Geography
Costa Rica Regions at a Glance
Costa Rica is small on paper and slow in practice. Understanding the regions is most of the planning.
The six regions
- Guanacaste (northwest): driest, sunniest, most resort development, and the Liberia airport.
- Northern Plains: Arenal, La Fortuna and volcano-and-hot-springs country.
- Central Valley: San José, coffee highlands, museums, and both main highways out.
- Central Pacific: Manuel Antonio, Jacó and Uvita — the easiest coast to reach from San José.
- South Pacific / Osa: the wildest rainforest, hardest to reach, and the biggest reward.
- Caribbean: Puerto Viejo, Cahuita and Tortuguero — Afro-Caribbean culture, different food, different rain pattern.
How they connect
- San José to La Fortuna: roughly 3 hours. La Fortuna to Monteverde: about 3 hours including the lake crossing.
- Monteverde to Manuel Antonio: about 4 hours. Manuel Antonio to Uvita: about 1 hour.
- San José to Puerto Viejo: about 4.5 hours through Braulio Carrillo.
- Liberia to Tamarindo: about 1.5 hours.
Route-building rules
- Two to three regions per week is comfortable; four is a driving holiday.
- Pair one mountain region with one coast for contrast.
- Do not cross the country twice — fly into SJO and out of LIR (or the reverse) instead.