This winter, in the month of January, I'm going on a trip to Costa Rica on a study abroad trip. I have always wanted to go their, between the crazy volcanoes and landscapes, and the insane surf spots, its somewhere I've been dying to go. We're mostly going to be based out of Heredia which is west of San Jose I believe. Every once in awhile we'll take trips to Puerto Viejo, Playa Tamblir?, and Manuel Antonio. With the exception of those trips we'll mostly be near San Jose. My question is how easy/difficult/expensive is it to get the coast from San Jose? Or any cool suggestions on what to do in my free time? Regardless I'm stoked to get the opportunity to go there and get some college credits out of the way as well. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
do a forum search, theres heaps of good info on here. that being said, my sister is living in the guancaste area right now, and she flew into san jose, took the 5hr bus ride to guancaste and she said the bus service there is great. it's not like the BS public bus system in jersey or philly and isn't as expensive or dumb and greyhound. its a great option to get to the coast oh- most buses take surfboards, just make sure your you check which ones exactly take em!
en el otro mano... you can also easily rent a car so you have more mobility. it's a half a day with stops for food, servicios and gators. once you hit the west coast, the road just follows the beaches from one spot to the next south to M.A. you do need a vehicle that has places to hide yer mierda as theft esp on the coast is an issue. i was there with the ole lady and two kids in a rav 4 with all our stuff but we cleaned out the car into our hotel room each town we hit as soon as we got there. disfrutalo
I second the bus suggestion. I've taken buses from the tip of Tierra del Fuego to Mexico and the buses down there are not only good, they're a great experience. Watch your ass and have fun. Although they can be more hair-raising than any wave you'll ever surf in your life.
bus haha yes definitely. I had to take one when my airport shuttle (already paid in full) didn't show up or answer the phone on a trip last year. The bus situation can get interesting. Just because the bus is full, that doesn't mean ish. They just keep packing them in. A guy got on with a dog, Ok, cool. Then a guy got on with a goat...wtf but ok it is central america. Then we came to a bus stop and this tico had a f*cking python wrapped around his neck.. he and the driver had a heated argument and we left without the snake guy. Dominical to SJO took 5 solid hours and the whole time I was looking at my watch sweating bullets hoping not to miss my flight. Ended up eating a big bag of ... yeah... in the airport before going through customs. Most hectic but most awesome CR trip ever.
I used shuttles to get around between the large towns when I was in Costa Rica. You have to watch them. You can get screwed though, especially on the most important of trips. I booked our ride from Jaco to the San Jose Airport through Interbus (way in advance) and the morning we had to leave, I get an email telling me that my reservation was cancelled. So all morning I was trying to scramble to find a ride for us to get back to the airport and make our flight, and finally was able to hitch one with another shuttle company. It was either that or throw a lot of money towards a taxi driver who was willing to take us back to the airport.
