Ruta 32 is the highway between the capital San José all the way to Puerto Limón at the Caribbean coast. If you are planning on visiting Tortuguero National Park or the South Caribbean region, with Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Cahuita, and Manzanillo, then you will most likely be travelling down Ruta 32 when you are coming from the direction of San José or vise versa, as it is the main connection between the Central Valley and the Caribbean. The highway is 156 kilometers (97 miles) long and was inaugurated in 1987. Before that time, the main connections with the Caribbean side of the country were via Ruta 10 through Turrialba or via Ruta 126 through Sarapiquí.

Ruta 32, or at least the first leg of the road, is also known as Carretera Braulio Carrillo, because this first leg and the most impressive part of the highway leads through Braulio Carrillo National Park. This part of the route is mountainous and mostly uninhabited. Imagine that you are visiting Costa Rica for the first time, and you have landed at Juan Santamaria International Airport. You have picked up your rental car and have departed to your first destination, which in this case, is on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. You have managed to make your way through the traffic filled roads of the metropolitan area of San José and have turned onto Ruta 32. After you have left the busy urban area behind, you now suddenly find yourself driving a highway through dense jungle and over mountain ridges with spectacular views over Braulio Carrillo National Park. That is truly a Pura Vida moment.

Besides that Ruta 32 is known as Carretera Braulio Carrillo, the question 'is there passage through Zurquí?' is also unmistakably related to this highway. First, what is Zurquí. Cerro Zurquí is a mountain peak located in Braulio Carrillo National Park, close to Ruta 32. For Ruta 32, a tunnel was created though the slope of Cerro Zurquí. This tunnel is carrying the name Túnel Zurquí, which translates to, you probably already guessed it, 'The Zurquí Tunnel'. Now, why is the question 'hay paso por el Zurquí' so relevant to this highway. Ruta 32 is beautiful and scenic, but the part through Braulio Carrillo National Park is also notorious for foggy conditions and being closed due to heavy rainfall and landslides. 

There is a Facebook group dedicated to sharing information on the current situation of the highway, and the most common question from people ready to leave home is 'hay paso por el Zurquí?'. If you are planning to use this highway during your stay in Costa Rica, you can of course join this group: Ruta 32 y su Estado.  Waze is also a popular navigation app in Costa Rica. With Waze, users can indicate issues they encounter on the road while navigating such as accidents, traffic jams, etcetera. I recommend Waze as your navigation app when driving in Costa Rica. You can also check the current situation of a route on the Waze website. There is also the media with pages dedicated to report any issues like Teletica and crhoy.com. You can also check with locals at your accommodation on the day of your departure if there are any issues. 

Fortunately, there are alternative routes if Ruta 32 is closed. While most landslide issues on Ruta 32 happen in the mountainous Braulio Carrillo part, there are alternative routes to avoid this first leg of the highway from the direction of San José. The most common one is Ruta 10 through Cartago and Turrialba. After Turrialba the highway starts descending and joins Ruta 32 at the town of Siquirres. In the area between Cartago and Turrialba there are many points of interest. You might actually consider this route for that matter and stay in the Orosi valley to visit the nearby Irazú Volcano National Park, Turrialba Volcano National Park, Tapanti National Park, Ujarras and the Guayabo National Monument. Read all about it on The South Central Valley page.  

Read more about driving in Costa Rica on the Travelling by Car page. You might also be interested in reading about the regions that are connected by Ruta 32:

• The North Central Valley

• The North Caribbean

• The South Caribbean