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Traffic at Christmas

Posted by: gordandmichele on May 19, 11 at 11:44 AM Posted in: Mexico & Central America Tagged: Jump to last reply

Is the traffic from SJO to the coast likely to be worse on the evening of 12/23 or the morning of 12/24?

Also, are most of the locals going to be heading south (Jaco, Manuel Antonio) or to the west coast? What I'm trying to figure out is if it would be better for me to avoid the new highway and just stick with #1, since I'm headed to Liberia. Or maybe take #3?

Or does the holiday break start the week before, in which case I shouldn't have a problem?

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    hsmithcr on May 19, 11 at 01:12 PM

    1. If you are arriving late in the day so that you will be driving from SJO to Liberia in the dark, don't do it. Either hire a private driver and rent a car at your destination or spend the night in Alajuela, have your rental car delivered to your hotel and start out in the daylight.

    2. Most Costa Ricans are not headed to the beach for Christmas but are traveling to family.

    3. There is a big holiday around Christmas time when schools are closed as well as many government offices. I don't see that this will impact your visit - unless you decide to ride the buses which will be crowded.

    It is not like Semana Santa - totally different.

    What you might find is lots of buses heading north to Liberia because many Nicaraguans will be heading "home" for Christmas and bus companies will put on extra buses. This shouldn't impact your trip because they are not buses that stop everywhere and they move pretty fast. Sometimes way fast.

    Whether you choose the Caldera highway or Rt 1 - the PanAmerican Highway, it won't really matter. Traffic is now kind of evenly divided and with the Caldera open, a lot of truck traffic to and from the port doesn't use Rt 1 anymore so that makes the up and down hill thing easier and faster.

    You can check here www.transito.go.cr for up to the minute information on road conditions and make your decision at that time, based on current conditions.

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