Costa Rica has two international airports and La Fortuna sits almost exactly between them. Both are about three hours away, so this is not a distance decision — it is a flights and itinerary decision.
Fly into San José (SJO) if La Fortuna and the Arenal area is your main destination. It has more routes, more daily flights and usually lower fares.
Fly into Liberia (LIR) if you are combining Arenal with the Guanacaste beaches — Tamarindo, Playa Flamingo, the northern Pacific. The drive from Liberia also runs around Lake Arenal, which is the prettier arrival.
Best of all, if the fares allow: fly into one and out of the other. An open-jaw ticket is often the same price and saves you driving back across the country at the end of a holiday.
| San José (SJO) | Liberia (LIR) | |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Juan Santamaría International | Daniel Oduber Quirós International |
| Drive to La Fortuna | ~3 hours | ~3 hours |
| Flight options | Most airlines, year-round | Fewer, more seasonal |
| Typical fare | Usually lower | Often higher |
| Scenery en route | Central Valley, farmland | Around Lake Arenal |
The mistake is not picking the wrong airport. It is landing late and driving an unfamiliar mountain road in the dark. Costa Rican roads are narrow, unlit outside towns, and the rain arrives without much warning. If your flight gets in after about 4pm, arrange a driver rather than a rental car, whichever airport you use.
Groups staying at The Majestic Lodge can have us handle it — we arrange pickup from either airport, provide vehicles for the stay, or organise a driver. What we arrange →
$1,350 per night for the entire property — 10 en-suite bedrooms, sleeping up to 33, with breakfast included.
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