This tiny town makes getting in and out really very simple. The bus leaves for both San José and Puntarenas from the TransMonteverde bus depot in the middle of town. You can’t miss it as it is right beside the Super Mega grocery store. You can book tickets online here: transmonteverde.com
Monteverde to San José
There are two buses per day both ways at 5:30am and 2:30pm. The price is 3035₡ (Dec 2018). The trip takes about 4.5hrs. See photo of schedule below and have a look at the 7-10 Terminal to see where you end up.
San José to Monteverde
There are two buses per day both ways at 6:30am and 2:30pm. The price is 3035₡ (Dec 2018). The trip takes about 4.5hrs.
From San José you catch the bus from the 7-10 station in the city center, although if you are out by the airport in Alajuela, then you can also get the bus from the Villa Bonita Station. This is essentially a bus stop on the side of the highway near a gas station named Villa Bonita. It is a common spot for travellers to grab the bus when out by the airport. It is listed as a stop for buses headed to Monteverde but if it is full there is a chance it may not stop. You can book tickets online here: transmonteverde.com
Monteverde to Puntarenas
The bus leaves for Puntarenas at 4:20am, 5:30am (except Sunday!), 3pm. See schedule photo below. The 5:30am bus isn’t in the photo of the schedule, but two travellers have confirmed it exists. (see comments) and we have had confirmation that the 6am bus still exists too.
You will arrive at the main Puntarenas bus terminal. The trip takes about 3hrs and costs about 1590₡.
If you are headed to Santa Teresa or Montezuma, we are told you can arrive at the ferry in time if you take the 5:30am bus! (see comments below). This may not be the case in the busiest months when buses take longer.
Puntarenas to Monteverde: 8am, 1:30pm and 2:10pm.
Monteverde to La Fortuna/Arenal
This may be the coolest way to go: Monteverde to Arenal – by horseback! Check out this unique and awesome looking way of going between these two mountain paradises. A half day adventure that may even be quicker than taking the bus!
Thinking of going to La Fortuna/Arenal after Monteverde? You can take a shuttle from here that will get you there in 3hrs for $25. It goes something like this: 4×4 Jeep – boat – 4×4 Jeep. Normally we don’t promote shuttles since this is a BUS travel site – but it is an option since the local bus is quite long. The full trip is about 9hrs by bus.
via Tilarán
Should you chose the local bus route you can catch one to Tilarán at 5am, 7am, 12:10pm or 4pm (TilaránTransportes 2695-5998.) . The cost as of Dec 2018 is 1300₡. The trip takes about 2hrs and 15min. The bus stop last time we were there was in front of the Farmacia Vitosi, which is across from the main Tourist center. See photos below for the location to wait for the bus. Then from Tilarán you will take another with bus to La Fortuna which will take about 2hrs. We have had one traveller report that she took a bus at 3:30pm (Dec 2018) and it cost 2975₡
Via La Irma
A lot of travellers use La Irma as a mid point to get switch directions when coming/going from Monteverde to places like Nosara, Samara, Tamarindo, etc. There is a photo of the schedule below, the bus passes at 10am and 3pm. There is a covered stop there on the side of the highway where you can wait. We have had reports from travellers that they didn’t put luggage under the bus, they had to carry it on. Let us know your experience below.
Coming from San Juan del Sur?
Check out our route page for this trip. We have two great travel blogger experiences to help guide you step by step on this trip! San Juan del Sur to Monteverde
Going to Playa del Coco?
Have a read through the comments, one couple gave a step by step.
Tours
There is so much to do in this area that it can be hard to choose! Have a look at Gecko Trail tour options for some inspiration.
Cloud Forest
Headed to the cloud forest? Check out this blog post by the legendary Costa Rica travel duo at Mytanfeet: Which Monteverde Cloud Forest Should You Visit. Want someone to show you the way? Check out a Gecko Trail guided tour of the Cloud forest.
The bus goes back and forth a few times a day and costs 600₡. Here are the times (May 2017):
Santa Elena to Monteverde
6:15am, 7:30am, 9:30am (only high season), 1:20pm, 3pm
Monteverde to Santa Elena
6am, 8:30am (only high season), 11am, 2pm, 4pm
Santa Teresa to Monteverde
This trip is easy and saves you a bunch of money. Have a look at the route here: Santa Teresa to Monteverde.
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!
Hey guys, I’m travelling from Samara to Monteverde and have found the following route is the way to go:
Samara > Nicoya
Nicoya > La Irma
La Irma > Monteverde
Does anyone have any info on which bus to get on at Nicoya for the La Irma stop and what times it leaves Nicoya? We are getting the first bus in the morning from Samara to try and catch the 10am connection at La Irma to Monteverde.
Any tips would be much appreciated!!
Thank you
We just took the 5:30am bus from Monteverde to San Jose (March 2019). A good thing to note is to get to the bus terminal about 30minutes early to buy tickets or get them online as it was very busy and about 15 people weren’t allowed on as it was told full. Needless to say they were pretty upset to have to wait 9 hours until the next bus.
Hello, and thanks for a wonderful site!
At present I’m in Las Juntas spending the night in what might be the only hotel in town.
Does anyone know if I can catch the Puntarenas to Monteverde bus in Las Juntas proper (i. e. the bus station) round 10 AM ,or do I have to go back out the 6 km. to the highway at La Irma?
It will be too late now for you I’m sorry but anyone else reading this it would be good to know that yes you can catch the bus from here rather than going back to the highway. We caught a taxi from La Irma to here to have some lunch and wait several hours for the afternoon bus as it’s more pleasant than sitting by the highway. The taxi cost us 1000c per person.
Monteverde to Manuel Antonio – I took a 5:30 AM bus from Santa Elena to Puntarenas (ticket cost was 1,590 colones). We arrived at about 9:15 AM. I then walked two blocks to the bus station for Quepos, which is nextdoor to ‘Soda La Esquina’ on Calle 1. I purchased a ticket (cost – 2,605 colones) for the 10:00 AM bus to Quepos and arrived just before 2:00 PM. From Quepos, I then took the regular bus to Manuel Antonio (cost is 335 colones which is paid onboard to the driver). Wanted to forward this on as I did not find a lot of info across the web for bus routes to/from these locations. Although the journey is long, it is way more affordable than taking a shuttle. This trip took place on February 6th, 2019.
Hi,
Thanks for the information on your site, here are some updates. We traveled this month from San Jose to Monteverde and from Monteverde to Tamarindo.
The price and schedule is still the same from San Jose to Monteverde (3035c).
Also the price for the shuttle Bus to the cloudforest Santa Elena is still 600c.
Then we take the bus at 4:20 am in
Monteverde to (the Highway intersection) in La Irma for 1500c.
In La Irma we catched the next bus to Iberia for 2050c.
And in Iberia we payed at the bus terminal for a ticket to Tamarindo 1490c and got the 11:10 am bus (with the longer route through Famingo). If you pay in the bus it is 1500c.
Hi Julian, I’ll be in Monteverde next month, and from there I plan to go to La Irma so I can catch the Ticabus to Nicaragua. Do you remember what departure times from Monteverde to La Irma were available when you made that trip?
Hi, thanks for the tips. Can you tell where exactly is the bus stop in Monteverde ? Is there any in Santa Elena ?
Thanks
hi
this blog is amazing!!!!
I’m looking for the best way to travel fro Santa Elena to Tarmarindo (my hotel there also mentioned Huacas?…maybe the bus stops here?)
any advice appreciated 🙂
Elle
Hi Elle,
Look at my Post, I guess it is the best way to Tamarindo.
Tamarindo is not so big, the bus stops when ever you want on the main street.
Hi,
I just did the journey from Monteverde to San Juan Del Sur yday (Jan 4th 2019) and posting this to help anyone who’s looking at doing this trip or exploring how to do it.
1- I took the TransMonteverde bus at 6am, headed to Puntarenas with a stop in Lagarto. I paid around 1200 colones as i didnt specify i was getting off before Puntarenas and elsewhere in the comments, it’s mentioned the ticket to Lagarto cost 875 colones so make sure you ask for this. I bought my ticket the day before.
Put your luggage on last so you can get it quickly when you get off.
2- I got off the bus at Lagarto, right at the entrance of the InterAmericana Highway. Follow this on your google maps to see where the hwy is and time your stop but its pretty clear as the dirt road meets a paved T. There was a few others getting off there too. We got there @ 750am. When you get off, walk right across a bridge about 150m and there’ll be a bus stop.
3- At 8:15am, the blue bus to Liberia arrived. The ticket cost 2350 colones ($3.90USD)
4. I got to Liberia about 10am and there was a bus to Penas Blancas, leaving from the same bus stop straight away. Just ask someone you see.
I changed some colones to Nicaraguan cordobas from a guy there. Check the rate for 1000 colones. Official rate is around 54. I was quoted 50 which was close enough for me as I only changed 10,000 colones ($16 USD), enough to get me to SJDS before I could go to an ATM. This also saves needing to do this at the border.
5. The bus from Liberia went around an hour until there was a minor car accident near the bus which the driver blamed the bus driver so we had to get off and they waited til the police arrived. I shared a cab to the border with some other travellers for 2000 colones. Barring this, you should get to Penas Blancas in about an 1.5 – 2hrs and the bus costs around 1650 colones ($2.70). I still got to the border around 1145am.
6. Pay your Costa Rican exit fee first (5000 colones) – you can do this at a window outside (its signposted) and they give you a receipt or with your card within the immigration office itself. Go through immigration after paying. This was really smooth and quick (10 mins total). I didn’t need to complete any forms (Australian passport).
7. Go through a couple of passport checks. On the Nicaraguan side, they held my passport for about 20 mins and asked me to wait for some unknown reason. It wasn’t stressful. They eventually waved me through.
8. Go through Nicaraguan immigration, they asked how long i’d be there (2 wks) and if i had an outward ticket (I didn’t as i read it wasnt needed). More discussions and then they let me through. Again, I didnt need to complete any forms. You pay the $12 USD direct to them, make sure you have this currency to make it easier.
9. Leave immigration and you’re in Nicaragua! Walk down about 50m and there’s buses on the left. Take one that goes to Managua or Rivas, check it goes past La Virgen. Touts on the street will tell you the bus is only direct to Managua or there’s no buses or something (neither is true) and offer you a taxi for $20 USD, not a bad option but i was dedicated to the grind by now. I took the bus to Managua – it left 5 mins after I arrived. Get on, sit down and then pay after, a guy comes down the aisle to collect. It costs 30 cordobas ($1USD) to La Virgen and takes 30 mins.
10. Follow this on Google Maps and go to the front as you approach, tell them your stop is La Virgen (“proxima parada a la Virgen por favor”) and they’ll stop for you. Tell them you need to get your bag from under the bus (if needed – “tengo una bolsa debajo el bus”). Facing the way the bus arrived, turn left and go down the road towards SJDS, you’ll see a couple of signs saying welcome to SJDS.. there’s a bus stop about 100m down to wait in the shade. I got here about 1.10pm.
11. I had to wait a while til the bus, it eventually arrived at 2pm. It costs 20 cordobas ($0.60usd). It was one of the old US school buses and quite busy. I had to get them to put my big bag on the roof but it was secure. Arrived about 2.40pm in San Juan Del Sur at the ‘Market’ bus stop which is central and walking distance to everything.
TLDR: It takes around 8-9 hours and 5 buses. It’s time consuming but not difficult. Transport only costs are around $11 USD vs $65 for the shuttle which is still 3 or 4 hours. Familiarise yourself with the route on Google Maps so you can track your blue dot and get off where you need to.
Complete the route and chill like a true backpacker champion in SJDS. Like everything in life, take snacks and enjoy the journey!!
Thanks, Jerome, this is pretty epic. We will add your advice to this route page https://centrocoasting.com/routes/san-juan-del-sur-to-monteverde/
Hey! I’ve been travelling in Costa Rica and your bus guides have been a god send! Just to give you some updated info on Monteverde to La Fortuna, which I did today, the bus to Tilaran is now 12.10 (rather than 11.30) and costs 1300 colona, it took approx 2 hours and then I picked up the 3.30 from Tilaran for 2975 colona to Fortuna and was in my hostel for 5.20 which I thought was pretty efficient 👍🏼 Even managed a sneaky beer in Tilaran as I had an hour to kill – it’s definitely an easy journey to make and a fifth of the price of the transfer (which I did the other way and it was nice – great boat ride and awesome viewpoint from the bus)
Thanks Francesca we have just done the exact same journey! We left monteverde from outside the tourist information centre and got the 15.30 bus to La Fortuna from Tilarán