This Liberia Municipal terminal can be a bit confusing. There are so many busses coming from and going to so many different places that it can feel chaotic. There is a ticket window where you can purchase tickets for Playa Tamarindo and Nicoya. Tickets for other destinations can be purchased from the drivers of the bus. Looking for Playa del Coco? You need the Pulmitan station. Don’t stress, it is very close – about a 5 minute walk and you can almost see it from this station.
Watch your stuff closely at this station!! Thieves are known to hang out here looking for a chance to distract you from watching your bags. They work in teams and can snatch your bags faster and sneaker than you would think is possible!
If you have a bit of time to spend in Liberia, check the Santa Rosa National Park and Liberia city tour package with Gecko Trail.
Liberia Bus Terminal to the Airport
You can take a taxi for about $25 or you can take the bus. But buses to Tamarindo and Nicoya pass the airport along the way the trip takes about 20-30 minutes and costs about 500₡. Have a look at the Liberia Airport page to see where you end up.
Liberia to Tamarindo
Transportes La Pampa: From the Liberia Municipal Station
Purchase your ticket to Tamarindo from the ticket window at the Liberia Terminal de buses Municipal. And from the driver if you are leaving Tamarindo. As of January 2018 the trip to costs 1400₡ and takes about 2.5hrs depending on time of day. We asked the ticket vender to write out the schedule and it is in the photos below (May 2016). Note that it is almost impossible to get 100% confirmation on the correct schedule. We emailed the transport company but they gave a different schedule than the person selling the tickets. We here at centrocoasting are going to assume the ticket vendor is correct. Good luck!
Liberia to Tamarindo: 3:50am, 4:30am, 5:15am , 6:10am*, 7:10am, 8:10am, 10:10am*(only Sat+Sun), 11:10am*, 1:10pm, 2:10pm, 4:10pm, 5:10pm, 6:10pm*.
*longer route through Flamingo, Brasilito, Matapalo (~3hrs).
Tamarindo to Liberia: 3:30am, 4:30am, 5:45am, 7:30am, 9am, 10am, 11:30, 1pm, 2:15pm, 4:15pm, 5pm. Likely also 6:30pm but we will confirm soon.
Playa Flamingo: One helpful traveller has submitted some extra info about Playa Flamingo in the comments on the Tamarindo page (thanks Jeremy!).
Liberia to Playa Grande
You can take the bus from Liberia to Tamarindo and get off in Huacas. From there take one of the two buses that will now get you there. We are still confirming the times but 12pm and 2pm is what one traveller thought. Or, grab a taxi but don’t pay more than $10.
Playa Grande to Liberia: Two buses per day from Playa Grande, one at 7:20am and one at 3:20pm. If you’ve taken one, let us know the price in the comments below!
Liberia to Hermosa
Liberia to Hermosa: 7:30am, 8:40am, 9:30am, 11:30am, 1pm, 3:30pm, 5:30pm
Hermosa to Liberia: 6am, 7:30am, 8:40am, 10am, 12pm, 2pm, 4pm, 5pm, 7pm
~1200₡, ~2hrs
Liberia to Playa Panama
Liberia to Playa Panama: 4:30am, 4:40am, 4:50am, 7:30am, 9:30am, 11:30am, 1pm, 3:30pm, 5:30pm
Playa Panama to Liberia : 5am, 7:30am, 8:30am, 10am, 12:00pm, 2pm, 4pm 5pm, 7pm
Liberia to Nicoya
Purchase your ticket to Nicoya in advance from the ticket window. Buses leave about every 30 minutes between 4:30am to 8pm. Check the Nicoya page to see where you will end up. As of May 2017 the price from Liberia to Nicoya is 1190₡ and the trip takes anywhere from 2-2.5hrs depending on the time of day.
Liberia to Nosara
From Liberia you first need to get to Nicoya and then from Nicoya you can then take the bus that is heading to Nosara. Be aware that the bus from Liberia to Nicoya can be anywhere from 1.75hrs to 2hrs+ so plan accordingly – you will often find the time listed online as around 1.5hrs. Check the Nicoya schedule here and know your connecting bus. To make the 12:30pm bus it is recommended to leave from Liberia at 10am. The station you arrive at and the station you leave from are different. Only 5 blocks apart but you need to factor that in along with bathroom breaks. Have a look at the Nicoya page for a map showing you where both stations are located.
Liberia to the Peñas Blancas (border)
The trip to Peñas Blancas takes about 2hrs and as of April 2019 the price is 1750₡.
Monday to Friday: 5am, 5:45am, 6am, 6:35am, 7:15am, 8am, 8:45am 9:30am – then every 30 mins until 5pm, 5:45pm, 6:30pm, 7:30pm 8:35pm.
Saturday and Sunday: every 45min from 5am until 8:45pm
**We have had an update lately saying it’s now every hour to the border – but be aware that this may be during buys season only.
Liberia to Cañas
We have a photo below of the schedule posted inside the bus.The also have the schedule listed on their website: Reina del Campo.
Shedule as of May 2017 is: every day from 5:25 am to 9:30pm. And 4:30am to 8pm the other way, from Cañas to Liberia. The trip takes about 1.5hrs and as of 2016 costs about 1200₡.
Liberia to San Juan del Sur
Head to the Peñas Blancas (see above) and cross to the other side. Nicaragua you can either take a taxi or very easily grab a local bus. Make sure you change your colones to cordobas as this is the currency used in Nicaragua – I recommend to figure out the rate before you ask. Most money changers are honest, but some are not! Buses from the border will leave every 15 minutes for Rivas. To get to San Juan del Sur, you can either go all the way to Rivas and then get the bus from Rivas to San Juan del Sur or you can be let off about mid way at a spot called La Virgin. From here you wait on the highway for the bus coming from Rivas to pass. Have a look at the San Juan del Sur page where it will explain this step in more detail.
Liberia to Puntarenas
There are 10 buses per day to Puntarenas between 5am and 5pm. The schedule is posted below. As of August 2018 the price is 2975₡. The trip takes about 3hrs.
Liberia to La Fortuna
We haven’t done this route but were told this is what you do to get from Liberia to La Fortuna: “In Liberia take the bus to Cañas (~$3), from Cañas straight on the bus to Tilaran at 12pm (~$1.50), from Tilaran straight on the bus to La Fortuna at 12:30pm ($4) and arrive around 2pm. The next one is at 3:30pm and you will arrive around 5”.
Liberia to Santa Teresa
Grab the Puntarenas bus, in Puntarenas get to the ferry and cross to Paquera, from Paquera take the bus to Cobanó, from Cobanó take the bus to Santa Teresa. All of the linked pages above will give you the information you need for each connection and information about each station.
Trip Planning
If you are still planning for your upcoming trip, I am told this Trip Planner from Gecko Trail is quite useful to help you prioritize where you want to spend your time! Gecko Trail is a ICT certified Travel Agency that has great core values and gives back to the community. So much to see and do in this beautiful country!
Help your fellow traveller
If you have taken any of the buses on this page, please drop us a comment below about how the trip went, what time you left, how long it took and what it cost. And, definitely let us know if we have anything wrong.
Lets help each other in our travels!
We went yesterday from Liberia terminal to La Irma (because we wanted to go to Santa Elena-Monteverde), the bus departed at 11.30am (on time so don’t be late) and costed us around 1800 colones (not to sure because we paid in dollars so if someone can double check it would be better). The bus dropped us at La Irma at around 1pm and we found out that the bus to Monteverde was only at 3.30pm (we actually heard 3.30pm, 4pm and 5pm). So we decided to hitchhike. Very difficult because only a few persons go to Monteverde from this point. Some very nice locals took us to Las Juntas where we waited the bus at the bus station (in the shade and plenty of local restaurants around if you want to drink or eat something while you wait). The bus to Monteverde finally arrived at 4.45pm and we arrived in Santa Elena around 6.20pm. There is only two bus going to Monteverde per day passing through La Irma and Las Juntas, we took the second and last and the first one is suppose to pass at la Irma at 10am (but who knows exactly at what time it actually passes lol).
Thank you to a traveller named Christian who sent this update a short while ago:
(Liberia -> Penas Blancas -> Gigante)
My partner and I got to the Liberia bus station at 9.15am and found there was a departure for Peñas Blancas at 9.30. When I asked someone when the next one was departing, they literally pulled out that government provided bus timetable Costa Rica puts online in English for tourists. So I’m guessing that’s still the thing. (It says buses for the border every 45min, between 5am and 6.30pm.)
We got to Peñas Blancas at 11am and didn’t get out of there and on the road again until 1.15pm. Partly our fault: we queued for the passport exit stamp before paying the exit tax.
To get it, we went around the corner to the green hut saying, “Exit tax.” Then they told us that now, it’s a bus ticket stand, and you have to pay in the Banco Costa Rica office instead. THEY DON’T ACCEPT PAYMENT IN CASH! After that, we got a passport stamp, showed our negative covid tests and we were walking across into Nicaragua.
There is an actual paper form you are supposed to fill out, sign and email to them to request entry into Nica. They ask it to be sent at least 10 days before you arrival. It’s here: http://www.migob.gob.ni/. I guess if you didn’t know about it things would probably go fine – probably.
On the Covid thing: there was no mention of getting a free pass into Nicaragua if you’re vaccinated. We had to have a test from within the last 72hr. You are also supposed to email it to them at least 24hr before arriving. We didn’t kknow that, and so had to wait half an hour for them to call a “doctor,” who eventually came over – in legit hospital scrubs – to read out covid test and confirm that, yes, it was negative.
Then you walk to the big white government building that says “Terminal.” There are touts with trolleys bullshitting you that it is a 20min walk and you should pay them USD $10 for help.
The government building was chill. People were helpful. We got our stamps and paid our entry fee in tax.
The luxe San José – Managua bus liners are there and will take you to Rivas for USD $10. Instead, we walked around to the public area and got mobbed by drivers. My girlfriend was pretty uncomfortable with how in our space the guys were. We changed our colones for córdobas at a stand and negotiated a USD $36 cab ride to Playa Gigante. I’d hoped for a bus, but there were none to be seen at that exact moment and we were uncomfortable there.
A local gringo in Gigante said he’s paid $80 for that taxi ride, so maybe $36 was good. Then again, the driver looked pretty chuffed when we settled on the price.
If you do get a bus to Rivas, there are tonnes of taxi drivers hovering around who will drive you down to the coast. 500 córdobas to the coast seems to be a decent price. The public bus terminal is in a market area with a lot of humans squeezed into tight quarters. I’m sure it’s doable, but I wouldn’t walk around there with a laptop bag over my shoulder.
Hi! Where were you supposed to submit your covid test online?
Did you have a print out or did you bring the actual test device?
Be careful how much you pay. Today I went from coco to Liberia. At Coco the driver charged me 1400 colons. At Liberia the ticket cost 700 colons. The driver Charged me double than the ticket booth price.. And, thats just not the bus, thats everywhere. Be careful of the cashiers too. They`re all thieves here
Aaron Canales Peira Santa Clauz
CanalesPereira de Santa Clauz
I took the Liberia-Puntarenas bus today. They charged me 3100 colones. FYI, the charge for the bathroom is 350 colones. The trip took more than 3 1/2 hours, mostly because of construction south of Canas.
Hi Robert! Which station did you take the bus from? I read there are two in Liberia…I am making the opposite trip Puntarenas – Liberia
Took the bus from Liberia to Penas blancas yesterday. Fare is now 1775. It was a Sunday and frequency was less than once an hour. I waited at least 75 mins. Likely due to covid and being a Sunday
Hi,
We want to go from Liberia to Monteverde. Whats the best way to do this trip? In which placed should we change the bus and do you mabye know a time when the busses leave?
Best wishes
Kim
Hi Kim,
Take the Liberia-Puntarenas bus, and get off at the Sardinal FULL servicecenter gas station, at the intersection of Route 1 and Route 606 (about 1.5 hours). You can then wait along the roadside heading up Route 606 for the Puntarenas-Monteverde bus to pass around 2:30pm, or for the San Jose-Monteverde bus to pass at about 5pm (about 1 hour 15 min from the gas station).
Puntarenas-Monteverde costs c1,000, and San Jose-Monteverde costs c3,065 (they make you pay the full fare).