How to get from San Jose to Drake Bay

Why visit Drake Bay?

Drake Bay on the northern coast of Osa Peninsula is an unspoiled paradise looking out to the South Pacific Ocean.

This laidback town is a popular gateway to Corcovado National Park — an adventurer’s paradise. It is said to hold 2.5% of the world’s biodiversity and is home to a wide variety of animal species: tapirs, scarlet macaws, and jaguars are just some of them.

But Drake Bay is more than just a base camp, it’s a destination on its own. Its beaches are often empty and the waves are calm. Swimming, kayaking, snorkelling, diving, and even dolphin-watching are all popular activities in Drake Bay. Inland is just as exciting. You can go hiking, birdwatching, or mountain biking.

Getting from Drake Bay to Corcovado National Park

Drake Bay is one of two common jump-off points when visiting Corcovado National Park. From here, you’ll have access to two of Corcovado’s entry points: San Pedrillo and Sirena. Both ranger stations can be reached by boat.

• 30-minute boat to San Pedrillo
• 1.5-hour boat to Sirena

The boat ride from Drake Bay to any of the ranger stations is often part of the tour that you will get to enter Corcovado. This tour already includes roundtrip boat transfers, a registered guide, as well a permit to visit the national park.

There are 4 ways to travel the 370 kilometre (230 miles) distance from San Jose to Drake Bay. You can choose between the bus + boat, minivan + boat, private transport + boat and flight. The journey takes 2 hours 10 minutes to 7 hours 30 minutes and the quickest way is by flight. If you're on a budget, the cheapest option is by bus + boat with tickets starting at 16,000 CRC ($35).

It is not possible to get from San Jose to Drake Bay completely by land. A popular way to travel this route is by a combined minivan shuttle and boat via Sierpe. On the upside, the boat ride is scenic and already an adventure on its own!

While the minivan is more expensive than the bus, it is a sure way to make it to the connecting boat from Sierpe to Drake Bay.

Travel time is around 5 hours 30 minutes to 6 hours 30 minutes, excluding the waiting time for the boat. Combined rates start from 47,000 CRC ($100).

Super Shuttle and Easy Ride offer minivans from San Jose to Sierpe. Both of them depart early morning from San Jose.

The minivan will pick you up from your hotel or from San Jose Airport and bring you to Sierpe’s Restaurante Oleaje Sereno, a common meet-up place for tourists taking the ferry. It’s located just beside La Perla del Sur, where you can buy your boat tickets to Drake Bay.

Minivan prices from San Jose to Sierpe start from 37,000 CRC ($80) for the journey that takes around 4h 30m - 5h 30m.

You can book your minivan tickets online via BookAway.

The boat is a scenic way to get from Sierpe to Drake Bay. This is why we recommend travelling by land (and sea) from San Jose to Drake Bay instead of taking a flight.

In the first 40 minutes of the boat ride, you will be travelling along Sierpe River, which is home to the largest mangrove forest in Latin America.

The ride may get a bit bumpy as your boat crosses the boundary from the river to the sea, but know that you are in the hands of veteran boat captains. After that, it should be a smooth ride again until you reach the picturesque shores of Drake Bay.

Travel time by boat from Sierpe to Drake Bay takes around 1h. A ticket costs 9,400 CRC ($20).

Travelling by bus from San Jose to Drake Bay is much cheaper than taking a minivan, but its travel time can be erratic and you run the risk of missing your connecting boat in Sierpe.

Combined bus and boat rates start from 16,000 CRC ($35) for the 7 to 9-hour bus journey.

Tracopa operates two daily bus trips from San Jose to Sierpe. The morning trip departs at 08:30 and the afternoon trip at 15:00. The morning bus is your best chance of making it to the connecting boat to Drake Bay on the same day.

There’s a catch, though! The advertised travel time with the bus is around 6h - 6h 30m. But this can easily take 7 to 8 hours depending on traffic and the number of bus stops. This means that even if you take the morning bus, there’s a chance that you won’t make it in time for the last boat from Sierpe to Drake Bay.

A bus ticket costs around 7,000 CRC ($15). You can buy your tickets at the bus station.

Boats from Sierpe to Drake Bay depart twice daily, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Considering the bus schedule though, you can only take the afternoon boat if you want to arrive in Drake Bay within the same day.

Tickets for the afternoon boat cost 9,400 CRC ($20) per person.

The fastest way to get from San Jose to Drake Bay is to take a flight. Travel time is only about 2 hours 10 minutes, including airport transfers.

But aside from being expensive with combined rates from 90,000 CRC ($190), the flight will take away the opportunity of taking an exciting boat ride from Sierpe to Drake Bay.

TIP: If you decide to travel by plane, please consider including a carbon compensation fee to reduce your impact on the environment.

You can get from San Jose city centre to San Jose Airport in two ways: via a 1-hour bus that costs 745 CRC ($1.60) or a 30-minute taxi with rates from 14,000 CRC ($31).

You will find the buses at TUASA Terminal every 10 minutes from 04:00 to 23:00.

As for the taxis, you can hail them from the street or through the ride-hailing app Uber.

PRO TIP: Uber is still not 100% accepted in Costa Rica. Although it is widely used, there have been rare cases of Uber rides being stopped in the middle of the journey and passengers asked to transfer to a taxi. We recommend asking your hotel first whether it is safe to use it before booking your ride.

Sansa Regional and World Ticket offer direct flights from San Jose to Drake Bay daily. The journey takes around 50 minutes.

Airfares start from 84,000 CRC ($180) when you book months ahead. Check Skyscanner in advance for the cheapest fares!

From Drake Bay Airport, you can take a shuttle to your hotel. This is normally pre-arranged through your hotel in Drake Bay. Let them know the carrier you’re flying with as well as your expected time of arrival at the airport.

A shuttle ticket costs 4,680 CRC ($10) per person.

Travelling in a big group? A combined private transfer + boat from San Jose to Drake Bay via Sierpe is a convenient choice.

For this option, you will take a private transfer from San Jose to Sierpe and then transfer to a public boat from Sierpe to Drake Bay.

Combined rates start from 164,000 CRC ($350).

A private transfer from San Jose to Sierpe can be cheaper than a minivan ride if you’re in a group of 6 or more.

Rates start from 154,000 CRC ($330) for a 6-seater car. That’s 26,000 CRC ($55) when you split the cost.

The journey takes about 4h 20m - 4h 30m.

In Sierpe, ask to be dropped off at La Perla del Sur, where you can buy your boat tickets to Drake Bay.

Boats depart at 11:30 and 15:30 daily, so time your departure from San Jose accordingly. Tickets cost around 9,400 CRC ($20) per person.