Costa Rica's main international airport is San Jose's Juan Santamaria International airport, 23 km northwest of the city, with a second, recently upgraded international airport at Liberia. The national airline is Taca International Airlines, which operates direct flights to Costa Rica from various cities in the United States, Canada and Central and South America.

Other airlines operating routes to Costa Rica from North America include American Airlines, Continental, Air Canada and Mexicana. Approximate flight times to San Jose are seven hours from New York, six hours from Los Angeles and twelve hours from London.

It is possible to travel by road into Costa Rica from the USA, via Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, on the Pan-American Highway.

Many cruise lines stop in Puntarenas on the Pacific side and in Limon on the Caribbean side. Most of these cruise itineraries include Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama and one or more Caribbean islands.