travel42 Port Guide: Puntarenas

travel42 Professional Cruise Port of Call Review

Puntarenas, Costa Rica, a small Pacific-coast city about 50 mi/80 km west of San Jose, is making a comeback as a port and resort town. The toll highway between San Jose and Puntarenas cuts the journey to less than one hour, but for foreign tourists it remains mainly a place to pass through en route to or from the Nicoya Peninsula.

Built at the tip of a long, narrow peninsula, Puntarenas (Spanish for "sandy point") is a good base from which to visit nearby national parks or the towns of Quepo...