Interbus or Grayline in Costa Rica?
 

We were planning on reserving Interbus for our journey from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio in mid-Feb. But based on some recent posts on this Forum, we're wondering whether we should book Grayline instead. Cost & time for both is similar. DH would like to sit up front due to concerns about car-sickness. Private car is too expensive for us. What would you all recommend?

Question 2 - we're flying Sansa from MA back to San Jose. Their baggage weight limit is 25 lbs. Seems a measly limitation - anyone know how strict they are about this? We're hoping not to exceed it, but just in case...

Seems like from what I've read & heard, and done myself, Interbus seems to be more preferred. I've heard of several instances in which Grayline simply did not show up.

As far as the limit on Sansa, yes it is strictly adhered to a majority of the time, the only exceptions is if the flight is empty or near empty. I would overpack hoping that is the case. You would be amazed how much you can bring with a 27 lb limit (not 25, plus you can carry a personal item such as a back pack). Use a duffle instead of a suitcase and save yourself 8-10 lbs right off the bat. People dress very casual in CR, you won't need anything fancy or lots fof different outfits. Think t-shirts, shorts, sundress etc.

Interbus gets consistently good reviews. I wouldn't hesitate to book with them.

Sansa adheres to their weight limits, and they will weigh your bag and also ask you your own weight. As tully said, you may get lucky if the flight isn't very full. On our flight, they refused to let a woman bring her 19-lb. bag on the plane because the plane was so full. You just never know, but I wouldn't chance it. I bought the weekender convertible bag from www.ebags.com and was able to get by on 22 pounds. I usually bring 50 lb., and I didn't miss a thing.

The woman on our flight threw a fit, and they caved in and let her bring her bag.

Wonderful. Interbus it is!
Basic itinerary
Arrival Night- SJ - Orquideas

Rent car from Mapache & drive to
Arenal (3 nights) - Lost Iguana
(Cano Negro, hanging bridges, Skytrek?)

Drop car off in La Fortuna & connect to Desafio's taxi-boat-taxi to MV
Monteverde (2 nights) - Arco Iris Lodge
(night hike, guided tour of cloud forest)

MV-MA (Interbus)
Manuel Antonio (3 nights) - Costa Verde II
(horse riding, park tour, mangrove tour?)

Sansa Airline back to SJ
San Jose (2 nights) - Grano d'Oro
(including Pacuare river rafting with Rios Tropicales & quick trip to the mercado in SJ)

Now we just have to research restaurants. Sofia's in MV? Mi Lugar/Ronnies Place in MA? Johnny's pizzaria in MV?
Hoping to find excellent seafood in MA.

oops, left out a word - meant I would NOT overpack hoping that is the case ....

mdn, I would add Eco Termales to your time in Arenal. We loved our chicken dinner there, and the hot springs were really relaxing. It's a nice thing to do in the evening on your Cano Negro day.

We did our night hike in Monteverde at Hidden Valley, and it was great - we saw a lot of wildlife, very fun!

My wife and I took both on a recent trip to Costa Rica. We found the Interbus vehicles to be mostly vans with less comfortable seats and less space between passengers.

In their website they insist they use 16 passenger buses but only put 8 people in them but this is not true. At the various stops for gas and food all over Costa Rica we saw only one vehicle type of many Interbus Vehicles.

We really recommend Grayline over Interbus.

Sounds like a great trip mdn. You'll really like Costa Verde II, the views are spectacular and always a lot of monkeys around.

Also, noted that since your only Sansa flight is at end of trip, you may have a lighter load then when you started. Just do any shopping once you get back to San Jose.

In MA, Finca Valmy is great for hoseback riding and in Arenal I loved SkyTrek.

The place across from CV, La Cantina, has pretty good food and usually a live band. Not sure if they still do but they used to have an internet cafe there (in an old train). I also liked Marlin's down by the park entry for lunch, great people watching spot. El Avion is right up the road from CV and great place for a drink and watching the sunset. The bus goes by every 20 minutes or so and costs only about 0.30 cents so is easy to get around MA.

Sounds like a great itinerary. Ronnie's and El Avion both had great seafood. Have not eaten at Marlin's but have heard great things about it.

To agree with the above posters, yes expect Sansa's weight limit to be strict. Saving shopping for the end of a trip is sometimes hard, but try to plan ahead.

I've used Interbus many times and have never had a problem. Vans were spacious, comfortable with A/C.

Ronnie's Place/Mi Lugar had great seafood when we were there. My husband commented on how fresh it was, and they told him his dinner had just been caught that day. Good sangria there too.

Thank you very mucho ;-) Will have to leave most conversations in CR to my Spanish speaking better half.
I think we're now all set with restaurants too! Will def. write a trip report when we're back.

BTW- when renting a car in CR, note that most small-medium size cars are only available with Manual transmission. That became an issue for us as we've been spoilt by Automatic transmission. Luckily I was able to rent a mid-size auto sedan from Mapache without having to rent a large full-size SUV. And they didn't charge me for dropping-off at their office in La Fortuna. Tricolor & others wanted to charge me $90 for that. So that worked out pretty well. Just a note for anyone else who may be looking.