Quepos has a main bus terminal in the centre of town. It is tiny for how many busses come and go through there and you will often bare witness to a bus jam out front as you wait for your own departure. Anything you could possibly need is within a short distance of this station. There is a bank and a bakery (coffee!) just down the street. There is also a pharmacy right across the street and even a subway sandwich shop with a/c if you should happen to have a long layover between buses.
Quepos is a key hub in this area of Costa Rica. If you are going to Manuel Antonio then you will be passing through here. Here you can also find buses heading to Uvita, Dominical, Puntarenas, San José and Jacó. Possibly more, we will keep adding to the page each time we travel though. Have a look below for recent photos of schedules.
There are a few different companies that operate buses in and out of Quepos. One of the main ones is Tracopa. You can check the Tracopa website for a list of their schedules and times in addition to what you read below. Note that the Tracopa website is pretty limited as it only shows major routs in and out of San José. When searching leave either the destination or the origin portion as ‘any’ or you may not get any results.
Quepos to Manuel Antonio
Buses go to Manuel Antonio every 30 minutes starting at 5:45am and then every hour after 7pm. The trip takes 25min. As of Jan 2019 the price was 335₡
Quepos to San José
From San José: There are multiple buses heading to Manuel Antonio from San José every day and leave from the Plaza Gonzalez Viquez diagonal from the Tracopa Station.
From Quepos: It is a good idea to purchase this ticket in advance during the high season. The ticket can be purchased at the station in Quepos. We asked and they do not let people stand. You must have a seat. As of August 2018 the cost is 4790₡, though the directo and colectivo are slightly different prices. The length of the trip varies depending on what time of day you travel. We are told that the 10 a.m. and the 6pm directo buses take about 4 hours. All the other directo buses take about 3 to 3.5 hours. The Colectivos take about 5-6 hours.
To and from the San José Airport:
Quepos to SJO Airport: When you look at the schedule for Quepos to San José you will see buses either labeled Directo or Collectivo. Only the Collectivos pass the airport. Before you purchase your ticket check confirm that the bus you are taking does pass the airport to be sure.
SJO Airport to Quepos: The bus does not pass the airport heading to Quepos or Manuel Antonio. You will need to take a taxi or local bus to the Tracopa Station in San José.
Quepos to Uvita
Bus leaves for Uvita at 6am, 9:30am, 2:30 and 5:30pm. I had the ticket vendor write out the schedule (May 2017). Price is 1700₡. Trip takes about 2hrs.
There are also 2 buses per day that go from San José to Uvita. They leave San José at 6am and 3pm. They will pass by Quepos on the way.
Quepos to Dominical
Schedule posted below for Dominical. Price is 1500₡ and takes about 1hr 45min. We are told there is also an 11:30 bus going to San Isidro that also stops in Dominical. 1350₡
Quepos to Puntarenas
Buses going to Puntarenas run from 4:30am to 6pm. See the photo of schedule below. As of Jan 2019 the price for a ticket was 2605₡. The trip takes about 3hrs.
Quepos to Jacó
Buses run to Jacó from 6am to 7pm. See the photo of schedule below. As of May 2017 the price for a ticket was 1375₡. (Nov 2018). The trip takes about 2hrs
Quepos to Santa Teresa
Grab the bus heading to Puntarenas. Take a 5 min taxi or walk 15 blocks to the Ferry. (See Puntarenas page for more info) Cross on the ferry. 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₡.
Quepos to La Fortuna
Take the bus to Puntarenas (~2.5hrs). From there get the bus headed to San José. You are going to get off in San Ramon (~1.5hrs), a stop before you get to San José so check with the driver to be sure he passes San Ramon on the route he is driving. From there you can catch the bus to La Fortuna (~2hrs). This is a long journey but can be done for about $14.
Quepos to David
It is possible to get to Panama from Quepos. You’ll need to purchase your ticket ahead of time from the station in Quepos and then take a taxi to the main highway and wait at the hospital. One helpful traveller named Ian left a comment for you below to tell you how his trip went.
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!
To update, the ticket can be bought online using the Passer app saving a trip to the bus station (handy if you’re not staying in Quepos). You select the route of San Jose —> Pasao Canas and put pick up point as on the highway, at the Max Teran Valls hospital.
Also the 9:30 bus from Quepos is to Uvita and costs c395 to the hospital.
We did Quepos to David,
The bus comes from San josé (leaves at 7.30 there) and should be at the Quepos hospital at 10.15. The green bus arrived at 10.45. payed 18 Dollars per person for the trip, bought the ticket a day before in Quepos.
There is a bus from Quepos to the hospital which leaves at 9.30.
We had a stop in Uvita, and arrived at Paso Canoas around 2pm. could leave our luggage in the bus and did all the administration. Left the border around 3pm (time change in panama 😉!)
Don‘t forget to print your covid certificate, they do not accept a QR code on the phone!! (But you can print also at the boarder, but better if you do it before)
They did not ask us of the 500 Dollars and also not when we are leaving exactly. (But maybe better if you are prepared) Just where we are staying. The bus driver helped us so we knew where to go and what we had to fill out.
Thank you for this information. It is very helpful. Do remember at what time did you get to David? I am planning on going from Quepos all the way to Santa Catalina and I am scared I won’t make in the same day.
Did Quepos to David today. I purchased the ticket in the Quepos office the day before. There is a local bus (green) from Quepos main station to the hospital, which drops you at the same stop as the David bus picks up from. There is a cafe nearby with wifi and toilets if you get there super early like I did. The bus was due at 10 but arrived after 10:30, and had a half hour meal break in Uvita. When departing Costa Rica you have to pay $9 departure tax at the ‘Impuesto’ kiosk on the right hand side of the road BEFORE getting your passport stamped at the window on the left hand side of the road. When entering Panama they didn’t check for evidence of funds, but were super strict about evidence of onward travel. They accepted a flight confirmation email on my phone for this. Only after you are stamped in to Panama do you take your luggage off the bus and put it through the scanner.
Quepos ——-> Uvita
On Thursday 6th of February we took the 14:30pm bus from Quepos to Uvita. The bus was very late leaving due to a big traffic issue in Quepos town.
Took approximately 3 hours.
Cost was approx. $2.21 per person.
Hope this help =)
I took the bus at 09:30 and arrived in Puntarenas at 13:00. The bus stopped at every bus station. ticket price was 2630 colones.
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e-mail: lagranvista@hotmail.com
phone number (506) 89248983
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We took the bus today from quepos to david and it ran very smoothly. We got the tickets (21$ per person) two days in advance and the lady said it would leave at 10am. The bus arrived at 10.30am so we didn’t have to wait long. The bus was very comfortable and the drive through the border went very smoothly. They didnt ask us for 500 dollars or a credit card they only wanted to see our flight ticket Home. The border was not busy at all but we went on a sunday so maybe thats why.