Driving time Alajuela to Dominical
May 23rd, 2006, 12:45 PM
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Driving time Alajuela to Dominical
Can anyone tell me how long it takes to get from Alajuela near the airport to Dominical via the Interamericana/San Isidro?
And when would be the best time to avoid the heaviest traffic?
Thanks!
Orion Wood
And when would be the best time to avoid the heaviest traffic?
Thanks!
Orion Wood
May 24th, 2006, 09:08 AM
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Check out www.maptak.com for some great info on CR. It gives miles/kms between larger cities - for example, between Alajuala and San Isidro, 96mi/154km. From SI to Dominical appears to be 25-30 mi maximum, so take it from there. Don't let the low mileage food you though, thats a long drive in CR. The roads can be narrow and bumpy to pot-holed, so it takes longer. You will be going over the continental divide, I believe the highest paved road in CR, between SJ and SI. It can be foggy there almost any time of day. Dont try to drive at night and if you have to, just spend the nite in SI and continue on your way the next morning. Good luck and have fun!
May 24th, 2006, 05:28 PM
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If you are in Alajuela, you would have to drive east a few miles to San Jose, then through San Jose to Cartago, then south to San Isidro before turning west toward the coast and Dominical. I'm not sure how long it would take, but am guessing 4-5 hours. Driving through San Jose is the problem, especially if you are traveling in the a.m. (and you should be). Traffic into San Jose from Alajuela is VERY slow unless you get out of Alajuela by 6:00 or 6:30. The earlier the better.
If you get into rush hour traffic, it will GREATLY increase your driving time.
And THEN, you have to worry a little bit about getting through town without getting lost (very possible if you've not driven in SJ before). Not so lost that you can't get it figured out, but lost enough to cost you some more time. The drive could end up taking 6 or more hours if things didn't go just right! Are you really bent of this route? If not. . . . . .
I think I would recommend driving to Quepos/Manuel Antonio from Alajuela. You can head west on the Interamerican to Puntarenas, then south to Quepos, through Manuel Antonio, and on to Dominical. OR, better, you can go through La Garita out of Alajuela, (passing over the Interamerican on an overpass), on through Atenas, through Orotina, then down to Quepos. Very scenic drive. You won't have to worry about the fog that David mentioned above (dnc11).
The main drawback to this route is that the drive from MA to Dominical, though a short one, is on a very rough road. The driving time will be about the same, but you stand less of a chance of getting lost and won't have the morning traffic to worry about.
The Continental Divide drive is an interesting one, VERY cold up along that ridge! Perhaps you could go one way and return the other way? We've done both--and sure enough, hit the traffic bad coming and going. Drove into San Jose about 7:00 one morning, and it was slow as heck--took forever. Then, on our return from San Isidro, we got into San Jose around 4:00--MORE rush hour, and it took us FOREVER to get through town in the awfulest traffic you ever saw. I was driving and thought I was going to have to reach over and knock my husband in the head to put him out of his misery!
Good luck to you. Buy yourselves a good map--strongly suggest the Berndston & Berndston map that can be ordered or purchased from
Barnes and Noble.
Have a great time!
If you get into rush hour traffic, it will GREATLY increase your driving time.
And THEN, you have to worry a little bit about getting through town without getting lost (very possible if you've not driven in SJ before). Not so lost that you can't get it figured out, but lost enough to cost you some more time. The drive could end up taking 6 or more hours if things didn't go just right! Are you really bent of this route? If not. . . . . .
I think I would recommend driving to Quepos/Manuel Antonio from Alajuela. You can head west on the Interamerican to Puntarenas, then south to Quepos, through Manuel Antonio, and on to Dominical. OR, better, you can go through La Garita out of Alajuela, (passing over the Interamerican on an overpass), on through Atenas, through Orotina, then down to Quepos. Very scenic drive. You won't have to worry about the fog that David mentioned above (dnc11).
The main drawback to this route is that the drive from MA to Dominical, though a short one, is on a very rough road. The driving time will be about the same, but you stand less of a chance of getting lost and won't have the morning traffic to worry about.
The Continental Divide drive is an interesting one, VERY cold up along that ridge! Perhaps you could go one way and return the other way? We've done both--and sure enough, hit the traffic bad coming and going. Drove into San Jose about 7:00 one morning, and it was slow as heck--took forever. Then, on our return from San Isidro, we got into San Jose around 4:00--MORE rush hour, and it took us FOREVER to get through town in the awfulest traffic you ever saw. I was driving and thought I was going to have to reach over and knock my husband in the head to put him out of his misery!
Good luck to you. Buy yourselves a good map--strongly suggest the Berndston & Berndston map that can be ordered or purchased from
Barnes and Noble.
Have a great time!
May 25th, 2006, 07:28 PM
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See, Orion, there is a method to my madness! (Referring to other post).
I think it all depends on time of day, driving experience in San Jose, etc.
We will be driving that way ourselves in a month--south to San Gerardo de Dota for a few days, then to Manuel Antonio via San Isidro and Dominical. I'm curious to see what that road between Dom and MA is actually like.
I'll try to remember to time it both ways, since we'll return to the airport area from Manuel Antonio. I should take better notes when we are out and about down there!
I think it all depends on time of day, driving experience in San Jose, etc.
We will be driving that way ourselves in a month--south to San Gerardo de Dota for a few days, then to Manuel Antonio via San Isidro and Dominical. I'm curious to see what that road between Dom and MA is actually like.
I'll try to remember to time it both ways, since we'll return to the airport area from Manuel Antonio. I should take better notes when we are out and about down there!
May 26th, 2006, 05:02 AM
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We drove from San Gerardo de Dota to Dominical last year and I was shocked to be on newly paved road most of the way once we got toward Dominical. However, the road from Manuel Antonio to Dominical is still hideous (as of January).
Sandy
Sandy
May 28th, 2006, 04:55 PM
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Shillmac,
Here is an excerpt from my trip report from 2004 (and we drove Quepos to Dominical again last year)...
"Roads and driving in Costa Rica – Just a comment here. We found the roads in CR to be perfectly all right where we went (except the very rough road from Quepos to Dominical – but I have heard the road to Monteverde around Lake Arenal is even worse). And we only had one instance of what we felt was foolhardy passing/driving by locals and found the roads generally very good, some better than others. For example, the road from Dominical to San Isidro de El General has some potholes, but is not bad. We generally drove just over the speed limit (65-70 kph in a 60, for example) and had no problems at all. ...
Regarding the 44 km road to Dominical from Quepos, we used 4-wheel drive and often went where it was smoothest, whether on the right or left side of the road (like everyone else did), to get there. Funny, but when we drove it the opposite direction the following week, it seemed much less a problem (perhaps we had changed our outlook/expectation?). I do have to say that each smooth steel bridge on this road was a very pleasant break for us from the road, and we drove slowly over them to savor the quiet."
And the third time we drove that road (last year), it did not seem as bad as even the second time.
Orion
Here is an excerpt from my trip report from 2004 (and we drove Quepos to Dominical again last year)...
"Roads and driving in Costa Rica – Just a comment here. We found the roads in CR to be perfectly all right where we went (except the very rough road from Quepos to Dominical – but I have heard the road to Monteverde around Lake Arenal is even worse). And we only had one instance of what we felt was foolhardy passing/driving by locals and found the roads generally very good, some better than others. For example, the road from Dominical to San Isidro de El General has some potholes, but is not bad. We generally drove just over the speed limit (65-70 kph in a 60, for example) and had no problems at all. ...
Regarding the 44 km road to Dominical from Quepos, we used 4-wheel drive and often went where it was smoothest, whether on the right or left side of the road (like everyone else did), to get there. Funny, but when we drove it the opposite direction the following week, it seemed much less a problem (perhaps we had changed our outlook/expectation?). I do have to say that each smooth steel bridge on this road was a very pleasant break for us from the road, and we drove slowly over them to savor the quiet."
And the third time we drove that road (last year), it did not seem as bad as even the second time.
Orion
May 28th, 2006, 07:18 PM
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I don't think I'll be surprised by that road. We found the drive from Cobano to Montezuma to be horribly rough with extremely deep ruts (hadn't been the year before) and the same with that road down the east side of the Nicoya Peninsula--down to Paquera. It was excruciating.
The owners of Pacific Edge in Dominical told us they don't expect the Quepos-Dominical road to ever be paved. Quepos "powers that be" don't want it paved, because of course, they would prefer that people STAY in the Quepos area and not simply pass through on their way to Dominical. I suppose it makes sense that as long as that road is a deterrent to some, the Quepos/Manuel Antonio business people will benefit.
Thanks for the information. Have you ever been south of Dominical on down to Palmar Norte? Wow--superhighway. Truly, this stretch is nice and wide and smooth--doesn't even seem like your in the same country. It's been a couple of years since we've been on it, and it may not be so great now, but we sure were impressed in 2004.
The owners of Pacific Edge in Dominical told us they don't expect the Quepos-Dominical road to ever be paved. Quepos "powers that be" don't want it paved, because of course, they would prefer that people STAY in the Quepos area and not simply pass through on their way to Dominical. I suppose it makes sense that as long as that road is a deterrent to some, the Quepos/Manuel Antonio business people will benefit.
Thanks for the information. Have you ever been south of Dominical on down to Palmar Norte? Wow--superhighway. Truly, this stretch is nice and wide and smooth--doesn't even seem like your in the same country. It's been a couple of years since we've been on it, and it may not be so great now, but we sure were impressed in 2004.
Jun 3rd, 2006, 08:39 PM
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orionw, you've been on it. Didn't you think it was a great road? When were you on it? I think it has been in place about 3 years. It runs from Dominical down to Palmar Norte, which, I think, is about 40 km.
Jun 3rd, 2006, 08:55 PM
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My wife and I will be traveling from Quepos to Dominical in late June as part of our 28 day trip. We had heard that one of the bridges had been washed out from the storms from one of the hurricanes and are wondering if anyone knows if it has been repaired/replaced yet. If not we will have to take the long way around over "the mountain". We drove the road between Quepos and Dominical last June and didn't have any problems in our 4x4 Terios. We did have to slow down a bit, but it wasn't a bad trip.
Jun 3rd, 2006, 09:41 PM
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I HOPE it is in place--the bridge, that is! We'll be traveling that road near the end of June as well. We'll honk if we see ya!
You know, we were on a road south of Dominical heading toward Dominical a couple of years ago in a blinding rain, when a bridge washed out just as we were stopped (in a taxi) trying to decide if we could get across it or not--it was a temp bridge built up out of rocks. I reported on Fodor's of our predicament and how it meant we had to turn around and go back toward Palmar Norte--didn't make it to Dominical that year at all!
Well, the next year, we DID make it there, and the owner of Pacific Edge said, "Could you PLEASE go on Fodor's and tell everyone that bridge is no longer washed out?" She seemed to think that post had interfered with business somewhat--even a year later.
I haven't heard lately of this problem between Dominical and Quepos and, as I said, am just as anxious as you to find out it it is driveable or not. Let's hope for the best!
You know, we were on a road south of Dominical heading toward Dominical a couple of years ago in a blinding rain, when a bridge washed out just as we were stopped (in a taxi) trying to decide if we could get across it or not--it was a temp bridge built up out of rocks. I reported on Fodor's of our predicament and how it meant we had to turn around and go back toward Palmar Norte--didn't make it to Dominical that year at all!
Well, the next year, we DID make it there, and the owner of Pacific Edge said, "Could you PLEASE go on Fodor's and tell everyone that bridge is no longer washed out?" She seemed to think that post had interfered with business somewhat--even a year later.
I haven't heard lately of this problem between Dominical and Quepos and, as I said, am just as anxious as you to find out it it is driveable or not. Let's hope for the best!
Jun 21st, 2006, 09:22 AM
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AdamFam,
The road between Quepos and Dominical is rough, but has no washed out bridges that I know of unless recent. The bridge Shillmac mentioned being washed out is further south of Dominical.
The road between Quepos and Dominical is rough, but has no washed out bridges that I know of unless recent. The bridge Shillmac mentioned being washed out is further south of Dominical.
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