Dave's Travel Pages

Bicycle Touring and Travel Blog

Adventure Travel Blog

  • Greece Travel
  • Greek Islands
  • Europe
  • Asia Travel
  • Americas
  • Bike Touring
  • About

Last updated on July 30, 2019 By Dave Briggs Leave a Comment

Cycling in Costa Rica – Useful information for biking in Costa Rica

This quick guide to cycling in Costa Rica has practical information for the long distance cyclist. Based on my own experiences of biking in Costa Rica.

friendship bridge in Costa Rica

Biking in Costa Rica

During my bike tour from Alaska to Argentina, I spent some time cycling in Costa Rica. This Costa Rica travel guide is based on my own experiences biking in Costa Rica and the blog posts I created at the time.

Keep in mind that my bike tour in Costa Rica took place in 2010. As such, some of the information may be dated when it comes to roads and routes. For example some rough roads may now be sealed – but I somehow doubt it!

However, if you're after the general ‘feel' of cycling in Costa Rica, and a day by day account, this should come in useful!

Costa Rica Bike Tour

I'd previously spent 7 days biking in Nicaragua before cycling over the border into Costa Rica. This was a country I was visiting for the first time, and I didn't know a lot about it.

At this point in the bike tour, I was operating with no map and no guidebook. I knew the rough direction I wanted to head in, and it's only today that I actually mapped it out. You can see my route of biking in Costa Rica on the map below.

My cycling route through Costa Rica

Memories of Cycling in Costa Rica

Semana Santa in Liberia
Semana Santa in Liberia

My arrival in Costa Roca coincided with the Semana Santa holy week and holidays. As a result, I had planned ahead and decided to tale a few days off in the town of Liberia.

In Liberia, I would get a chance to see what Semana Santa was all about, rest up and eat as much as I could. By this point in the bike tour, I was constantly hungry, and it seemed I couldn't eat fast enough to keep up with my appetite!

After leaving Liberia, (and having used the snails-pace internet to plot a route), I decided to cycle the Nicoya Peninusla in Costa Rica. Whilst it would arguably be more physical, it would be a break from busy highways.

Turtles going back to the sea after laying eggs

This turned out to be a great decision, apart from suffering from heatstroke quite badly on one day! The highlight of this route, was being able to see turtles come on to the beach to lay eggs and return to the sea.

You can read more in the bike touring blogs toward the end of this post!

Costa Rica – Quick facts and travel tips

papaya was one of my favourite foods in Costa Rica
Papaya

Currency: Costa Rican colón but dollars accepted.
Cycling conditions: Extremely hot and humid, to the extent I suffered badly from heatstroke one day. Rough unsealed roads on the coast.
Favourite food: Papaya, McDonald's (I am naughty!).
Beaches: Awesome! And especially memorable because of the turtles.
Wild Camping: Imade use of coastal campsites which were cheap.
Costs: Not really sure. Had a mix of cheap camping and 10 – 15 dollar rooms.

Memorable Moments

There's lots of these iguanas to be seen in Costa Rica

  • Has to be the day of the turtles!
  • Literally collapsing from heatstroke. Not something I recommend.
  • Iguana watching.
  • Seeing a tipped over truck on one of the roads I was cycling.
  • Random drunk man's quote – ‘ I never met a Costa Rican girl that could cook an egg'. 

Costa Rica Bike Touring Blogs

Here's my bike touring blogs from the Costa Rica section of my Pan Am bike tour. These are all in sequential order. At the bottom of each one, you'll find a navigation to move on to the next post.

  • Biking from Rivas to Liberia (into Costa Rica)
  • Day off in Liberia
  • War with the Ants
  • Semana Santa in Liberia
  • Another day off in Liberia
  • Last day off in Liberia
  • Cycling from Liberia to Tamarindo
  • Biking from Tamarindo to Playa Ostional
  • Day off in Playa Ostional – Recovering from heatstroke!
  • Cycling from Playa Ostional to Samara
  • Cycling from Samara to Nicoya
  • Biking from Nicoya to A Junction
  • Cycling from A Junction to Jaco
  • Cycling from Jaco to Quepos
  • Riding from Quepos to Uvita
  • Cycling from Uvita to Ciudad Neily
  • Cycling from Ciudad Neily to David (now in Panama)

Pin this Costa Rica Cycling Guide for later

Why not pin the image below to one of your cycling boards on Pinterest? That way, you'll be easily able to find it later.

Cycling in Costa Rica

 

Filed Under: The Americas

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Travel Posts

  • Naxos to Folegandros: Ferry Information and Travel Guide
  • Naxos to Mykonos Ferry Information: Travel Times, Schedules and Tips
  • Ferries from Naxos to other Greek Islands in the Cyclades

Dave’s Travel Pages has a number of affiliate links placed within the travel blog. If you decide to buy items through these links, you will be helping Dave to fund this site and perhaps the next adventure. More importantly, it doesn’t cost you anything extra. Win win – we like that!

Dave’s Travel Blog Privacy Policy

Read our privacy policy here

You might also be interested in:

  • Travel by Bicycle
  • Travel Quotes
  • Travel to Athens
  • Greek Island Hopping
  • Dave’s Santorini Travel Guide

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

"Copyright Dave's Travel Pages (c) 2005- - 2020 "