I am going to Costa Rica on 3/22 with wife and 11 and 12 yr olds. Do not want o rent a car. There are two types of busses from San Jose to Quepos the van type ($US25) or some sort of local bus ($US7)does anyone have experience on either. We are ver budget minded

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by tdude:
I am going to Costa Rica on 3/22 with wife and 11 and 12 yr olds. Do not want o rent a car. There are two types of busses from San Jose to Quepos the van type ($US25) or some sort of local bus ($US7)does anyone have experience on either. We are ver budget minded</font>

Where in Quepos ? I have been to Jaco beach and had my hotel arrange for a mini-van (like an SUV) pick us up. Not cheap but less than USD 100 for both ways. Are you going on a package tour ? Has your hotel an arrangement with some company to pick its guests up ?

We are arriving in SJO at 12:41 on the 22nd and I think I am going to hire a mini-van service to take us to Quepos. I am waiting for a quote from a reliable company, would you be interested in sharing? What time do you arrive in SJO?

Jeffery

dude--Will you please post a short trip report when you get back. Am considering the same trip with my family

We will end up arriving in SJO on 3/21 and traveling to Quepos on 3/22 some time in the afternoon. I will be moe than happy to post a trip report when we get back.

Still looking for info on local busses from the Coca Cola bus terminal?

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Considering a trip to Costa Rica next February. I am also interested in transport options from SJ to Quepos. We have two kids, 8 and 11 years, and are looking for good options for a rainforest/beach vacation. Airfare from SEA to SJO of $400 is very attractive. We don't want to drive.

I am also interested in transport options from SJ to Quepos. We have two kids, 8 and 11 years, and are looking for good options for a rainforest/beach vacation. Airfare from SEA to SJO of $400 is very attractive. We don't want to drive.

You can fly between San Jose and Quepos for about $44 OW (children's fares about $10 less). That's what we're planning to do. The flight's only about 30 minutes and I've heard the drive is 3-4 hours.

http://www.flysansa.com/infosansa/getdata?command=reservac&lang=1

Thanks, Letiole. The Sansa Airlines website is very useful in checking on pricing and schedules for domestic travel.

As I am just starting to look for destinations or places to stay, may I ask what hotel or resort you plan on staying at?

I see that the average high temperature in February is 95 degrees!

Thought I would post a trip report of the various methods we used. When we got to SJO we hired a driver for the day (cost us$130) he drove us from our hotel to the Volcano (paez) then back to our hotel (to pick up our luggage, and then to our hotel (Costa Verde) at Manual Antonio (near Quepos).

On the way back we bought tickets on an express public bus (US$6) which picked us up right at our hotel. The bus did not have air conditioning (got hot during the drive) and made one made one stop after Quepos to pick up passengers, and one stop at a rest area where you could hit the bathroom (no facilities on the bus) or get something to eat or drink. The bust then proceeded to the Airport and then on to San Jose. We got off at the airport and took a shuttle to our hotel (Hampton Inn). We arrived at the airport at about 4. If I had it to do again we would defanitely take the bus. With 4 of us traveling the airfare seemed a little high, and the time in the private car was about the same as the bus (maybe 35 minutes less).

tdude,

How did you like the Hotel Costa Verde?

What's the beach like there?

It all looks interesting.

We loved the Costa Verde Hotel. We were in an efficeincy room which had 2 double beds, a refrigerator, and a cook top (electric), plus plates pans, glasses etc.. Only negative was no microwave. The room was very cleaned and the houskeeping staff cleaned the room every day. There was no phone in the room but that was not a problem. The staff of the hotel was very willing to answer questions or make reservations for us for tours and such. There are two restraunts at the hotel and they both were good, dinner was about US$12 per person including beverage (no liquor). The web site for the hotel is:

http://www.hotelcostaverde.com/

The hotel is about a 15 minute walk from the beach down the road (down a very steep road). The local bus goes right in front of the hotel about every 30 minutes and costs 100 colones (US$.25) we would walk to the beach and then take the bus back. The beaches were great but you need to watch out for the rip tides as they are very strong and there is typically no life guards.