Tamarindo To Santa Elena
When Nini arrived at Tamarindo from Santa Elena / Monteverde, she recounted the difficulties of the trip since there was no direct service. So I had an idea what I would encounter during the reverse trip. The route I took was Tamarindo - Liberia - Cañas - Tilarán - Santa Elena. Notes and some recommendations:
Tamarindo to Liberia - Take the earliest bus. It leaves at about 5 or 5:30am. Any later and you will miss the connecting bus in Tilaran like I did.
Liberia to Cañas - It's easy to find a bus to Cañas from the Liberia terminal as they are very frequent. But ask if they stop at the Cañas terminal or you might just go straight through the little town. My bus dropped me off about two blocks from the terminal, which was not easy to find since the streets were fairly deserted and there was no one to ask directions from.
Also, Cañas is a bit dodgy, evidenced by my experience in being chatted up by some scary looking guy who looked like he just escaped from prison, having served time for a gang-related murder while dealing drugs. I got a free ice cream out of that encounter, though I had to endure nearly two hours of awkward conversation, some of it involving having to turn down meeting his grandmother.
Tilarán to Santa Elena / Monteverde - There is only one daily bus to Santa Elena, and it leaves at 12:30, arriving at about 3pm. This is why it is important to get the earliest bus from Tamarindo. If you missed the bus, there is accommodation available a few blocks away from the terminal, around the main plaza. I stayed at Mary's which was fine for a night, since I had cable tv.
A probably better route would have been to go via Puntarenas to avoid hanging around Cañas, and though a little out of the way, there are more connecting buses onward to Santa Elena. You might even be able to catch a later bus in Tamarindo, but don't quote me on that. Tamarindo - Liberia - Puntarenas (via Cañas) - Santa Elena. I took this route in reverse back to Liberia on my way to Nicaragua. Just note that the bus stops to/from Liberia and Santa Elena in Puntarenas are not located in the terminal. The ones headed for Santa Elena are beachfront.
Tamarindo to Liberia - Take the earliest bus. It leaves at about 5 or 5:30am. Any later and you will miss the connecting bus in Tilaran like I did.
Liberia to Cañas - It's easy to find a bus to Cañas from the Liberia terminal as they are very frequent. But ask if they stop at the Cañas terminal or you might just go straight through the little town. My bus dropped me off about two blocks from the terminal, which was not easy to find since the streets were fairly deserted and there was no one to ask directions from.
Also, Cañas is a bit dodgy, evidenced by my experience in being chatted up by some scary looking guy who looked like he just escaped from prison, having served time for a gang-related murder while dealing drugs. I got a free ice cream out of that encounter, though I had to endure nearly two hours of awkward conversation, some of it involving having to turn down meeting his grandmother.
Tilarán to Santa Elena / Monteverde - There is only one daily bus to Santa Elena, and it leaves at 12:30, arriving at about 3pm. This is why it is important to get the earliest bus from Tamarindo. If you missed the bus, there is accommodation available a few blocks away from the terminal, around the main plaza. I stayed at Mary's which was fine for a night, since I had cable tv.
A probably better route would have been to go via Puntarenas to avoid hanging around Cañas, and though a little out of the way, there are more connecting buses onward to Santa Elena. You might even be able to catch a later bus in Tamarindo, but don't quote me on that. Tamarindo - Liberia - Puntarenas (via Cañas) - Santa Elena. I took this route in reverse back to Liberia on my way to Nicaragua. Just note that the bus stops to/from Liberia and Santa Elena in Puntarenas are not located in the terminal. The ones headed for Santa Elena are beachfront.
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