La Fortuna to Tamarindo, San José to the beach: getting around Costa Rica with a group

La Fortuna to Tamarindo: the drive, step by step

This is the leg almost every volcano-then-beach trip includes, and the one people underestimate. On a map it looks like a short hop west. On the road it's a 3½ to 4 hour drive, because the only practical way around Lake Arenal is a winding two-lane road.

The usual route leaves La Fortuna past the Arenal dam, follows the north shore of Lake Arenal through Nuevo Arenal to Tilarán, then drops down to the Pan-American Highway and crosses the Guanacaste lowlands to the coast near Santa Cruz and Tamarindo. The lake section is the slow part: curves, the odd pothole, cyclists and cows. It's also the most beautiful hour of the trip, with the volcano behind you and wind farms on the ridges above the lake.

From the Majestic Lodge in El Castillo to Johnny's Beach Bungalow at Playa Avellanas, a few beaches south of Tamarindo, our hosts budget about 3 hrs 50 min door to door in a group van, including a stop. A few things make this leg go well:

• Leave after breakfast, not after lunch. You'll arrive in daylight and miss most of the afternoon rain in the green season.
• Plan one real stop. Groups with kids or older relatives do better with a lunch stop at the lake or in Tilarán than with three quick ones.
• Avoid the lake road after dark. It's unlit, curvy and shared with people walking home.
• Make it part of the day. A waterfall or hot-spring stop on the way turns a transfer into an outing.

The same route works in reverse if your group flies into Liberia and finishes at the volcano. Then you'd normally fly home from San José, about three hours from Arenal.

San José to Tamarindo (and why we suggest you don't)

San José to Tamarindo is about 4½ to 5 hours by road via the Pan-American Highway, crossing the Tempisque River or going around through Liberia. SJO to Johnny's at Avellanas is about 4 hrs 45 min in our vans. It's an easy road by Costa Rican standards, but after an overnight or cross-country flight it's a long afternoon, and many arrivals land in the evening.

If the beach is your only stop, fly into Liberia (LIR) instead. Johnny's is 90 minutes from LIR. If the beach is your last stop, fly into San José, spend the first nights in the mountains or at Arenal, and reach the coast on the way north. Then fly home from Liberia. That's the open-jaw ticket every multi-stop group should price.

Drive times between the airports and our estates

These are the times our hosts plan with: door to door in a group van, at a normal pace, with traffic and a short stop. A rental car driven hard can be faster on an empty road; a bus of 30 with a lunch break will be slower.

Approximate, door to door in a group van. Times vary with traffic around San José, roadworks, weather and stops.

Private van, rental cars, shuttles or flights?

For most groups of 12 or more, this decision makes itself once you lay the options side by side.

Getting around Costa Rica with a group: our recommendation

Use private vans for every long leg (airport arrivals, moves between regions and the airport departure) and decide day by day for the rest. A couple of rental cars can make sense on top of the vans if part of the group wants to explore on its own, but nobody should be driving the lake road at night after a day of zip lining.

Flights: fly into San José, home from Liberia

Costa Rica's two international airports are four to five hours apart by road. Booking a multi-city ticket (into SJO, out of LIR, or the reverse) lets the route run in one direction, so the last day ends with a 90-minute drive to the airport instead of a five-hour one. Price it early: the fare difference is often small, and the time saved is a full vacation day.

For large groups it helps to agree on one or two target flights so the van runs fill up. If arrivals are scattered across a day, plan a first stop close to the airport. Bella Vista is 80 minutes from SJO, so even a late arrival isn't a night drive across the country. Bella Vista's team has a practical guide to landing at the San José airport, and the Majestic Lodge's team covers which airport to choose for La Fortuna and getting to La Fortuna in detail.

Road realities: night driving, rain and 4x4s

Darkness comes early

Costa Rica is close to the equator, so it's dark by roughly 6 PM in every month. Rural roads are mostly unlit, with pedestrians, cyclists and animals on the shoulder. Plan long legs to arrive by late afternoon.

Rain and the green season

Afternoon downpours slow mountain roads and reduce visibility, and heavy rain occasionally causes landslides or closures on mountain routes. Morning departures avoid most of it. Your driver will know which roads to avoid that week; a rental-car navigation app won't always.

Do you need a 4x4?

Not to reach Bella Vista or the Majestic Lodge. The final stretch into Playa Avellanas is unpaved and can be rough in the green season, so if you rent a car for the beach, Johnny's recommends four-wheel drive, or you can leave the driving to their vans. Beyond our estates, some beach and backcountry roads genuinely need one, especially from May to November.

Parked cars

Never leave bags or passports visible in a parked car, especially at beaches and trailheads. Our safety guide covers this and the other common-sense habits.

What our hosts arrange

Transport is part of how we host. Each estate has its own vans or trusted local drivers, and because one team runs all three, we can line up every leg of a multi-stop trip at once.

• Bella Vista: Felix meets groups at SJO in the estate's 12-seat van, and the hosts can arrange extra vehicles for bigger groups.
• The Majestic Lodge: airport transfers and vehicles can be added, or bundled into the all-inclusive Presidential Package.
• Johnny's Beach Bungalow: two 12-seat vans on site. Liberia airport runs are $400 each way for up to 12 people and $550 each way for 15 to 20.

Tell us your flights and the order of your stops and we'll quote the transfers along with the lodging. The itineraries show where the transfer days fall in 7, 10 and 14-day routes.

Mountains · Bella VistaLanding at the San José airportWhat to expect from SJO arrivals, from Bella Vista's hosts.

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Volcano · Majestic LodgeGetting to La FortunaRoutes, airports and transfers to the Majestic Lodge at Arenal.

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Ocean · Johnny'sPlanning a trip to Playa AvellanasAirport, road and arrival details for Johnny's Beach Bungalow.

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