Transportation
One of the biggest things I had to figure out when I went for the first time in early 2021 was transportation. It starts at the airport after you land and get through customs. it ends in reverse when you leave. It is surprisingly easy to get to Costa Rica and back home again.
Airports
Costa Rica has two international airports: Liberia (LIR) and San Jose (SJO). They take care of the whole country very well. Rates and flight options can vary widely between them and it makes little sense. Most CCC in CR2022 attendees will be coming in and out of the San Jose airport, which is in the center of the country.
There are small airports in each of the other cities and a flight typically costs $150 per person. I really want to fly to another small town and I bet you would find it pretty fun as well. The cost to/from an airport to a town can be $100-$160. You don’t have to worry about reservations. There are lots of options at the airports at any time of day.
Booking flights online
Flights to Costa Rica can fill up, especially the cheap, direct flights. Start looking at flights as far ahead of time as you can to get the best options. Look for a direct flight or one that has a short layover so you can still enjoy the travel days a bit.
On Travelocity, for example, sort the results by “duration”. Most of the travel platforms have this kind of sorting. You will see what I mean when you get there. I have seen durations of 6 hours up to 30 hours.
Pack lightly and bring perhaps one small suitcase and a backpack for your technology and extras. It’s safe to prepay for one suitcase per person when you book the flight. Pay at the airport for any other extras. This is exactly what I am doing.
See my video on what to pack HERE.
Costa Rica Travel
Your first touch with travel in Costa Rica using local transportation will be from the airport to the first location, Selina at Manuel Antonio. You will use a cab or a shuttle that you can choose once your flight lands. The trip will be about $100-$150 for a cab (total). You don’t need to know any Spanish.
Cabs
We will carpool in cabs now and then. When we go on an excursion, like the Catamaran Sunset Cruise, we will share a larger vehicle or a bus to get us to the launch site.
Selina can arrange this transportation for us. Local cab rides typically cost $3-$5 and the cab can accommodate 3-4 people. We will probably have a “cab pool” in which we contribute some money to pay for this group travel. We might apply this concept to other things that we share.
Between Locations
We will generally be traveling between locations on the weekends or on Wednesdays, as this is the least disruptive to our business schedules. We will travel between locations together in style.
It will be quality time for us together and it should be comfy using InterBus. I went on 6 of these rides in 2021. You have to wear a mask the whole time. Most treks are 3-5 hours and they cost $50-$75.
