Location
Manuel Antonio is in the Central Pacific region of Costa Rica. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Costa Rica due to its beautiful beaches and rich wildlife. The area that is Manuel Antonio stretches from the town of Quepos and then along an approximately 8km road up a mountain and then back down, finishing at the entrance of the Manuel Antonio National Park and beautiful playa espadilla. The road to the beach and park is surrounded either side by a large number of hotels and restaurants, offering the visitor a large selection of places to stay and eat.
Nestled in the heart of Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, Castillo De Amber is centrally located and within walking distance to everything including the beach, restaurants, bars, stores, local bus, spas and even a butterfly garden complete with crocs!
Getting Here from SJO
From San Jose and the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO), Manuel Antonio can be reached by either land or air. In either case, your concierge can assist you with reservations.
Driving Directions
We recommend using Google or Waze to direct you, but just in case you prefer the traditional method: From Quepos, follow the signs up into Manuel Antonio. The entire road connecting Quepos to Manuel Antonio national park (& beach) is about 5 miles (7km) long. Approximately 3.5 miles (5.6 km) from Quepos, you’ll pass a T-junction, with Café Milagro on the left and Plaza Vista (Banco Promerica) on the right. Go another 100 meters and take a hard right onto Pacific Canyon Drive. There is a sign at the turnoff for ‘Anjali’. You’ll pass a guardhouse and security gate which is only in operation at nighttime. Follow this road as it snakes out to the residential neighborhood, about 300m. You’ll see the yellow façade for Castillo de Amber above the open-front garage on the left. Park anywhere and enter via the garage/stairs.
Travel Options
Travel options last updated: August 2023
- Best combination of convenience, transit time, and price (for groups)
- Coordinated with our concierge
- Direct from airport to us
- Upon arriving, not as flexible transportation as a rental car
This is the option that we recommend the most.
Contact us to coordinate a shuttle with a reliable driver that knows the area, and will give you a good price.
- Most freedom/flexibility for intra and inter-town travel
- Most convenient for luggage
- Expensive
- More chances for your trip to go wrong
- May require cell-data for directions
Many travelers will prefer to rent a car so that they can move around at their own pace. If you prefer to move at your own pace and makes stops along the way, this is the most flexible of options.
- Shortest transit time
- Very poor customer service
- Luggage overage fees
Sansa flies several times per day, during daylight hours, to and from SJO and Quepos. These are small, ~12 seat planes that only fly during daylight hours.
The domestic airport is a 5 minute walk from the SJO international airport.
Plane tickets are typically $80-$100 per person
A ~10 minute taxi ride (Uber is not a reliable option) from Quepos airport to Castillo de Amber costs about $10-$15.
- No advance coordination
- Direct
- More expensive than shuttle
- Variable prices
- May require negotiation to not get ripped off
Prices may vary greatly depending on the driver. The shuttle is typically a better option for both space, reliability, consistent price, and getting to the correct house in Manuel Antonio.
Official taxis are always red with yellow triangles.
- Cheapest
- The most "local" way
- Most environmentally-friendly
- Bus station location can be dangerous
- Station is 30 minutes out of the way
- You might might get seated away from your group
Bus tickets are about $10 each
Busses depart every ~30-90 minutes (5:30am - 7:30pm)
To get to the Tracopa station from SJO you can either take a taxi (~$25), Uber (~$15), or local busses (cheap, but not recommended because it is confusing, requires speaking Spanish, and an additional 10 minute walk in dense, broken-sidewalked city).
The bus makes a stop in Quepos, and at Manuel Antonio National Park (even if it is a “direct” bus). Upon arriving in Quepos, you can ask the driver (in Spanish) if they will stop at Agua Azul (a 5 minute walk from Castillo de Amber), but they may decline. If they do, see our section about local transportation for the last-mile.
Getting Around Town
Travel options last updated: August 2023
- Cheap
- Local's Option
- Most environmentally-friendly
- Live GPS tracking
- Operating hours 5:30am - 9:30pm
- At night, bus comes infrequently (every 30-45min)
Busses come fairly reliably on their planned schedule. However, that schedule itself isn't very predictable.
- Door-to-door service
- Dispatch # only speaks spanish
- Not reliably available after ~11pm
The phone number above is the Quepos taxi dispatch line. You'll need to speak Spanish, and know your current location (and possibly nearest landmark). If a taxi is dispatched, the last thing they'll tell you is the number of the taxi. Make sure you get an arrival estimate before you hang up.
Sometimes, the taxis just stop working after 11pm. You might call dispatch and they will say "Sorry. There's no taxis for the rest of the night".
Official taxis are always red with yellow triangles.
- Cheap
- Local's Option
- Expect to be in a worn-down, compact car, with every seat full
These cars, often referred to as "piratas" or "collectivos" are technically illegal. They'll beep their horn at you while passing you along the main road as a solicitation of their services. There's no need to tell them where you're going, just warn them before you're about to get out.
Their fee will take you anywhere along the Manuel Antonio main road.