stella

I need to find a way to get from the Arenal area to San Jose early enough in the day so that I can catch my flight. I've checked into both Interbus and Grey Line tours. I plan to use one of these to get from San Jose to Arenal at the start of our trip, however, neither can get us back to San Jose in time for our 3:30 p.m. flight. In all the guide books I find information about transportation out of San Jose, but can't find definite times returning to the city. Is there any way I can find out arriving times before I leave (I would hate to have to pay for 2 nights at a hotel in Arenal and then have to cancel one night because we have to leave for San Jose a day early). Also, I would be willing to hire a driver for this portion of the trip. Can anyone tell me about how much this will cost, or where I can find out information about this before I leave? I would love to have these arrangements booked before I leave.

Ally

Have you checked with your hotel in Arenal?<BR>Perhaps they can arrange something for you. Good luck!

Henry

Perhaps you should have thought of this before paying for a hotel in Arenal.<BR><BR>In my experience it is nearly always foolish to book in advance. Fair enough if you want a treat and a honeymoon suite in a five star hotel but otherwise you seldom benefit. Sometimes you may get a discount for prebooking - often you get ripped off or end up losing money.

Tia

Stella:<BR><BR>I'm sure you can hire a driver to get you there in time for your flight. We hired one from Arenal to the Northern Pacific coast for $125. It was a wonderful ride. The driver was great. Nice car and he even stopped for lunch and offered to stop anywhere we wished to shop. We took Interbus from San Jose to Arenal and they were very good as well. A little more tight quarers, though. I think you pretty much have to go on their time line, though. They will have others in the van, too, who may be dropped off before you, etc. We booked our driver through a place in La Fortuna once we got there. I can't think of the place off the top of my head, but I can try to find it if you'd like. Just let me know. The private driver is expensive, but it was worth it in my opinion.<BR><BR>Tia

stella

Great Tia. Thanks for the help. I will check into hiring a driver once we get to Fortuna. I just wanted to make sure this was even a possibility before I got out there.<BR><BR>Henry, no I haven't made any reservations for hotels yet. I was waiting to do that until I find out about transportation. But from everything I read on this site, since I am traveling during the busy season (January) I will need to make reservations ahead of time since these places book up fairly fast.

Tia

Stella:<BR><BR>I just thought of the name of the company in La Fortuna we booked our driver through, Sunset Tours. It's a small place on the left side of the road right off the main drag in La Fortuna. It's across the street (approx.) from the vet clinic. I believe it's on the same street as the Christian grocery store just down from the church. You'll see it if you walk around the main area. There's also a nice little gift shop down that street. It's lots cheaper than the main one on the main drag. There are a couple good places to eat there, too. We ate at Lava Rocks--very good food really cheap prices and I hear Ne Ne's on the main drag near the grocery (across the street) on the left side if coming from the volcano. The bakery is very good, too!!! We hit it twice. Good fruity pastries. If you're looking to bring coffee home or to use as gifts, hit the Christian grocery as it's MUCH cheaper than any other place we found. We brought home as much as we could carry that day. Should've gotten more. Best coffe ever.<BR><BR>Tia

stella

Thanks for the information Tia. I'll check with Sunset tours when I get there. I don't mind paying a little more for a private driver for the security of knowing I will get to the airport in time for the flight!<BR><BR>About Interbus and Greyline - do you think I can make those reservations when I get to San Jose or is this something that I need to do before I leave. I am going in Jan. and I know that this can be a busy season, so I didn't want to be left without transportation. We really wanted to wait and see about possibly taking the public bus to Arenal, but I can't find any schedules on the internet. I have always like to play it by ear, but don't know just how crowded CR will be in Jan.!

Tia

Stella:<BR><BR>We made our reservations with Gray Line prior to leaving the states as we went during CR's Holy Week. It was very crowded. I honestly don't know what to tell you about reservations. For us, we wanted the security of having something already set up due to it being an extremely high time. I was glad we did it that way, but we did book our private driver after we got there with no problems whatsoever. Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner as I was on vacation!!! Hope you travel plans are going smoothly! Good luck!<BR><BR>Tia

Sue

The $125 price for Arenal to San Jose is pretty close to the average for private transportation.<BR>You could contact Jacques at Monteverdeinfo.com. They have a private transport service.