After the Maratón de San José: Manuel Antonio
The Route: San José → Quepos / Manuel Antonio (2 nights) → San José Logistics: Around 3 hours by road on the Costanera Sur. Direct tourist shuttles run several times a day with hotel pickup; public buses from San José take longer. Quepos has a small airstrip with domestic flights from San José if time matters more than money. Marathon Month: December Duration: 2 nights
San José ──(≈3 hrs by road)──> Quepos ──(≈10 min)──> Manuel Antonio
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National park + beaches
Manuel Antonio is the smallest national park in Costa Rica and the most visited, and both of those facts are the point. It is small enough to walk in a morning on flat, well-made trails, and the density of animals along those trails is high enough that you will see plenty without doing anything clever. December is dry season on this coast, which is when to come.
Quepos is the working town at the bottom of the hill; Manuel Antonio is the strip of hotels along the ridge road above the park entrance. The two are about 10 minutes apart and a local bus shuttles between them all day for almost nothing.
The park
The main trail from the entrance runs roughly 1.5 km on a level, partly paved path to the beaches, and it is the one everybody walks. White-faced capuchins are the animals you will certainly see, and they are entirely unbothered by people, which is why every sign tells you not to carry visible food. Sloths, howler monkeys, agoutis and iguanas are all common. The park has its own guides at the gate, and hiring one is the difference between seeing four species and seeing fifteen, because they carry a scope and they know which tree.
Playa Manuel Antonio, inside the park, is a sheltered curve of white sand with calm water, and it is the swimming beach. The Punta Catedral loop, a short circuit over the headland, has the one climb in the park and a view along the coast.
Two practical points. The park limits daily entry numbers and tickets are bought online in advance, so book before you travel. It also closes one day a week, and which day has changed over the years, so check the current closure before building a day around it.
The rest of the two nights
The second day is for doing very little. The beaches outside the park at Playa Espadilla are open and free, with surf. Boat trips out of Quepos marina run for dolphins and, in season, whales. Mangrove tours on the Damas estuary north of Quepos are flat, done sitting in a boat, and good for birds and crocodiles.
The road between Quepos and the park climbs the ridge and has a sequence of viewpoints along it. Walking it is possible and not pleasant on marathon legs: there is no pavement and there is traffic.
Where to Stay and Eat
Where to stay: The ridge road has the views and the higher prices. Quepos is cheaper, flatter and has the ordinary town amenities. Down at Playa Espadilla you can walk to the sand and the park gate.
Where to eat: The restaurants along the ridge road are priced for the view. Quepos has sodas, the small local canteens, where a casado costs a fraction of that. The marina end of Quepos has the seafood.
Getting Home
Shuttles back to San José leave morning and afternoon and take around 3 hours. If you are flying out the same day, take the morning departure and allow for traffic on the approach to San José, which is heavy from mid-afternoon. The Quepos airstrip has short domestic hops to San José if the schedule is tight.