Driving Directions to Dominical and South (Route 2)

To South Pacific Destinations:

San Isidro del General (Perez Zeledon), Dominical, Ojochal, Uvita, Palmar (north and south), Sierpe, Drake Bay,  Puerto Jimenez and points in-between

To San Isidro:

From the Airport: Follow Route 1, the Autopista, south to San Jose, passing all exits for Uruca, Hatillos, Santa Ana, etc. Stay on the highway until it ends at Sabana Park and follow the signs to Cartago. You will end up on Avenue 10 going north.

From Guadalupe:  Take the highway by the Hiper Mas, go straight through the first rotunda and pass the San Pedro mall on your right and then the University of Costa Rica on your left. At the second rotunda, go around so that you are basically making a left hand (9 o'clock) turn from your original direction of travel.  Follow signs for Zapote / Cartago.

Pass through the town of Zapote. Pass the Penzoil gas station on the left, a MacDonald's on the right and through several stop lights.  Pass the “Rapi Freno” on your right; the road narrows a bit.  Follow signs for Cartago / Panama, turning right immediately at the sign.

Go through two stop signs and at the third one, turn left.  At the next stop sign, turn right and Route 2 will be your next left turn.  This is a four-lane highway in good condition and with good road signs.  There is a ¢75 toll in approximately 5km.

Begin following signs for San Isidro.  You will pass through an industrial section and by a large green Mega Super.  Go through the last stop light in town and begin your climb up and over the mountain pass.

The next gas station is 20-30 km from the Mega Super.

There is a good place to stop, rest and use the restroom in Ojo de Agua called “Chesperitos”.  There are clean restrooms and a good restaurant that serves Costa Rican fare cafeteria-style. 

After passing the Cafe “Chespis”, look out for a police check point in Macho Gaft, where there are orange cones in the road. The speed limit here is 50 km/h.

Pass through Tapanti National Park and the small town of San Gerardo.  Shortly after passing San Gerardo, you will reach the top of your climb and begin to descend into San Isidro.

As you come into the city of San Isidro, there are several gas stations, restaurants and shops.  There is a grocery store on the left directly across from the first gas station.

To get to Palmar, Sierpe, Puerto Jimenez and other southern points you can either follow directions below to Dominical and south, or continue straight through San Isidro on Route 2 which will eventually take you through Buenos Aires into Palmar.  The travel time is about the same.

To Dominical (and all Points South via Coastal Highway):

When you arrive in San Isidro, turn right at the MacDonald’s, head straight through central San Isidro and follow signs for Dominical.  Once you pass the Beneficio Coope Agri, cross a narrow one lane bridge and begin to climb over another short mountain pass.

After passing several small towns, farms and teak plantations, you arrive at the intersection of Route 34.  (This road T’s off onto Route 34.)  If you turn right, you will go north along a poorly-maintained dirt road to Quepos.

Turn left (south) for all southern destinations (Dominical, Uvita, Palmar, Sierpe, Panama).  There is a police check point on the left as you head south and several fruit stands.

Central Dominical is the next right turn off Route 34 (no sign).  If you pass a small shopping center with a BCR sign, you have driven past the Dominical turn. Route 34 has kilometer marker signs regularly spaced.

To Uvita:

Route 34 is said to one of the best roads in all of Costa Rica. Continue south along Route 34, passing the turn for Dominical on the right.  Uvita is 20km from here.  The road follows the coast for most of the way.  

You will pass Playa Dominicalito and Playa Hermosa on the way to Uvita. There is a gas station as you come into Uvita as well as a ferreteria (hardware store), a tire store and restaurants.

Marino Ballena National Park has a ranger station in Uvita.

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To Palmar Norte:

As you travel south beyond Uvita, you will pass Playa Arco, Playa Ballena, Playa Pinuela, Playa Ventanas (km 174) and Playa Tortuga and Ojochal, a small town with several hotels, tour companies (sport fishing is popular here) and restaurants.

The Oro Verde Biological Reserve is nearby.  There is a hardware store and a gas station in town, the Servicentro Ventanas de Osa.  There are several restaurants and hotels in Playa Tortuga and Ojochal.  If you like ceviche, stop at the little restaurant on the beach side of the road that claims to have the best.

Before reaching Palmar Norte, there will be Servicentro La Costa on the right and just a little farther, an Enersol gas station on your left.  At the intersection of route 2 and 34 is the small town of Palmar Norte.

To Drake Bay:

There are three options from Palmar Norte.

1) Follow directions below to Palmar Sur and then Sierpe, park your car in a secure lot, and take the boat taxi that departs daily at 11:00 a.m. (Reservations are recommended.)

2) Drive all the way to Drake (minimum of another two hours).  This is not recommended due to poor roads, river crossings and lack of signage.

3) Take public transportation (See How to Get There - Drake Bay).

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To Palmar Sur:

From Palmar, cross the Terraba River Bridge and take the first turn to the right following signs for Palmar Sur, Sierpe and Cano Island.

To Sierpe:

After turning off Route 34 as noted above, head straight through town, passing the airport landing strip on your right.  The road passes through several African palm and banana plantations. There are four or more sharp bends in the road.  You know you are near Sierpe when you see Cabinas Tica.

When you arrive in Sierpe, the Felix grocery store on the right sells basic supplies and offers tourism information and internet access.  There are no banks or pharmacies in Sierpe.  After you pass the Felix, drive another block and turn left where you see the Oleaje Sirena Hotel.  There is a restaurant at the end of this block on the water where you can inquire about parking your car in a gated lot for ¢3000 per night (may be negotiable).

There is a dock at the restaurant where boat taxis to Drake Bay leave daily at 11:00 a.m. (reservations recommended).   There is also a boat dock behind the restaurant Las Vegas about 100 feet upstream.

To Puerto Jimenez:

From Palmar Norte, cross over the Terraba River bridge and continue straight, passing the turn to Palmar Sur and Sierpe on your right.

Continue along this road for about an hour, and turn right at the gas station in Chacarita, following signs for Puerto Jimenez. The road is paved until the small town of Rincon.  Puerto Jimenez is about 2 hours from Palmar Norte.

To Golfito:

Continue along Route 34 passing the turn at Chacarita for Puerto Jimenez and continue south to Rio Claro. There is a well marked right hand turn to Golfito.  Follow this paved road for 30 minutes to arrive in Golfito.

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Puerto Jimenez to Drake Bay:

From the disco in Puerto Jimenez, follow the dirt road out of town that passes Cabinas Iguana Iguana on your left.   There are several bridged river crossings before La Palma.  In La Palma, turn right at the Super Corcovado.

You will cross the Rincon River and take an immediate left where you see the bus shelter.  There are several shallow (level depends on the rainfall) river crossings. At the Aguas store, turn left and go over a very rickety bridge that begins with two wooden planks.  More stream crossings follow.  The road becomes more enclosed with forest rather than farms and cattle fields.

Arrive in Rancho Quemado (there is a welcome sign).  Cross another shallow creek and enter another small town where cell phone signals begin to work again.  The next river crossing is the biggest.  Drive diagonally across the river and then to the right where the dirt road picks up again.  There is one more river crossing before Drake bay.

Follow the road into Drake Bay by heading towards the ocean that you will get glimpses of along the way.  The dirt road ends in Drake.

Return Trip Notes to central San Jose and the airport:

From Route 2 north: Once you descend off the big mountain near Cartago, you will pass signs for “BIG Coca Cola” on your left and then a BIG green Mega Super on your left a little ways up.  Re-set your trip odometer here as you pass the entrance.

Pass the Zona Franca on your left and follow signs for Tres Rios. Continue straight where the road forks right to go to Cartago.

At the blinking light, turn left and there will be a Shell Gas station on your left.

Continue straight and follow signs to San Jose.  The road turns into a highway.

Pass the toll on the other side of the road at km #11.9.

Exit the freeway at km #15.5 (sign says San Jose 7km).  After exiting, there will be a building named “Domus” on the left and a BAC (Bank San Jose) on the right. 

Follow this road straight and pass the EPA store (km # 17.3) on your right.  Continue to drive right through central San Pedro.

Pass the Munoz & Nanne shopping center at km # 18.4 on your right, and at km # 19.5 at the Office Depot, make sure you are in the right lane. There will be an overpass in front of you and a rotunda.

To Go into Central San Jose:  At the rotunda, go half way around and exit at twelve o'clock (straight ahead) and continue straight. San Jose is directly ahead. 

To Return to the Autopista, the airport or Alajuela: Turn right just as you come up to the rotunda, following signs for Sabanilla and Guadalupe (do not go under the overpass).

Go through 1 stop light (km # 20.0) and UCR is on the right.  Pass TGIFridays on your right, staying in the middle or left lane, following signs to Guadalupe.

Enter the rotunda and go half way around and exit following signs to Guadalupe and Calle Blancos.

Go straight through the next big intersection (Hipermas will be across the traffic light on the right).

This road comes to a T, turn left here following signs to Uruca.

Stay in the center lane after making this turn.

Follow this road straight, crossing railroad tracks at km # 22.7.

You will merge into traffic at Km # 24.8 where there will be an Adidas store and the Hamburger Factory on your far left (km # 24.9).

Continue straight by staying in the right lane (do NOT turn left towards Hatillos) so that you pass the Burger King (km # 26.1) on your left and then a Banco de Costa Rica. Continue straight and go through the traffic light at the Pozuelo (km # 26.9) and follow signs to the airport.  The entrance to the highway will be directly in front of you when you go through the traffic light.

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