Before booking our trip to Costa Rica, we were conflicted as to whether we should rent a car or use buses to navigate the country. We did tons of research that told us different things, so I'd like to clear some things up for all of you faced with the same dilemma.
For us, renting a car felt too risky and costly. It didn't make much sense to pay for a car the entire trip, when we would be walking most places. Our main transportation needs were to and from the airport and from San Jose to Quepos. It also felt daunting to be driving such a long distance in a foreign country. Would the roads be safe? Would the 'rules of the road' be different? Would our parked car be safe? Would we have GPS signal? All of these "what ifs" felt a tad overwhelming, so we started to look at our other options.
This led to looking at buses. It was difficult navigating the web to find out how to catch a bus and where, especially since we couldn't book tickets ahead of time. So, we made a plan as best we could based on our web search and gambled it would work out.
This is how it panned out.....
As you may recall, we stayed just outside of San Jose in Heredia. While there is a bus that goes from Heredia to San Jose (find it here), we hired an Uber to take us to the San Jose bus station. You want to go the Tracopa bus stations with the large pink buses.
Once dropped off there, we took a second to get adjusted. It is open air with plastic chairs for sitting, that mostly locals occupied; there were hardly any tourists. We also noticed that there were a few food stands and restrooms, which you had to pay 100 Colones to use. After getting our bearings, we approached the counter which looked like a box office for tickets. In Spanish, we asked for two tickets to Quepos. We had looked at the online schedule ahead of time, so we knew that one was leaving soon. The teller told me the price (about $8 USD/ticket) and we paid.
Please Note: They give out tickets in the order of purchase. We luckily got the last two seats on the bus, but this also meant we were crammed in the back row which sat 5, with little leg room or comfort. This was okay for us, but if you need a good seat, get there early.
Very quickly after we purchased the tickets, the bus began to board. Our bags were put in the under carriage and we piled on. Please Note: You are permitted two pieces of luggage per passenger and each additional piece will cost you about 2,000 Colones (about $3 USD)
This was a direct bus that took around three hours. It was awesome to see the scenery pass, but when the little girl in the back row with us projectile vomited,the smell made for a horrible rest of the ride. The good thing is that the bus stops at least once at a rest stop, for 15 minutes. They are little stores on the side of the road with food and restroom. Here, nearly everyone hopped off the bus to stretch their legs and get some fresh air before finishing our journey. The amount of stops on your bus ride depend on which route you select. You may notice on the web page that you can choose San Jose- Quepos (Costarena) or San Jose- Quepos (Puriscal). The former has two stops while the latter has one.
We got to Quepos in good time and were dropped right in the center of town. The bus does continue on to Manuel Antonio for those that are staying there as well. After disembarking, we found our luggage untouched and caught a cab to our Airbnb. Read all about the rest of our time in Quepos here.
As always, if you have questions about the journey, please ask me on the Contact page. I'm more than happy to answer your questions or address anything I might have missed. If you're planning a similar trip, I can assure you that the bus was a safe, cheap, and efficient travel method.
Unitl next time,
Awesome blog! Lot of useful information for travelers. Can't wait to hear about your next trip🤔😁🖤❤💛💚Live Up!!