Costa Rica Guide
Limón Province and the Caribbean coast
Getting Around
Options are limited in getting around Limón Province. From San José to Puerto Limón, you have a choice of just two roads, while from Puerto Limón south to the Panamá border at Sixaola there is but one decent route (not counting the few small local roads leading to the banana fincas). North of Puerto Limón there is no public land transport at all: instead, private lanchas ply the coastal Tortuguero canal, dug in the late 1960s in order to bypass the treacherous breakers of the Caribbean. The canal connects the port of Moín, 8km north of Puerto Limón, to the Río Colorado near the Nicaraguan border.
Daily flights travel from San José to Barra del Colorado and Tortuguero. A reliable bus network operates in the rest of the province, with the most efficient and modern routes running from San José to Puerto Limón and on to Sixaola. Gas provision is generally poor, except on the highway from San José; take a spare can with you if you plan to do much driving south of Puerto Limón or down into Panamá. Language can be a problem when travelling around Limón. While English is spoken widely along the coast (in Puerto Limón, Tortuguero and Barra del Colorado), don't expect everyone to know it. Your best bet is to make your first approaches in Spanish, if you can; people can then choose in which language to answer you.