My parents are trying to plan a trip to costa rica. They were thinking of heading to the osa from MA. If they decide to have a driver take them, what kind of a drive are they looking at (time wise)?
Thanks

Somewhere between 5 and 6 hours to Bosque del Cabo at the distant tip of the penninsula. Less time for shorter distances. The road between MA and the beautiful paved coastal highway is very wide, dusty and all gravel. There is much construction and heavy truck traffic. The paved coastal highway, once you reach it, north of Uvita, is excellent all the way to the turnoff to Rincon. Thenceforth, it increasingly becomes an adventure. And the driver MUST have a 4-wheel drive, the greater the road clearance the better. We did it once for the adventure.

thanks
I think they wanted to stay at some place with the word "turtle" in it's name so it may not be as far as BDC, but that give me a good general idea

I think they'll be in for a bit of an adventure. Our ride from Puerto Jimenez to Bosque del Cabo was on a super bumpy gravel road, where we crossed a few little streams, had trees across the road, construction, and cattle milling about. If they're not up for that sort of thing, they might look into NatureAir or Sansa.

Bosque del Cabo will tell you in their information sheet that it takes up to 8 hours. That is why we decided to take Nature Air (best schedule) to Puerto Jiminez and then we are taking Nature Air directly to La Fortuna from Puerto Jiminez for our nights in Arenal. Cost was about 204.00 round trip. With the baggage restrictions it will also force us to pack light.

Lutherkins is asking about time from MA to Osa. The BDC information (7 to 10 hours per their website) is from San Jose to BDC. The website for Black Turtle Lodge says over 8 hours from San Jose to their location...but that's still at least three hours longer than from MA. He's right, turtle is not as far as BDC.

Another good resource for driving times is www.yourtravelmap.com
If they don't want to drive so much they could drive till Sierpe and continue by boat.

thanks everyone. I think they are opting not to drive and may choose to skip MA altogether and just go from Arenal to the Osa.