Motorcycle Diaries in Costa Rica With George Cameron.

Landed at the Juan Santamaria airport in San Jose, Costa Rica early morning, cleared customs, and setup Doris at the hotel in Belen. Grabbed a cab to the Harley Davidson dealership in Escazu, completed the paperwork and headed west on a 2011 DynaSuperglide.

Highway 27 is a new 2 lane each way with 4 toll booths between Escazu and the Central Pacific coast. The tolls are about 500 colones each which is about $1 USD. The maximum speed limit is 80 kph, although vehicles travel anywhere between 40 and 100 kph.

Harley Davidson Helmet in Escazu Costa Rica

Passed Atenas and Orotina and turned onto highway 34 west of Orotina. Highway 34 is an older one lane road each way and is toll free.

Stopped at the alligator bridge and paid a ‘watchingman’ to keep an eye on the bike while I walked the bridge and photographed the river full of alligators. Rode onto Jaco, a main beach town along the Central Pacific coast. There were lots of restaurants, hotels and condos, as well as traffic and people.

I continued the ride on highway 34 along the coast, refueling at Parrita and riding down to Quepos. The road is good with the exception of a strip north of Parrita which was rough. The speed limit is generally 60 kph and motorcycle police are watching. They tend to be in groups and ride large Suzuki motorcycles.

Detoured over to Manuel Antonio, a beach town adjacent to the Manuel Antonio National Park.

Jumped back onto highway 34 continuing south past Dominical and found a small beachfront hotel (Roca Verde) to stop for the night. As you can see from the photograph above, I parked the bike in the main lobby/restaurant/bar, not outside of it – in it!

Downed a few beers, had some good food and walked the beach before turning in for the night exhausted but happy with the days’ ride.

After breakfast the next morning, I got back on highway 34 heading south past Uvita and ending up at Palmar Norte as highway 34 meets highway Cl2, the main highway from San Jose to Panama. The road was recently paved and was an easy ride. Palmar Norte is at the head of the OSA Peninsula containing a huge national park.

One disappointment was that along much of highway 34, south of Dominical, one cannot see the ocean. My plan was to head back to San Jose on highway Cl2 though the mountains inland of the South and Central Pacific coasts. Much of the ride would be through the rainforest.

However, black rain clouds engulfed the mountains and without rain gear, I reluctantly decided to return along the coast. Refueled and rode back on highway 34, refueling again at Jaco, to highway 27 back to the Harley dealership in Escazu. Turned in the bike and headed back to the hotel in Belen to meet up with Doris.

From what I saw of Costa Rica, it is a great place to ride and I look forward to another visit to ride other parts of the country. Humidity, particularly along the coast, was higher than I was accustomed to, so you might want to carry lots of water, sun screen and salt tablets while riding.

Saw several Harleys and one chopper. They were not only in the urban areas but also out in the countryside. The Harley dealership indicated that the local HOG chapter had about 58 riders and they allowed other riders participate in chapter rides. The Ticos (not a derogatory term) were very helpful and gracious, although they tend to be fierce drivers. Ticos can quickly turn a two lane road into a three lane road.

Pura Vida!

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Written by VIP Member George Cameron of Wilsonville, Oregon. George is a Structural (Stress Analysis) Engineer PhD Civil Engineer Oregon State University 1975. Owner CSEI 1981-2007 performing mechanical and structural stress analysis for manufacturing locally, nationally, and internationally. Associate Professor, University of Portland, Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering. George and his wife Doris (they’ve been married for 45 years) are retired and hoping to spend more time in Costa Rica.

There are some restrictions on who is eligible to rent and ride these beautiful machines around Costa Rica so if the idea of a Harley Davidson guided tour around Costa Rica sounds appealing to you, please take a look at CostaRicaMotorcycles.com

Those of you dreaming of buying a Harley Davidson motorcycle in Costa Rica could visit Harley Davidson Costa Rica here.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.