If you’re looking to explore Costa Rica on a shoestring budget, you need to make use of the public transport network. Now, trying to master the public transport network in another country can be daunting and tricky, but luckily, I’ve been there and done it, so here’s how we managed to travel around Costa Rica without forking out for private transfers or car rental.
Do Your Research
First things first, you’re going to need to do some research to work out which route is going to work best for you. Not every bus goes out every day, and some popular routes might even only go out once a day, so you don’t want to miss it.
The best resource for this is the Visit Costa Rica bus itinerary PDF. Make sure you download it onto your phone, so you can refer back to it when you’re offline. It has various times, routes, stations, and companies. This also includes ferries and boats, international routes into Nicaragua or Panama, as well as the limited urban train options.
When you’re trying to figure out your route around Costa Rica, make a note of the various bus times and companies you might use in a notebook. The saves you having to do another Google when you’re on the road.
Personally, we did one night in San Jose, two nights in La Fortuna, three nights in Monteverde, three nights in Manuel Antonio, one night in Uvita, and then another night in San Jose. This is a pretty common tourist route, so there were plenty of buses.
However, the bus route between La Fortuna and Monteverde would’ve sent us back to San Jose and added another 3-4 hours on top of our trip. So, we pre-booked the popular taxi-boat-taxi transport via Viator. It was only around $25, so it was a no-brainer for us.
Check Which Company You’re Traveling With
Something you might not be aware of is that every bus company has its own station in San Jose. That means there are 16 different bus terminals in San Jose alone. It’s honestly a bit of a headache.
When you find the bus you want, make a note of the operator so you can find the right station. There were people in our hostel who didn’t realise the stations were so far apart and missed their connecting buses through the capital because they thought it would be the same station or just around the corner. In reality, it can be around a 40-minute walk between some of the bus stations.
Likewise, there are five different train stations in San Jose, so make sure you know which one you’re leaving from and which one you want to go to.
Bring Snacks
Some of the bus rides between popular spots can take 5-6 hours, so make sure you bring plenty of snacks, some headphones, or a book. The buses do make rest stops for bathroom breaks and a quick snack, but these aren’t guaranteed or done at specified times.
Make sure you have everything you need in a small bag onboard, as your luggage will need to go in the bottom of the bus. This, of course, includes plenty of water, as many of the buses don’t have air conditioning on them. Also, don’t rely on there being WiFi and download any shows or podcasts in advance.
To enjoy mobile data in Costa Rica without spending a fortune, I used Airalo eSIMs. I also have a 15% off code for any new users. Simply input NEWTOAIRALO15 at the checkout.
Don’t Listen To The People Outside The Bus Stations
A huge thing that you need to take notice of when trying to navigate public transport in Costa Rica is the scammers outside the bus stations. Luckily, we’d gone to our bus station the day before to double-check the times and ticket prices, before we hauled down with our backpacks the day after.
When we arrived in the morning for our 9am bus, a man outside asked us where we were going and said that the bus had left at 8am. However, all was not lost, because for a fee, he could drive us to the next town to pick the bus up and continue our journey.
This, of course, was a lie. The man was convincing, and this seems to be an established scam across San Jose. We said we just wanted to double-check inside to see our options, and then found the correct queue for our bus, which hadn’t even arrived yet, let alone left the station.
Stick to your guns and check with the staff inside the station at the various ticket kiosks and information points, especially if someone is asking for money for a ride.
Cash Is King
When you’re taking the bus, you’ll need cash. You can buy some tickets by card if you get them from the station in advance; however, most buses require you to buy a ticket directly from the driver.
In these cases (which were pretty much all of our trips), you need Costa Rican Colones, not USD. Although you can use USD across much of Costa Rica, this doesn’t apply to most buses. You also need to use small notes and coins, as the drivers don’t tend to have a lot of change. We saw a few people trying to pay with large bills and getting either turned away or resigning to pay an inordinate amount, because the driver didn’t have change.
How Much Did We Spend On Transport In Costa Rica?
We were in Costa Rica for 12 days in total, traveling around five different locations and visiting San Jose twice, in order to fly in and out. Apart from a late-night hostel-organised shuttle from SJO the first night and the taxi-boat-taxi between La Fortuna and Monteverde, we exclusively used the public bus network.
All in all, we only spent $30 each to travel around the country. It’s undoubtedly the most cost-effective way to explore Costa Rica, and once you find a reliable bus itinerary, planning the routes is relatively straightforward.
