Getting to Santa Teresa: the Ferry Sails Eight Times a Day

Why your arrival in Santa Teresa is a timing decision, not a vehicle decision

Article Toorizta Travel Made Simple · October 26, 2026 · 6 min read

The short answer. From San José airport, cross the Gulf of Nicoya on the Puntarenas to Paquera ferry instead of driving the long way around it, and choose a sailing that puts you past Cóbano in daylight. Naviera Tambor publishes eight departures a day in each direction, so the whole plan turns on which one you catch. If you would rather not run that clock yourself, our shared shuttle and our private transfer both include the crossing.

Santa Teresa sits at the far tip of the Nicoya Peninsula, past Cóbano, with Mal País around the headland. Nothing about reaching it is difficult. What catches people out is the arithmetic: a drive to the coast, a boat with a fixed timetable, and then a final stretch of road that is slower than any map tells you.

Your three ways in from SJO

Our shared shuttle from San José airport or a San José hotel to Santa Teresa or Montezuma runs once a day with pickup around 9 in the morning, is scheduled at six hours, and includes the ferry: from $72 per person. The private version leaves when you want it to, is scheduled at five hours, and also includes the crossing: from $360 per vehicle (up to 4). Coming from Liberia instead, the private route goes around the gulf rather than over it and is scheduled at four and a half hours: from $324 per vehicle (up to 4).

Going home, the shuttle back to San José airport leaves early in the morning: from $72 per person. On a departure day that matters more than it sounds, because a late flight and a 2 p.m. ferry do not mix.

Which Puntarenas ferry should I aim for?

Naviera Tambor sails from Puntarenas and from Paquera at 4:00 a.m., 6:30 a.m., 9:00 a.m., noon, 3:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., the same eight times in both directions. The company lists that timetable as being in force from 20 April 2026 until further notice (navieratambor.com, schedules and fares page, checked 23 October 2026). Aim for the 9:00 a.m. or the noon boat on an arrival day.

The fares are small and they are posted in colones. Naviera Tambor's published tariff on the same page lists 810 colones for an adult passenger, 480 for a child and no charge for seniors, with a light vehicle at 11,400 colones plus tax. Those are the ferry company's numbers and the company can change them.

The money is never the problem on this route. The queue is what costs you. Vehicle space on a crossing of eleven nautical miles is finite, Naviera Tambor has been the state authorized concessionaire here since 1992 and runs three ferries, and in high season the cars line up on the Puntarenas side well before the ramp opens. If you are driving yourself, get to the terminal with time in hand. The posted time is a departure, not a check-in.

Do I need a 4x4 to get to Santa Teresa?

Not for the road in. The highway to Cóbano is a normal paved road, and clearance only becomes a real question in the last few kilometers and, more often, in the driveway of wherever you are sleeping. Steep gravel entrances are common here, and so is the sentence "our hotel said 4x4" when what the hotel means is its own hill.

Paving work around Cóbano and Santa Teresa has been moving for several seasons and the surface is not the same from one year to the next, so we will not print a condition that may be out of date before you read it. Tell us where you are staying and when, and we will tell you what the road to that particular gate is doing. In the green season, from May to November, assume rain has had its say.

Can I fly instead?

You can, but not to the airstrip most guides still name. Tambor no longer receives flights. Domestic services to this corner of the peninsula now land at Cóbano, which is the better end of the deal anyway: Cóbano to Santa Teresa is about a 25 minute drive, the shortest final leg of any route in.

We are not going to print a San José to Cóbano timetable here, because schedules on small domestic routes change and a number we published today could be wrong by the time you read it. Check any schedule you find on a third party page against the airline itself before you build a travel day around it, and remember that the bag allowance on a small aircraft is stricter than you expect, which matters if you are bringing a board.

What about going around the gulf and skipping the boat?

It works, and some drivers prefer it. You stay on the road the whole way, over the Tempisque bridge and down through Nicoya, which means no timetable and no queue, in exchange for more hours behind the wheel. Our own Liberia transfer takes that land route and is scheduled at four and a half hours, which is a fair measure of its length.

Choose the road if you are already in Guanacaste, or if you are arriving at an hour when the ferry would strand you. Choose the ferry if you are starting from San José or the Central Valley. The sun deck, with the gulf islands going past, is also a pleasant hour instead of another hour in a van.

So which one should you book?

If you are two people flying into SJO and you do not want a car for the week, book the shared shuttle and plan your flight to land the day before, so the 9 a.m. pickup is not a sprint. If you are four, or traveling with small children, or landing in the afternoon, the private transfer is the better trade, because the driver owns the ferry problem and you do not.

If you want a car for the beaches and the Cabo Blanco end of the peninsula, drive it, and aim for the 9:00 a.m. or noon boat. Once you are here, two things worth knowing: Cabo Blanco closes on Mondays and Tuesdays, and your first surf lesson depends on which beach and which hour you book it for.

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Send us your flight number and the name of your hotel, and we will tell you which ferry you can realistically make and which arrival we would book for you.

Pura Vida 🍃