Bus travel in and out of Uvita is pretty straightforward and there are a ton of buses passing through this town.
Uvita to Dominical
Several buses back and forth every day for Dominical. Have a look at the schedule below. The trip takes about 20 minutes and the buses these days are quite comfortable! You grab the bus from the side of the road at one of the bus stops. There is one obvious bus stop right across from the Tracopa station and the tourist information centre. If you are looking for things to do in the area check out this awesome hike to the Nauyaca Waterfalls. Lots of fun things to do!
Uvita to San José
In Uvita there is a nice, big, clean and comfortable Tracopa bus station for buses heading to San José – Tracopa Terminal. The terminal in Uvita has great bathrooms and pretty good food too. A photo of the schedules are posted below with show all of the times when the bus passes Uvita going north or going south. You can find the schedule posted right where you purchase your tickets. Uvita to San José : 6290₡ (April 2019), 5hrs.
San José to Uvita: There are several buses everyday day to/from the Tracopa in station in San José that pass through Uvita. Look at the photos below to find the schedule showing all of the bus routes that pass through Uvita. You can double check the schedule and price on the Tracopa website as well. Note that the Tracopa website is pretty limited in function and if you search San Jose –Uvita you will only see two direct options come up, 5:30am and 3pm. As mentioned there are many more than this and you can find them in the photo of the schedule below.
Uvita to SJO Airport
Two buses per day take a different route and go past the airport. They depart Uvita at 5:30am and 1pm. I would recommend double checking this with the information center if you can (located just a few doors down from the station). This information is posted in one of the photos below. The bus is a slower ‘collectivo’ and you get it from across the street from the bus station. Make sure you tell the driver you need to get off at the airport.
Uvita to Quepos
If you are heading by local bus from Uvita towards Ciudad Neily or from Uvita to Quepos then you can find covered bus stops right on the main road. There is one bus stop directly across from the Tracopa Station for buses heading north, as well as another bus stop next to the Hertz car rental office for buses heading south. Have a look at the map as these stops are indicated there for you. Quepos to Uvita: See photo of schedule below. Price is 1700₡ (Jan 2019) . Trip takes about 2hrs.
Uvita to Jacó
Going from Uvita to Jacó? You can take the bus Tracopa to San José if you like. But be aware that they will charge you full fare and drop you on the side of the highway in front of a large Pali supermarket – not in the town of Jacó. From the highway you can take a taxi to town or walk – it’s about 25 minutes. The plus side to this trip is that the Tracopa bus is quick and you will arrive in Jacó faster than if you had just taken the regular bus.
Other option – go to Quepos and switch to bus to Jacó.
Tourist information centre
Next to the Tracopa station is the tourist information centre where you can find local bus schedules. If you are looking for things to do in the area check out this awesome hike to the Nauyaca Waterfalls. Lots of fun things to do!
Uvita to Puerto Jimenez
Thanks to Callum for this info:
5am Uvita to Chacarita (or 4.45am from Dominical) – 2 hours
8am Chacarita – Puerto Jiménez – 2 hours
Catch from bus stop/shelter next to gas station along the T road (not the main highway you were just on).
Uvita to Cataratas Nauyaca Waterfalls
Thanks to Callum again for this one:
“It’s bit difficult, it just requires early starts which is actually pretty good given how hot it gets quickly.
Getting out there was easy. From Uvita, you can simply catch the 6AM bus headed to San Isidro and get off at the Nauyaca Office-driver will know where. Then simply walk in. Took us about 1hr 15 to hike in as wasn’t difficult at all. From Domical, the same bus that goes through Uvita stops in Dominical at around 6.30AM. Getting back is a little more work. Firstly the hike is a little harder as we came back around 11 o’clock and although it took the same amount of time (most of the way back is down hill), the last section (about 1.5km) is uphill, rather steep and rather sweaty! But the 11.30AM bus that leaves San Isidro, should pass by the Nauyaca office around 12pm and get you in to Dominical at 12.15pm. But it continues on to Quepos. If you need to get back to Uvita, there is a 12.30pm Bus from Dominical. For us, this Uvita bound bus did actually wait for our Quepos bound bus which was running about 25 minutes late and didn’t get us in to Dominical until 12.40. I don’t know if this is the norm but it worked out for us. Alternatively, you can spend all day at the falls and then be back out on the highway opposite the Nauyaca office at around 3.50pm to go back to Quepos (via Dominical) or 4.20 to go back to Uvita (via Dominical). Hope this helps come people out there because most other people at the falls had cars, but it is definitely doable by bus. This is all outlined on the timetable, but thought I’d step it out for some of your users.”
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!
Also for travelling on west coast Monkey Ride Bus is very convenient with small semi-private buses. http://www.MonkeyRideCR.com
As there is a bus from Uvita to SJO airport, I’m wondering if there are busses FROM SJO Aiport to Uvita – and the place to catch them and the times.
This will mean I could stay at a nearby hostel when I arrive late at night, instead of going into town.
Thanks very much, Ali
Trying to go from La Fortuna to Uvita on June 19. any help? I am trying to take the earliest available route but I am having a difficult time understanding the photos taken. Also, how long is this trip via bus? can not afford to get a $200+ shuttle so the bus is our primary option.
I traveled today (Tuesday, 4. June 2019) from Bahia in Uvita (bus stop at the main road) to Puerto Jiminez (main bus station).
Times and ticket prices were as follows:
Hostel told me that the bus was supposed to come at 8:30 am and to be there 10 minutes earlier.
Bus with sign saying “Ciudad Neily” picked me up at 8:53 at the bus stop on the main road (close to the “Mystic Sushi” place) and I paid 1900 Costa Rican Colones (about 3 USD) for the trip to the “Estacion de servicio Chacarita” where I had to change bus.
I arrived at Chacarita at 11:00 am and asked locals there about the bus to Puerto Jimenez. They told me the bus would be there at 2 to 2:30 pm and to wait at the small leaf/plastic covered bus stop next to the gas station. The gas station has a decent shop and there are also restaurants around.
The bus with a sign saying “Puerto Jiminez” arrived at 2:49 pm and the journey to Puerto Jiminez cost 3000 Costa Rican Colones (about 5 USD) and I arrived at the main bus station in Puerto Jimenez at 4:27pm.
The first bus to Chacarita was very crowded and not air conditioned while the second bus to Puerto Jimenez was nearly empty and nicely air conditioned.
Luggage was taken on the bus and put under seats etc.
Hope this helps future travellers 😉
I have an updated schedule and price list for SJ-uvita and uvita-SJ. Times are all the same but prices now range from C6290-C12600. I have a pic (taken today) I can send to you if you let me know how 🙂
Hey, we will Go from quepos to Puerto Jimenez. Seems Like it is Not possible in one day?
Hey! sorry to be slow, that’s a route we haven’t done, but must be a long one! How did the trip go? Can you tell us about it? I am assuming you would go to Chacarita to catch the bus headed to Puerto Jimenez? The posted schedule above shows a bus headed there via Uvita at 8:30am, 2pm, 5pm and 6pm! Let us know!! 🙂
When taking the bus from Uvita to San Jose – el Collectivo for the airport – it arrived at 5:45 am rather than 5:30 am. (I got to the bus stop at 5:35 am and I thought I’d missed it , but when I asked a few local individuals, they said it would come around 5:45 am, and sure enough, it did.) This was on a Sunday morning , end of March 2019.
Thanks for the info! And yes, anyone using this site should always remember that you’re in Costa Rica and the schedule may not always be precise! A good reminder to readers. It gets better every year. For example 7yrs ago, you didn’t even know if a bus was going to come at all in some towns. 🙂
Hi, do you need to book in advance or can you just turn up and catch a coach?