Driving Instructions for Pozo Azul

Sarapiquí is located only 90 minutes from San Jose , with two different routes of great natural beauty leading to Hacienda Pozo Azul: the road to Puerto Limon or the road towards Poás volcano. Due to its proximity to San José , you will find in Sarapiquí a strong commitment to conservation, exemplified by organizations like the OTS (Organization of Tropical Studies) and Tirimbina Foundation. Hacienda Pozo Azul lies at the very heart of Sarapiquí, bordering the OTS and Tirimbina, as well as the Sarapiquí River , and at the forest reserve of the Braulio Carrillo National Park , where conservation ranks as top priority. Hacienda Pozo Azul is 1hr 20min from Fortuna in Arenal, and 2 Hrs 20 Min from Puerto Limon.

From San Jose

Two roads take you to Pozo Azul from San José ; both offering a scenic 90 minute journey:

1) The road #32 to Puerto Limon, taking the exit at road (#4 ) to Puerto Viejo, and then 26 km to La Virgen. ( total 90Km ; 54 miles)

2) The road #9 towards Poás volcano, a winding road with spectacular views

by the canyon of the Sarapiquí River, followed by 10 km on road #4 to La Virgen.( total 70Km ; 42 miles)

From Arenal Volcano:

Take route #4 from Fortuna, to Monterrey, then to the road crossing at Muelle,, continuing on to Aguas Zarcas, then to Venecia, San Miguel , and to La Virgen driving time : 1 hour 20 minutes ( 82 Km: 49 Miles)

From Puerto Limón

Take route #32 to San Jose for 65 MIles and exit at road #4 to Puerto Viejo of Sarapiquí for 26 Miles to La Virgen: 2 hours 20 Min.

Some info rmation to make your trip to Hacienda Pozo Azul from your point of origin more enjoyable and interesting is given here.
Some interesting historical tips will make the short trips lighter, and we hope you will find it interesting.

The Poás Volcano Road to Sarapiquí from San José

Sarapiquí was until 1890 the main route in and out of Costa Rica to Europe, on horse or oxcarts to Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí and on boat to the San Juan River and on to the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1850 Cornelius Vanderbilt established his Transit Company to take 49ers to the gold mines in California from the East Coast of the USA , in just 6 weeks and not the dangerous 6 months across the USA or worst yet, around the Magellan Strait . This route was a total success and triggered the many political and war events in Central America around William Walker who became President of Nicaragua.

The Transit Co. provided the route with increase frequency of ships through the river but the difficult climb to the continental divide at Vara Blanca was no easy task. In 1890 the opening of the railroad from San Jose to Puerto Limon finally offered a much better alternative.

It was not until 50 years later, that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineering, then building the Pan-American Highway (of strategic importance as an overland access to the Panama Canal),agreed to cover the road with gravel from Vara Blanca to the low lands of the Sarapiquí Valley and build a bridge at the La Paz Waterfall in exchange to the establishment of a Quinine farm in Cinchona ( the name of the quinine yielding tree). Today, a small hamlet next to the El angel food processing plant.

Today you can enjoy this spectacular road with 70 Km( 42 Miles) starting in San Jose ,on to Alajuela, and start your climb to 2900 meters high going through small villages of San Isidro, Fraijanes, Poasito, Vara Blanca through some of the best coffee farms in Costa Rica, you can stop and sample the coffee, continuing towards the Poás Volcano and on to Vara Blanca The Continental Divide, on route #9 towards the Poás Volcano; recommended as a side trip specially if it is early in the morning or late in the afternoon with a 20 Km side trip from the main road from Poasito.

From Vara Blanca you start the descend towards Sarapiquí going through the La Paz Waterfall Gardens a spectacular place you should not miss(www.waterfallgardens.com)

Right after the waterfall you will be surprise by the Sarapiquí River Canyon with strait up walls covered with luscious green vegetation with the San Fernando waterfall seen from a small "soda"( Little roadside café) at Cinchona, aside from the vista,you will also enjoy the many hummingbirds at flying around the feeders in this soda.

From here you start descending about 1000 meters in a mater of 30 minutes in a pretty steep incline following the ravine of the Sarapiquí River ,we recommend using a lower gear to prevent your brakes to heat up.

At the end there is small village of Cariblanco where if a clear day you will see the Poás Volcano right behind you. Here you will see for some years ( until 2010) work on the Cariblanco Hydroelectric plant being build taking advantage of the generous rainfall and topography in the area.

Passing Cariblanco the next village will be San Miguel,, you are only 11 Km from Hacienda Pozo Azul, as the sign on the road will tell you. San Miguel is where you can turn left and continue through the Northern Plains to Fortuna and the Arenal Volcano about an hour away.

From San Miguel you continue to descent from 1700 ft to 700 ft always through a winding road until you get the Valley of la Virgen, and to Hacienda Pozo Azul located by the Bridge over the Sarapiquí River .

You have spend less than 2 hours including a couple of short stops.

The Braulio Carrillo National Park road to Hacienda Pozo Azul

The then president of Costa Rica Mr. Braulio Carrillo in 1870 started a road to Limon crossing the impenetrable mountains just north east of San José to communicate the central plateau with the Atlantic coast in an effort to colonize this rich area. The difficulty of the topography postponed the building of road #32 for 110 years. Today you will comfortably enjoy the magnificent spectacle of nature in this road.

As soon as these road was built, the whole area, unexplored at the time, was declare a national Park and President Carrillo was honored by naming the park after him.

The Braulio Carrillo National Park is the second largest park with over 112,000 acres, covering central volcanic range and a corridor going from 32meters to 2900 meters high (100 to 9,700ft high) and crossed by the road to Puerto Limon #32 of the same name as the park.

After crossing the tunnel at Cerro Zurquí you will find to your right Quebrada González Range Station, the only authorized place to walk on the park and a very special place for bird watching since bird species from low lands and high lands converge here.

Continuing on down you will pass trough the Aerial Tram, another special place to visit and tour the tree canopy. Soon you will cross the Sucio River , worth stopping if you are driving to see from the bridge where two rivers of different colors converge on a impressive and large river bed, witness to large flash flows and some impressive scene filmed on the movie Congo .

As soon as you reach the low lands at Restaurant Roberto's you turn left and continue for 26 Miles on road #4 which follows the perimeter of the Braulio Carrillo Park going through Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí ( do not confuse with Puerto Viejo de Limón). And on to La Virgen de Sarapiquí home of Hacienda Pozo Azul located right at the bridge.

Road from Arenal to Hacienda Pozo Azul

This road serves the Northern Planes and is used to carry all exporting products from the northern Valley to Puerto Limon to be shipped abroad; specially pineapples, concentrated orange juice and cassava and other edible roots. Pineapples is the most important export product from this area, Costa Rica is today the second largest Pineapple exporter in the world, only second to Philippines exporting the very popular Gold Pineapple, up to recently exclusive of Del Monte, and basically produced in Costa Rica.

Large part of this road was build in built in the 1980's during the communist government in Nicaragua as a strategic infrastructure in case of communist expansion plans.

At any rate it gave the region a jump start development in 10 years, besides the road, you will understand why!. This privileged and bathed by volcanic ashes through the Eons, along with the abundant sun and water makes it so productive. Along the road you will see on the south the central volcanic range making the trip a very scenic one.

Leaving Fortuna you will soon reach El Tanque (6.5 Km), here turn left towards Monterrey for another 2 Km were you will find road #4 to Limon, turn right and follow this road for the next 79 Km (47 Miles) passing through several cross roads, the first is at El Muelle, follow by the cross to Pital, at 42.5 Km from fortuna. Here you turn right( South) towards Aguas Zarcas , you will have reach 1600 ft altitude and start seen a concentration of dairies, continuing on to San Miguel through Venecia and Rio Cuarto were you start going down again to Hacienda Pozo Azul in the village of La Virgen.

Road from Puerto Limon

You will use this road if you are coming from Puerto Limon, The Tortuguero area or the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and Panama . Starting form Puerto Limon this road, #32 will take you through banana country, , cattle, pineapple , and the world renown EARTH University and on to the city of Guápiles , soon afterwards and as the road starts climbing towards San José, you take route #4 towards Puerto Viejo (de Sarapiquí) for 26 miles and on to La Virgen ( home of Hacienda Pozo Azul)

On the way to Pozo Azul you will cross a series of rivers which collects the crystal clear waters from the central volcanic range showing the wonderful and plentiful water resource of this area.