How to get here

Our farm is located in the town of Mastatal, and the closest large town to Mastatal is Puriscal. To travel to Mastatal you will first need to travel to Puriscal. Villas Mastatal is about 2 ½ hours by car from Costa Rica’s capital, San José, and approximately 1 hour by car from the Central Pacific Coast. You can easily come from or continue on to San José, Jacó, Quepos, Dominical or other destinations along the Pacific Coast.

mapa-mastatal

We can provide transportation to and from the San José airport to the farm for reasonable rate. Transportation via Quepos is also available.

Bus from San José
You will take two buses — one from San José to Puriscal (cost is a little more than USD $1), and the other from Puriscal to Mastatal (cost is about USD$2). If you are coming directly from the airport, you will have to take either a bus or cab to get to San José before continuing on to Puriscal. Once in San José, take one of the frequent buses (every 30 – 60 minutes) from the Comtrasuli bus terminal (phone # in San José, 2256-0105, phone # in Puriscal 2416-8036) located on Avenida 1 between Calle 16 and Calle 18 in downtown San José (note: this area of San Jose is dangerous, be sure to take a taxi or walk in a group to get to the Comtrasuli bus terminal, which is behind the Coca Cola station).

The buses are mostly modern. Take an express bus if possible (“bus directo”). The trip from San José to Puriscal takes about 1 hour (get any bus before 1:30 PM to get to Puriscal in time to catch the next bus to ).

Get off at the last stop in Puriscal, the Comtrasuli bus terminal. As you exit this bus terminal, turn right to go up the street for 1.5 blocks to get to the bus stop for Mastatal on the right hand side of the street, in front of a “carnicería” (a butcher) and near the Doña Toña restaurant across from the Super Mora supermarket parking lot.

This bus is usually an older, blue and white one, but be sure to ask if you’re waiting in the correct line, since there will be other buses leaving from this area. The bus leaves at 3 pm every day except on Sundays when it leaves at 4 pm. You will want to arrive at least 30 minutes before the bus departs to assure a seat. There is sometimes a sign on the bus that reads “Zapatón” though you should ask the driver where he is going to be sure.

The trip to Mastatal takes about 2 hours and usually takes you past the village of Mastatal into San Miguel, where it then turns around to head toward Zapatón and drops you off at Villas Mastatal on the way there.
Tell the driver that you are going to Villas Mastatal so they drop you off at the end of our driveway. They know the farm well and are very helpful.

Our farm is located in the town of Mastatal, and the closest large town to Mastatal is Puriscal. To travel to Mastatal you will first need to travel to Puriscal. Villas Mastatal is about 2 ½ hours by car from Costa Rica’s capital, San José, and approximately 1 hour by car from the Central Pacific Coast. You can easily come from or continue on to San José, Jacó, Quepos, Dominical or other destinations along the Pacific Coast.
We can provide transportation to and from the San José airport to the farm for reasonable rate. Transportation via Quepos is also available.

Bus from San José
You will take two buses — one from San José to Puriscal (cost is a little more than US$1), and the other from Puriscal to Mastatal (cost is about US$2). If you are coming directly from the airport, you will have to take either a bus or cab to get to San José before continuing on to Puriscal. Once in San José, take one of the frequent buses (every 30-60 minutes) from the Comtrasuli bus terminal (phone in San José, 2256-0105, phone in Puriscal 2416-8036) located on Avenida 1 between Calle 16 and Calle 18 in downtown San José (note: this area of San Jose is dangerous, be sure to take a taxi or walk in a group to get to the Comtrasuli bus terminal, which is behind the Coca Cola station).The buses are mostly modern. Take an express bus if possible (“bus directo”). The trip from San José to Puriscal takes about 1 hour (get any bus before 1:30pm to get to Puriscal in time to catch the next bus).

Get off at the last stop in Puriscal, the Comtrasuli bus terminal. As you exit this bus terminal, turn right to go up the street for 1.5 blocks to get to the bus stop for Mastatal on the right hand side of the street, in front of a “carnicería” (a butcher’s) and near the Doña Toña restaurant across from the Super Mora supermarket parking lot.

This bus is usually an older, orange one, but be sure to ask if you’re waiting in the correct line, since there will be other buses leaving from this area. The bus leaves at 3 pm every day except on Sundays when it leaves at 4 pm. You will want to arrive at least 30 minutes before the bus departs to assure a seat. There is sometimes a sign on the bus that reads “Zapatón” though you should ask the driver where he is going to be sure.

The trip to Mastatal takes about 2 hours and usually takes you past the village of Mastatal into San Miguel, where it then turns around to head toward Zapatón and drops you off at Villas Mastatal on the way there.
Tell the driver that you are going to Villas Mastatal so they drop you off at the end of our driveway. They know the farm well and are very helpful.

Driving from San José
Take the highway out of the capital going towards Ciudad Colón and Puriscal (sometimes referred to as Santiago). We recommend you drive during the day. To get to the highway from downtown San José, take Paseo Colón west, until you hit Sabana Park, then take a left, and follow the signs to Escazú/Ciudad Colón. If you are coming from Alajuela or the airport, you will have to head towards San José before picking up the highway to Ciudad Colón. A local map will be very helpful. On the way to Ciudad Colón, you will pass the town of Santa Ana. The highway can get a little confusing just before getting to Ciudad Colón. Make sure that you follow the correct signs. DO NOT HEAD TOWARDS CALDERA.

In Ciudad Colón follow the one-way streets and signs towards Puriscal. You will then climb up and out of the Central Valley, and pass through the Quitirrisi Indian Reserve. From Ciudad Colón, it’s about 40 minutes to Puriscal. Once in Puriscal, follow signs to Parrita/Quepos. Once outside of Puriscal, continue on the main road through the towns of Santa Marta, La Palma, Salitrales, and other small communities. The paved road ends about 15 kilometers outside of Puriscal. About 1 hour and 15 minutes after leaving Puriscal and soon after passing by the entrance to the administrative offices of La Cangreja National Park, you will arrive to an intersection.

A small run-down bus stop and a few signs, one announcing “Mastatal”, mark the junction. Make this left hand turn, and continue for 6 kilometers until you arrive to the town of Mastatal. There is one intersection along this road. Stay left and continue down the road. As you enter Mastatal, take a left turn, you should see our sign marking 1 km to the farm, you will start to pass a row of houses on your left, and we are shortly past these on the right. There is a small bus stop with a roof, and our drive way begins there and heads up to the house.

Bus from the Central Pacific Coast
First you must get to Quepos or Parrita. From Quepos, take one of two buses each day that go to San José via Puriscal. These buses leave from the Quepos bus station at 4:30 am. and 1 pm. (check with the bus station for possible changes in times) and pass through Parrita at approximately 5:15 am. and 1:45 pm. There are other buses that go from Quepos to San José, but not via Puriscal, so you will have to be sure that you are on a bus that goes via Puriscal. Once you are sure that you are on the right bus, tell the bus driver that you are going to El Cruce de Santa Rosa.

From Quepos, the bus heads northwest and passes through the town of Parrita, and then turns north headed for Puriscal. After about 1 hour and 15 minutes from this turnoff, you will come to the small town of Guarumal. There is a restaurant there named La Union. The morning bus out of Quepos arrives to La Union around 6:30 am and the afternoon bus around 3:15 pm. After leaving/passing through Guarumal, get ready to disembark from the bus. You want to get off at El Cruce de Santa Rosa, about 1.5 km after Guarumal.

There is a simple bus stop and a number of signs that mark the intersection. From here, you will either have to walk the 6 km to Mastatal, hitchhike, or wait for the bus to Mastatal that passes by at approximately 4:35 pm (expect on Sundays when it passes by at approximately 5:30 pm) The latter is not a good option for travelers taking the early bus out of Quepos. Traffic on the road from El Cruce to Mastatal can be sparse. Our farm is located outside of Mastatal, 1k on road towards the National Park and the nearby town of Zapatón.

Please tell the bus driver to drop you off in front of the farm Villas Mastatal.

Driving from the Central Pacific Coast
There are two possible routes from Parrita (located ~30 kms west of Quepos, and 40 kms east of Jacó along the Central Pacific Coast) to Mastatal. The first route, shorter but rougher, takes you through the towns of La Vasconia, La Fila de Aguacate and San Miguel. During the rainy season a 4×4 vehicle is recommended and even in the dry season a high clearance vehicle can be helpful. About 2 kms west of Parrita, turn north on a road that starts in the midst of the African Oil Palms near where the peach palm transport trucks congregate. There is also a large sign that reads “Sky Mountain”.

This road comes up quickly, so keep a close eye for it. Follow the road, through the palms, and then through the towns of Playón Sur, Playón San Isidro and La Vasconia. After passing through La Vasconia, you will come to a ‘fork’ in the road in front of the La Vasconia church (you have to look closely to recognize that it’s a church). Stay left at the fork (there may be a small sign pointing towards San Miguel), and continue up the hill, sometimes steeply. You will pass through some very small villages and will come to the town of San Miguel 35 minutes after leaving La Vasconia. Mastatal is about 4 kms past San Miguel. the road to the right taking you to the Zapatón Indian Reserve, and the road going straight to Puriscal. take a right turn, you should see our sign marking 1 km to the farm, you will start to pass a row of houses on your left, and we are shortly past these on the right. There is a small bus stop with a roof, and our drive way begins there and heads up to the house.

The other route from the Central Pacific Coast
Is longer but less demanding on your vehicle and can be traveled most of the year in a two- drive car. This road takes you through the towns of Vista del Mar, La Gloria and Guarumal. The road begins about 5 kms west of Parrita, and is marked by a sign pointing to Puriscal. After a few kilometers on this road, you will come to a ‘fork’. Stay straight (do not go left). If you are not sure, stop and ask somebody. Continue straight passing through small villages. If you need to do any shopping, La Gloria is the last town of any significant size. After passing through La Gloria, continue straight for about 30 minutes until you come to an intersection.

There are a number of signs here, which you will see the back of, and a small bus stop. One of the signs announces Mastatal. Take this right hand turn, and continue for 6 km to the town of Mastatal. There is one intersection along this road. Stay left and continue down the road. take a left turn, you should see our sign marking 1 km to the farm, you will start to pass a row of houses on your left, and we are shortly past these on the right. There is a small bus stop with a roof, and our drive way begins there and heads up to the house.

Pura vida!

¡HOLA, HABLÉMOS!

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