Between the two places everybody has heard of
Casa Frondosa is in Portasol, a private community in the hills above the coast at Portalón. Manuel Antonio is up the coast road to the north. Dominical and Uvita are down it to the south. The house is in neither, which is the whole point of it.
This stretch of the Costanera is the part people drive through on the way somewhere else. It has the same rainforest, the same wildlife, and the same ocean, with a fraction of the traffic. The trade is simple: you give up walking distance to restaurants, and you get a coastline that is still mostly empty.
Playa Linda and Matapalo
Playa Linda is the beach nearest the house: a long, open, dark-sand stretch with no beach clubs and usually no crowd. The house keeps body boards and beach chairs for guests, so a couple of hours down there costs nothing but the drive.
Matapalo, six kilometers away, is the nearest village with anything in it. A few sodas, a couple of surf spots, and a beach that on most days you will have to share with about four other people.
Portasol itself is a 540-hectare rainforest community, founded by the Piedra family, who have developed it around conservation from the start. It is gated, homes occupy a fraction of their land, and the rest is standing forest.
Best of all: La Cazuela, a waterfall on the Portalon River inside the community, with two natural swimming holes below it. Guests staying at the house get to use it, and reaching it does not involve the main road at all.
How close everything is
The whole coast is within reach from here: beaches in both directions, two national parks, the marina at Quepos and the waterfalls inland. Distances are by road from the house, in the owners' own numbers. Drive times are for a normal run on a dry road; green-season afternoons deserve a little slack.
| Place | Distance by road | Drive time |
|---|---|---|
| Matapalo | 6 km | about 15 min |
| Dominical | 21 km | about 35 min |
| Quepos airport (XQP) | 23 km | about 35 min |
| Quepos | 28 km | about 45 min |
| Manuel Antonio National Park | 33 km | about 50 min |
| Uvita | 39 km | about 55 min |
| Marino Ballena National Park | 42 km | about 1 hr |
Getting here
Everyone arrives through San José. From there it is a drive down to the coast, or a short flight and a much shorter drive. Both end at the same gate.
Drive from San José
about four hours
- Route 27 west toward the coast, then Route 34, the Costanera, south through Jaco and Quepos.
- Three toll booths on Route 27, a few dollars in total, colones or US dollars accepted.
- Friday afternoons, Sunday evenings and holiday weekends can add an hour, so leave early if you land on one.
- Pick up the rental car at the airport and you have wheels all week.
Fly to Quepos, then drive
about 30 minutes in the air
- Sansa flies it several times a day from San José to Quepos (XQP).
- From that airstrip the house is about 35 minutes.
- Small aircraft, so the baggage allowance is tight. Check it when you book.
- Arrange the rental car or the transfer in advance; do not count on finding one on arrival.
Put the house on your map: Google Maps · Apple Maps · Waze. The pin shows the community rather than the door; your exact arrival instructions come through once your dates are confirmed.
The full route guide covers both options in detail, what the drive is actually like, and the stops worth making on the way.
Quepos and Manuel Antonio
Manuel Antonio National Park is the reason most people come to this coast, and it deserves the reputation: capuchins, sloths, and three beaches inside the park boundary. It is also the most visited national park in the country. Tickets are sold online in timed slots through SINAC, the national parks service, and popular mornings sell out days ahead. Buy before you travel rather than at the gate.
Quepos, just before the park, is where the marina, the sportfishing fleet and the serious grocery shopping are. If you are cooking for twelve, this is the run to make on the way in from the airport.
Dominical, Uvita and the whale's tail
Dominical is a surf town with a long beach break and a main street of open-air restaurants. Carry on south and you reach Uvita, where Marino Ballena National Park has the sandbar shaped like a whale's tail that appears at low tide.
Humpbacks pass this stretch twice a year, from northern and southern populations, so the whale-watching season here is unusually long. Boats leave from the beach at Uvita.
Inland from Dominical there are the waterfalls at Nauyaca, a handful of river swimming holes, and the farmers market at Tinamastes if you want to eat like you live here.
What comes to the house
The property is surrounded by forest rather than adjacent to it. Toucans, howler monkeys and a long list of birds are part of the ordinary morning here, which is why the welcome kit includes eye masks.
The questions page covers getting here, the road and what to bring. The house page covers what is waiting when you arrive.
Why this is the perfect stretch of coast
Everything worth doing on the Central Pacific is a day trip from this house, and every evening you come home to a private pool in the rainforest instead of a crowded strip. Tell us your dates and we will help you plan the rest.
Local knowledge included. Our concierge team lives on this coast.