By Car and Shuttle

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Birding Costa Rica by Car
This website is partially a personal narrative of trips to Costa Rica beginning in 1991. Nearly all of the information here is from personal experience. The website's purpose is to help birders with a driving itinerary and to aid the traveler in understanding both the regional avifauna and the distances between birding localities. It may be helpful to those using public transportation, but I have not used public buses to travel inside Costa Rica. Outside of two trips that I did with group tours, all other trips were done using a rental car and an occasional shuttle.
 

There are several advantages to driving in Costa Rica, and my wife and I now drive the country nearly every summer. There are, however, times when a shuttle service is a far better way to go. This website deals directly with the regional bird life, the nuances of getting around with a rental car and shuttle service, and understanding the distances between locations so that you can best determine an overall itinerary.

Besides San Jose, it is now possible to fly non-stop into Liberia, Costa Rica, (in NW Costa Rica, Guanacaste region) from many U.S. cities. At present, Miami, Dallas, Denver, Chicago, Atlanta, and Houston have non-stop commercial flights to the Liberia International Airport.

Prior to your flight, you can rent a car over the Internet or reserve a shuttle to take you to and from the airport to your hotel or lodge. If you are a birder and would prefer a shuttle (with or without a guide), I recommend Costa Rica Gateways as a shuttle service. Their drivers know precisely where specific birding lodges are located.

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Jim Peterson 2009 ©