My husband and I have a 11 day trip to Costa Rica planned for March '09 (Arenal and Osa areas). We plan to take the public bus from San Jose to La Fortuna. I wonder:
1)Do you need reservations for a ticket? How does one reserve tickets? Any other bus recommendations for this route?
2) Favorite activites for the Arenal area? We will spend three nights in this area including one at the AOL. We plan to do a Sky Trek tour, La Fortuna waterfall, and Ecothermales. Any other suggestions, including hikes near AOL?

Thanks for sharing you experiences!

You should definitely take one day for the Cano Negro Wildlife refuge boat trip. Most tour operators will pick you up at your hotel. It is a highlight of Arenal activities - most people go with Sunset Tours. Check with your hotel tour desk.

Can't help on bus schedules since we rent a car. Check on the Trip Advisor Costa Rica forum - I know there have been recent postings there about bus schedules with links to websites.

I second the motion for the Cano Negro tour with Sunset Tours; it was our favorite thing. If you want a nice hike, the Hanging Bridges is really pretty. Good food at their snack bar too. Our chicken dinner at Eco Termales was also delicious. Interbus is a really popular way to travel if you want to check out their website.

Thanks for the tips. Is the Cano Negro tour an all day activity?

Cano Negro goes from about 7:00 am to 4:00 pm. Perfect way to end the day is to do a hot springs tour afterwards.

Yes, it usually runs from about 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. or so; it's great to pair it with an evening dinner and hot springs at Eco T. Sunset Tours will pick you up at your hotel in a nice van/bus and then drive you to the wildlife refuge where you'll get on a boat and see all the wildlife. It includes lunch. It's a really fun day, and we've seen howlers, capuchins, sloths, and amazing birds.

RAC - jinx; talk about great minds thinking alike!

I've taken Interbus quite a bit and it's been great.

Agree with Cano Negro and Eco-Thermales and if you're sure you should just book in advance. Eco-Thermales often sells out.

Have you called and reserved interbus or reserved online? I tried just a bit ago to reserve online and the site wasn't letting me progress beyond selecting a time.

I've used a combo of reserving on line and e-mailing directly. The website can be touchy.

Are there any votes out there for the public bus (or just stick with interbus)???

Hi goldengriff,

Some people do use the public buses and they certainly will save you money. The main drawbacks are the greatly lengthened travel times (due to all the stops), the need to be very vigilant with your personal belongings (petty theft <i>is</i> unfortunately an issue in CR), and the fact that your bus driver might not speak much english at all (if you speak a little spanish, you should be able to get by...).

Interbus will get you there more quickly and in greater comfort, but some people really enjoy the experience of traveling the way the local folks do. It's basically a matter of personal preference.

I agree with the recommendations for Cano Negro. It's a really nice day out. Sky Trek was a blast as well!

Have a wonderful trip!

Thank you all for your replies. I believe I better go with Interbus to insure a reserved spot and to have a better chance of being on time.

We spent four days near Arenal. And we loved everything we did there.

We did the Cano Negro - Rio Frio trip, El Silencio trail (not really a &quot;hike&quot;, more like a walk in the woods) and lava viewing (you will hopefully see some from AOL), Eco Termales with dinner, Sky Trek zip lining, my husband did the Rio Celeste/La Fortuna hike (I was sick that day, still very bitter about it ), and we also did the Lost Canyon trip with Desafio (highly recommended and lunch is delicious!).

Honestly, each thing we did we'd do again in a heartbeat. Enjoy your time there!

Chiming in with the opinion that Interbus would be a good choice.

That said, I took the public bus a couple of years ago and LOVED the trip. It was not all that time consuming (direct bus) and overall was an enjoyable trip.

Very easy. Take a taxi to the correct bus terminal in San Jose. All taxi drivers will know which one. It is near Parque Merced.

Buy your tickets (maybe $5 each) and board. Buses will run several times per day. At one time there was a schedule on one of the Monteverde websites.

In San Carlos, the bus will stop at the station, which is also a shopping center/movie mall/food court. Kind of neat for 40 min. or so. Our route took us through Zarcero, one of my favorite little towns, and the highway was nothing short of excellent--smooth and wide. All together, it was about a 4 hour ride--and that from San Jose. Maybe a few minutes longer, not much. You can count on about 3 hours taking Interbus from the airport area.


By the way, San Carlos was end-of-the-line and I had to purchase a bus ticket for the second leg from San Carlos to La Fortuna. Not a problem at all.

Main thing is you need to be packing light so you can carry on (we frequently hold our stuff in our laps or place overhead where we can keep our eye on it). If you get off, take it with you. Theft is a problem, but it is a piece of cake if you are traveling light, and a fantastic experience if you want to really experience the culture and travel like the Ticos do.

Thank you shillmac for your bus insights. Perhaps we will give it a try when our schedule is more flexible.