Local transportation on a Costa Rica vacation can mean local transportation via buses, private vans, rental cars, or private charter flights.
Or even luxury bus like the one seen in the photo to the left are available for rental from Adventure Tours in Costa Rica.. You can also find our low rental car rates for Costa Rica car rental in San Jose, Jaco or Liberia.
Bus Schedules - GROUND TRANSPORTATION COSTA RICA VANS BUSES.
The local bus lines reach all cities, but private and charter buses go to the most popular tourists areas, such as Jaco, Quepos and Guanacaste, and Arenal for around $25 one way. A taxi from San Jose to the beach runs from $100-130, one way.
Vans with Tico Bilingual Drivers.
We can arrange a private van for your group which will usually match or even beat the taxi prices and get you there much more comfortably. Six to eight people with lots of luggage and even a surf board or two can travel in a van, while the tiny taxis here can rarely hold more than three people with luggage.
All of our driver-vans are ICT-licensed and staffed by a Costa Rican Bilingual Drivers that can give a great tour along the way to your destination.
In addition to Sansa and Nature Air, which provide regularly scheduled flights (20-60 minutes in a small, single engine plane), several companies offer charter flights around the country. Either way, you can reach Quepos and Manuel Antonio in about 30 minutes by air. Guanacaste usually runs an hour. There are no flights to Jaco, which is 90 minutes by car.
COPA, Nature Air and Air Costa Rica serve Panama, with the latter two offering flights to Bocas del Toro.
If planning to drive, or you want an overview of the country while flying over the rain forest and jungles, download a map from this page: Costa Rica map
Ferries to Nicoya
From Puntarenas, you can ride the ferry (with your car) to the Nicoya Peninsula. It goes to Playa Naranjo and to Paquera, where you can visit Playa Hermosa. Ferries depart every two hours from 6 AM to 7-8 PM.
