The main bus stop is in front of the Market (see map and photos) and leaves basically every hour. There are several different buses that do the loop to Rivas and back and some are nicer than others.
Rivas to San Juan del Sur
5am, 5:45am, 6:30am, 7am, 8am, 8:25am, 9am, 9:30am, 10am, 10:45, 11:30am, 12:10pm, 1pm, 2:20pm, 3:20pm, 5pm, 30C$, about 45minutes
Rivas to San Juan del Sur: Every half hour. Takes about 45mins and costs 30C$. Last one 5:30pm.
Peñas Blancas to San Juan del Sur
From Peñas Blancas, grab one of the many buses heading to Rivas and ask to be let off in La Virgin, this used to cost 30$C (Dec 2018). From here you can get another bus for 20C$ to San Juan del Sur. This is a very common spot for both travellers and locals to get off. You then need to cross the street and walk about 50meters down the road that branches off of the highway. You will come across a nice covered bus stop. Wait there for your bus to San Juan del Sur. (see photos) If you don’t want to get off in La Virgin, you can go all the way to Rivas, and switch to the SJDS bus.
San Juan del Sur to Peñas Blancas
If you are heading to Peñas Blancas you can get off at the highway junction mentioned above and then wait for the bus heading to the border. The only drawback to waiting on the highway, as opposed to heading all the way to Rivas and taking the bus from there, is that by the time in reaches you on the highway you may not get a seat. But, fear not, the trip is only about 25minutes from this spot.
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!
You don’t need to pass by Rivas to get to Costa Rica. Just ask the Rivas bus to drop you at La Virgen (15 cords). Then wait at the bus stop in the triangle for the bus to Peñas Blancas (30 cords). Likely it’ll be very full.
Probably best to change money before this because although money changers at the border are legit, the rate is pretty bad. Or make sure you won’t have much left (spend it on overpriced border market snacks). The $1 municipality fee can be paid in cordobas, but the $2 exit fee cannot.
HOW CAN I GO FROM GRANADA TO SAN JUAN DEL SUR
We took a bus from Las penas to La virgen and we had one backpack and a bag each and we had to pay 3 dollars each. Even the guy outside the bus saying it is 1 dollar each.
From La virgen to SJDS we payed 1 dollar each
Looking to get a shuttle from Monteverde to San Juan del Sur tomorrow morning if possible
Hello love your website such great information. We just took a bus from Managua to San jorge on the 22/1/19.
We are travelling with two 55l backpacks and two surfboards. All luggage went up top. A man came straight on bus and demanded 40usd. We said no and he continued to Hassel us up in our personal space. I asked the local beside me how much the ticket be he said 80 cordobas each to rivas. We paid him 500 Cordobas and asked for change. He refused to give us change and demanded more money we refused. We continued to ask for our change but refused and then walked off. We could not leave the bus as all our stuff was strapped up top. When the actual ticket man came around a few minutes into the journey we explained what happened and he said it was for the surfboards which is ridiculous. Turns out the bus only went to rivas anyway not even San Jorge. To sum up we paid 500 cordobas for a trip that should of cost 180. Have change and no the fair we will be ready next time. Real bummer.
Hi Niamh! thanks for all the info.
Never pay anything until the bus is moving. I watched those guys scam so many gringos at Rivas. They’re all colluding and working together to give you disinformation. The locals could careless and don’t get involved or they don’t speak enough English to intervene. Luckily l, i only had to pay $50 cords from Managua and $30 from Rivas to SJDS.
Updated price 19 dec:
Peñas Blancas – Rivas = C$ 40
Peñas Blancas – La Virgen = C$ 30
La Virgen – San Juan del Sur = C$ 20
Hi. In about a week’s time we want to get from Bluefields to San Carlos. So two questions: one, can we get a lancha from blue fields to El Rama, and two, can we get a bus from El Rama to San Carlos. We know we can go to Managua from Blue fields ( where most of the information lies) but we want to get from here to Costa Rica without having to go back to Managua because I don’t know if my nose or my heart can take it again.
If anybody knows where I can find times for the buses connecting between El Rama and San Carlos, it would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Jamie, sorry I didn’t get a chance to reply in time, can you share your experience here so other travellers can benefit. I’d love to know what you did in the end 🙂
We took a bus from Rivas to SJDS the other day. The trip took almost 2 hours as we didn’t go through La Virgen but took the dirt road!
Costed C25 each…
Wow, that’s a pretty long trip! Is there some construction on the main road? Did you find out why it was so long?
No, there was no construction going on, but it was simply a very slow and bumpy ride…
I Guess the take away here is to ask what road is the bus going to take at the Rivas bus terminal. This is the same bus you can take from SJDS to go to madera beach, and that continues to Rivas (I think), just that we took it in the opposite direction 🙂
By the way, when leaving SJDS we hopped on the empty bus and the guy came collecting the cash (prior from leaving) asking additional C20 for our two backpacks. We declined and got off the bus (he rudely said that if I didn’t pay I should look for another bus). Once the bus was filling up, we jumped on again and took our seats (as it was semana Santa weekend it was packed with people and all sort of stuff from pillows, mattresses etc.). Anyways, when the same guy came collecting the cash later on, I simply passed the value of the fare and nothing additional for the luggage and no questions asked.