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Location

El Encanto is located just north of the town of Cahuita (about 4 hours driving from San Jose), steps away from a quiet beach and just a few minutes walking to town.

If you are arriving by bus, from the main bus station turn left on the crossroad entering the town. When you are the corner of Cocos Bar turn left again. This is the main street of Cahuita, where you will find the supermarket Safari, pleasant gift shops and restaurants. Three blocks down is the police station and the post office. Here you are to turn left again and follow the beach road for 300 meters. We are on the left.

If you are driving from the North (San Jose or Limon) you can take the left hand turnoff called La Union, which is located 200 meters before the main entrance to the town of Cahuita and has a bus stop on either side of the highway. Go straight until you reach the beach. Here you turn right and drive for a short ways until you find us on your right.

See our location on the Puerto Viejo Satellite map.

Getting Here

There are a number of different options for getting to Cahuita:

Find full bus schedules and info.

If you're coming straight down to the coast from your international flight and would prefer not to spend the first night in San Jose, the best option is often a private driver that meets your flight and will bring you directly to El Encanto. There's no waiting for a scheduled departure, no luggage restrictions (they use a roomy 10 passenger van and even bigger vehicles are available if you've got a big group) and  no stopping along the way for other passengers. Price is $145 for the van from San Jose Airport (or from a San Jose area hotel) to Cahuita. They also can take you from any other place in Costa Rica (e.g. Arenal to Cahuita or vice-versa).

More info and rates for other routes for private shuttle transport.

Shared ride van services are comfortable and pick you up right at your hotel and will bring you right to El Encanto. They travel around Costa Rica on a scheduled basis. We find the most reliable to be Interbus which costs $35 per person from San Jose to Cahuita (leaving daily at 7:50 am) and $39 from Arenal to Cahuita (leaving daily at 6 am). They will not transport pets, you will need the private driver option for that.

More info and rates and schedules for other routes for shared shuttle.

If you'd like to drive to Cahuita, the route is fairly easy and the road is in good condition and paved all the way. A 4WD vehicle is not needed to get down here but you may want one once you're here to explore more.

Get detailed driving instructions and search for car rental rates

For the adventurous, an unforgettable way to get to Cahuita is to book a rafting trip down the Pacuare river. The one-day trip is $95 pp but—get this—they will pick you up and drop you off at your choice of San Jose, Cahuita, Puerto Viejo or Arenal! If you're coming from San Jose, your day will start at about 6 am at your San Jose hotel, then you'll spend the full day in the adventure of a lifetime and arrive into Cahuita in the evening. There is no additional cost for being delivered to a different city than you got picked up so it's like getting your transport for free! You even get lunch. They also offer a 2 day option with an overnight along the river. Some of the other tours we offer also include a similar transportation option.

Reserve a river rafting trip.

Get more information on all the tours we offer.

Leaving Cahuita? It's not over yet... one final option, best for leaving Cahuita and getting to your next destination, is to book a multi-day package which includes transportation from Cahuita to San Jose or Arenal. Our multi-day packages include transport from Cahuita and give you the option of ending your trip in San Jose or Arenal (depending on the package). For example, our Bocas del Toro, Panama package can include a flight back to San Jose, our Tortugero package ends in San Jose and our Arenal Volcano package ends in Arenal.

See all the options on our tours page.