The San José Tracopa Terminal is where you find buses heading South. Major destinations include: David (Panama), Paso Canoas, Golfito, Uvita, Dominical, Quepos and Manuel Antonio.
Tracopa Terminal is a nice, clean, open station with two spots for food and coffee, and has nice clean bathrooms. We have a recent photo of the schedule below (May 2017). If you want to double check times and prices, have a look at the Tracopa website. Although the website only shows you the main routes and times and wont break it down to when buses pass stops along the way. In general with Tracopa however, even if you are getting off half way enroute, you pay full fare.
Surfers, you will pay an extra 2000₡ for your board.
I have had it recommended to me in the past to purchase tickets one day in advance during the busy season. I have never done this and have always managed to get a ticket on my day of travel. But be warned – if it is a very busy time of year and you are taking a popular bus route then it is definitely a good idea to show up at least an hour early in the morning to make sure you get a seat. If seats are full, ask if you can stand.
Need help planning activities on your trip?
If you need some vacation inspiration, check out some of the activities and tours offered for the Manuel Antonio and Central Pacific area. 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!
I’m taking Tracopa bus to san Jose from uvita at 1:00pm. Will it let me off at the airport?
Hi Karen, no it won’t. None of the Tracopa buses pass the airport. This could have changed in the last few months but I don’t think so. Ask the driver for the best place to be let off to be closest to the airport. Have a great trip!
A couple of months ago (end of Nov. 2018) we were going from Esterillos Oeste to Alajuela where we live. While we were waiting at the bus stop on the highway, we met a local lady who was also going to Alajuela, and she told us to wait for the pink Collectivo Tracopa bus, and it would stop at the SJO airport. It did stop there, and it saved us from having to go into San Jose. The Directo bus does not stop at the airport.
Thanks, Tom! Do you remember the origin of the bus and what time you picked it up?
Any recommendations on getting from the SJO airport to the Tracopa bus station? Many people suggest a taxi, but is there a cheaper bus option? Additionally, it is not possible to buy the Tracopa tickets in advance online correct? I’ll be arriving in the morning to SJO and plan on heading directly to Tracopa to get to Quepos.
Hi, Mac! You’re correct, you can not buy the tickets with Tracopa in advance. And I’m sorry, at this time I don’t have much detailed info on the local buses in the city. The last time I talked to the taxi organizer that stands at the bus stop he told me that all of the buses that pass by the airport head to the city centre. I’d personally take the word ‘all’ to mean ‘some’!! Always make sure you confirm with the driver he is heading in the direction you want to go. 🙂 But there will be a buses that leave and head towards the city centre and the Tracopa terminal isn’t too far from there. There are quite a few buses that head to Quepos from the Tracopa Terminal in San José and so if you give yourself enough time you could always get the city bus to as close to the city centre and then get a taxi from there, which would cut costs. When leaving the airport just make sure you ask to get the bus headed “circa del Terminal Tracopa” or maybe “circa Parque Central”. Again, I don’t know the routes and stops. Another main road in that runs into the downtown core area is called “Paseo Colon”. Sorry I can’t give you specific details!! If you do give it a try it would be REALLY awesome if you could make notes about your journey and share them with us!! ie. what the city bus number is and where you stop in San José, etc etc. This would be great information to share with your fellow travellers! Have a great vacation!
Thank you for taking the time to do this! I am a very nervous traveler going on my first vacation, and this really helped 🙂
Hi Sam! This makes me very happy to hear this 🙂 Buses in Costa Rica are a fun way to travel! And, most Tracopa buses are really very nice so you’ll be riding in comfort. Always keep you eyes on your belonging in stations and other buses and enjoy your trip. Send any questions if you have them.
Any idea if the area around the bus terminal is safe to walk during the day? I’m going to be staying at a hostel that is a 13 minute walk from the terminal, but I’m not sure if it’s safe for me to walk in the area with all of my luggage. I also don’t want to take a taxi because I am just passing through from Panama, staying overnight before a flight and I don’t intend to exchange any money for colones.
Hi Danielle! This is always a hard question to answer. I am constantly walking through areas that others say are not super great (during the day and staying on busy roads) and I never have problems. That area isn’t marked as a particularly unsafe zone as far as I know, and I have walked around in the day and felt comfortable. There are neighbourhoods near that I didn’t love walking through though. I’d ask the hostel and go with what they say. If you do decide to walk, just stay on the main road and know your route so you aren’t walking around with your phone out. Although, I’m sure you know that already!
This has been so helpful so far! Especially because I went to the Tracopa website and wasn’t able to find San Jose as a departure city. So you’re saying I can get off my flight, collect my bags… and is this Tracopa terminal at the airport?? Or do I need a taxi to get to the Tracopa bus terminal. Gracias!
Hi Carissa! Thats great to hear that this site has been helpful to you. To answer your questions, no the Tracopa Terminal is not at the airport. The airport is in Alajuela and the Tracopa Terminal is closer to downtown San José. The taxi should cost around $25-$30, and depending on what time of day you arrive it could be a long journey there in traffic. On the tracopa.com website I had a look and San José is the first place listed on the drop down list under Origen http://www.tracopacr.com/rutas-y-horarios, you must have just missed seeing it. All of the destinations are listed in the dropdown under destinos. Hope this helps!
FYI San Jose is the first city on the list, but only en Espanol – translate it to Ingles and it changes to… Saint Joseph!
Does ANYONE call it St Joseph? None too bright if you ask me
Centrocoasting is an independent website not associated with any terminal or company. The Tracopa website and their built in translation has nothing to do with us. Translators are useful for people to know what things like ‘horario’ or ‘lunes-domingo’ mean, but there needs to be some user accountability and common sense for things like the names of cities. Pretty sure Spanish speaking traveller ever researched travel in California and put the Golden Gate Bridge in Saint Francis as a destination to visit!
funny. no one calls it St. Joseph. use GOOGLE translate folks.. I love it (most of the time) and this website is AMAZINGLY helpful.
Can I purchase my ticket (San Jose to Quepos) before I arrive in Costa Rica?
Thanks
Hi John, I have never purchased a ticket in advance so I can’t comment on whether it is an easy process or not. My best advice is to email or phone the terminal http://www.tracopacr.com/. In my experience, I have never had a problem with a bus being sold out and I always arrive at least 45 minutes before the bus I want to take to be sure. Sorry I can’t be more helpful with his. Good luck!
Moreover apparently you wanted to share the map of the San Jose terminal. So this is a mistake. What is such a website useful for??
Thank you for the feedback. There was an error on the map and it is corrected. I am only one person making this website and there are over 75 stations included, and has taken hundreds of hours of my time (for free), so mistakes happen. This is in independent website that has that is not connected or associated with any bus station or company. The reason I created this site is that there is lack of information provided for many bus stations in Central America. The site is not perfect and the goal is to gather as much basic information as I can and then continue to improve it, with the help of those using it. If you see any other mistakes, please let me know. The goal of the site is only to help travellers. I hope that one of the other 30 pages for other locations in Costa Rica has been helpful. Bien viaje!
Thank you for all of your helpful information…many of us appreciate it 😀
Who t.f. cares where is tracopa terminal in San Isidro? Everyone needs to know where is it in San Jose. Why you put here that useless map? Why this company does not have the map on their website?
tom, you sound like an inpatient jerk. good luck in this country. see you manana