The Gravel Expedition · Dry Season

Arrive and assemble.

Arrive in San José and transfer to your hotel. The afternoon is yours to rest and to assemble your bike with guide assistance — frame out of the case, wheels back on, gears dialled.

At 17:00, meet your expedition leader and fellow riders in the lobby for the welcome briefing, followed by a relaxed welcome dinner. We help you get your bike dialled in — saddle height, bar reach, tire pressure for your weight and the terrain; a professional bike-fit consultation is available on request.

Across to the Pacific.

Dry seasonDry season: the morning ferry crossing calm, the road to Santa Teresa dry and fast.

After breakfast, cross the Gulf of Nicoya and roll out from Paquera, the old ferry landing on the peninsula's inner coast. The first kilometres run low and easy past Tambor, on the calm horseshoe bay of Bahía Ballena, and through Cóbano, the small hub of the southern peninsula.After breakfast, cross the Gulf of Nicoya and roll out from Paquera, the old ferry landing on the peninsula's inner coast. The first miles run low and easy past Tambor, on the calm horseshoe bay of Bahía Ballena, and through Cóbano, the small hub of the southern peninsula.

The only real climbing waits at the end, a string of hills near 200 m, before the road tips down to the surf at Santa Teresa. A crossing more than a stage: calm gulf water at your back, the open Pacific ahead — a way to find your legs, the heat and the gravel.The only real climbing waits at the end, a string of hills near 660 ft, before the road tips down to the surf at Santa Teresa. A crossing more than a stage: calm gulf water at your back, the open Pacific ahead — a way to find your legs, the heat and the gravel.

Into the green interior.

From Lepanto, on the peninsula's inner edge, the road climbs hard and early — a sustained pull to a forested ridge around 460–530 m inside the first twenty kilometres, up into the cool, tree-shaded interior of southern Nicoya. Big canopy overhead, the chance of howler and white-faced monkeys, the temperature dropping as you climb.From Lepanto, on the peninsula's inner edge, the road climbs hard and early — a sustained pull to a forested ridge around 1,500–1,700 ft inside the first 12 miles, up into the cool, tree-shaded interior of southern Nicoya. Big canopy overhead, the chance of howler and white-faced monkeys, the temperature dropping as you climb.

Over the top the route tips down the spine of the peninsula and rolls south, shedding the height in long descents back to Santa Teresa. Most of the day's climbing is front-loaded into that opening ridge — the day that tells your legs this is a real expedition.

The wild coast.

Dry seasonThe wild coast rides dry: in January the river-mouth crossings are dry beds or shallow fords.

The big traverse, and the wildest stretch of the trip — ridden in full, one hotel to the next. North out of Santa Teresa through Manzanillo, then onto the undeveloped middle coast of Nicoya: San Francisco de Coyote, Playa Coyote, Bejuco, Playa San Miguel — beaches most travellers never reach.

The line passes the Camaronal refuge, a nesting beach for several of the world's sea-turtle species, and Punta Islita, a tiny village known for the open-air art museum set into its streets, before running on past Garza to Nosara. A hundred kilometres of dirt and gravel along a coast defined by what it lacks — no resort strip, no traffic, river mouths instead of bridges. The endurance day, finished in the Blue Zone.The line passes the Camaronal refuge, a nesting beach for several of the world's sea-turtle species, and Punta Islita, a tiny village known for the open-air art museum set into its streets, before running on past Garza to Nosara. 62 miles of dirt and gravel along a coast defined by what it lacks — no resort strip, no traffic, river mouths instead of bridges. The endurance day, finished in the Blue Zone.

Seventy kilometres, 43 miles, straight up.

Dry seasonOstional's arribadas run almost every month; the dry-season ones are the small ones. The route rides past the refuge — a sighting is luck and timing.

The signature day, and where all the climbing lives — 2,632 metres of it. North along the coast to Ostional, then a hard turn inland and up into the mountains east of town, a high point around 950 m, ridges through the highlands, and a long descent back to the sea and home to Nosara.The signature day, and where all the climbing lives — 8,635 feet of it. North along the coast to Ostional, then a hard turn inland and up into the mountains east of town, a high point around 3,100 ft, ridges through the highlands, and a long descent back to the sea and home to Nosara.

Ostional protects one of the planet's most important olive-ridley nesting beaches — the coast famous for the arribada, the mass arrival of nesting turtles. The hardest sustained climbing of the expedition, the Pacific at the bottom of the day and at the top of it. E-bike upgrade available on request.

Up the surf coast.

Dry seasonOffshore-wind mornings on the surf coast.

North up the Guanacaste surf coast, hotel to hotel. From Nosara past Ostional to San Juanillo, a small, much-loved fishing cove, then Marbella, Playa Negra at Los Pargos — the town behind one of the coast's best-known reef breaks — Playa Avellanas, and the edge of Hacienda Pinilla before Langosta and the finish at Tamarindo.

Flat and fast, 782 metres of climbing, strung along the iconic surf beaches — more celebration than effort, with the hardest days behind you. You arrive at the final base with the bay in front of you.Flat and fast, 2,566 feet of climbing, strung along the iconic surf beaches — more celebration than effort, with the hardest days behind you. You arrive at the final base with the bay in front of you.

To the shell beach.

The lightest day of the week, and a kind of victory lap. North out of Tamarindo through Villarreal and the inland crossroads at Huacas, then down through Matapalo to the coast at Brasilito — twenty-four kilometres of easy gravel and back road, barely three hundred metres of climbing.The lightest day of the week, and a kind of victory lap. North out of Tamarindo through Villarreal and the inland crossroads at Huacas, then down through Matapalo to the coast at Brasilito — 15 miles of easy gravel and back road, barely 980 feet of climbing.

Brasilito is a working Tico fishing village: boats drawn up on grey sand, a soccer field for a town square. A ten-minute walk south is Playa Conchal — a shoreline built not of sand but of millions of crushed shells, turquoise water beyond it. An unhurried, earned finish to a coast-to-coast week, with the afternoon free back at the base.

Back to the capital.

Return to San José by the morning. The afternoon is yours to rest at the hotel or wander the capital's cafés and markets.

In the evening, the farewell dinner. Speeches optional but inevitable.

Until the next one.

Final breakfast at the hotel and transfer to the airport. Depart with a coast-to-coast crossing of the peninsula behind you — the wild middle coast, the Nosara queen stage, and a finish on the Guanacaste surf.