With the construction of the Coastal Highway (La Costanera) well under way, there has been a lot of discussion about how it will link Nicaraguan communities along the Pacific Coast. More recently, people have been asking about the Coastal Highway border crossing with Costa Rica, just ten kilometers after Ostional.
New Border Crossing at El Naranjo/Conventillos?
Currently, traffic using the Pan-American Highway crosses at Peñas Blancas and heads in a south westerly direction. The highway runs parallel with the Nicaragua/Costa Rica border for the first few kilometers into CR before turning south and reaching the town of La Cruz, a total of 18 kilometers by road from Peñas Blancas.
However; at the end of the new Coastal Highway, ten kilometers after Ostional and across from the Nicaraguan border point at El Naranjo is the Costa Rica border point of Conventillos, only 7 kilometers by road from the aforementioned town of La Cruz on the Pan American Highway. Currently both border posts are military (Nicaragua side) and Border Police (CR side) with no formal crossing.
This has always been the plan talked about when the subject of the Coastal Highway border crossing comes up.
From La Cruz, buses, transport services or taxis could take people to the border to join the Coastal Route. From El Naranjo in Nicaragua or La Cruz in Costa Rica, it’s only a short stretch of road connecting both countries to endless possibilities for some easy exploration.
La Cruz Coastal Tourism Corridor
It’s been almost three years since a bilateral meeting of Costa Rican and Nicaraguan tourism ministers and officials was held in the Canton of Guanacaste to discuss what is known as “The La Cruz Coastal Tourism Corridor (CTC)”.
The CTC was conceived in 2019 with the aim of attracting local and foreign tourists. The corridor is made up of the Santa Elena Peninsula, Bahía Salinas and the coastal communities of El Jobo, Puerto Soley, Cuajiniquil and La Cruz.
With the Coastal Highway knocking on Costa Rica’s door, the idea of such a tourist corridor could soon become a reality.
