Comments on: Screams From The Bus

By: cojito

cojito — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:57:15 +0000

Nancy - i wrote this last year. and things change. perhaps Tica’s altered their schedule to a more reasonable time.

yes, you can get off this bus along the way, but Quepos is on the coast. and the Panama City to San Jose route runs down the middle of the country.

to get to Quepos i think you need to start in San Jose. take one of the shuttles/buses that run down the coast through Jaco to Manuel Antonio. i seem to recall taking an over-sized van to Jaco and Quepos a couple of years ago. not sure, i was feverish and hungover that trip.

my advice: relax. when you get to San Jose take a day to visit both bus stations and ask, or if you are in a hotel they will likely have tourist info and will be able to help. i know it sucks to go all the way to San Jose. i suppose you could get off at the Panama/Costa Rica border, or perhaps Ciudad Nelly, and look for a bus up the coast. but i’ve never tried that and i’m not sure where, or if, you can get a bus up the coast from there.

oh, and i responded here because information left on Panama After Hours helps other travelers and often prompts more helpful advice.

cheers

By: Nancy

Nancy — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:58:49 +0000

Hi there…I’d like to travel by bus from Panama City to Costa Rica this coming January and are hoping you might answer some questions for me, PLEASE??? I’m having a hard time getting info. How come Tica bus doesn’t arrive til 3am? I thought they only leave 1 hr later than Panaline. My biggest Q-can I exit the bus before San Jose? I only want to go as far as Quepos, & left time to see San Jose on my own at the end of my trip. I have a couple more q’s, please reach me at nanners@optonline.net Thanks so much!

By: cojito

cojito — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 17:31:16 +0000

mark - 3 or 4 years ago my friends and i rented a car in san jose and drove up and down the coast of costa rica: puntarenas, jaco, quepos, dominical, pavones, uvita, puerto jimenez, golito, the osa peninsula, etc. it was so much easier than always trying to catch some funky bus.

but when we tried to cross the border into panama we were stopped. they said we couldn’t take our rental car out of the country. now i don’t know if that rule’s changed. but i doubt it has.

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 14:48:39 +0000

can one rent a car in San Jose, and drive to Panama? one way?

By: cojito

cojito — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 04:09:10 +0000

yep. you can stay 3 months before you need to re-up or go home.

last year it was 3 months, and then 3 more. but this year they told me i can only renew my visa for an 45 extra days. so i had to leave for costa rica 45 days sooner than i wanted.

By: Raul

Raul — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 03:53:33 +0000

The renewal is every three months, right?

But the second renewal is only for a month and a half??

By: screams from the bus

screams from the bus — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 02:28:54 +0000

[...] screams from the bus [...]