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Incident on Bus to Jaco July 3, 2015
I’ll try to keep this short but want to give as much detail as possible. So I’m taking the 11 a.m. bus from the Coca-cola station on Fri 7/31/15. I sit in the 2nd row from the door, opposite the driver. The bus was not full so I had both seats to myself. I put one carry on in the overhead bin & slide it all the way to the front which was above the first row. This bag contained clothes, dirty & clean, flip flops a phone charger & the most valuable thing in there was the keys to my truck. I have a knapsack with $, passport & 2 cell phones & another charger in it , sitting on the floor between my legs.
Well, I’m dozing off as I had a pretty rough night the night before, take a couple of 15-20 min power naps but wake up every time the bus stops to d/o or p/u passengers. About 30 min from Jaco while I’m awake, the bus stops & one passenger exits the front door & I see another passenger out of the corner of my eye, standing in the aisle, even with the 3rd row, reach to his left to get a bag from the overhead bin. But he does not exit thru the front, he starts walking to the back of the bus. The 2 things I immediately thought were, Why didn’t he exit out the front as he was right there and why was he standing in even with the 3rd row to grab a bag above the 2nd or 1st row??
So I stand up & you guessed it, my bag was gone. In about a tenth of a nanosecond, I went completely postal ballistic. I looked to the back of the bus & this probably no more than 20 yo punk was waiting for the driver to open up the back door. Everything is a blur except my focus on my bag. I don’t remember seeing anything but the bag as I was running to the back of the bus screaming & cussing as loud as I can which is quite loud when I’m angry. Just ask my twin boys!! I am cussing as I approach him & he threw my bag on the aisle & said in spanish ‘I’m sorry, I was confused!’ The bus driver, heard all the commotion & got up to come to the back of the bus. I got my bag & returned to my seat as quickly as possible because of the knapsack being up there unattended, still cussing at him as loud as I could, all in English, accusing him of trying to steal my bag. The driver & another passenger tried to subdue the thief but he got loose, climbed over two seated passengers, opened up a partially opened window & fell out of the bus on to the pavement. Apparently he landed on his knee (you know how high those windows are) because I saw him hobbling off away from the bus behind the bus. The driver & the other passenger exit the bus giving chase but returned to the bus about 5 minutes later saying the thief had run off the road & jumped into a river & got away. The driver stopped at the next roadside police kiosk & told them about the punk but who knows if they ever caught him. Several other Ticos & ticas came up to me & apologized profusely for the incident, which I thought was very nice of them.
I took me several hours to calm down from this, and after thinking about it for a while, realized I should not have gotten so angry, so quickly as he could have had a gun or a knife & I could have been hurt over some flip-flops & clothes. I know I probably scared the sh*t out of him when I started screaming at him & basically rushed him! My heart rate is going up as I write this!!
Needless to say, I checked the bag & it was stored below on the return trip. I have always been leery of this because I’m afraid the driver will give it to someone else or someone will just grab it & take off when the driver is busy giving someone else their baggage.
CostaReeker

Avoiding situations like this one is one good reason to take Interbus instead of the cheap public bus. JMHO, the extra few bucks you spend are well worth the peace of mind!

Agreed!!

Which is the interbus? Is that the one that leaves from Jaco terminal in Cocal Cola (Calle 18)? That's the one I take. It has not back door and a luggage compartment in the belly of the bus. You get a receipt for your bag.

Greengo, please do not comment on this thread.

Interbus is a private shuttle bus service primarily (not to say exclusively) used by foreign tourists. It is owned by a private CR company and has been in operation for many years. I have taken them from HDR to Jaco on two recent trips…They also do many other destinations. From what one of their drivers told me, they run 40 shuttle buses throughout the country. They pick you up at your hotel and drop you off at your hotel…HDR to Cocal was approx. 2.5 hours $40 each way…safe and sound …you can nap all you want without having your luggage stolen!

Web site is www.costaricainterbus.com

Yeah, I would recommend Interbus over public bus on longer trips, or any trip where your bag(s) are not within arms reach. In other words, I would never put anything in the overhead bin since it would mean that I'd have to keep a constant eye on it. The one time that I took the bus from Jaco, I had my bag on the floor between my legs. And while it was not too uncomfortable, the windows were open and once the sun went down, it got cold! I was sick for a couple of days from the draft.

Interbus is the way to go, it's $37 each way.

Book here to save 5%: http://www.shuttlebus.co.cr/

Ok I get what the interbus is now. But the OP mentioned a backdoor. The buses I have been on (Garapito) which run every two hours from Coca Cola @ C2500 do not have a back door. I'm just wondering if there is another bus.

Jackie...public buses in CR (most I'd say) do have a second exit door at the back of the bus. It isn't used all that often on city to city stuff, so you might never have noticed it.

Interbus is a great option and provide a good service. Two things with them... 1) They do charge for extra bags and 2) From the airport, they only provide service to downtown San Jose. In other words you can't take them straight from the airport to a city outside San Jose like Jaco. Other than those things, highly recommended for single travelers. If you have two or more, private transport ends up being as inexpensive.

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The only thing that matters is happiness in all it forms...

I agree with the comments about keeping your bag between your legs.....as with most thieves they look for opportunities....1. Gringo on a tico bus 2. Gringo puts carry on where they can get at it 3. Gringo keeps taking naps....4. All gringos carry at least $ 1000.00 with them at all times

The thing that surprised me most was how everyone came to your aid....a good example of how ( I think the culture is changing pertaining on how the tico's view us)

Time line about 6 years ago I guess....I get jumped by 2 young tico's with machetes , maybe 30 people are watching no one makes any type of moves ...helping , looking for help ....or offering any type of assistance....but in the end it made me a wiser traveler...either in san jose or any other country....

Great additional information PVT...you always give objective advice, even when the subject matter deals with your competition! Best to you...

Hope you got to keep all your limbs Chili...I'm sure you managed to fight the off somehow! Sounds like a much worse experience than the young Asian K*D mouthing off to you at Colonial...a few weeks ago.

I am aware that buses in CR have a rear door! I ride them everyday. I am saying that the bus I take to Jaco, see link below, does NOT have a rear door.

http://www.transportesjacoruta655.com/flota.php

Thats crazy... but not surprising...

As tourist in any country we are easily marked by criminals, this incident is a perfect example.
They happen mostly as a crime of opportunity, pickpocketing, bag snatching, unattended phone etc. Deterrence is the key.

One trick i learned from traveling in Europe is to have a light weight bike cable lock to tether down your bag that isnt attached to you. its not going to stop a determined thief, but it will slow them down... I wuld use these on the trains in Europe, overhead bus racks and i still use this at airport lounges when i doze off.
http://www.amazon.com/Master-Lock-4605D ... B000BD69G0

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its easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled- mark twain

Guys , some of you are missing the point. Whether or not the bus had a rear door or not is irrelevant! I have a pic I took of the bus just before I left JACO to return to SJ
just to show the height of the window the would-be Theif fell out of. There
Is clearly a rear door on it. Whether all of Transportes Jaco buses have it or not I'm not
Sure. I am also not sure whether they are functional or not. There were steps and the k*d was on the steps as if waiting to exit.

Why can't I post this pic? Does the thread have to originate in the VIP section
For me to be able to post a pic?

Thanks
CostaReeker

There are lots of thieves in CR. Not really much different in the U.S. Always watch ur stuff.