- Costa Rica Public Transit
The most common way to travel in Costa Rica is by bus. An excellent bus service connects all parts of San José and all places in the country. You can get to almost all locations for a maximum of US$ 5 by bus. Busses and bus stops are marked by the name of the destination.
Since most locals do not have cars, busses can be full during certain hours of the day as well as on the weekends. San José has no central bus station and most lines have their own place of departure. Most travel guides include lists of locations and prices to different places of interest. Busses for short ways often are old school busses, but busses to far destinations are comfortable and nice. Some even have air condition, color TV and bath.
To get around in the city, we recommend the use of taxis. There seem to be millions of them and they have very low prices. The law requires tachographs.
Our advice: Always check, if tachograph is running or ask for the price before you get in.
If you take a taxi at the airport to go to Alajuela for example, make sure not to take on from the Airport taxis, since they have a higher basic rate.
The taxi system is well organized. If you feel cheated, note the number of the taxi permission or the license plate and complain at the “Ministerio de Obras Publicas y Transportes”. Taxis are red with yellow signs on top. From San José to Escazu it costs about US$ 2. Taxis are allowed to charge 20% more from 10pm to 5 am.
Many tourists are crazy for a trip with the train. A railway web did never exist in Costa Rica. There was a jungle train between the two coasts, but after an earthquake has destroyed the railway in 1991, the traffic stopped completely. People who could experience this trip in the past can be happy, since it was a remaining adventure. They say that there is a group of people being interested in a re-construction, but this will need many years more.
Costa Rica offer reasonable priced flights through the country by SANSA. They fly to destinations like Samara, Golfito and Quepos. All flights start near the international airport Santa Maria. If you need to fly, ask for a ticket in advance. It is better to go directly to the office of SANSA instead of relying on a travel agency. Flights can be booked out often, make reservation at least 2 weeks before or contact us by mail and we take care of the problem.
