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Costa
Rica offers you two International Airports where you
can arrive;
Juan Santamaria in San José
is the biggest and easiest one to access, but also crowded
and far away from Guanacaste province and the Northern
areas.
Daniel
Oduber, located in Liberia city, province of
Guanacaste, is your best choice if you are thinking
to visit and staying around the north pacific beaches
and National Parks, as well as Arenal Volcano or Monte
Verde cloud forest. Liberia airport receives charter
flights from Canada, USA and Europe, and also Delta
Airlines arrives 5 times a week and United and Continental
2 times a week. On dry season, from December to May,
many other airlines offer special schedules landing
in Liberia.
How
to get to Mono Congo Lodge?
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Costa
Rica Map
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on the image to see more details!
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Driving
The
easiest and most flexible way to travel in Costa Rica
is to rent a car. 4WD is recommended during the rainy
season, from May to December, also many roads you will
travel are unpaved. Getting to Mono Congo driving from
any place in the country won’t take more than one day,
however if you are at the Caribbean coast or southern
than San Isidro del General or Manuel Antonio National
Park is going to take you at least 8hrs driving, therefore
we recommend you a domestic flight to Tamarindo. With
a rental car one has the freedom to make day trips to
other beaches and National Parks. There are rent a car
offices at both International airports; Liberia and
San Jose, as well as in Tamarindo, Flamingo, Jacó and
Manuel Antonio beaches. We can help you to find the
best prices and make arrangements to book your car,
also we can give you advices to make or improve your
itinerary. Feel free to contact us for more information.
Following,
you will find some instructions about how to get driving
to Mono Congo considering the most important Tourists
areas near to us.
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Guanacaste Map
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on the image to see more details!
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From
Liberia to Mono Congo
If you will be landing
into Liberia airport, driving to Mono Congo is very
easy, just take route #21 and follow the sings to Santa
Cruz, when you get to the entrance of the city, just
before the bridge, turn right, and follow the signs
to Paraiso. At Paraiso's soccer field, turn right following
the signs to Playa Negra, make right at the next soccer
field and keep driving five more minutes. We are on
the ocean side (left); you will see our signs on the
side of the road. Total estimated time driving is around
1.5 hours.
From
San Jose to Mono Congo
From Juan Santamaria airport
to Mono Congo, you must take Highway #1, “The Pan-American”
following directions towards Naranjo, Grecia, Palmares,
San Ramon, Puntarenas and Liberia. The shortest route
from San Jose is across the new bridge “La Amistad Costa
Rica – Taiwan” on the Tempisque river. After about 120
km (73 miles) on the way to Liberia, turn left at the
Shell gas station, follow the signs "Puente de
la Amistad de Taiwan", pass the bridge and continue
up to the cross road at Mansion, turn right and keep
following the sings to Santa Cruz, just after exiting
Santa Cruz towards Liberia, you will cross a bridge,
immediately after turn left, follow the signs to Paraiso.
At Paraiso's soccer field, turn right following the
signs to Playa Negra, make right at the next soccer
field and keep driving five more minutes. We are on
the ocean side (left), you will see our signs on the
side of the road. Total estimated time driving is around
4.5 hours.
From
Monteverde to Mono Congo
Drive with direction
to Highway #1, “The Pan-American”, and go northern toward
to Liberia, turn left at the Shell gas station, follow
the signs "Puente de la Amistad de Taiwan",
pass the bridge and continue up to the cross road at
Mansion, turn right and keep following the sings to
Santa Cruz, just after exiting Santa Cruz towards Liberia,
you will cross a bridge, immediately after turn left,
follow the signs to Paraiso. At Paraiso's soccer field,
turn right following the signs to Playa Negra, make
right at the next soccer field and keep driving five
more minutes. We are on the ocean side (left), you will
see our signs on the side of the road. Total estimated
time driving is around 3 hours.
From
La Fortuna (Arenal) to Mono Congo
Take the road
from La Fortuna to Tilaran, this road goes surrounding
the Arenal Lake, is not in very good shape but it has
a wonderful view. You should drive carefully. Pass by
Tilaran and continue driving to Cañas, keep going until
you get to the cross road with Highway #1, “The Pan-American”,
turn left and drive south, at the Shell gas station
turn right, and follow the signs "Puente de la
Amistad de Taiwan", pass the bridge and continue
up to the cross road at Mansion, turn right and keep
following the sings to Santa Cruz. Just after exiting
Santa Cruz towards Liberia, you will cross a bridge,
immediately after turn left and follow the signs to
Paraiso. At Paraiso's soccer field, turn right following
the signs to Playa Negra, make right at the next soccer
field and keep going 5 minutes more. We are on the ocean
side (left); you will see our sings on the side of the
road. Total estimated time driving is around 4 hours.
For those
that must drive to Santa Cruz, always remember that
Santa Cruz is the last city, therefore; the last place
to take cash out of the machine, and fill up you car
tank.
From
Tamarindo to Mono Congo
From Tamarindo, you drive
south taking the route that passes through Villareal,
San Jose de Pinilla, Playa Avellanas to Playa Negra.
This driving is going to take you about 40 minutes.
The road from Playa Avellanas to Playa Negra gets very
bad at the end of the rainy season; you might have to
take the longer route (1hr) through 27 de Abril and
Paraiso.
In Tamarindo
you will find an ATM to take cash, but to fill up you
car tank you must go north to the Huacas cross road,
about 3 miles.
No matter
where are going to be in Costa Rica, you can always
contact us for directions.
For a
good general map online go to http://www.maptak.com/
Flying
In Costa
Rica you may also fly from many different tourist locations
to Playa Tamarindo, which is the nearest airport to
Mono Congo. Is one of the most easily accessible locations
along the northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The
airstrip runs service 7 days a week from San Jose by
2 commuter airline companies with limited luggage capacity:
Book
ahead because flights are usually crowded.
For a
private plane we can recommend you Macaw Air: http://www.macawair.com
Their telephone number is (506) 2653-1362.
By
Bus
You can
take a public bus, scheduled daily bus service runs
both ways between San Jose and Playa Tamarindo or Santa
Cruz through two major companies; Alfaro & Tralapa
bus lines. One can also catch the bus from Liberia.
Travel by bus from San Jose is cheap (About $5), relatively
dependable and allows you to relax and enjoy the scenery.
The trip from San Jose to Santa Cruz takes 4 hours.
Any taxi driver in San Jose will be able to drop you
off at either station. Your best bet is to get started
as early in the day as possible. The buses are usually
large, modern, long distance passenger buses with reclining
seats. As you purchase your ticket, make sure that it
shows the number of a reserved seat. Large baggage goes
underneath and small, fragile or valuable items in the
luggage rack over your seat. At the bus station you
may want to buy some snacks or drinks for the trip.
Arriving in Santa Cruz is where the adventure starts.
Bus service to the town of Paraiso is available at 10am,
2:15 and 4:30pm, but only for the real adventurer. Buses
are crowded, slow and tend to break down at the worst
possible times. Returning to San Jose is actually easier,
if you are an early riser. Tralapa has a bus leaving
Paraiso at 5:00am which makes a direct connection with
the 6:30am bus to San Jose, arriving at 11:00am. You
will have to walk or hire a transfer between Paraiso
to Mono Congo. Buses heading towards San Jose will drop
passengers off directly in front of the airport if requested.
Fantasy
Bus (Grayline) and Interbus, offer the private shuttle
service both ways to Tamarindo and Santa Cruz leaving
and arriving from San Jose, Arenal, Manuel Antonio and
Jaco.
Private
Transportation.
You can
find private transportation from everywhere in Costa
Rica to Mono Con Lodge, or if you prefer, we can make
the arrangements to have a transfer waiting for you
at your arriving destination to bring you to Mono Congo.
Following you will find some estimated prices.
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Time
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Price
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Liberia
– Mono Congo Lodge
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(1½
hr)
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$70.00
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Tamarindo
– Mono Congo
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(45
min)
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$35.00
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Nicoya
- Mono Congo
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(1½hrs)
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$60.00
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Santa
Cruz - Mono Congo
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(1hr)
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$40.00
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San
Jose – Mono Congo
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(4.5hrs)
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$160.00
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Monteverde
– Mono Congo.
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(4hrs)
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$160.00
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La
Fortuna – Mono Congo
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(4hrs)
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$160.00
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These
prices may change according with the season or the road
conditions. On the rainy season we recommend you to
hire a taxi service with a 4WD. For more information
or quotation, please contact us, will be our pleasure
to help you.
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©
Copyright 2005 Mono Congo Lodge | Phone (506) 2652-9261
Fax (506) 2652-9260
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