Costa Rica has several airports that you can choose from, for your arrival, departure, or for internal flights if you don't want to drive to your favorite destination.
Juan Santamaría International (SJO/MROC)[]
Juan Santamaría International Airport is the primary and best equipped airport in Costa Rica. It's located in Alajuela, about 20 Km from San Jose. Most airlines that fly into and through Costa Rica will have a stop available at Juan Santamaría.
Upon exiting the terminal, you'll find an airport taxi service (see Taxi cabs ). These cabs are orange and will take you to wherever you might need. You can also walk to the outside of the entry ramp, where you'll find the bus terminal. These red and black buses will take you to downtown San Jose, to their terminal on 2nd Avenue. From 2nd Avenue you can walk or take a cab to other terminals downtown, that provide bus service to anywhere in the country.
Hotels and car rentals may offer shuttle service. Check with your hotel or car rental company.
Arriving through Juan Santamaría can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half, from landing to exiting the terminal. Inmigration lines will take up a heap of time, especially if several crowded flights arrive at once. Something to consider if you're having someone pick you up.
Getting to Juan Santamaría from downtown San Jose or the nearby suburbs, if you're driving or taking a cab, is about an hour long trip. The distance is short, but traffic jams are not uncommon and that increases your travel time. By bus, you should estimate about an hour and a half, from the terminal on 2nd avenue.
Juan Santamaría also offers departures for some internal and charter flights. These usually depart from a smaller terminal, called the Sansa Terminal. Be sure to check what terminal your flight departs from, so you can be at the right place. And be certain, when you plan internal flights, that you don't confuse Juan Santamaría with Tobías Bolaños Airport.
Tobías Bolaños Airport (SQY-MRPV)[]
Most charter and internal flights (i.e. Nature Air) depart from Tobías Bolaños Airport in Pavas. This smaller airport is located at the western tip of San Jose. Equipment and terminals are a lot simpler than in Juan Santamaría, with no food court, VIP lounges or similar services.
The best way to get to this airport is to take a taxi from the downtown area. You can also take line 14 of the Pavas buses (Lomas). Be sure to ask your driver if the airport is one of his destinations: it's not uncommon for buses to switch routes during the day, and not change their line numbers. So you get on line 14, and it turns out you're on a completely different bus.
You should also estimate an hour's drive from downtown and nearby suburbs. The airport is much closer than Juan Santamaría, but traffic conditions in the downtown area are usually chaotic enough to delay your trip, especially if you're crossing east to west.
Daniel Oduber Quirós Airport (LIR-MRLB)[]
Daniel Oduber Airport is the international airport for Guanacaste and the pacific. It's located in Liberia, near the northern end of the Nicoya penninsula. It's commonly known as "Liberia Airport", since most people don't use it enough to remember the Daniel Oduber name.
This airport is nowhere near San Jose, so be careful when booking your flights. You can't arrive at Liberia and then just "go to" San Jose. It's a good 3 to 4 hour drive to get from Liberia to San José by car. By bus it's even more complicated, since you have to allow time for mismatching bus schedules.
But if you're looking to start or end your trip on the Pacific coast, this may be a nice airport to use. Driving time to the airport from nearby beaches varies, it's probably about an hour to an hour and a half for most of the well known beaches in Nicoya.
If you're renting a car and arriving (or departing) at Liberia, make sure your rental company can dispatch or receive your car from this remote location.
Limón International Airport (LIO-MRLM)[]
Limón International is another remote airport, this one on the Atlantic coast of Costa Rica. It was closed up until 2006, when it reopened. Currently it's the lesser equipped and comfortable international airport in Costa Rica.
Similar to Liberia Airport, this airport is nowhere near San Jose. A good 3 to 4 hour drive through winding mountain roads separates you from the capital.
Nature Air flies to Limon, and that's about it. It might be an interesting option if you want to avoid the drive to Limon via Route 32. Be sure to check with your hotel or car rental that they can have someone pick you up or deliver your car here, before you book your flight.
Smaller airstrips[]
Many towns and tourist destinations have smaller airstrips, with no associated airports. Places such as Arenal, Tortuguero, Islita, Sarapiqui, and Drake Bay have strips where charter or local flights may land. Nature Air is the leading airline for commuter flights to these secondary airstrips.
General recommendations for departure[]
Departing through Costa Rica's airports, you should follow your airline's recommendations and be at the terminal with the recommended hours. Departure involves several steps, where you may encounter lines, so you should always have some time to spare. It's a straighforward process, but it requires you to move between counters and lines:
- Wrap your luggage or packages, if you should wish to do so.
- Pay any applicable departure taxes.
- Check in at your airline and check your luggage.
- Security checkpoint, the usual take off your shoes, belt, jacket, etc.
- Go through inmigration
- Wait for boarding
If you're travelling with minors and they're costarrican residents of any kind (national, resident, refugee, student, etc), you should be aware that they may be subject to travel restrictions. These minors usually require a special permit to exit the country, which must be obtained at the Patronato Nacional de la Infancia . You should be especially careful to consult and verify requirements for minors if you're adopting or taking custody of a minor, or if you're travelling with a minor for whom you are not the parent or legal guardian.
If you're subject to alimony payments within Costa Rica, you must obtain permission to leave the country from the person receiving alimony. If not, you may be detained until it can be verified that they have no objection to you leaving, and there is no warrant that might prevent you from leaving. Same thing if you are or have been in court processes. Some foreigners find upon trying to leave, that an outstanding legal warrant from years back prevents them from doing so, and they're stuck until they can resolve it. So be sure to check up with your lawyer if you know you have legal issues pending in Costa Rica.