Plan your trip if you can to drive the last 20 miles in the daytime. If you have not driven this road before, it is best to drive it during daylight hours. Remember, the sun comes up around 6:00 am and goes down at 6:00 pm. Do not worry about food. You will find dozens and dozens of restaurants along the way where you can stop to eat. Below is a picture of the new (2003) bridge.


(Taiwanese Bridge - 2003)


Below is a photo of a bazarr in downtown San Jose. You may want to visit the city, take in some shopping, entertainment and some of the tourist attractions. It is a large city with the accompanying large city problems. Nevertheless, the Gold Museum, the National Museum and the Opera House are definitely worth seeing. For an interesting dinner, we can suggest La Monastere on the mountain overlooking the city. The second photo is a view from the luxurious Villa Real subdivision in San Jose. Click on the last two photos for a larger view.



(Street Bazarr in San Jose) (Hillside view in San Jose) (San Jose Opera House)

More San Jose photos. Click on each to see a larger version

(San Jose Gold Museum)

The smaller airport (one "gate") is located in the town of Liberia on the West Coast of the country in Guanacaste province. Typically, only charter flights land here so check with your travel agent for available charters to Liberia. However, in 2004 regularly scheduled flights with Continental, American and Delta Airlines have begun. The airport is about 2 hours North of Villas Canadiense and the roads are paved except for the last 20 or so miles. Again, the trip is really interesting (i.e., all the different scenery, the strange food and fruit they sell along the roads, the signage and more) and the roads are well marked. You can also take a taxi from Liberia to Villas Canadiense for about $75 to $100 US depending on the number of passengers. If you choose to rent a car, you can take a taxi to the Hotel El Sitio for about $10.00 US and stay overnight (phone 506-666-1211 or fax 506-666-2059, website at htlsitio@sol.racsa.co.cr) . It is a well kept hotel with two pools, a casino and a good restaurant. Another restaurant with "typical"food is located right across the street. One of the major car rental agencies, National Car Rental, is located right in the hotel.
 

You can rent a car from any of the major car rental agencies (Budget, National, Avis, Thrifty, etc.), as part of your travel preparations and it will be ready for you when you arrive. If you choose to go by taxi, and decide at a later date that you want to rent a car for some local touring, you can have the rental car delivered to Villas Canadiense for a nominal drop fee. You can also rent a four-by-four vehicle if you plan more adventurous tours as part of your vacation but this is not normally needed to get to Villas Canadiense. Gasoline costs vary but at last check the price for regular gasoline was about 75 cents a litre or $3.00 per gallon
 

Nosara has a small airport that is used for commuter flights from San Jose. The cost for one person one way is about $75 US. You can make these short hop arrangements by contacting Nature Air ( www.natureair.com) or Sansa Airlines (www.flysansa.com). Flying time is about 1/2 hour either way and allows you to skip the 5 or more hours of driving from San Jose even if the scenery is delightful and interesting. Luggage weight is limited and if you have too much, there is a surcharge and sometimes your bags might have to follow you via a different route. Some of the car agencies (for example, Alamo) will have a car waiting for you at the airport in Nosara for a small (about $50) drop charge. Following are a couple of recent photos of our local airport, the waiting area and typical planes that use this convenient facility. For a larger view of these photos, click on the image and then click on "Back" in your browser to return to the normal sized photos.
 

(Landed safely) (Waiting Lounge) (Reception Committee) (More Planes)

When you leave Costa Rica, there is an exit fee (around $26.00 US) that you must purchase as part of your exit process. These are available from a row of well organized and computerized agents inside the airport.

Driving To Liberia to Nosara

Click HERE to print out the driving instructions.

The trip from Liberia to Villas Canadiense takes about two (2) hours (with no stops). There are several car rental organizations available in Liberia (National at the El Sitio Hotel, Budget and Alamo, close by). Leaving the Liberia airport terminal, you will drive down a divided road with small trees and grass planted in the median. This median strip is irrigated and drained. Coming to a "T" intersection you will see one of the many ancient round stone spheres found in Costa Rica. This one has been donated by a local family and sits in the median right near the intersection. The stone object is about a meter in diameter (see the first photo on the Local History link on this web site). If you turn left, this will take you into Liberia. If you turn right, this will take you South on an interior paved highway to Santa Cruz and onto Nicoya.

The first leg of the drive from Liberia to Nicoya will take you about one hour (road signs indicate about 79 kilometers) and is on good quality paved road all the way. There are a couple of traffic lights along the road as you pass through Santa Cruz. Watch for the changes in the speed zones along the way. Radar is a common tool for the traffic enforcement folks and there are lots of them - pay close attention to the speed zones marked on the pavement.

The second leg will also take you about one hour for the approximately 58 kilometer trip from Nicoya to the Nosara Subdivision. Once you reach Nicoya, drive right through the town. There is only one stop light near the Nicoya Hospital in the centre of town. The hospital will be on your right and a large Peli grocery store will be on your left (both slightly elevated from the roadway). Please drive carefully through town as the road is somewhat congested with lots of stops, cyclists, other vehicles and pedestrians. At the south end of Nicoya, you will pass out of the town and after a couple of miles, be on the lookout for a couple of "Sleeping Policemen" or "Policia Morte" or large speed bumps right on the outskirts near a school. You will also find another pair of these speed bumps in the first small hamlet of Caimital where you will have to make a 90-degree turn to the right.

Travel south on paved highway in the foothills (very scenic) for about 30 kilometers (18.4 miles). At this point, you will drive up a small hill and drive along a ridge and you will see a regular-sized CASTROL gas station on your left hand side (two pumps, a covered overhead roof for the pumps and a garage building in behind with a couple of repair bays, normal amount of parked vehicles, etc.). A few hundred yards past this gas station, the road has a paved exit to the right. If you stay left, it will take you South to Samara on the paved main road down a hill. The right hand turn will take you West to Nosara. Unfortunately, the pavement to the right does not last long. At this point the road to Nosara changes to gravel and you will go down a long hill. Keep following this gravel road but please be careful and watch for the following:

The last stretch of road has improved tremendously in the past few years but it can still be best classified as a "work in progress". The local description is "If you think you are on the wrong road, you are on the right road"!

At approximately the 39-kilometer mark (or 23.8 miles), the road will split at a stop sign. You will make a right hand turn and continue towards Nosara. The road veering to the left will take you to Samara. You will be passing though a number of villages and hamlets and finally through the ocean front village of Garza. You will reach Garza at about the 46-kilometer(or 27.9 miles) mark from Nicoya. You can see the ocean on your left at this point. Garza is an interesting little place with the fishing boats and the fish market. Driving through Garza you will next reach the village of Esperanza. On the far side of the village you will see our first large Villas Canadiense billboard sign on your right hand side. You are now only a couple of kilometres away. The next stop will be the Nosara Project subdivision. You will see many signs advertising the local restaurants and accommodations. One of the largest will be for the Café de Paris on your left hand side. On the hill on your right hand side you will see a real estate office and Marlin Bill's new restaurant. Take the next exit to your left (a long block just before the pizza place on the corner). Look for the sign as shown in the picture below. Our sign is the second one from the bottom in a reddish / orange color. As usual, click on the picture for a larger view and then "Back" in your browser to return to this page.

(Landed safely)

Follow the arrow shown on the sign and this will take you towards the beach and to Villas Canadiense. This exit will be at approximately 53-kilometers (32.2-miles)mark from Nicoya. Our oasis will be awaiting you. We know that once you settle in at Villas Canadiense, you will not want to leave!

Way Points We have captured a series of way points that will help you find your way to Villas Canadiense if you are GPS-equipped. Of course, lots of folks carry the small portable GPS units these days. Below is the latitude and longitude along with a brief description of the way point. If you are following these way points, they will guide right into our place. We start our journey in the town of Nicoya. You will be able to find this town readily on any roadmap.

# Latitude Longitude Description
1. N10 8 54.6 W85 27 9.9 Traffic light in front of the hospital in Nicoya
2. N10 8 23.8 W85 27 0.0 The market on the south side of Nicoya
3. N10 6 50.3 W85 27 6.1 Sleeping Policeman on the road outside Nicoya
4. N10 4 1.8 W85 28 23.5 Entrance to the small town of Caimital
5. N10 1 46.9 W85 30 13.2 Small town of Belen opposite the soccer field
6. N9 55 15.1 W85 31 25.5 Castrol Gas Station, soon you leave the pavement
7. N9 55 13.0 W85 31 32.0 Top of big hill off the pavement heading to Nosara
8. N9 54 1.2 W85 35 13.1 T-Intersection, left to Samara, right to Nosara
9. N9 54 37.3 W85 38 26.9 Eastern entrance to the seaside village of Garza
10. N9 56 19.6 W85 38 59.6 Dolce Vita Restaurant, west of Esperanza Village
11. N9 56 21.7 W85 39 11.6 Supermarcado Do Lorenas
12. N9 56 32.8 W85 39 38.6 Carico Real Estate sign in Nosara subdivision
13. N9 56 44.2 W85 39 48.6 Cafe de Paris
14. N9 56 56.7 W85 40 25.3 Giardino Tropicale - left 1 block to Villas Canadiense
15. N9 58 0.0 W85 44 0.0 Paradise! Villas Canadiense

If you would like to see a Google Earth photo of our place, click on the link below. You will see the pool and ranchito with the two duplexes on the left with the office building in between. This will be centered in your photo. Click here for Google Earth view

Click here for a Google Map to the Tico village of Nosara, about 5 miles from Villas Canadiense

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