Puerto Caldera Excursion Choices

It seems strange to me that HAL docks at an industrial/commercial terminal in Puerto Caldera rather than the cruise ship dock in Puntarenas a few miles away.

On a few HAL blogs (by a ship's captain), there has been several mentions of buses being late returning and the ship needing to wait for them. These comments are likely to keep me from straying too far from the ship on my own. Am I correct in assuming that the only HAL sanctioned excursions are the ones that are already listed on their website for each port?

Does HAL ever have "local town on your own" bus service when docked at remote piers like they do for Antigua when docked in Puerto Quetzal?

I found a photo on "http://mytanfeet.com/cities-costa-rica/puntarenas-pearl-costa-rican-pacific/" that suggests that HAL has docked at the Cruise Ship Pier in Puntarenas in the past. That is a HAL ship in the background, isn't it?

Yes, we have docked at both locations with HAL over the years.

I've been to both as well but it's been at puerto caldera for several cruises for me. It must be cheaper.

Was walking around Puntarenas worth doing (to soak in the atmosphere) or is it best to just take one of the excursions that stop at Doka Estate or Espiritu Santo Coffee Plantation and in Palmares, Sarchi, Esparza or Grecia?

Once in awhile a ship will dock in Puntarenas even though Puerto Caldera is listed as the port of call. It all depends on the timing of high tides since the ship has to arrive and depart at close to high tide in order to dock in Puntarenas. The Westerdam docked in Puntarenas in late March last year, a pleasant surprise. The other 2 times I have been to this port, we have docked at Puerto Caldera.

You cannot leave the Puerto Caldera port area on foot--you must be in a cab or on a tour. There are independent tours and cabs available from within the port area, but I would be careful to allow plenty of time to get back if taking one of these. Of course, only cruiseline tours are listed on the website. One of the ships tours on our last stop at PC arrived a few minutes after the ship was scheduled to leave. The driver was in touch with the ship so there was no danger of the ship leaving without the 42 passengers. One would hope the ship would not have left that many passengers if they had been on a private tour, but I would not want to risk it.

Once in awhile a ship will dock in Puntarenas even though Puerto Caldera is listed as the port of call. It all depends on the timing of high tides since the ship has to arrive and depart at close to high tide in order to dock in Puntarenas. The Westerdam docked in Puntarenas in late March last year, a pleasant surprise. The other 2 times I have been to this port, we have docked at Puerto Caldera.

 

You cannot leave the Puerto Caldera port area on foot--you must be in a cab or on a tour. There are independent tours and cabs available from within the port area, but I would be careful to allow plenty of time to get back if taking one of these. Of course, only cruiseline tours are listed on the website. One of the ships tours on our last stop at PC arrived a few minutes after the ship was scheduled to leave. The driver was in touch with the ship so there was no danger of the ship leaving without the 42 passengers. One would hope the ship would not have left that many passengers if they had been on a private tour, but I would not want to risk it.

Good info. I would not expect the ship to wait for those on private shorex. I've done every shorex I'm interested in there. I wish Hal would come up with something new.

“It all depends on the timing of high tides since the ship has to arrive and depart at close to high tide in order to dock in Puntarenas.”

Well that's a shame, because the ship is in port from 7:00 am until 5:00 pm and that syncs too closely with low tide!

High 12:54 AM (8.42 ft)

Low 06:57 AM (0.22 ft)

High 01:18 PM (9.24 ft)

Low 07:33 PM (−0.19 ft)

"I would be careful to allow plenty of time to get back if taking one of these"

And that's why it's unlikely we'll visit Puntarenas on this trip; but instead, book a HAL excursion. Now my wife and I just need to pick the one we want.

I cannot say anything good about the darn place. Do NOT take a private tour. You could miss the boat. My brother was on a HAL tour 2-3 years ago and thank God he was. Independent truckers starting blocking all roads to the pier. Private tours could not get back to the ship. Costa Rica used to be a fun loving country but I cannot agree with that now. No way I'd set foot on their ground ever again :(and I will be there next year on the Westerdam.

Once in awhile a ship will dock in Puntarenas even though Puerto Caldera is listed as the port of call. It all depends on the timing of high tides

Not being familiar with ships, you're comment got me thinking. Does a ship need more depth when maneuvering than when docked? With only a +/- 3m difference between high and low tides, I'm surprised that the port wouldn't just dredge out the extra 10' at the Puntarenas Pier.

Surely the extra ships coming to town would do wonders for the City's economy and would provide incentive for upgrades to the dock facilities.

We're on board and have found out that we will be docking in Puntarenas after all. Since the tides will be low, the port must have done some dredging or the story was a ruse.

Just got back from Panama Canal cruise with a stop in Costa Rica at Puntarenas--we've now docked in Putarenas 50% of the time. I did not find out how the decision is made on where to dock. On a cruise a year ago, the captain came on and said we would have to enter the bay around 3 am in order to dock at Puntarenas. This time, we were a little late docking because the pilot was waiting for some current to weaken. Puerto Caldera is in a more protected area and apparently less affected? Though Puntarenas does not offer a lot in the way of tourist attractions, it is far superior to Puerto Caldera. We have enjoyed walking around town visiting the market and cathedral. There is also internet access available as well as restaurants and shopping.

I'd love to hear the real reason for docking in Puerto Caldera vs. Puntarenas. The only thing I could find on the internet was that currents related to tides and also winds can make it difficult to dock in Puntarenas, limiting docking to only a few hours a day at best.

Travel Guide Barbara on our December Amsterdam cruise down the Coast and through the Canal with the stop in Puerto Caldera told us it is a deep water port making it easier for the ship based on the time table for the stop whereas Puntaranas has tides and undertows as well as shallow waters. We have stopped at both ports but usually Puerto Caldera gets the nod.

Thanks for the info--we were also on that cruise and were a little disappointed that we docked at Puerto Caldera., though it did not make much difference since we were on tours. The main drawback was the lack of internet access. There were so many trying to get connected in the terminal that most were not able to actually read or write any e-mails. On our stop there in 2009, we were able to get wi-fi in the crow's nest on the ship.

During Q&A with the Captain today, he said that Puntarenas is more difficult to dock at because of tides and currents but they've stopped there the last three visits because Puerto Caldera will favour commercial vessels over cruise ships. While it's harder to get to, he appreciates that it's better for the passengers when he docks at Puntarenas. He says that he will need to get to the port at 4:30 am in order to dock in Puntarenas (which is 2 1/2 hours earlier than when we were schedule to dock at Puerto Caldera). I hope nothing holds us back.