Costa Rica is about the size of West Virginia, but ground transportation can take many hours on its rough, windy, and mountainous roads. Depending on your travel route, domestic flights may be the most convenient and sensible option. Traveling between some destinations can take up to 6 hours by ground, while a domestic flight can cut that travel time to 45 minutes - a major time saver, especially if you have only a short time in Costa Rica.

There are two daily domestic flight providers in Costa Rica - Sansa and Green Airways. Both providers are based in the San José metropolitan area and operate out of the Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) in Alajuela. Please keep this location in mind while planning your domestic routes and airport arrivals. Both Sansa and Green Airways have strict reservation, cancellation, and luggage restriction policies that are important to understand prior to booking. You can review this information by clicking here. 

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Note that some domestic airports may be a little way far from the downtown of every specific destination. For example, the Tambor airport is a 30-minute drive from both Montezuma and Mal País, La Fortuna Airport is around 20 minutes away from Arenal Volcano Area, Limon Airport is at 45 minutes away from Puerto Viejo beach. But there are other airports really close to your destination like are Quepos, Tamarindo, Tortuguero, Samara and Puerto Jimenez, all are less of 10 minutes away.