www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Hi all :

Quick question : I may have asked this before, but the answer seemed a bit unclear, so I thought I'd give it another shot.

I'm staying in La Fortuna for a few days before heading to the Presidente.
My question is - what's better, taking a taxi from the airport to the bus station, then riding the bus to La Fortuna, or is there anything I can grab (reasonably priced) right at the airport that will go to La Fortuna.

Any information would be abundently appreciated.

I'm heading out Nov 17 and I'm already all bunched up.

Thanks again all.

First of all, even if you go back to SJ you don't HAVE to take a cab. IF you only travel with carry-on luggage and IF you're not arriving after dark (which I assume you're not since you're planning on taking a 4.5 hour bus trip after you arrive), it would not be that hard to take the bus from the airport to the Coca Cola Terminal downtown (they come through every 5 minutes) and from there it is only 4 blocks north to the Atlantico Terminal where you can catch direct buses to Fortuna. I've posted before on the airport bus, so you can do a search for more info on that or if you can't find it just PM me.

As far as trying to catch a bus en route and avoiding having to backtrack to SJ, that might be a little trickier. If you're going to try that your best bet might be to hop a cab or bus for the short ride to the Alajuela Terminal. As I recall from a return bus trip from La Fortuna I once took, the bus does stop somewhere near the airport, but unless someone else here knows more than me, how are you going to know exactly which of the several bus stops in the area to go to or when the correct bus comes by. The only published schedules they have on the internet list the arrival and departure times for the beginning or end of each trip and not any points in between, although I suppose you could always call the bus company direct and try to ask them. OTOH, if you go to the Alajuela terminal all the buses pass through there and there will definitely be someone you can ask.

The real problem with that will be your timing. You might get lucky and get there just in time as the bus makes its stop. In that case, you've just shaved 1 hour off your trip. However, long distance intercity buses only leave every few hours, so much more likely you'll have to wait there anyway. The one for Fortuna only goes 5X per day with the last one leaving SJ at 2:45PM. Also making it difficult is the fact that buses only stop for a few seconds at any intermediate stops and only a few minutes at larger terminals like in Alajuela. If you miss it in Alajuela, you're screwed. Unless your arrival time is such that you exactly match up with the passing Fortuna bus or it is an issue of not being able to catch the last afternoon bus in SJ, I would just play it safe and catch the bus at the beginning of the route where you'll know exactly where and when it will be going to leave. What difference does it make if you spend your time backtracking to SJ or waiting in a terminal in Alajuela?

But that's my opinion, maybe RBC or someone else has some other thoughts on this. I'm sure someone is going to tell you to spend the extra money on the shuttle van assuming they will stop at the airport for you($25 with SJ departures at 8AM & 1:30PM and probabably passing by the airport 30 minutes after that). I assume 8:30 is way too early. That leaves the 2PM van. And if my flight arrival time matched up well with that I might do that too. If you allow 30 minutes to get through imigration and customs, that would mean if your flight arrival was anywhere between 11:30-1:30PM you should take the van. If you get in after 2:30PM you should probably forget Fortuna altogether until the next day. But if you don't mind the challenge and adventure of using the bus (not to mention saving $20 and sitting with locals as opposed to other tourists), you might get to Fortuna sooner if you catch either the Fortuna bus that passes by the airport around noon or the one that passes by around 1:15 or you might get in too late for the last van altogether and have no choice but to try to catch the bus that passes by the airport around 3:15.

Wow :

Prolijo : Thanks much for the detailed reply. I supposidly get in at 2pm, so if I luck out, the shuttle will be running a little late. I will only have two
small carry-on's with me, so that will help speed me up a bit.

Your absolutely right though, timing here is everything. I'm already booked to stay at the Paraiso in Fortuna that night.

No worries, though, I'm sure I will make it work out.

Thanks again.

I don't know if anyone is reading these, but I found that grayline has a bus that runs from the Hampton hotel that's about two minutes from the airport to many places, one being La Fortuna/Arenal. It's at 8 and 3:30, with a cost of $25US.

It's probably one Prolijo was referring to.

I would have liked to take the regular bus to get the local feel, but alas, my timing wasn't right.

Hope this link works :

http://www.graylinecostarica.com

purdy vulva

Grayline is likely your best bet with all your stuff coming into town. One suggestion on local express buses is to pick up a little brochure when tyou come in at the airport tourist desk called "HOP a Bus" which gives all the bus scedules and locations of bus stations in San Jose.You have to ask for it but they usually have it. Once you get back to San Jose there are lots of day trips you can take to various places.I highly recommend the local express bus for those wanting to experience the culture.It is a great way to travel and very cheap.rbc100

I'm not sure if it is, but that sounds like your best bet. Actually I just went back and checked and it looks like I misread the schedule. The last bus TO Fortuna leaves SJ at 11:30AM. So that can be totally ruled out. The 12:45 and 2:45PM departure times were for the return trip FROM Fortuna to SJ. Ooops Anyway, even if there were an afternoon bus at 2:45, it would have been hard if not impossible to catch it if you don't get in until 2 and it would pass back by the airport around the same time as the shuttle. So it is well worth the $25 bucks anyway just to have it worked out ahead of time, be comfortable and not have to worry about anything. As far as local color is concerned, you can always catch that on the return trip when your timing will be much more flexible and I'm pretty sure I got those departure times right this time.

Thanks guys :

If either you are around Thanksgiving, cervasas are on me.
I'll be the guy with the big sh*t eating grin on my face. : D