Questions about Mother Dear and Puerto Viejo

Directions to Mother Dear Cottages

We are located in the Playa Negra area of Puerto Viejo. We are located on Playa Negra in Puerto Viejo, about a 4 1/2 hour road trip from San Jose. We will provide detailed and updated driving directions to you well before your arrival.  Renting a car with GPS? Set it for latitude 9.656018 and longitude -82.768689 and you'll be here in no time!

Bus, Shuttle

There are 4 public buses per day linking Puerto Viejo, Cahuita, Limon, and San Jose. From Puerto Viejo center, it's a 5 minute taxi ride to us. There are also several shuttle companies which offer door to door service from most hotels in San Jose and Arenal directly here. Click here to make a shuttle booking request.

Schedules for buses as well as driving instructions, private and shared tourist shuttle bookings and all sorts of detailed info on getting to the area can be found here.

One really memorable way to get here from San Jose or Arenal is to take a whitewater rafting trip. They'll pick you up at your hotel in the morning, bring you on a day of adventure and then drop you off at Mother Dear at the end of the day. And since the rafting location is halfway between San Jose and Puerto Viejo your day is spent in fun not in transit! Click here for rafting details and booking information.

If you want to get here straight off your international flight, consider hiring a van and driver that will meet you at the airport and bring you right here.

Click here for rates and booking information.

Location

Mother Dear Cottages are located in the Playa Negra area of Puerto Viejo. This is a quiet area on a black sand beach about 10 minutes walking from the main part of town. Mostly you'll have the beach in front to yourself or share with just a few others from the neighboring houses, both vacation rentals and homes.

Right in the area is a small grocery store and just down the beach Hotel Banana Azul has a tour desk, restaurant, bar and rents bikes.

Puerto Viejo Area

If you desire more social interaction with the colorful locals or international travelers, just walk 10 minutes down the beach or road to the center of this small resort town known for its world class surfing and fine but casual restaurants. There you will find about 25 restaurants suitable to a wide variety of tastes, grocery stores, pharmacy, internet cafes, bike and scooter rentals, tour and excursion offices, liquor store, a bank and lots of shopping.

The website Puerto Viejo Satellite has extensive area information including area transportation info, answers to questions about money, tours and activities and more.

Our tour partner, Gecko Trail Adventures, can help you make arrangements for your entire Costa Rica trip including transportation to Puerto Viejo or around the country, packages to Arenal and Monteverde, Tortuguero, Bocas del Toro and more, and all sorts of fun activities from Canopy tours to Whitewater rafting to Scuba diving and much more.  You can also visit them at their office open daily at nearby hotel Banana Azul, just a few minutes north from us along the beach, where you'll also find a restaurant and bar.