Getting Here
Ideally, you would want to choose an airline flight into the city of Liberia (LIR). To plan your route, review the detailed maps below.

International air traffic to Costa Rica arrives at the Juan Santamaria Airport, 30 minutes from San Jose (SJO) or in Liberia (LIR). Domestic air service -- scheduled and charter -- is available to key cities and tourist areas, including Liberia and Tamarindo (near Playa Grande and Playa Grande Surf Camp).

Inexpensive privately-owned bus and taxicab services are also available throughout Costa Rica. A good system of mostly-paved highways serves most of Costa Rica and its popular tourist areas. Playa Grande is about 290 km from the Costa Rica’s capital San Jose.

You can travel to Playa Grande/Tamarindo from:
San Jose either by air (40 min) or by car (4-5 hours).
Liberia (60 minutes by car)
Tamarindo (30 minutes by car) (15 minutes by foot via river ferry).

Tamarindo is the next closest beach community to Playa Grande. It is a 2 km south of Playa Grande. However there is no direct road connecting the two beach communities because of the estuary just south of Playa Grande and the drive from Playa Grande to Tamarindo is about 45 minutes, just as long as the walk along the beach. Be careful when crossing the estuary from Playa Grande to Tamarindo. There is a boat that will ferry foot and bicycle traffic across the river. This makes the trip only 15 minutes.

Maps
These images provide links to fabulous maps, some which are available for purchase through these fine vendors.

Liberia to Playa Grande	Liberia City Map (Click here for Low Bandwidth map)	North Pacific Coast (Click here for Low Bandwidth map)	Local Surf Spots

Airlines
Below is a list of airlines the fly into Costa Rica. For our North American guests, we recommend you start your price shopping using Orbitz.com, Expedia.com or Travelocity as a few examples for comparison. You may have better sources - if you do drop us a note, we'll add it to this list. The list of airlines is still helpful:

• AeroNica - AeroNica is the airline of Nicaragua.
• American Airlines - American Flights from major gateway cities in the US
• Continental Airlines - Continental has service from most major cities in the US.
• Copa - Copa is the Panamanian airline.
• Iberia - Iberia has service from major gateway cities in the US.
• KLM - KLM has service from major gateway cities in the US.
• Mexicana - Mexicana has service from major gateway cities in the US and Mexico.
• Lacsa - Lacsa is the oldest national airline. It has inaugurated flights to Liberia from Miami.
• Sasha - Sahsa is the Salvadorean airline. It has service from gateway cities in the US.
• Sam - Sam has service from gateway cities in the US.
• Taca - Taca has service from gateway cities in the US.
• Varig - Varig has service from gateway cities in the US.

Charter Flights
Charter flights throughout Costa Rica is available with prior arrangements sheduled ahead of time. Contact the carrier to make neccessary arrangements.