ezron

We have some friends who are flying into Liberia and driving to Sugar Beach(we are so jealous) and they asked me about the route--I told them the Fodors board will know. TIA

ezron

bump

shillmac

Drive south on Highway 21 (the airport is on this highway south of town) until you get to Belen. Take a right following signs for Playa Flamingo. Continue to follow signs for Playa Flamingo. Just before you drive into Flamingo town, there is a curve. Before you get to the curve, you'll turn right on an unpaved road following signs to Playa Potrero. Once near Potrero you'll see signs for Playa Pan de Azucar. Or you can ask at a little soda or mini-super. It is very simple. Have fun!

cesca

We just got back from 11 days at Sugar Beach. We were there last year and couldn't wait to get back. I know that your friends will love it. Shillmac gave you one way to get to Sugar Beach, but that is actually the longer way and the roads are rough and potholed. The shorter way is to take a right out of the airport and go towards Coco. When you get to the big sign for the canopy tour, take a left and you will be on the "monkey road." It used to be that this road was awful, but it has been groomed this past year and was much better. This is definitely the fastest way. We got to Sugar Beach in 50 minutes and this included stopping at the grocery store. Tell your friends to email Sarah at [email protected] and she will let them know which of the roads is in the best condition at that time. We've been back for two weeks and miss it so much. We had a Nissan Pathfinder 4WD and took some day trips up as far as Playa Hermosa and as far south as Tamirindo. Tell your friends to be back by dark....no one drives that dirt road up to Sugar Beach after dark except a few taxis...there are some really dangerous places on the dirt road. The food was excellent and I can't say enough great things about Sugar Beach, but there is absolutely nothing to do after dinner and the cable TV lost the english language channels. So it's spanish TV, reading, visiting with others around the bar, or whatever else you can think up.....!

ezron

Thanks Cesca---but that email will not work. Can you help ??

ezron

Got it(left out the www.)

toucantango

Another thing to watch for on the cutoff/shortcut road, which I recommend, is that you have to cross a river, right by the canopy tour parking lot. Crossing the river seems scary but straight forward, though you might want a vehicle with extra clearance. It is a major time saver to take this road. The Canopy Tour sign to watch for at the cutoff is large and easy to find.

shillmac

Well, thanks, cesca and toucantango! I didn't realize there was a road coming into Sugar Beach from that direction. And yes, I can see that it would be quite a timesaver. Thanks for the correction!

cesca

Actually you don't have to cross that river anymore. Sometimes its just a few inches of water in an old riverbed and sometimes like a few weeks ago it's about a foot deep. However, now there is a side road (go up on the left) that bypasses the river bed and brings you down on the other side. This is wide enough for only one car like some of the bridges on the Monkey Road, but makes it possible for the smaller vehicles to get through easily. Either way, Shillmac's or mine, is fun and I suggest you go a different way each time to see the sights. P.S. There was a little rodeo in Braselito when we were there and I hear it goes on all summer (that would be their summer which is our winter). We didn't get to it, but others said it was loads of fun.