Getting in and out of Santa Teresa/Mal Pais by local bus is always a mission. The road to and from is dusty and just when you think it should be easy to get somewhere close by, it’s not. The local bus schedule can change often, but for travellers coming from and going to San José the bus times don’t change much since they are timed with the ferry. To get on the bus in Santa Teresa you only need to head to the main road, stand there with your stuff and wave as it approaches
Direct bus from San José to Santa Teresa
The direct bus from San José leaves from the Terminal 7-10. This bus takes about 6hrs and leaves San José at 6am and 2pm. As of July 2017 the cost is 7545₡ (June 2018), which includes the cost of your ferry ticket of about 800₡. If you are a senior, ask for the seniors price!
Surfers, you will pay an extra 2000₡ for your surfboard.
If you are near the Airport you don’t have to head all the way to the 7-10 Terminal. Instead, have a taxi take you to the Villa Bonita Bridge in Alajuela. The bus to Santa Teresa/Mal Pais/Montezuma passes this spot about 6:20am and 2:20pm – or basically however long it takes to get there after leaving downtown so this time could be a bit longer. Have a look a the Villa Bonita page to see what this spot looks like and more info on how to get there.
Direct bus from Santa Teresa to San José
When leaving Santa Teresa/Mal Pais you wait on the side of the road for the bus. Any spot along the main road is fine. In the mornings (6am) the Direct bus leaves from Santa Teresa but in the afternoon (2pm) it leaves from Montezuma so you will have to take the local bus to Cóbano to connect with it.
If you are leaving on the afternoon bus you will have to pay 1000 to get to Cóbano first and then charged the full 7545₡ (June 2018) ticket price to San José.If you are a senior, ask for the seniors price! From there everyone heading to San José gets on the same bus in Cóbano at 3pm to go to the ferry.
We have a photo of the schedule below (May 2017), but here it is in writing:
Transportes Cóbano Schedule:
- Santa Teresa/Mal Pais to San José: 6am ( there is a 2:30pm bus – but it leaves from Montezuma so you need to go to Cóbano to get it, extra 1000₡)
- San José to Santa Teresa/Mal Pais: 6am and 2pm
Cheaper option with non-direct bus:
Local Buses from Santa Teresa to San José
Take the local bus to Cóbano. Bus takes about 30-40mins and costs 1000₡. It will pass around 6am and 2pm. When you arrive there will be a bus going to Paquera at 7am and 3pm (to connect with the 9am and 5pm ferry) which costs ~1800₡. Buy your ferry ticket, get on and cross, 810₡. Then make your way to the Puntarenas bus terminal (1500₡ taxi) and buy your ticket to San José with Transportes Unidos for 2585₡. Check the Puntarenas page for more info on schedules. All of the indirecto buses from Puntarenas to San José bus pass the airport on the way. That’s 6195₡ plus the taxi, which you could share.
Local Buses from San José to Santa Teresa
Basically the same as above but in reverse! When I got to the Paquera side a person claiming to work for Transportes Cóbano approached me and offered to sell me a ticket on the Direct bus for the special low price of 5000₡! This is not a low price. The price of the ticket all the way from San José is 6210₡ + ferry. This is almost double the cost of taking the local bus from Paquera (1800+1000₡).
Puntarenas to Santa Teresa
If you are arriving at the bus station in Puntarenas you need to get to the ferry to Paquera. The bus station in Puntarenas is about 15 blocks from the Ferry and it is worth the 1500₡ taxi to get there, have a look at the map below
Once you get off 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 ~ 1800₡. If you end up catching the bus coming from San José you may stay on that bus or switch. You’ll find out when you get there. Unfortunately there is usually a small wait in Cóbano for that connecting bus if you have to change. The rest of the trip form Cobanó to Santa Teresa takes about 40minutes and costs 1000₡.
Santa Teresa to Nosara (or Samara)
Check out our Route that explains how to do this journey. Santa Teresa to Nosara (or Samara)
Santa Teresa to Manuel Antonio
Get yourself to Puntarenas using the instructions above. In Puntarenas you need to get the bus to Quepos. Have a look at the Puntarenas or Quepos page for this schedule. Buses leave often. Once you are in Quepos it is a very short bus trip to Manuel Antonio.
Santa Teresa to San Juan del Sur
Check out our Route that explains how to do this journey. Santa Teresa to San Juan del Sur.
Santa Teresa to Monteverde
Check out our Route that explains how to do this journey. Santa Teresa to Monteverde
Santa Teresa to Montezuma
Check out our Route that explains how to do this journey. Santa Teresa to Montezuma
Santa Teresa -> Montezuma: ~1350₡ (via Cóbano ~1000₡+ 350₡), between 2-3hrs depending on connection in Cóbano. 2016 prices.
Cóbano Local Bus Schedule
- Cóbano to Santa Teresa/Mal Pais: 6:50am, 10:40am, 11:50am*, 2:40pm, 5:00pm, 7:40pm* (time table from info center in St. Teresa, June 2018)
- Santa Teresa/Mal Pais to Cóbano: 3:00am, 6:00am*, 8:00am, 10:00am, 12:00am, 2:00pm*, 4:00pm, 6:00pm, 8:00pm (time table from the local restaurant owner in St. Teresa, June 2018)
* connection with the direct bus to/from San José
*be on time. This bus starts from the far end of Santa Teresa and may take 5-20+minutes to reach you depending on where you are standing.
1000₡, 45 minutes
- Cóbano to Montezuma: 5:30am, 7:30am, 9:30am, 11:30am, 1:30pm, 3:30pm, 4:50pm, 7:45pm
- Montezuma to Cóbano: 6:20am, 8am, 10am, 12pm, 2:20pm, 4:15pm, 5:45pm, 8pm
400₡, 25 minutes *see photo of schedule below
- Paquera to Cobano: 6:15am, 8:15am, 10:30am, 12:30pm, 3:30pm, 4:15pm, 6:15pm
- Cobano to Paquera:4am, 6:45am, 10:30am, 12:30pm, 2:45pm, 4:30pm
1800₡, 1.5hrs *see photo of schedule below
Ferry
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 or 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.
Bicycles
We are told it is possible to take a bicycle with you. Both wheels need to be off and it costs 3000₡ (Jan 2018).
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!
Hi! Many-many-many thanks for this website! It is my bible to plan our trips from one city to another.
I am trying to figure out how to make the connexion between Santa Teresa and Jaco?
I assume we will spend the whole day jumping from one bus to another.. Has anyone ever done this journey? Could you please share your tips/best timing connexions?
Thanks again and you can count on me to share my tips when we’ll be back at end of August!
Hi Celine, sorry for the slow reply! There are many boats that go from Montezuma to Jaco each day, though I am late answering your questions so I am sure you already figure it out! The boat is more expensive than the bus but with the bus you need to go all the way back via the ferry and it takes quite a long time. But if you do it this way, you go back to Puntarenas and then grab one of the many buses heading to Jaco from there. We look forward to getting your travel tips in August!!
A few days ago we went from
Samara to Santa Teresa. It was more easy than we thought it would be.
We had the bus at 08.00 to Nicoya, and then straight away at 09.00 the bus to Playa Naranja (one of the ferry stops). There where taxi’s to take you to Paquera for 15000c (we were with the 3 of us so that makes it quite cheap and worth to take this route instead of going via Liberia: the taxi ride it is also very pretty!). At Paquera, our driver dropped us of in front of a (good) bakery, where the bus would stop to take us to Montezuma (we only had to wait 20 min). In Montezuma the bus to Santa Teresa was already there, and left 40 min later. Our busdriver stopped at the hostels everyone was staying at, so overall an oké journey! We arrived at 16.00 and the total cost per person was not even 10.000c (18 dollar, instead of 50 dollar for a shuttle).
Thank you, Annelien!
Hi!
I am travelling next week and will be arriving the 28 th june in San Jose at 11:30. I have contacted tropical tours shuttles and they say that the bus at 2 pm does leave now when it is low season and it needs more people. Are there other bus companies I can go with that leave at 2 pm?
And if not, does anyone have a nice hostel to recommend that I can stay a night in San Jose and the easily take the bus next morning? Which is closest?
Thanks! 🙂
Hi, hopefully you saw above that there are buses everyday twice a day to Santa Teresa! Tropical Tours is a shuttle service but the bus is much cheaper.
Hello,
last week we travelled on the Nicoya peninsula and as I got a lot of useful information here before our trip, I thought I will give you an update how buses and ferrys works now in June 2018. Our route was: San José => Paquera (spend a night) => Cobano => St. Teresa (few nights) => Cobáno => Montezuma (spend night) => San José.
Ferry:
– from Puntarenas to => Paquera: 5 am, 9 am, 11 am, 2 pm, 5 pm, 8:30 pm
– from Paquera to => Puntarenas: 5:30 am, 9 am, 11 am, 2 pm, 5 pm, 8 pm
– price ₡810
– takes approximately 1,5hour
Bus from San José to => Santa Teresa / Montezuma / Mal Pais:
– ₡7545! per person, the ferry is included!
– the buses are leaving the new 7-10 Terminal in San Jose at 6 am and 2 pm
– bus is nice, clean, air-condition and weak free wifi
– the bus at 6 am goes straight to the ferry and goes by the one at 9 am, bus driver will give you the ticket for the ferry, you have to leave the bus and enter by the ferry by foot, you enter the bus when the ferry ride ends in Paquera
– don’t know how it works from here because we left the bus and stayed in Paquera
Buses from Paquera ferry (Relleno) to => Cobano and the other way:
– ₡1325 per person
– time table can be found on the Transportes Cobano facebook page
– 1,5 hour ride because the bus stops a lot
Buses from Cobano to => Santa Teresa and the other way:
– ₡1000 per person
– this is not operated by Transportes Cobano!
– the bus stop is almost at the same place as you get out of the bus from Paquera
– Cobano => St. Teresa: 6:50am, 10:40am, 11:50am, 2:40pm, 5:00pm, 7:40pm (time table from info center in St. Teresa)
– St. Teresa => Cobano: 3:00am, 6:00am, 8:00am, 10:00am, 12:00am, 2:00pm, 4:00pm, 6:00pm, 8:00pm (time table from the local restaurant owner in St. Teresa)
– 1 hour ride because the road is pretty bad
Buses from Cobano to => Montezuma and back:
– ₡365 per person
– time table can be found on the Transportes Cobano facebook page
– 30 minut ride because the road is pretty bad
Bus from Montezuma to => San Jose:
– ₡7545! per person, the ferry is included!
– times: 6:30am and 2:30pm
– you can buy the ticket in Cobano office couple days before (recommended), because if you are leaving from Montezuma you just show the local bus driver this ticket and don’t pay anything. When you get out in Cobano you have to switch to the big and nice bus going straight to San José. If you don’t have the ticket, you have to go to the office and buy it (and the bus can get full easily). But the bus to San Jose is waiting if there are still people buying tickets, so you have some time but you cannot be sure if there is enough seats.
– bus goes to Paquera, the one that leaves Montezuma at 2:30pm goes by the ferry at 5pm, you are in San José around 9pm.
Bus from Santa Teresa to => San José:
– didn’t take this route
– you need the local buses from Santa Teresa to Cobano at 6am an 2pm (price is probably ₡1000 because it is different company)
– in Cobano you switch to the same bus as people going from Montezuma, you need to buy a ticket (₡7545! per person, the ferry is included!)
– then the ride is same as if you are going from Montezuma
Otherwise we liked Santa Teresa much more than Montezuma. Montezuma is small and more expensive than St. Teresa, where is more shops, restaurants, hotels/hostels and much bigger beach (Playa Carmen, Santa Terasa, Hermosa + Manzanillo = at least 5km of beach).
So hopefully this will help somebody. You can definitely find more information on the Transportes Cobano facebook page. But the buses are not usually going on time, the local ones are pretty bad, routes as well but still the buses on the Nicoya peninsula are one of the most expensive. So be there earlier, be prepared to wait and to pay a lot.
Bye Lukas
Thank you, Lukas for such a super comprehensive update! This will definitely help many people as this page is one of our post popular.
Thank you for the info,
I arrive at 16:00 hrs to San Jose airport, and my destination is Zeneida garden en Santa Teresa, what do you recommend me to do??
Hi Rodrigo, I recommend getting a hotel/hostel room in Alajuela and then taking the bus to Santa Teresa from Villa Bonita in the morning. https://centrocoasting.com/costarica/villa-bonita-station/
Hi, I just reserve 4 places on a bus from santa teresa to san jose. But in the email, it doesn’t say where we are taking the bus. Is there any precise location to go to take the bus in santa teresa? Because our Airbnb is on the main road in santa teresa, so do we just wait on the side of the road?
Hi Nicholas, yes you will just wait on the side of the road for the bus to pass. Santa Teresa is just one long road and the bus starts at one end and picks up everyone waiting that waves for the bus to stop along the way.
I am taking the direct bus from santa teresa to San Jose tomorrow. I will be staying in a hotel in alajuela (casa maki), is it possible to get out of the bus in alajuela somewhere where I can grab a taxi? (Traveling alone, I’d rather not go walking)
Hi, Hiske! Please see this page https://centrocoasting.com/costarica/villa-bonita-station/
Hi,
Im a little confused about the price. You’re all saying that its so expensive, but when I convert the 7320C into Euros, its about 10 euros? Sounds pretty cheap to me!!
Im I wrong with the conversion? Thanks!
Yes that is correct. Or about $16CAD or about $13USD. I am glad for you that you don’t find it cheap, not all shoestring budget backpackers do.