Hello allanrosenbaum!

Thank you so much for your interest in DIY Costa Rica. 🙂

With a 3:30 (assuming pm) flight out of SJO, you have a few options. To start, most airlines will request that you arrive at the airport 3 hours prior to your flight’s departure time, so in your case, you should plan to arrive at the airport around 12:30pm. Though local bus transportation would be the least expensive option, I typically don’t recommend relying on this mode of transportation for routes traveled on departure days as (common) delays can easily translate to missed flights. The next best option, and one of the least expensive options, would be to purchase a seat on a shared shuttle service that travels between Cahuita and the airport daily. Several shuttle companies offer this service; Caribe Shuttle (https://www.caribeshuttle.com/) is a reputable company that operates out of Costa Rica’s Caribbean region. They offer an early morning shared shuttle service that departs from Cahuita at 6:00am and arrives into the San Jose region around 11:00am. A one-way seat on the shared shuttle service for this route costs about $55 USD per person, so the service would cost the two of you about $110 USD. Another option would be a private transfer service, which is generally the most expensive mode of transportation in Costa Rica. With this option, you can choose your own departure time and you’ll have the vehicle all to yourselves. In this case, you could choose a later morning departure time, if you wanted to, such as 7:00am or 7:30am. The cost for this service (from Cahuita to the SJO Airport) through Caribe Shuttle is $220 per group (for the two of you together, not per person). Other competing transportation service companies also offer the same service; rates typically vary across providers.

If, for some reason, you have a 3:30am departing flight not a 3:30pm departing flight, simply let me know and I’ll respond with options for that departure time instead! 🙂

Pura vida!