Tulemar Vacation Home Rentals • Manuel Antonio • Costa Rica

Traveling in Costa Rica can be an exciting and educational part of your vacation experience, but it also has the potential to be challenging. Due to the topography of the country, the infrastructure and the weather, travel times can vary widely.

We recommend that you take advantage of our expertise and relationships with local service providers and allow us to assist you with your transportation needs within Costa Rica.

Fly into our international airport in San José (Juan Santamaria); from there you'll have several options to get to the Quepos/Manuel Antonio area. Your choice will probably be based upon the arrival and departure times of your flights in/out of San José.

If you decide to stay overnight in San José at the beginning or end of your Costa Rican vacation, we have a couple of lodging options for you. If you have some extra time, we can also arrange a tour of the city.

Hampton Inn - right across from the airport with free van service (yes, it looks just like the one in your hometown), good rates, good service and free breakfast.

Marriott Hotel - my favorite hotel in San José. Built in the old Spanish, colonial style (great architecture) and located about 10 minutes from the airport in the middle of a coffee plantation. Views of the hills and city lights. Golf, tennis, great pools and a new spa.

We have a small, regional airport in Quepos, serviced by two commuter airlines. None of the local airports in Costa Rica have runway lights or control towers, so the flights only operate from sun rise to sun down (about 6:30 AM until 5 PM) and less frequent from May thru November.

Sansa flies 12 passenger, single engine, turbo prop planes from the local terminal next door to the international airport in San José. It's very convenient. The flight is about 20 minutes and approximately $80 per person, each way. Check baggage policies carefully. www.flysansa.com

Nature Air flies 21 passenger, dual engine, turbo prop planes from the downtown San José airport in Pavas. It's a 20 minute taxi ride from the international airport. The flights are also about 20 minutes and $80 per person, each way. Check baggage policies carefully. www.natureair.com

Upon arrival in San José, you'll need at least 1 1/2 hours before your flights on Sansa and 2 hours on Nature Air. Returning to San José to connect with your international flight, give yourself 2 hours on Sansa and 2 1/2 on Nature Air to connect.

Charter Flights

There are several, excellent, charter companies operating out of both airports in San José. We can get you a quote, based upon the number of passengers, size of aircraft and flight times. Although more expensive than a commercial flight, chartering a flight can be surprisingly affordable in Costa Rica. For example you can charter a 6 passenger plane for about $550 total, for the one way trip.

With the new highway, the drive from San José to Manuel Antonio is less than 2 1/2 hours. We can arrange a private van with a driver for about $150-$200 per trip, depending on the number of passengers. It's a great drive; much easier and safer than driving yourself. We can also arrange private van trips to other destinations like Arenal or the Osa Peninsula.

We do not recommend renting a car and driving yourself, especially for first time visitors. After a long, international flight, it can be very stressful (and time consuming) picking up a rental car and finding your way to Manuel Antonio, especially at night. If you really want a rental car, we can arrange to have one delivered to you upon your arrival in Manuel Antonio.

The GPS coordinates for Tulemar are:
Latitude: 9.407636
Longitude: -84.158256

The most economical way to reach Manuel Antonio, if you have the time and patience.

If you're staying in Tulemar, you'll have access to the free shuttle that operates within the resort, from the front gates to the beach and many points in between. Taxis will come right to your door in Tulemar and pick you up for a trip to the store, Quepos, the National Park or out for dinner. There is also a bus stop located right outside the gates of Tulemar (about 50 cents to Quepos or the National Park). We can also arrange for a private van/driver to take you wherever you would like to go. If you would like a rental car, we can have one delivered to you.

  thru September is my favorite time of year. Yes, it's part of our "rainy season", but this is what you can expect. The mornings and early afternoons are sunny and hot. This is when you'll take your tours, head to the beach or explore Quepos. In the late afternoon, you'll probably get some rain, but it's a WARM tropical rain and people go about their "business as usual". I'm from Fresno and when it rains there you want to get inside by the fireplace; not here. During our afternoon showers, it may rain for an hour, three hours, the rest of the night or maybe not at all. It's weather and you never know. It's a great time for reading or napping or just sitting on the terrace and watching the rain over the ocean. During these months it's cooler (but still very warm-we're in the tropics!), it's cleaner, it's greener and there are less tourists here. My favorite time.

October is wet. It's the wettest month of our year. We average 30" of rain in October. If you come in October, you will get lots of rain, but it can also be a wonderful, quiet time in Manuel Antonio. My brother and his wife spend a week here each October; it's a nice change for them and they love the occasional lightning and thunder storm.

In November the green season is ending and Summer is slowly approaching. Expect rain, but not as much as October.

This is our "peak season" for good reason; it's hot, dry and beautiful while most of North America is COLD! You can expect mid to high 80's and lots of humidity. Beautiful, blue skies with lots of big, white clouds. Spectacular sunsets. Perfect days for the beach, tours and activities! Maybe an occasional afternoon shower once a week to cool things off.

The chart below shows an 8-year average monthly rainfall and high and low temperatures for the Quepos/Manuel Antonio area.

	Average temperature		Avg. rain (mm)	Average rain days
	Low	High
Jan	71	88	50	8
Feb	71	89	28	5
Mar	72	90	42	6
Apr	74	90	159	13
May	74	88	436	23
Jun	73	87	409	23
Jul	73	86	436	26
Aug	73	86	491	27
Sep	72	86	558	26
Oct	72	85	595	26
Nov	72	85	350	23
Dec	72	87	152	15

Cell phones and Internet service in Costa Rica are affordable and widely available, but sometimes lacking in quality and innovation.

WiFi is available in all of our properties with speeds in the 1-2 Mbps range. Connectivity problems and short-term, intermittent outages are not uncommon.

The cellular phone network supports all modern 4-band cell phones in both GSM and 3G configurations using the same frequencies as North America. Prepaid SIM cards are available at the phone company kiosk in Juan Santamaria airport. This is a good option if your phone is unlocked.

If cell phone service is important to you during your stay, you should consult your specific service provider to verify that your phone and calling plan will function in Costa Rica or if you will have to make any adjustments.