www.CostaRicaTicas.com

What are air fares from SJO to MGA purchased in-country? Travelocity gives me $104 and up on Copa, $134 and up on Lacsa/Taca r/t, o/w $164 and up (not a typo), for November mid-week. I'm dying to get back to the girls of Granada. Unlike the CR, you can buy a SIM chip in the market and multiply your entertainment fun.

Check Sansa Air, they have a air/hotel package How about a little more info on the girls of Granada?

According to Sansa's web site, its schedule is strictly domestic. Here's a link to my post on Granada.

https://costaricaticas.com/phpBB2/viewto ... nada#32585

Sansa does not fly to Nicaragua check out Nature Air they have daily service from Tobias airport.

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Cbea20,

I don't know how much time you have to burn, but if you are concerned about the price of airfare I would recommend taking the bus. Both TransNica and TicaBus are more comfortable than a coach seat on Taca or Copa, and the cost is only $11.00 each way San Jose to Granada. The trip takes about 8 hours, but if you have the time it is a very scenic and relaxing ride. My girl used to live and in Managua and I must have made that trip some 50 times. And for less than the cost of cab fare from Hotel Presidente to SJO, you can't beat it.

Plus it's a bit of a pain to get to Granada from MGA, as you probably know.

Nature Air flies to Granada, though it's a turboprop. Google it for their web site.

Taca may be your best bet if price is the concern: Taca.com lists special fares you won't get from Travelocity or a travel agent

Copa Air is 49 percent owned by Continental, but I'm not positive if they fly nonstop. Check for special fares on their website, copaair.com and you get NonePass miles and 2,000 bonus miles for booking online.

And yes, one way being more expensive than r/t is par for the norm, pretty much everywhere in the world (well not everywhere, at least in PI o/w is half price of r/t on domestic flights).

EMK

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Tica Bus lists their bus from SJ to Managua as taking 11 hours and TransNica lists theirs as 10. I'm not sure how far before Managua you get to Granada but I suspect the bus might take a little more than 8 hours to get there. Sandanista, are you sure about how long that route took? In any event even 8 hours is a long time to be on a bus, though the cost savings still make it a tempting alternative.

Here's a couple of other alternatives. Fly from SJO to Liberia and catch the bus there or take the bus the whole way but make a stop for a day or two at one of the Guanacaste beaches to break up the trip. Another possibility is to schedule your Nicaragua visit at the beginning or end of your trip and only book a one way ticket between there and SJO, returning to the US from a different country than where you entered (a multi-destination or open jaw ticket).

Nature Air Schedule and fares:

Low season
SJO - Granada dep 06:45 arr 09:20 $99 o/w $199 r/t *
Liberia - Granada dep 07:45 arr 09:20 $65 o/w $130 r/t *
SJO - Liberia 3-4 flts/day $80 o/w $160 rt

High season
SJO - Granada dep 13:00 arr 14:45 $120 o/w $240 r/t *
Liberia - Granada dep 14:10 arr 14:45 $65 o/w $130 r/t *
SJO - Liberia 4-5 flts/day $82 o/w $164 rt

* = Sun, Wed, Fri only during low season Sun, Mon, Wed, Fri only high season

Copa's site shows a rate for SJO-Managua r/t of $163 r/t including taxes (travelocity was actually $174 AFTER adding the taxes). They have 3 flights/day - 1 direct and 2 by way of Panama City.

TACA's current rate is $173 including taxes (which is also less than Travelocity AFTER taxes). They are a little more than Copa but offer a choice each day of 2 non stop flights and 8 more with 1 stop.

TACA and Copa are cheaper than Nature Air, but leave with you with the problem and added expense of getting from Managua to Granada, which Nature Air flies directly to. OTOH, TACA and Copa fly mid-day whereas Nature Air and the 2 bus lines require an early morning departure.

Better than flying to Liberia and then getting a bus, is taking a bus to Liberia and then flying (Nature Air). That way, you avoid the 2-hour border crossing, included in the 8-to-9-hour estimate. BTW, not every SJO-MGA Ticabus goes by way of Granada. I've done it. The trip up was fine, but the bus coming back had a broken toilet, and the last couple of hours were miserable for all. At the border they check for drugs going north, and guns coming south.

There's a more recent report than mine on SW's in Granada on this board. The guy found candy-sellers a block up from the park. They quoted him prices about double what I was quoted. I wonder what's up with that.

Prolijo,

The length of the trip depends entirely on the border crossing at Peñas Blancas. When it is busy, it can take more than 2 hours to pass through the Costa Rican immigration line, but sometimes you can do it in less than an hour. On the Nicaragua side, the bus attendant takes care of the immigration procedures for you and it is usually quick. The overall trip from San Jose to Managua usually takes from 9 to 10 hours and Granada is a little more than an hour south of Managua. So I guess 8 to 9 hours would be a more accurate estimate from SJ to Granada. I've made this trip in a car before and haven't done much better than that because of the steep, windy roads and slow trucks between San Jose and the turnoff to Puntarenas. Both TransNica and Tica Bus have agencies in Liberia, Rivas, Nandaime, Granada, and Masaya. All you have to do is alert the attendant and you can get off at any stop. As I said, if you have the time to kill, this is an extremely cost effective way to travel, but flying is undoubtedly more convenient.

Sandanista, thanks for the clarification and additional info, which was very helpful.

Cbea, good points as well. Actually, I meant to suggest either combination which is why I included the Liberia>Granada airfares. You're right though, bus to Liberia and air to Granada seems to make the most sense. You don't save enough using TACA or Copa flying in to MGA that it offsets the extra pain and added expense of getting back to Granada and, while I've thought about taking the bus all the way that 8 hour trip has always dissuaded me. A 4 hour bus ride to Liberia I can handle though and there is the added possibility of breaking up the journey with a side trip to Playa Flamingo or something.

Its sort of a compromise solution that sort of gives you the best of both worlds. Both travel time and cost, while not the very least they can be, are both reduced to manageable levels. The combo method reduces transportation costs by close to 35%. Basically, if your available time is short, you still have to ask yourself is the extra 4 hours of travel time worth the $70-110 savings over just flying straight from SJO. Or, if your money is short, whether saving that extra 5 (or 2-3) hours on the bus is worth paying the $130 for flying from Liberia.

As for exactly how to do it, like you said, bus to Liberia and air to Granada makes more sense then the other way around. You don't save as much bus time going that way on the last leg instead and then there is the probably more complicated border crossing vs. airport customs and the fact that the airfare is $15 cheaper from Liberia>Granada than for SJO>Liberia. I guess the only question remaining is, assuming you don't make that side trip to one of the Guanacaste beaches, what is the best way to get from the bus station in Liberia to the airport and which schedules match up the best so that you don't have to end up waiting too long at the airport of bus station. An inordinately long stopover in Liberia could offset any time savings over just taking the bus the whole way.

On second thought, even though you'd have airport check-in anyway for the all air route, you'd still have that using the combo method whereas its already factored in for the bus route. Between getting from the bus station to the airport, and then getting through check-in and airport security (don't they still expect you at the airport 1-2 hours before for international flights), you'll probably really save only about 2-3 hours at best over taking the bus the full way. Do you guys have any other thoughts on this?

I did the Penas Blancas bording crossing in February. Very interesting; a learning experience. Tip: use mordidas (the small bite). $10 took me to the back of the "front" of the line of everyone else who paid $10. Taxi man will take care of it. Took a little over an hour. Without the mordida, my guess is that it would have taken at least 2 hrs. Interestingly, most of the problem is on the CR side.

The trip from MGA to Granada wasn't bad (I flew into Managua). Took about 50 minutes. Could certainly be longer in peak traffic periods.

Interesting info, Gopher! Does the mordida method still help if you're taking the bus as opposed to private vehicle? I'd imagine the real problem is that you have to wait for all the other passengers to clear immigration before the bus can continue on its way. Or does all your old fellow bus travellers split up into different buses on the other side as they clear immigration ? I'm confused.

Its a question I don't feel qualified to answer. I saw many busses pull in; they all seemed to queue in the order that they exited the bus. I saw no helter skelter movement. My guess is that the bus clears altogether. Being a single independent traveler, I had choices that were probably not open to bus travel.

Crossing from Nicaragua into CR, I caught a taxi to Liberia for $30. Then took the bus from Liberia to San Jose after staying for a couple of days in Liberia.

If you travel on the inter-city busses (TransNica, Tica Bus, King Quality) you will not leave Peñas Blancas for Nicaragua until all passengers have cleared immigration. Therefore, mordidas don't give you any real advantage except for not having to wait in line as long. You will still have to wait for all the other passengers to clear before getting back on the bus.

Transportes Deldu has frequent busses from SJ to Peñas Blancas for $5.50 but the busses are not air conditioned or as comfortable as the inter-city busses and make several stops along the way. If you did this you could pay the mordida and cross the border on your own in a shorter amount of time, and then catch one of the myriad of busses on the Nicaragua side to Rivas, Granada, or Managua. Again, not as comfortable or quick as the inter-city busses and no movie, but an interesting cultural experience none the less.

Pulmitan has busses from SJ to Liberia for $4.00 if you are interested in arriving there and then flying from Liberia to Granada as previously discussed.

A final option is the Servicio Ejecutivo on TransNica which is the most comfortable way to travel betweeen SJ and Managua. They leave SJ daily at 12:00 noon and arrive in Managua at 8:00 p.m. That would make it a 7 hour trip to Granada. There is about 4 feet between each row of seats and they recline to less than 45 degrees with footrests. The cost was $20.00 each way the last time I did it in Junuary.

This is very useful info, Sandanista. However, I don't understand how Transnica, though more comfortable, would travel any faster or cross the border any quicker. The Ticabus leaves at 12:30 P.M. and arrives in Granada at 9:30. Then it's a short taxi ride from the highway into town.