Buses leave the Puntarenas station for several destinations including: Liberia, Quepos, Jacó, Monteverde, San José, Cobanó, Santa Teresa Montezuma.
**STATION CHANGE : All of the bus stations are no longer grouped in one location. The TQP (Quepos, Puntarenas, Jaco) buses now arrive and depart from the Municipalidad de Puntarenas, which is about 4 blocks from the other station. (Jan 2017)
one helpful traveller has given this location as the new bus terminal (Aug 2018) https://goo.gl/maps/9JR2QhF81ep
Bus station to the Ferry
The Puntarenas bus station is located about 15 blocks from the ferry terminal. A taxi between the two will cost you about 1500₡. You can walk but it is far when carrying your luggage and it shouldn’t be hard to find other travellers to share a taxi.
Puntarenas to Santa Teresa
Get from the bus station to the ferry and cross. In Paquera there will be a bus waiting for you to take you to Cóbano. This trip takes about a 1.5hr and will cost around 1800₡. If you end up connecting with the bus coming from San José you may be able to stay on all the way to Santa Teresa. If not, you get off in Cobanó. The rest of the trip form Cobanó to Santa Teresa takes about 40min and costs 1000₡.
Puntarenas to Quepos
See photo of schedule below. Price is2605₡ as of Jan 2019 and it takes about 3hrs until you arrive in Quepos.
Puntarenas to Liberia
There are 10 buses per day to Libera between 5am and 5pm. The schedule is posted below. See photo of schedule below. As of February 2018 the price is 2875₡. The trip takes about 3hrs. Be early as buses can leave early.
Puntarenas to Monteverde
See photo of schedule below for buses to Monteverde. 1500₡, ~3hrs
Check out the route if you are coming from Santa Teresa: Santa Teresa to Monteverde
Puntarenas to Jacó
See photo of schedule below for buses to Jacó. ~ 1500₡, ~1.5hrs
Puntarenas to San José
There are both directo and indirecto buses to San José. We are told that only the indirecto buses pass the airport.
This bus does a few different routes (San Ramón, Alajuela, Esparza, El Roble). You can see them here on the Empresarios Unidos website and see which route number goes where.
The schedules are also listed on their website: Empresarios Unidos schedule. We hope their website is up to date! There is also a photo of the indirecto schedule below.
The trip from Puntarenas to San José costs 2585₡ as of May 2017 and takes about 3hrs.
Puntarenas to Cañas and Tilarán
One helpful traveller has told us that there is one bus per day at 11:45am to Cañas and onto Tilarán. Thanks, Doc!
Ferry to the bus station
Cost of a taxi: 1500₡, 5 minutes
Ferry Schedule
Puntarenas to Paquera
- 05:00, 09:00, 11:00, 14:00, 17:00, 20:30*
(*no connecting bus heading all the way to Santa Teresa/Mal Pais, Montezuma)
Paquera to Puntarenas
- 05:30, 09:00, 11:00, 14:00, 17:00, 20:00
***here is an extremely useful number = call tel: 26612084 (then press 4) and you can get the current ferry schedule.
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!
Tomorrow, 26th Jan 2018, I am travelling from La Playa Hermosa (near Jaco) to Bijagua by public bus. I think I am OK to get to a bus direct from La Playa Hermosa to Puntarenas to arrive at 11.00am. I believe there is just one bus per day from Puntarenas to Cañas leaving at 11.45 am. Is this correct?
How frequent are the buses from Cañas to Bijagua and how long does this take?
Many thanks for your help.
Richard
Hi Richard, I am not 100% sure I understand your questions but I will try to answer the best I can! There are several buses per day from Puntarenas to Liberia, passing through Cañas. You can have a look at the schedule above of the one posted online with the bus company Reina del Campo http://www.reinadelcampo.com/horarios.html. To get to Puntarenas from Playa Hermosa you can catch one of the TQP buses going from Quepos to Puntarenas and passing through Jaco. There are several. The schedules again are above and online. Hope this helps!
Many thanks for your quick response. You have answered my concerns perfectly. I was a little worried when elsewhere on this site it is reported that there is only one bus per day from Puntarenas to Cañas. I am much happier now that I know there are several that stop at Cañas on the way to Liberia.
Thanks Richard, let me know where it’s mentioned that there’s only one bus per day and I can fix it! Thanks!
Above it reads:
Puntarenas to Cañas and Tilarán
One helpful traveller has told us that there is one bus per day at 11:45am to Cañas and onto Tilarán. Thanks, Doc!
I guess I may have misread this to mean one bus per day from Puntarenas to Cañas when it actually means to Tilarán. My error!
How long is the ferry from Puntarenas to Paquera?
Hey there. The ferry is about 50 minutes.
Doing a trip from Puntarenas to Jaco this November and wanted to know what the bus ride is like, where the station is in both cities, and also if the schedule posted above is still valid. I appreciate all the help , thanks !
Hey Daniel! The bus ride is really easy and uneventful for the most part for the 1.5hr trip. The bus leaves from the Puntarenas station which is indicated in the map above and the bus arrives in Jaco near the beach. The Jaco page shows where the station is. https://centrocoasting.com/costarica/jaco/ The schedule above was accurate as of the date indicated above and likely hasn’t changed much. I can’t guarantee it will be the same but if there is any change it will be small and there will still be the same number of buses per day. Hope this helps!
Buenos días, me interesa ir de Puntarenas a Guanacaste. Que opciones tengo?? Gracias x la info.
Guanacaste es una región. ¿Necesita algún lugar específico? Los autobuses van de Puntarenas a Liberia. Desde los autobuses de Liberia la mayor parte de la región de Guanacaste.
There is one bus per day which leaves Puntarenas for Canas and Tiliran . The bus departs Puntarenas at 11:45 AM . Very handy for those going to Los Chiles for a visa run .
Thanks, Doc! I have added that in.
Also, do you know how long the trip is from Puntarenas to Tilaran? Thanks!
Needing directions from Puntarenas to Monteverde. And, is it direct or do I change buses mid way?
Hey Jan! It is really easy to get to Monteverde from Puntarenas. It is a direct bus and you don’t have to change along the way. You get the bus from the location indicated on the map. There is a big blue bus station there and the bus for Puntarenas will pick you up across the street (ocean side) in front of the outside food venders. There is a large covered bench in shade. You can’t miss it.
In the photos above you will see a schedule for buses from Puntarenas to Monteverde. It is the one stuck to a tree. If you travel mid day take the 1:15bus, not the 1:30 as it is faster.
As of February this year the bus was about 1500C and took about 3hrs. The bus is comfortable although likely not a/c.
Have a great trip!
The indirecto buses from Puntarenas to San Jose make several stops including San Ramon, La Radial station in Alajuela and the airport
Ther also appears to be direct service but for some reason I was not able to find a schedule posted in the Puntarenas bus station.
Bus from Puntarenas to Liberia left on time at 11am 🙂 You will wait across from the bus station on the water side and pay the bus driver instead of buying a ticket beforehand. It costs around 2800 colones and takes around 3hrs.
Thanks, Steph! I will be sure to update the cost of the trip in the information above. Thanks for contributing and helping fellow travellers!
Enjoy Nicaragua!