Taxi
At the exit of Juan Santamaria International Airport you will find several taxi drivers urging you to get into their taxi. Only orange taxis in partnership with the Airport are authorized to park and offer their services within the airport. National taxis are red and less expensive. You will find them located on the street behind the parking lot.
Partner taxis at Juan Santamaria International Airport :
Coopetranstura RL (+506) 8475 3639
Gorila Taxi Aeropuerto (+506) 8888 0745
Taxicab (+506) 8366 4988
Taxis Unidos (+506) 8479 5353
Orange Taxi (+506) 8475 8585
Partner taxis at Daniel-Oduber-Quirós Airport :
Taxilir Liberia (+506) 8355 1904
Taxi Asociacioon Curubande (+506) 8449 9997
National Taxis
The taxi is a means of transport often used by Costa Ricans who sometimes hire the driver for the day. Taxis are more expensive in San José and near tourist destinations than in the rest of the country.
An official Costa Rican taxi is red with a yellow triangle on the door and a lantern attached to the top. Ask the driver to restart the meter before starting the vehicle because it must display the minimum fee sum.
Do not get into a non-registered vehicle, as you will not be insured in the event of an accident.
Shuttles (Minibus)
A large number of minibuses make shuttles between Daniel-Oduber-Quirós International Airport in Liberia and tourist destinations or luxury hotels in the region.
Other minibus services are available from Juan Santamaria or San José International Airport, but they are intended for private customers with reservations, casinos, the convention center or luxury hotels in the capital.
If your trip is organized by an agency, the rental of a minibus including a driver is common.
Renting a minibus and a driver is a great option if you are traveling in a group of more than 4 people and do not want to drive.
Bus
Bus from Juan Santamaria International Airport:
In the street behind the parking lot of Juan Santamaria International Airport you will also find bus stops used by the company Transportes Unidos Alajualenses TUASA.
Their bus is red and travels between 4:30 a.m. and 11 p.m.
To Alajuela it costs approx. ¢ 540 and it takes the bus 15 minutes to arrive to it’s destination.
To Heredia it costs approx. ¢ 665 and it takes the bus 40 minutes to arrive to it’s destination.
To San José it costs approx. ¢ 665 and it takes the bus 35 minutes to arrive to it’s destination.
Buses to Guanacaste and Puntarenas beaches also stop at Juan Santamaria International Airport.
Bus from Daniel-Oduber-Quirós International Airport :
At Daniel-Oduber-Quirós International Airport a bus on route 21 will stop every half hour. It will be either the Pulmitan Liberia-Aeropuerto-Liberia or Transporte la Pampa ruta Liberia-Nicoya-Liberia city bus.
The bus service runs between 5 a.m. and 11 p.m. and will cost approx. ¢ 540.
Bus connecting all destinations:
Knowing which bus to take is unfortunately not so simple, because the bus network in Costa Rica is shared by a large number of companies which concentrate their journeys on a few regions, cantons, or roads.
If you want to do all of your trips by bus, you will have to study in detail the terminals, destinations, and timetables listed on the following websites.
If a destination or timetable is not indicated then it does not exist, and an alternative solution should be considered.
The most common bus network website in Costa Rica is Yo Viajo CR
Another useful website including travel by bus, train, and/or airplane is Rome2rio
Uber in Costa Rica
UBER offers a good service in Costa Rica.
Train in Costa Rica
Prices – Service – Stations
The Costa Rica Railway, called the Jungle Train, passes through tropical green and humid forests, then banana plantations as far as the eye can see. It connects the Central Valley of the country to the Pacific port of Caldera in Puntarenas and to the Caribbean ports of Limón and Moin.
Low speed trains in Costa Rica cause few fatal accidents.
There are no barriers or lights at level crossings; only a warning sign. Train horns are used to warn of the arrival of the train at each crossing.
1871 – Construction begins with immigrant labor from Jamaica and China supervised by American and German investors and engineers.
1910 – The first locomotives are put into operation on 166 km of network.
1950 – Maintenance of the rail network by a migrant workforce from Italy
1991 – On April 22, an earthquake seriously damaged and definitively rendered out of service the portion of the network connecting Turrialba and Limon.
1995 – A decree stopped the portion of the network connecting Puntarenas due to financial losses encountered by the administration in charge of operating the lines.
2014 – Urban passenger services were reintroduced between San José, Heredia, Cartago, San Pedro, Curridabat, Belen, and Pavas.
2017 – Urban passenger services are reintroduced from Heredia to Alajuela.
2019 – Rail service restoration project was begun between Puntarenas and Alajuela.
Project to build a new rail and electric freight train between the province of Limon and Heredia.
Private rails
At the Los Héroes hotel in Nuevo Arenal, canton of Tilarán, a Swiss hotelier has built a mountain railway for the customers of his panoramic restaurant, Pequeña Helvecia (Little Switzerland). Commissioned in 2000 as a tourist attraction under the name of “Tren Turistico Arenal”, it is 2,2 miles long.
At the Castillo Country Club in San Rafael de Heredia a small 0,7 miles loop railway has been operated by Pacific rail engineers and is used only for the entertainment of club members.
