How to travel by bus from Puerto Jiménez to Quepos and/or Manuel Antonio (in Costa Rica)
We recently flew to Puerto Jiménez to could visit Corcovado National Park – the most biodiverse place in the world!
After flying in (with Sansa Air) and visiting Corcovado (with Selva Connections), we knew we’d need to make our way from Puerto Jiménez to Manuel Antonio…
Only to find the shuttle that we’d planned to use no longer runs on this route and there weren’t any other shared options!
We weren’t keen to pay USD380 +13% taxes for a private shuttle (USD429.40 in total, that’s insane for two of us!), so we started looking into the local bus – but we found a bit of conflicting information.
We’ve since completed our bus journey from Puerto Jiménez to Quepos (and on to Manuel Antonio), and it was super straightforward, so we’re here to help you make the same journey.
Background info: A few weeks earlier we decided to cancel our hire car due to the outrageous costs, opting instead to fly to Puerto Jiménez, and then use shuttles, buses and Ubers in Costa Rica.
The basics of bus travel from Puerto Jiménez to Quepos
Departure time: 5 am daily
Route: Puerto Jiménez to Quepos (outside the hospital) on the main bus.
Cost: ₡8,375 (USD17.80) each for the long-distance bus (which is the same price as if we were travelling all the way to SJO).
Walking to catch the bus at 4.40 am.
Purchase tickets:
There are a few ways to purchase tickets. This can be done in advance or on the morning of departure.
- In advance:
- Use the Passer app to purchase tickets in advance online. This didn’t work for us, as we couldn’t verify our phone numbers, but it might for you.
- Visit the bus station before your trip to purchase tickets. You’ll find the ticket counter down the driveway and to the left. It’s generally open from 5 am until 5 pm, but hours can vary so it’s best to get there before 4 pm if possible. We did this, purchasing our tickets the afternoon prior.
- On the day:
- Buy tickets in person, either from the ticket counter, or from the bus driver on board. Our accommodation provider said tickets rarely sell out and that purchasing them on the morning is normally a safe bet. Get there no later than 4.45 am if you plan to do this.
Where to meet: The Puerto Jiménez bus station. It’s easy to walk to from most parts of town (and we had no issues doing so very early in the morning).
On the bus: When you get on board, you could say “Ayuda por favor. Termina en Quepos”.
This asks your driver to help by telling you when you need to get off in Quepos. If you follow along in Google Maps, you can’t miss it though.
As a long-distance bus, the journey is relatively slow. It stops and starts at will as lots of locals use the service to travel shorter distances.
You’ll stop at a local soda (restaurant) about halfway through the trip to purchase food and to use the bathroom.
And, after approximately 5 hours, you’ll find yourself being dropped in Quepos, right outside the hospital.
Did you know? Some of the Facebook Groups we follow and some of the websites we read talked about needing to transfer buses in Palmar Norte. If you follow our instructions above, you will not need to do that. You’ll find the bus right through to Quepos, then connect easily to Manuel Antonio if required.
How to get from Quepos Hospital to the centre of Quepos or Manuel Antonio
From the Quepos Hospital, you have two options to get to the centre of Quepos:
- Uber (₡1,876.16 in total = USD4)
- Taxi (we were quoted ₡3,000, so we took an Uber instead)
If you’re continuing on to Manuel Antonio you can:
- Use an Uber or taxi to get to the Quepos bus station, then connect with the public bus to Manuel Antonio village (₡370 each = USD0.78, whatever distance you’re travelling). This is what we did.
- Use an Uber or taxi to go all the way to your accommodation in Manuel Antonio.
The bus requires payment in cash on board, accepting both Costa Rican colones and US dollars. Change is given if required.
It’s very easy to use, even without knowing any Spanish.
We just kept an eye on Google Maps to estimate where we needed to get off in relation to our accommodation (and it worked well – it’s never long between stops on this bus.)
And there you have it, our tried-and-tested way to travel affordably from Puerto Jiménez to Manuel Antonio.
We did it all for USD41.16, instead of USD429.40…
A massive saving of USD388.24.
And if we can do it with fairly limited Spanish, you can too!