Sierpe River & Mangroves
The Sierpe River mangrove system is Costa Rica's largest — private boat tours into ancient jungle canals leading to Drake Bay.
PMZ · MRPM · Costa Rica
Palmar Sur Airport
Palmar Sur — South Pacific. 30 min to Drake Bay by boat.
Runway
1222m
Surface
Asphalt
Elevation
17m
Hours
6am-5pm
Book your private flight to Palmar Sur
Airport at a glance
Palmar Sur — Costa Rica
Palmar Sur is where the Térraba river finishes its run out of the Talamanca mountains and spreads into the largest mangrove system on Central America's Pacific coast. It is also where, in the 1930s, United Fruit workers clearing land for banana plantations began uncovering near-perfect stone spheres, some over two metres across, carved by the Diquís culture between roughly 300 and 1500 AD. Nobody knows precisely what they were for. UNESCO inscribed the sites as World Heritage in 2014, and several spheres sit in the open in Palmar Sur, a few minutes from the runway.
For most travellers, though, PMZ is a transit point — and a very good one. This is the airport for Sierpe, and Sierpe is the river gateway to Drake Bay and the Osa.
Runway 03/21, 1,400 metres by 12 metres, asphalt, at 15 metres elevation. ICAO: MRPM. Coordinates: 8°57′01″N, 83°28′06″W. Daylight operations.
Fourteen hundred metres of length with a narrow twelve-metre width — a legacy of the plantation-era airfield the runway grew out of. It handles the standard domestic turboprop fleet comfortably and, with the length available, offers more payload flexibility than the beach strips further out.
Getting there
Palmar Sur Airport — Getting there
Sierpe village is about 15 minutes by road from PMZ. From its dock, boats run down the Térraba-Sierpe river and out through the river mouth into the open Pacific to Drake Bay — a journey of roughly an hour and a half.
That sounds like a detour when Drake Bay has its own airstrip, and often it is. But the river run is one of the genuinely memorable journeys in Costa Rica: mangrove tunnels, crocodiles, herons, ibis, and then the abrupt transition at the river bar into open ocean. Many Osa lodges include it in their transfer, and travellers with time frequently prefer to fly in to Palmar Sur and out from Drake, or vice versa, so they experience both.
The other case for PMZ is weight. When a group's luggage exceeds what a 750-metre strip will accept, routing through Palmar Sur and continuing by boat solves the problem.
The drive you are avoiding. San José to Palmar Sur is roughly five hours by road down the Costanera. The charter is about 38 minutes. For travellers continuing to Sierpe and Drake, flying to PMZ converts a full travel day into a morning.
Connections. Palmar Sur connects by charter to San José (~38 min) and along the southern coast to Drake Bay, Puerto Jiménez, Golfito and Quepos.
| San José | ~38 min | ~5 h |
Nearby
Things to do near Palmar Sur
The Térraba-Sierpe National Wetland covers around 330 square kilometres, making it the largest mangrove forest on the Pacific side of Central America and a Ramsar site. Five mangrove species grow here, along with a bird list that includes the yellow-billed cotinga and the mangrove hummingbird, both range-restricted and both hard to find anywhere else. Boat tours leave from Sierpe; early morning is dramatically better than late.
The Diquís stone spheres — the Finca 6 archaeological site and museum is the principal one, and several spheres stand in public spaces around Palmar Sur. The Térraba-Sierpe mangroves. Sierpe village itself, small and unpretentious, with a couple of good riverside restaurants. Ballena Marine National Park at Uvita, about an hour north, where the sandbar forms the shape of a whale's tail at low tide and humpbacks pass between July and October. And the whole of the Osa, an hour and a half downriver.
Isla del Caño — from Palmar
Easy boat access from Palmar Sur to Isla del Caño's world-class dive sites — coral reefs, sharks and abundant Pacific marine life.
Private Expeditions — Palmar Sur
Palmar Sur is the gateway to the Osa Peninsula and Drake Bay — private guided expeditions into Costa Rica's most pristine wilderness.
Birdwatching — Osa Peninsula
Palmar Sur provides access to the Osa's 400+ bird species including the Scarlet Macaw, Resplendent Quetzal and rare endemic species.
Corcovado via Palmar Sur
Fly into Palmar Sur for one of the most efficient access routes to Corcovado National Park's San Pedrillo and La Leona stations.
Extreme Whitewater — Río General
The Río General below Pérez Zeledón offers Class IV–V whitewater through an almost completely undeveloped river canyon — private expedition with a certified guide team, safety kayakers and a full day of technical rapids in some of the wildest river scenery in Costa Rica.
Cave Expedition — Southwest Caves
Private caving expedition in the cave systems of the Brunca region — unexplored passages, bat colonies of millions, cave crickets and river caves requiring full technical equipment. Private guide, head lamps, wetsuits and vertical gear included.
Aerial Tour — Sierpe Mangroves & Whale Bay
Private helicopter circuit over the Sierpe River mangrove system (the largest on the Pacific coast of Central America) and Bahía Ballena — aerial views of humpback whale feeding grounds, the Whale Tail sandbar and the remote Osa coastline.
When to fly
When to fly
The southern Pacific pattern applies: clear to partly clear mornings, building cloud and heavy rain from midday for much of the year, September and October wettest, December to April driest. The river run to Drake has its own constraint — the Sierpe river bar, where the river meets the ocean, is genuinely dangerous in poor conditions and boat operators will not cross it in a bad sea. This is a real planning factor, and another reason morning transfers are standard.
From $1,569
Fly from PMZ to
Cóbano · 53 min · $2,287Drake Bay · 17 min · $1,789Golfito · 20 min · $1,966La Fortuna · 56 min · $2,196Liberia · 74 min · $3,132Limón · 37 min · $2,187Nosara · 69 min · $2,785Pérez Zeledón · 21 min · $1,606Puerto Jiménez · 21 min · $1,997Quepos · 30 min · $1,662San José (Pavas) · 40 min · $1,569San José · 41 min · $1,900Tamarindo · 76 min · $3,002Tambor · 52 min · $2,226Tortuguero · 50 min · $2,170Upala · 71 min · $2,724
FAQ
Palmar Sur Airport — Frequently asked questions
What is the runway length at Palmar Sur (PMZ)?
1,400 metres by 12 metres of asphalt, runway 03/21, at 15 m elevation. ICAO: MRPM.
How long is the flight from San José to Palmar Sur?
About 38 minutes by charter, against roughly five hours by road.
How do I get from Palmar Sur to Drake Bay?
Around 15 minutes by road to Sierpe, then approximately 90 minutes by boat down the Térraba-Sierpe river and along the coast.
Should I fly to Palmar Sur or straight to Drake Bay?
Drake Bay is faster. Palmar Sur is preferable if you want the Sierpe river journey, if your lodge includes the boat transfer, or if your baggage exceeds what Drake's 750 m strip can take.
What are the Diquís stone spheres?
Pre-Columbian carved stone spheres, some over two metres in diameter, inscribed by UNESCO as World Heritage in 2014. Several sites lie close to Palmar Sur.
How big are the Térraba-Sierpe mangroves?
Roughly 330 square kilometres — the largest mangrove system on Central America's Pacific coast.