• Main
• Attractions
• Hotels
• Restaurants
• When To Go
• Getting There

Getting There

Lots of US airlines can get you down to San José: US Airways, for example, has well-run daily flights out of Fort Lauderdale, and daily service from more than a dozen US gateways is also operated by American Airlines, Continental, Delta, United, and of course, the Central American airline, Taca.

If you choose to come on an escorted or unescorted air and hotel package, your choices are many. Among those who bundle air-land packages, we especially like Central America expert Capricorn Leisure, but among the many others are Apple Vacations, Djoser, General Tours, Gogo Worldwide Vacations, and Tara Tours. You can also deal with various land-only outfitters based in the country itself: Costa Rica Expeditions is one of the best established, and other sterling choices include Destination Costa Rica and Horizontes.

If you opt to go it alone from San José to Manuel Antonio and/or Arenal, you can of course rent a car, but there’s also regular bus service from Grayline or Interbus. In the case of Manuel Antonio, you can even hop over on the regularly-scheduled propeller planes of Sansa or Nature Air.

Before leaving the States, get information for Costa Rica at www.visitcostarica.com (866/267-8274), www.infoturistica.com and www.ticotimes.com. Costa Rica is one of Latin America’s gay-friendlier countries, and you can get oriented (so to speak) on the scene at gaycostarica.com. For Manuel Antonio–specific information, try www.manuelantonio.com, www.manuelantoniopark.com, and puertoquepos.com (or, by phone: 800/788-7857); for Arenal, check out www.arenal.net and www.arenalvolcano-lafortuna.com.

See Costa Rica Travel Guide