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Just heard a nightmare story about the ride from the airport to Jaco. A good friend told me that it can take up to 4 hours on back breaking roads. She suggested that I book a flight on a small plane out of San Jose that gets to Jaco in about 40 minutes. Is it worth it? Just thinking about getting into a small plane in Costa Rica gets me nervous.

Your friend doesn't know what she's talking about. There's no air service to Jaco and it's only about a 2.5 hr. ride.

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also good roads by Costa Rica standards

There are no flights directly to Jaco, but you can fly to Quepos and then taxi to Jaco which is about 45 minutes away I think. But if you are going to fly and then STILL drive for almost an hour, you might as well just drive or taxi from SJ.

The ride to Jaco is about 2 to 2.5 hours, and it's on decent roads. Since most of the roads are one-lane, it can take longer if you get stuck behind a slow truck up the mountain.

Thanks. I would rather be on a bad road than in a small plane anyway.

The road from San Jose to Jaco could hardly be described as a "bad road". It is paved and at least two lane the whole way. It is a pretty trip, by the way.

Delays come when someone going your direction on the two-lane mountain road is not going at the speed of traffic. Say, an ox cart. he will get out of the way and let cars pass as soon as he can but sometimes that means going at a walking speed for ten minutes or so. No big deal. Buy some fruit in Mango City and enjoy the view.

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Disclaimer: The above is merely the opinion of the author unless specific scientific data is included.
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NYC,

You've already gotten some great (and accurate) advice here, and you do have options. The mode of transportation is your choice. Just depends how much time/money you want to spend getting there:
- There is no airstrip in Jaco. Closest airstrip is in Quepos, South of Jaco.
- Roads are not bad, and the ride is only about 2.5 hrs +/-.
- If you've never been outside of SJO, it's a real nice ride. Stop at the Rio Tarcoles and check out the croc's!
- There's nothing wrong with the small planes that fly inter-country flights (Nature Air & Sansa). Many would say it's safer to fly then drive!
- There are also daily buses that travel that route for much less $$$.
- You could rent a car and drive it. It's not that difficult, but not recommended for a 1st timer in CR.
- You could hire a driver. There's an entire thread on CRT about responsible drivers with their contact info.

Bottom line.... don't sweat it. Enjoy your trip!

MG

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If you do do the SJO-Quepos-by-air thing, the taxi ride Quepos-Jaco is about $80 + airfare. I can stand a lot of poor roads for that saving, and as was said the road SJO-Jaco isn't bad by CR standards. Of course if you're seriously bucks-up, you could charter a helicopter...There's also public bus and Interbus service between the 2 places as well (a search here will yield info on these 2 options).

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
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[quote="Mucho Gusto"]
- If you've never been outside of SJO, it's a real nice ride. Stop at the Rio Tarcoles and check out the croc's!
quote]

Take this advice NYC! You can get any driver to make this stop for you. If you are pre-arranging a driver to Jaco, ask him to get some whole chickens from the mercado and bring some fishing line.

GREAT fun can be had by tying the chicken and lowering it from the bridge and tapping the crocs on the head a few times before they snatch it away. We actually did this on the way back. Set it up with the driver and had an AWESOME time.

Just don't fall in.

No sh*t! There are some HUGE crocs down there.

I guess thats why crocadile thast like chicken

the road is not bad. I have rented cars twice to make the drive and did it once on a motorcycle. They are just curvy mountain roads from off the highway until you get to the town of Ortina, then it flattens out. The big thin is if you do get stuck behind a truck and it is common fo people to pass on bling corners so watch out. There is relatively light traffic though as the route is pretty rural.

I could be wrong but a long time ago i think Hermosa cow pasture used to have a small plane runway anyone remember that?

But anyway just drive it!

Surfdog

Seaplanes or helicopters, I'm tellin' ya.

_________________
"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED