Nekajui, Ritz-Carlton Reserve: How to Get There from Liberia Airport (and Through Both Gates)

Nekajui opened in 2025 and it took only a few months for it to become one of the hotels we get asked about most. The question is nearly always the same: how do you actually get there. The short answer is a drive of about 40 minutes from Liberia Airport, past the Four Seasons and along a ridge road to the end of the peninsula, with two checkpoints on the way that both want your driver's details ahead of time. The rest of this page goes through the route, the price and what to expect on arrival.

Quick facts

Distance from LIR	34 km (21 mi)
Drive time	35–45 min, paved the whole way
Private transfer, 1–5 passengers	$105 per vehicle, fixed
Private transfer, 6–9 passengers	$130 per vehicle
Private transfer, 10–12 passengers	$170 per vehicle
Included	Taxes, tolls, flight tracking, child seats, one stop for groceries
Gated access	Yes, the driver has to be registered in advance

Where the hotel is

Nekajui is at the far end of Peninsula Papagayo, beyond the Four Seasons and the Andaz, on a headland above Playa Nacascolo. It is the most secluded of the three peninsula resorts and the newest luxury address in the country, with suites built into the treeline, a pool on the cliff edge and a funicular that takes you down to the beach. From Liberia Airport it is 34 km on paved road. You head west on Route 21 to Guardia, take the Coco road toward Playa Panamá, pass the peninsula gate, and then follow the resort road along the ridge until it ends at the hotel.

The drive from the airport

Your driver waits at the arrivals exit holding a sign with your name. We track the flight, so if it lands early or late the driver is still there when you walk out, and you leave as soon as you have your bags rather than waiting for a van to fill. The road is paved from start to finish and you never go through Liberia town, since the airport sits west of the city and Route 21 heads straight for the coast. The range we give for the drive time comes from daytime traffic at the junctions along the way, nothing more. If you need to stop for groceries, cash or a pharmacy, tell the driver; the vehicle is yours for the trip.

Live prices and booking are on the LIR to Nekajui, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve route page.

What the security gate needs

To reach Nekajui you go through the same Peninsula Papagayo checkpoint as the Four Seasons and then through a second gate that belongs to the resort itself. Both expect the driver's full name, cédula number and vehicle details to have been sent by the hotel in advance. We send them to Nekajui when you book, which means neither gate holds you up. If you arrive in a taxi that was not registered, you will spend some time at the first checkpoint while the guard calls reception and waits for an answer.

What is around the Nekajui, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve

Nekajui is where the peninsula road ends, so there is even less around it than around the Four Seasons. You have the resort's own restaurants and beach club, and the Marina Papagayo about ten minutes back the way you came. Playas del Coco, the only real town in this part of the coast, is roughly half an hour away. People choose Nekajui to be left alone for a week, and the hotel is built for that. If you do want one dinner out, a transfer to Coco is easy to arrange.

If you want to see how this hotel fits with the rest of the coast, and which beaches have a town you can walk to, our guide to the best hotels in Guanacaste by zone covers all of them.

Ways to get there from LIR

Option	Time to the hotel	Cost	Worth knowing
Private transfer	35–45 min, direct	$105 fixed for 1–5 passengers	Driver registered at the gate, flight tracked
Hotel car service	Same drive	Premium rate through the concierge	Usually the most expensive option
Rental car	Same drive plus pickup paperwork	$40–90 a day plus mandatory insurance and a deposit	Only pays off if you leave the resort every day
Shared shuttle	1.5–2.5 h with stops	About $25–35 a person	Does not enter the gated estate and drops you at the nearest town
Airport taxi	Same drive	$100–150, negotiated on the spot	An unregistered vehicle is held at the gate

For two people a private transfer costs about the same as a taxi and takes the guesswork out of the arrival. For a family of four it works out cheaper per person than a shared shuttle and takes less than half the time.

A few things our drivers would tell you

• Nekajui is on the same route as the Four Seasons, so the private transfer costs the same fixed fare even though it is another ten minutes along the ridge.
• There is no shop anywhere on the peninsula. If you need groceries or a pharmacy, ask the driver to stop in Playas del Coco on the way; it adds a few minutes and costs nothing.
• Arriving after dark is not a problem. The peninsula road is paved and lit at the gate, and the resort has staff around the clock.

Booking

The Liberia Airport to Nekajui, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve private transfer can be booked online in a couple of minutes at a fixed price per vehicle, with the flight tracked, the driver registered at the resort and child seats included. If you would rather ask something first, write to us on WhatsApp and one of the drivers will answer.