We are going to be driving from San Jose to Manuel Antonio and are thinking about stopping in San Isidro and possibly Dominical on the way. Is this doable? How many hours will it take? How are the roads?

www.mapcr.com

direct route down the coast via Jaco 120 miles 3-4 hours

your route MUCH longer worse roads and out of the way

Road Domincal Quepos VERY bad doable but barely.

If I have figured out what qwovadis wants to say, I agree--except that the part
about the "road domical quepos very bad doable", etc., may no longer be true.

Two years ago the road combined great lengths of very wide, solid gravel base, carrying many trucks, to one lane bridges. I have heard that this is greatly improved, and even partly paved. Some places were rough enough to shake all the punctuation out of your laptop!
Even two years ago, it was pretty fast travel, and certainly one of the more interesting
routes in Costa Rica.

In any case, Dominical is not on the way to MA except when you start from the south.

We just got back yesterday from a week in the Dominical area. Our drive from SJO to our lodging south of Domincal was four hours, more than half in the dark. On Sunday morning, it was 3 1/2 with a gas stop and a stop to get shaken down by the local constabulary. The new road is terrific. There is still about a six mile section that is gravel but the drive is dead easy.

If you have the time and want to do it, why not? The mountain road can be a little nerve-wracking but the road is in great condition and the new road from Dominical to Quepos has cut the drive time in half. There is just a short section around Hacienda Baru that is still unfinished.