Waiting for Sunrise in the Bus Station - San Jose

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Geo: 9.93, -84.08


Laura:
Got up
at 4 am ,and took a quick shower . Alonso had coffee waiting and some food but neither of was hungry. Alonso had called the station the night before for tims drove us in the dark down the
winding streets into San Jose and to the station in the dark to avoid San Jose Traffic and get us in line for tickets with time to spare..

Very interesting to
see the Tico's up early and walking for exercise along our route.

Passed
a few people sleeping on the side walk along the route near downtown so
that raised our level of concern but teh station had a rope across the
drive and looked pretty safe. As Alonso dropped us off a guard or a taxi
driver, we could not tell which, pointed the way toward the ticketing
area.

The ticketing office was not for our bus, however.

In a location close by though We
saw an a guy with a backpack and surfboard standing around, and signs in English that said to pay the driver. There were also other
foreign travelers in line so we figured that this was indeed the place.

In about a half
hour the bus arrived, gave us receipts for our bags, and we were off on
our bus-ferry-bus-bus trip to Montezuma ! All for $15 per person !

We left about 6:10 a.m. and headed out. The bus stopped at the place where we have caught it on the highway and took on some more passengers. It was a very uneventful ride and was still cool enough that we were gently swayed to sleep as we rode along.

Got to the port city of Puntarenas around 8:30 a.m. We did not realize until we were looking at a map that it is on a narrow spit of land out in to the Golfo de Nicoya. The bus stops before it gets on the ferry and we all unload and are given a ticket to get on the ferry. The first time we took this trip we thought we were going to have to unload all our luggage but this is one of the nice things about this process is you do not have to unload things at that point.

We were able to find seats on the outside in the shade and settled in the enjoy the ride. There was a couple from the Netherlands that came on board and we had pleasant conversation with them about Montezuma as they were going there for the first time.

The ferry ride takes about 70 minutes and we have never experienced anything but calm weather on the crossing. There is a snack bar inside along with air-conditioning and nonstop TV for those who would prefer that.

By the time we docked in Paquero it was about 10:15 a.m. and we had to wait for the bus to get off the ferry and get us all loaded back on. And off we went to Cobano around 10:45 a.m. We were about 36 km to Cobano I believe. It was hot as we took off but cooled down once we got moving. Made it into Cobana and got our luggage unloaded and then the bus to Montezuma arrived. As you get off the direct bus they give you another ticket to let you get on the bus from Cobano to Montezuma. Think this was the bus that left from the ferry landing because it arrived shortly after the direct bus did.

Got our luggage and loaded it on the local bus to Montezuma. It was very crowded with lots of people standing in the aisles. We were the last two people to get on and a kind soul gave up their seat for me to sit down. We asked the bus driver to stop and let us off at Luna Llena but he did not want to stop on the steep incline.l This was the first time this has happened to us and we were hot and fussy and were not at all happy. Got to the regular bus stop and unloaded and fortunately we found a taxi driver that was willing to take up back up the hill to Luna Llena. Got to Luna Llena about 12:30 and started the process of getting everything to our room.

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Here's some info from http://www.nicoyapeninsula.com/general/busses.php

Be sure to call first for current schedule !!!!
Mal Pais, Santa Teresa and Montezuma:
Transportes Cóbano, Tel. [phone] and 2221 7479

Bus Terminal in San José: Atlántico Norte (also called San Carlos) Calle 12 Av. 7 - 9

Travel Time: 5.5 hrs. until Montezuma / Mal Pais / Santa Teresa

1 hour travel time is spent on the ferry crossing the Gulf of Nicoya

Cost: $ 14 (plus ferry ticket: $ 1.40)

From To every day Mal Pais/St Teresa San José 6:00 a.m. / 2:00 p.m Montezuma San José 6:00 a.m. / 2:00 p.m Cobano San José 7:00 a.m. / 3:00 p.m San José Mal Pais/St Teresa
Montezuma
Cobano 6:00 a.m. / 2:00 p.m
Waiting for Sunrise in the Bus Station in San Jose

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