Transportation and the Costa Rican roads
The roads in Costa Rica vary from totally normal to dirt/gravel with pot holes that can fit a small car inside. The road to La Fortuna from San Jose was very windy, but the roads weren’t that bad. The road from La Fortuna to Samara was awful and I would not want to drive it. Samara to San Jose wasn’t too bad, but the road from Limon to Puerto Viejo was one of the worst. I would not drive at night in any place.
We took a variety of buses and shuttles during our trip. Read more for the breakdown…
Hotel shuttle from San Jose to La Fortuna ($60/pp)
Extremely expensive, but we made up for it later.
Grayline from La Fortuna to Samara ($40/pp)
Grayline is pretty reasonably priced, and when we arrived at the rest stop, we got a free snack and drink. They have air conditioning and our driver was really nice.
Public bus from Samara to San Jose (about $4/pp)
The public buses in Costa Rica have a bad reputation for theft, but we never felt that our belongings were in danger. We had our backpacks in military-issued duffle bags (which we could lock up). Don’t leave your personal things on the bus at the rest stops, and just be aware of your surroundings. We also exited the bus quickly in order to grab our stuff before anyone else could (but we didn’t see any of that).
Private transfer from San Jose to Puerto Viejo ($160, up to about 7 people…we had four, so it was $40/pp)
We used Leo Rodriguez, who is mentioned on Fodors as one of the best drivers in the area. He speaks French, Spanish, and English. He has a degree in Hospitality/Hotel Management, and is extremely kind and professional. He pointed out many different things to us, stopped when we wanted to take pictures, and provided valuable information. I can’t say enough good things about him. A private transfer is pricey, but if you have 4 people, it is as cheap as Interbus or Grayline, and the service is 50000 times better. He was able to do our transfer at the last minute…I emailed him on Saturday for a Monday transfer.
Public bus from Puerto Viejo to San Jose (about $7/pp)
Same experience as listed above…no problems whatsoever. We did have to stop for the police to check all of our passports, but that only took about 10 minutes.
Taxis
We only utilized taxis in Puerto Viejo. Our guest house was about 2-3km from town, and the roads are dark. The average price was 2000 colones (about $4 US) for 4 people. We also took a taxi from Puerto Viejo to Manzanillo, which was 7000 colones.
Public Bus to/from Cahuita and from Manzanillo to PV (about $1.50/pp each way)
The public bus to/from Cahuita runs every hour and was a great way to get there. The Manzanillo bus only runs 4x a day to/from Puerto Viejo.
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