lotusb

Hey- I am wondering if anyone has info about traveling in CR by bus. How cheap would it be to take a bus from San Jose to Jaco beach area? And how do I go about finding one once I'm in the city? Thanks!

lotusb

anyone?

shillmac

My advice would be to speak with someone at the airport and find out which bus station goes to Jaco. It shouldn't be difficult. In fact, if you'll just get in a taxi and tell the driver to take you to the bus station in San Jose (be sure to specify that you are going to Jaco--there are different stations), he'll be able to understand you. He needs to hear these words: go, San Jose, bus, Jaco! It's about a 20 minute taxi ride and will cost you about $15-20.

If you should get there late in the day and want to get your bearing a bit before striking out for Jaco, just stay overnight at Vida Tropical or Hotel Villa Bonita in Alajuela (where the airport is). Taxis can take you there (short drive) and the owners of both hotels will be able to direct you as to getting on the right bus. Perhaps you could get on the bus there in Alajuela and not have to go to SJ? Not sure. There is an online bus schedule. I'll look for it and post you back. . .

cosmosmama

according to my travel book (Footprint Guide)--which I used for bus travel last spring and it was accurate--there are 3 buses to Jaco from San Jose each day, the trip takes 2h10m, costs US $2.40, and leaves from the Coca-Cola Terminal (Transportes Jaco is the company listed). Hope this helps! It doesn't have the times listed, unfortunately.

shillmac

http://www.rovercam.com/travelguide/..._schedules.cfm

This is one site I found that may be helpful to you as well as the above post. You can even order tickets in advance. Haven't tried that, but don't know why it wouldn't work! There is quite a bit of info online regarding public bus travel in CR.

shillmac

http://www.monteverdeinfo.com/costa-...s-schedule.htm

This is the schedule we used when traveling by bus last summer. I had forgotten it was on the Monteverde website.

You'll want to be cautious around the Coca-Cola station--has a bit of a reputation regarding theft. Not a good area of town.

By the time you pay to have a taxi take you to San Jose and buy a bus ticket, you have almost the same expense as taking Interbus. I don't know how much stuff you'll have with you, but you'll have to watch it like a hawk if you travel on the bus. We were advised to put nothing underneath the bus, so traveled with backpacks that we could keep on our laps. Even the overhead areas are unsafe unless you can keep you eye on your stuff at all times.

You might look at the Interbus information. www.interbusonline.com

shillmac

One more thing. I forgot to mention, although you probably already know, Interbus is just a system of small turismo vans that transport you directly (translate MUCH faster) and safely from point A-point B. No worries about your stuff, AND they connect between locations all over the country; you don't have to go to San Jose.

faithie

There is a service called " a safe passage " which picks up and buys the tickets for u , some need to be purchased beforehand which can obviously prove to be a dilemma ..... This company will even pick u up at the airport etc. Take a look , do a google search for " A safe Passage " Costa Rica bus service . Good Luck ! Faith .

cosmosmama

I will say that all of the above is true (about watching your stuff, we also traveled with backpacks we had with us the whole time). But it can also be a lot of fun to ride the bus--we accidentally took a "city" (through the windy mountain roads, picking the country kids up on the hour ride to their school, etc) route instead of the "express route" once and saw parts of Costa Rican life we wouldn't have otherwise seen...and got to try our best to chat in Spanish with friendly Costa Ricans not used to seeing tourists on their bus route! It'

shillmac

I agree--it's a great experience. From Puerto Jimenez to Palmar Sur last summer, we didn't get to sit with one another. So I ended up sitting next to a young man from Pavones--we had a great time visiting. And the bus driver--I think he must have known everyone along the road--he honked at people sitting on their porches, they all waved back--but the honking sure got irritating! My husband sat next to an old man with a shoe box full of little chickens. We were the only gringos on the bus as we traveled around for 9 days--I loved it.

Faithie, that first site I gave (rovercam) has the Safe Passage info. I had never seen it before and was quite impressed with the website. So glad to know about it--I stumbled upon it just yesterday.