Fly and drive or fly and be driven, go via the mountain road or the coastal road...

If you decide to rent a car and travel the inland road via Cartago and San Isidro to Dominical, you will experience lush scenery of rainforests, mountain villages, and a stop in San Isidro, the gateway town to the country’s southern zone, where you can go shopping and stock up on groceries. From San Isidro to Dominical, you will drive pass two mountain towns, restaurants, fruit stands and souvenir stores. If you go by way of Jaco and Quepos, you will see coffee plantations, ranches, palm groves and, near Carara National Park, glimpse crocodiles lazing in the river; after a lunch stop in Jaco, carry on to Quepos and even take a quick detour to a beach just outside Manuel Antonio National Park. Either way, the drive from San Jose to Dominical takes approximately 4 hours.

If you decide to hop on a local 40-minute flight from San Jose to Palmar Sur airport via either SANSA (from San Jose International Airport) or Nature Air (from Tobias Bolaños Municipal Airport), you can have a rental car arranged for your arrival, or have a taxi arranged to take you on the 40 minute scenic ride to Dominical.

For first time travelers to Costa Rica, the best way to get to Dominical is by private airport shuttles which are small air-conditioned minivans that usually accommodate up to 8 people, and have your pre-booked rental car delivered to your vacation rental on arrival. This way, you avoid the stress of finding your way around and out of San Jose and ensure a relaxing journey.