Driving to Nosara, Costa Rica: Do you need a 4×4?

Nosara is a small beach town known for surfing about 3 hours away from Liberia Airport. There are a few ways to get here, but the most common are the coastal route from Tamarindo or the route that has you driving thought Nicoya towards Samara before turning off towards Nosara. In this post, we share information about the route through Nicoya and general tips to help you plan your trip.

If you’ve read some of our posts about tips to plan trips to Costa Rica, you might be familiar with our commentary about driving in Costa Rica: anything and everything is to be expected on the road!

While we enjoyed visiting Santa Teresa and Mal Pais a couple of time, the drive is quite long and a 4X4 is highly recommended, hence why we decided to check out Nosara. When researching the drive to Nosara, we knew we wanted to avoid taking the coastal route from Tamarindo even if it’s quicker, as you need a 4X4 to cross the many rivers along the way. However, it was somewhat difficult to find detailed information about the stretch of route 160 from the Samara turn off towards Nosara. We hope that the YouTube video and commentary we compiled helped you to prepare for the drive.

Here is some general information:

You do not need a 4X4 to do this drive, but we do not recommend a sedan style car, as having a bit more clearance helps. We rented a small SUV and got a Nissan Kicks, and it was adequate to do the drive comfortable.
Be prepared to go slow. The road is pretty rough, and you will need to pay attention to avoid the large bumps, massive potholes, and rocks. People will pass you, and that’s okay. We did not exceed 30 km/h on the unpaved parts and 50 km/h on the paved parts.
If you plan on visiting other spots like Ostional, you need a 4X4 as the road gets worse and there are rivers to cross. We even wanted to go check out a beach near Garza, and within 5 minutes of turning off the main road, the road was bad and we had to turn around. You may want to consider renting a quad to explore easier if you do not have a 4X4.
We did this drive in December 2024. Costa Rica’s rainy season can affect the quality of the roads. For example, the road between Villa Real and Tamarindo was paved last summer, but due to heavy rains, the road has been very damaged and has large potholes and bumps now. Who knows how the road will be next year!

Final Consenus:

If you are uncomfortable with the drive, consider flying into Nosara on Sansa, or organizing a private transfer. Last part of the drive when you turn off away from Nosara is very slow and requires patience. If you are considering a surfing vacation in Santa Teresa, Nosara may be a good option due to the easier drive.

Have you driven to Nosara? If yes, what are your thoughts about the road conditions? Does anyone have any sources of information to recommend that provide up to date information about road conditions?

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