Tempisque Bridge Closure and Detours

Alert: The ferry service from Puntarenas to/from Paquera has been resumed. It was closed for several weeks after the Naviera Tambor Ferry crashed into and damaged the dock at Paquera in early April.
>> UPDATE MAY 1, 2024

Tempisque Bridge Repairs

Starting April 1, 2024 the Friendship Bridge (Puente la Amistad) over the Río Tempisque on Highway 18 joining the mainland to the Nicoya Peninsula will be closed for several months adding an hour or more to travel times from most of Costa Rica to some popular Guanacaste beaches.

Friendship bridge over the Rio Tempisque — Friendship Bridge (Puente la Amistad) over the Río Tempisque on Highway 18 was built by Taiwan as a symbol of the relationship with Costa Rica. A few years later China upped the ante and stole the friendship with a new national soccer stadium and the bridge was renamed “back stabber.”

Alternate Routes – Detours Around the Tempisque Bridge Outage

There are a few options for alternate routes and both google maps and waze are aware of the bridge closure and will route you around it.

It is very important to note that when either mapping app shows travel times for routes including the ferry they only include the time it takes for the boat to cross the gulf. They do not include the recommended arrival at the dock 30 minutes to one hour (even with pre-paid online reservation) or the 10-20 minutes to unload at the other end.

old Tempisque river ferry boat on route 18 between Nipero and Morenas costa rica — Unfortunately the old ferry between Nispero and puerto Morena just downstream from the current bridge location is not a viable alternative since it only carried a half dozen vehicles at a time before the bridge opened in 2003.

Northern Nicoya Peninsula & Guanacaste Destinations – via Liberia

The further north your destination the more likely it is your best option is to take the PanAmerican highway (route 1) north all the way to Liberia and cross the Tempisque river on the bridge at Comunidad west of LIR international airport.

Alternate route around the closed Tempisque river bridge via Liberia for northern beaches — Alternate route via Liberia for northern and central beaches

You’ll want to take the northern detour for beaches north of Nosara. As you move north the added travel time decreases and by playa Tamarindo the drive is only 30 minutes longer compared to when the bridge is open.

You may also decide to take the northern route even if you’re headed to one of the southern beaches because the ferries (see below) are likely to have long waits due to increased volume.

Northern Nicoya & Guanacaste Adventure Route

The Ministerio de Obras Publicas y Transportes (MOPT or highway department) proposed the above detour around the Tempisque Bridge work.

NOTE: These are NOT main roads. We’ve driven this way but never with the intention of getting from point A on the mainland to point B on the peninsula. It was always to explore (way) off the beaten path and visit Lomas de Barbudal Wildife Refuge, the northern sectors of Palo Verde National Park or the Puerto Humo region for bird and wildlife watching.

If you’re feeling adventurous this option may save some time especially for destinations in central part of the peninsula. Or it may take longer…

Once waze and google maps accumulate some data (really, no one ever goes this way currently) we’ll try to post some examples of travel times.

Southern Nicoya Peninsula Destinations – Via the Puntarenas Ferries

Alert: The Naviera Tambor Ferry crashed into and damaged the dock at Paquera Tuesday April 9th 2024 and service from Puntarenas is cancelled until further notice.

The Punterenas ferry to Paquera or Naranjo is the best alternate route for southern Nicoya beaches while the Tempisque river bridge is closed starting April 2024 — The Punterenas ferry to Paquera or Naranjo may be the best alternate route for southern Nicoya beaches

The ferries will likely be extremely crowded for the months that the bridge is closed so advance “reservations” for vehicles are highly recommended.

Reservations do not guarantee that your vehicle will be loaded onto the ferry unless you are in line and signed in at least 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time. Puntarenas city is 10 km long and the ferry terminal is nearly at the end so traffic can be a real issue. On the other end at Paquera or Naranjo there’s nothing around and you should be able to drive right up to the dock.

There’s very little possibility of adding service between Puntarenas and Paquera because the boat is currently turning around as quickly as it can. There could be a midnight and 3 am departure added but nothing has been announced. The Naranjo ferry might be able to add a couple of crossings per day because it spends some time at the docks but currently there are no plans to change either schedule.

You may want to choose the southern route for the beaches around Nosara and Sámara and probably everything south of there.

Puntarenas/Naranjo – Coonatramar Ferry

departures from Puntarenas to Naranjo >> 3:30 a, 5:30 a, 7:30 a, 9:30 a, 11:30 a, 1:30 p, 3:30 p, 5:30 p, 7:30 p, 9:30 p
departures from Naranjo to Puntarenas >> 3:30 a, 5:30 a, 7:30 a, 9:30 a, 11:30 a, 1:30 p, 3:30 p, 5:30 p, 7:30 p, 9:30 p

Puntarenas/Paquera – Naviera Tambor Ferry

departures from Puntarenas to Paquera >> 4:00 a, 6:30 a, 9:00 a, 12:00 noon, 2:30 p, 6:00 p, 8:00 p, 10:00 p
departures from Paquera to Puntarenas >> 4:00 a, 6:30 a, 9:00 a, 12:00 noon, 2:30 p, 6:00 p, 8:00 p, 10:00 p

Ferry Pro Tip

Super secret insider pro-tip to look like a travel genius – cars go 5x faster than ferry boats. That might be obvious but I really wanted to say “pro-tip” and there is actually a travel advantage to knowing that info.

There are two ferry ports on the Nicoya Peninsula. One dock at Playa Naranjo is about 20 minutes north of the other, Paquera, by road. For decades that road was rough 4WD and took closer to an hour to drive so everyone recommends docking at Paquera to reach the southern Nicoya beach areas.

In 2023 the road was improved and now it’s actually faster to take the shorter ferry ride to Naranjo and drive to Paquera compared to taking the ferry directly to Paquera.

There are other advantages to having this information. The Naranjo ferry has different departure times adding flexibility, and because everyone thinks the Paquera ferry is better there is less competition for reservations on the northern line.

Which Way Should You Go? – ask the experts

Any way you look at it the travel times to the central Nicoya and Guanacaste beaches are going to be longer by an hour or two but making the wrong choice of alternate routes could increase that to four or five hours extra.

If you can’t decide from the information above which route will be best the Costa Rica Guide travel group on facebook has almost 200,000 members who are happy to make suggestions based on recent experiences – join and ask about this and any other Costa Rica travel questions