Route suggestions from Costa Rica northwards to USA
 

Hi, all going well my bike air frieghts into Costa Rica at the beginning of February and I then plan to spend 2-3 months getting up to the USA border.

I'm after route suggestions for my trip up through Central America. Info that you might find relevant; the bike is an old KLR, from post experience I know my pace is to average 1100- 1200 km a week (700-800 miles) on a trip like this as I typically ride about 3 days then have at least one day off. And I avoid big cities when I can.

Your ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks



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If you have not been to Panama it would be an ideal time to visit there . D a loop from San Jose to the north coast m Limon , then follow the highway east into Panama and the Bocas del Toro where you could visit some of the islands .
From there take the only highway south up and over the mountain spine through Gualaca .
You have lots of time -3 months to get to USA - so you can afford a tour of Panama - you easily could ride your KLR east all the way to the end of the road at Yaviza, it is pavement all the way .
Tour the Panama |Canal up to Colon and back , and on your return run west on the PanAm Highway 1 take the detour to El Valle , and the loop south around the Chitre Peninsula and the "southern most point reachable by road in North America

Aafter passsig the Gualaca exit again you could do the loop highway up to Boquete on the east slopes of the bi Vocan Baru . Lvely temperate country.
Next, back down to C 1 and David and take the Hgway 43 loop north and see the farms and jungle on the west slope of that volcano .You will have a great tie and find it hard to believe you are in the tropics.
The 43will bring youto the Rio Sereno border crossing back into Costs Rica
From there it is a great ride west toSan Vito and CA 2 highway wet to Buenos |Aires and San Isidro The 2 goes over foggy fores mountains to San Jose , but you can turn south to th coast at San Isidro too and folow that road to Punta ARENAS
You really should do an inland loop to various volcanos , then to the Arenal Vocano and either Liberiaand Nicoya pensula ( much drier , guanacaste ) or Upala /. then think about Nicaragua

Thanks for the thoughts. I visited Panama and Costa Rica last year after coming up through South America. I then stopped the trip because of the Nicuagura situation at that time - so now that Nicuagura looks passable I'm really looking for info from Costa Rica northwards. Cheers

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Understood

So from La Cruz CR enter Nicaragua and as the situation permits travel north on CA 1, do side trips to San Juan del Sur and at Granada to the volcanic isle in the lake . Then east across the top end of the lake to pick up Higway 9 north at Comoapa and head up ,exploring the way to Matagalpa,Jinotega and Ocotal..depending how calm it is this should prove to be an interesting ride .
From Ocotal it is a good way to enter the highlands of Honduras and Danli
This is the better route to more interior Honduras .

Or from CA 1 take the western route to Jinotepe and dodge Managua by going more to the coast then # 3 to Leon and Chinandega around the active volcano to end in Honduras on the south coast lower lands .Good route if you are going to El Salvador directly .

From Danli take CA 6 west .It goes through metro Tegucigalpa on a fairly quick express way so no need to hang out there if you do not want to. Just avoid riding through at night,.In daylight keep moving ,unless of couse you WANT to tke a look downtown
You can totally skip that city if you go north on the back country highway RN 37 all the way up to Yorita and highway 23 .That road gives you the choice of going west to San Pedro Sula sort of directly , or you could go east and do the loop east to Saba and then back west along the north side of the mountains, along the coast through La Ceiba and Tela and eventually also wind up in San Pedro Sula . Highly varied landscape and climate - cactus interior, banana and pineapple farms on coast flats . S Pedro is a big town but interesting .
At San Pedro you again have a choice ;
Head south on CA 4 and do he Copan Mayan ruins site , then cross into Guatemala at Florido Copan- a very easy and tourist friendly border crossing .
Or fro SPS go north on CA 13 to Puerto Cortes and there start the coastal route southwest to Omoa and cross into |Guatemala at Corinto , .

All this can give you lots of time to explore and go slowly . Except for visiting the island in Nicaragua I've done all these roads over the years , only the bi t over the mountain north of Yoro had a section of dirt which could be nasty in the wet season but was okay in the dry .There are enough roads in Honduras and Guatemala to keep you entertained weeks and weeks . There is much of interest to see, but I leave that to your tastes as when you run into them or hear about them by asking locally .

( I was going to include an image but i know ZILCH about how to do that with the help of Earl :confused:) URL ?



WHOA - it appears My attempt at image shipping with a wild tapping of commands was more success ful than I at first thought !!! I am amazed .

Hi Naval,

My wife and I are mooching up that way now. We’ve also come in from South America.

Our Costa Rican part of the journey started in Playa Negra, near Cahuita on the Caribbean coast. Emphasis on the first syllable,not the second, as I’m a Brit. Playa Nedra is laid back and lovely.
Up to Limon and then to San Jose. I would have liked that road more but for the trucks. Tons of trucks. We stayed at the Hotel Urbana Yoses in San Jose and they have secure bike parking.
San Jose to La Fortuna. Great road up in the hills, sway from the coastal heat and La Fortuna is very nice.
La Fortuna down to the Peñas Blanca border and we stayed at San Juan Del Sur, just inside Nic. on the Pacific.
We then skirted Managua to get back up into the hills and we stopped at Esteli. The town was nothing special but the ride up from Managua was hilly, cool and splendid.
Esteli to Tegucigalpa for a night and then a wonderful road to Comoyagua, Gracias and Santa Rosa for the night.
Smaller, mountain roads now to the lovely border town of Copan Ruinas. Great place to rest up.
Copan Ruinas to Antigua, which although it has tourists, is an ax Ellen’s place to spend a few days. Try the Hotel Meson de Maria.
I went into Guatemala City to watch some Six Nations rugby but that may not be for you. From there, the short hop to Panajachel on Lake Atitlan. Pretty lake but touristy.
And that brings me up to date. We’ll probably head for Mexico tomorrow.

Anyone else reading, please add Mexican and more locations as we’re heading up to Alaska and work off recommendations!

Alaska is still frozen and much of the US Aand Canada are still far fro spring so don't rush it to Mexico yet.

At HUEHUETENANGO take the RN7 W east to get to Coban then explore up north and see TIKAL( you owe it to yourself) do Belize and the Yucatan with lots of Mayan ruins sites and then do Palenque and Chiapas- San Cristibal, Sumidero Canyon ,
Then interior up through Oaxaca etc etc etc toooooo much to list

No, go on! Make a list.
There are lots of people who’d like a good list of Mexico’s best places. I’ve been focusing on things further south and would love suggestions from people who know the country.

Sjoerd and Gbags thank you both for the detailed info, it is most valuable. Unfortunately my trip got delayed one month due to a family crisis. Hence I have not been watching the HUBB much for a few weeks and have not acknowledged your replies - many thanks for the detail you have given. Now everything is nearly resolved and I plan to arrive back in Panama City around the 25th and look forward to checking out some of your suggestions. Thanks again.

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OSA
 

you missed the BEST part of Costa Rica,,, OSA!!!

Dont miss it!

Hello guys, first thank you all the posted info. My plan is to travel mid July as quickly as possible through Central America, to have more time in Mexico. The plan is to stick to the west coast and then turn to Belize to go yo Yucatan. Do you know are there any no go zones which I should avoid and watch out.