We are a private charter company and this guide is going to tell you not to fly, usually. Twenty-three point two nautical miles with a main highway is precisely the case where a charter is not the answer.
Here is the full reasoning, with the three exceptions.
The three options, unvarnished
Car rental. The cheapest and the most flexible. Guanacaste is a region where having a vehicle changes the trip: the beaches are spread out and public transport between them is limited. If you plan to move around the region, rent.
Private road transfer. Forty-odd kilometres on a main road. None of the complications of renting and none of the cost of flying. It is what most people do, and it works.
Private flight. Twenty-three point two nautical miles. More expensive than the other two by a wide margin on such a short sector.
Why flying does not win here
Over twenty-three nautical miles, time in the air stops being the factor.
You have to reach the general aviation area, coordinate, fly for a few minutes, and transfer from the Tamarindo field to your lodging. Added up, the saving against the road is far smaller than a comparison of distances suggests.
And there is something else worth knowing: the price does not drop proportionally with the distance. There is an operating minimum below which no sector costs less. On short sectors, that makes the ratio of price to time saved the worst in the catalogue.
The three real exceptions
Rainy season with difficult access. Not the main road to Tamarindo, which is good, but the secondary tracks towards remote lodgings. Part of the access road is gravel and its condition worsens in the rainy season.
A large group with bulky baggage. Six people with boards split a cost that two people with suitcases do not. The fare is per aircraft, not per passenger.
A very tight international connection. If you land in Liberia and your plan depends on being in Tamarindo at a specific hour, flying removes the variability of traffic.
Outside those three cases, we will recommend the road.
A warning that counts against flying
The Tamarindo field closes often in the rainy season. The field operates in daylight and visual conditions, and the rainy season narrows the usable hours.
On a twenty-three-mile sector that has an awkward consequence: if the field closes, the alternative is exactly the road transfer you wanted to avoid, with the booking already paid and the day already started.
The shorter the sector, the worse the fallback. It is the opposite of what happens on long routes, where a diversion to a nearby field still leaves the trip solved.
The decision that does matter
And here is what you should really be asking, if there is still time.
Entering the country through Liberia rather than San José saves a whole leg. Tamarindo is 23.2 nautical miles from Liberia and 97.1 from the Central Valley; Nosara, 37.6 against 85.6.
No later optimisation makes up for a poor choice of entry airport. That decision is taken weeks before this guide, and it is worth far more than the difference between flying and driving the last forty kilometres.
Detail on private flights from Liberia.
Frequently asked questions
Is flying from Liberia to Tamarindo worth it?
Usually not. It is 23.2 nautical miles with a main highway, and on such short sectors the real saving against a transfer is small.
When is it?
With difficult rainy-season access to remote lodgings, with a large group and bulky baggage, or with a very tight international connection.
Why does the price not drop if the flight is so short?
There is an operating minimum below which no sector costs less. The ratio of price to time saved is the worst in the catalogue.
What if the Tamarindo field closes?
The alternative is the road transfer you wanted to avoid. The shorter the sector, the worse the fallback. The field operates in daylight and visual conditions, and the rainy season narrows the usable hours.
Rental car or private transfer?
If you plan to move around Guanacaste, rent: the beaches are spread out and transport between them is limited. For a single transfer, private is simpler.
Which decision matters most?
Which airport you enter through. Tamarindo is 23.2 nautical miles from Liberia and 97.1 from San José. That weighs more than the last forty kilometres.
If your case is one of the exceptions
The field operates in daylight and visual conditions, and the rainy season narrows the usable hours.