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Topic Title: yet another Costa Rica question :-)
Topic Summary: this time about shuttle services? ..........
Created On: 04/07/2015 11:06 AM
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 04/07/2015 11:06 AM
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KP

Posts: 3884
Joined Forum: 07/28/2006

Looking at getting from San Jose to where a friend lives in Samara.

Anybody have experience using shuttle services?

With my wife so not so sure about how a bus would go over. (Unless it is something decent)

Thanks in advance for info.!



(Did not find anything in recent forum searches)


--not sure if I will have time but would love to hook into a snook while there

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Time and tide wait for no one.....

Edited: 05/24/2015 at 11:22 AM by KP
 04/07/2015 11:46 AM
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spindlebeak

Posts: 164
Joined Forum: 10/30/2008

A good friend of mine owns a transfer service.  Tougher (more expensive) to get one from San Jose up to Guanacaste.  His usual runs are San Jose to Jaco area, then tourism trips but I know he goes up there as well.  Good guy, from Ventura, CA but now dual citizen and, obviously, fluent in both languages.  Shoot him a message if you want...

www.adrianincostarica.com

adrian@adrianincostarica.com

 04/07/2015 11:51 AM
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meaty

Posts: 37
Joined Forum: 08/13/2009

Have worked with him several times...good dude.

 04/08/2015 11:50 AM
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havanabama

Posts: 3719
Joined Forum: 07/23/2003

Interbus

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Ah, religion, bigotry dressed up as morality.
 04/09/2015 10:20 AM
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KP

Posts: 3884
Joined Forum: 07/28/2006

Thanks
-sent email to Adrian.
-I saw interbus website early in my search. Any experiences you can share?

Thanks all

-------------------------
Time and tide wait for no one.....
 04/09/2015 11:31 AM
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havanabama

Posts: 3719
Joined Forum: 07/23/2003

Sure, they are excellent and run all over the place, AC mini buses. That's how I'd go if I didn't rent a car.

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Ah, religion, bigotry dressed up as morality.
 04/09/2015 03:15 PM
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oldsufr3

Posts: 984
Joined Forum: 08/10/2003

Got a SUV added to a flight on Expedia for $400 for a week. Do much down time without one. Leaving tomorrow .....woot

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Need more water time. Plenty of time left to make $$
 04/10/2015 01:56 PM
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surferchris

Posts: 90
Joined Forum: 08/17/2003

I live here in Costa Rica. I think interbus or private transport would be your most comfortable and stress free options. I know a guy here with a transport business as well, maybe you can compare rates. Pura Vida Transport Also the public bus really isn't a bad option. I regularly travel all over the country and use public bus to do so. The ones that would go from San Jose to Samara are inexpensive and larger greyhound style buses. They will be your least expensive option, but time is money on a vacation and they are not the fastest way of travel here.

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when i think of something good. ill put it here
 04/14/2015 09:03 AM
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KP

Posts: 3884
Joined Forum: 07/28/2006

Thanks all
I'll try to report back with what we decide and how it was.
Still checking around with the locals for the best rate/reliability.

once we get there driving is not an issue. He has a sweet Land Rover.

-------------------------
Time and tide wait for no one.....

Edited: 04/15/2015 at 11:39 AM by KP
 04/15/2015 11:24 AM
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KP

Posts: 3884
Joined Forum: 07/28/2006

I can see Samara is in between the well known spots to the north and south. I was wondering if anybody was willing to PM me any spots they have found fun around that area????? :-)

-------------------------
Time and tide wait for no one.....
 04/15/2015 12:35 PM
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HBrandNSB

Posts: 2300
Joined Forum: 03/16/2004

Theres actually a reef at the western entrance of the bay at Samara that can get pretty fun. I paddled from the shore, but its a looooong and sketchy paddle. I should have found a boat....lol.
 04/30/2015 01:49 PM
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mdsurf

Posts: 430
Joined Forum: 09/27/2009

Just got back from Costa Rica and surfing in Nosara.  Head High to Oh everyday.  Beautful and hot.  new highway saves some time.  Food is more expensive now.  Car and Insurance is expensive.

 

Warning**** Don't take anyting to Costa Rica you value.  We got Burglarize the first night.  Stole everything but our board shorts and boards.  Lost Laptops, Ipads, passports, $1000 cash, Nikes, Maui Jims, Ipod mini, Ipod shuffle, camaeras....

Checked into a house that had 9 houses in complex and security and uppacked and went to dinner after a long day of travel only to get back in an hour to find all stolen.  As*holes knew we checked in and went to dinner.  Rental car and four boards checking in a dark gave it away.  I think it was the security guard and the police.  They entered thru the back door and ransacked all four rooms and took each of our pack packs and filled them with anything of value.  They even stole the house safe out of the concrete wall.

 

Sucks toads.  Been to Costa Rica many times and this is the first time to get Robbed or Burglarized.  I guess I ran out of good luck with that.

 04/30/2015 01:53 PM
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dropsolo

Posts: 1840
Joined Forum: 07/24/2003

If you want your wife to go back to Costa Rica. You'll keep her off the buses.

Rent a car or get a shuttle.

We did the buses when we were all single and on a shoestring budget.

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 04/30/2015 02:57 PM
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LBLarry

Posts: 4716
Joined Forum: 05/25/2004

Originally posted by: mdsurf

Just got back from Costa Rica and surfing in Nosara.  Head High to Oh everyday.  Beautful and hot.  new highway saves some time.  Food is more expensive now.  Car and Insurance is expensive.




 




Warning**** Don't take anyting to Costa Rica you value.  We got Burglarize the first night.  Stole everything but our board shorts and boards.  Lost Laptops, Ipads, passports, $1000 cash, Nikes, Maui Jims, Ipod mini, Ipod shuffle, camaeras....




Checked into a house that had 9 houses in complex and security and uppacked and went to dinner after a long day of travel only to get back in an hour to find all stolen.  As*holes knew we checked in and went to dinner.  Rental car and four boards checking in a dark gave it away.  I think it was the security guard and the police.  They entered thru the back door and ransacked all four rooms and took each of our pack packs and filled them with anything of value.  They even stole the house safe out of the concrete wall.




 




Sucks toads.  Been to Costa Rica many times and this is the first time to get Robbed or Burglarized.  I guess I ran out of good luck with that.



CR has been paradise lost for 10 years + IMO ..... thankful I made 40+ trips there between 1982 & 2002.

Damn it was a great place in the 80's & early 90's. Had a friend that lived in Nosara that use to call us (from the ONLY phone out there, at The Gilded Iguana) and beg us to come down, just so he would have someone to surf with.

Back then, robbery (outside of San Jose, and not very prevalent there either) was not only rare .... it is VERY looked down on by the Tico locals. The wanted the $$$$ that visiting surfers brought out to the jungle.



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"Most people would die sooner than think; in fact, they do." - Bertrand Russell


"Morality is doing what is right, regardless of what you are told. Religion is doing what you are told, regardless of what is right.


If I do not answer you .... nothing personal, I just have you on ignore.
 04/30/2015 03:40 PM
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mdsurf

Posts: 430
Joined Forum: 09/27/2009

LB, you are correct.  I have been 56 times and had fun.  57t time found Crowds, car and insurance prices sky high, and high food costs and robbery and burglary are the norm now.  Not the old CR I used to love.  The waves are still there...sad.

Had to surf a 5am first light to get a good two hour session in beore the crowds mad it difficult to have fun on a wave without someone dropping in on you or in the way looking at you with deer in the headlight eyes.

One good experience was giving my snorkel gear away to a poor CR family.  They were blown away by the generosity and responded in kind with a cold imperial tall boy.

 

 05/01/2015 05:05 AM
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mike5581

Posts: 64
Joined Forum: 09/30/2003

KP, if you're taking your wife, one really good option would be to take a shuttle flight from San Jose to Nosara, 1 hour long, then take a short taxi ride to the Guiones area and rent a car, (you'll be about 45 min ride from Samara). The bus ride from San Jose is fairly brutal, 6-7 hours, so I would not recommend it for your wife. Shuttle/taxi is 6 hours, a little better. Samara is a cool little town but not a surf spot, so you will need a car to get to the surf. It is also very small so you will run out of things to do quickly. One of the best surfing spots in CR is about 30 minutes South of Samara, named Camaronal, don't miss it. it can be tricky to find, but there are some signs. It's off of a dirt road, used to be a cow pasture but it is now a nature preserve/park area. It is also one of the last fairly empty spots in CR, which is rare. North of you is Guiones, crowded but nice big waves. Of course if you take the shuttle flight you will need to rent your board, which is actually extremely convenient these days. Have a great trip!
 05/01/2015 06:55 AM
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3rdworldlover

Posts: 22496
Joined Forum: 07/25/2003

I caught Samara chest-head high, lined-up and empty. I maybe was lucky to catch it with the right swell direction and tide. As I drove north, somewhere between there and Nosara, found a rocky beach break left with 3 locals out, no name spot, visible from the road. Still plenty of empty spots to explore in CR.

 05/01/2015 10:34 AM
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KP

Posts: 3884
Joined Forum: 07/28/2006

Thanks fellas! Locked and loaded. Got Some local input to andTaking a shuttle "qualitytransfercr" to friends in samara and we are good from there.

@mike5581 my friend there just got a dog and one of the names they may call it is cammy, since that is his favorite spot.

We may head south to Santa Teresa area.




-------------------------
Time and tide wait for no one.....
 05/02/2015 04:00 AM
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rjbeavis

Posts: 157
Joined Forum: 04/21/2006

md, that sucks and sorry to hear about that. In terms of the shuttles down there. Do they allow you to take boards and if so, can they takes longboards on the shuttles/buses.
 05/24/2015 11:05 AM
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KP

Posts: 3884
Joined Forum: 07/28/2006

forgot to report back.....
I did not end up using a shuttle service since the flight was cancelled due to volcanic activity. Decided to accept a flight to Nica and caught a NicaBus, which was not bad at all. Big greyhound style bus with few pickup-stops as it only travels inter-country. They do take surfboards (fellow travelers had a few board bags). But not sure about longboards.
They actually have a hotel at the Bus Station in Managua if you ever have to fly in there. But definitely get a trusted taxi driver to get you from airport to Nicabus hotel/bus terminal.

thanks for you all the feedback

-------------------------
Time and tide wait for no one.....

Edited: 05/26/2015 at 05:58 AM by KP
FORUMS : Surfing : yet another Costa Rica question :-)

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