Travel to Costa Rica

Two International Airports

If you decide to travel to Costa Rica by air, you have the choice of flying to Costa Rica’s largest city, San Jose, or to Liberia International Airport along its north Pacific coast and close to magnificent beaches.

There are loads of international flights to choose from but prices vary widely.

I'm talking hundreds of dollars sometimes.

Before you make those travel reservations, click here for some Costa Rica money saving tips.

San Jose International Airport (Juan Santamaria)

Most international flights land here because San Jose provides a great launching point for travelers’ adventures. Recently, Costa Rica’s oldest international airport has been renovated and enlarged. Truth is, it badly needed a facelift. You’ll find fast-food restaurants and those ubiquitous gift shops here as well as wireless internet throughout the airport.

You'll go through customs before baggage-claim. Simply present your passport and completed customs declaration form (you’ll be given this on the flight) and you’ll be painlessly welcomed into the country.

Every international airport has duty-free shops. Costa Rica is no exception but unlike other airports where you have to take the products out of the country, when you arrive in Costa Rica you can buy duty-free goods to bring into the country!

While waiting for your baggage, check out a duty-free shop for incoming travelers. Located immediately behind and within the baggage-claim area, it offers excellent prices on wines and liquors, much better than you will find elsewhere in Costa Rica. . .and maybe even the Duty Free stores in the U.S. (I saved 25% from U.S. prices my last return from Florida).

After collecting your bags, you’ll find a good selection of rental cars on-site and, if you’re staying in a hotel, courtesy vans.

Of course, there are also lots and lots of taxis, all clean and pretty new, but don’t be surprised if the driver speaks little English and don’t take a “pirata” or “pirate taxi”.

Believe me , there’ll be no problem with the taxi driver unless you try to pay with a $100 bill. So, change $50 or $100 into colones (Costa Rica currency) before leaving the terminal.

Colones can be confusing at first. A rough rule of thumb is this: a 10,000 colon bill is about $20 so if you exchange $100 you’ll get about five-10,000 colon bills (depending upon the exchange rate this can be a little higher or lower).

Wait until you’re in San Jose to change more money because banks give the best exchange rate.

Liberia International Airport (Daniel Oduber)

Liberia International Airport is the fastest way to get to places like Tamarindo, Golfo de Papagayo, Playa Flamingo, Playa Grande and other great beaches and national parks on the north Pacific coast. More than a dozen Costa Rica beaches are only half an hour away!

You’ll save hours of driving from San Jose but you’ll also miss some beautiful country if your trip to Costa Rica goes through Liberia International.

The number of international air carriers servicing Liberia International Airport is still a bit limited but airport traffic has grown dramatically over the last few years and by 2010 nearly 600,000 passengers a year are anticipated.

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