Border crossing between Nicaragua and Costa Rica – Peñas Blancas

Border crossing between Nicaragua and Costa Rica – Peñas Blancas

 This crossing was relatively easy. However, since our first stop in Costa Rica was going to be Monteverde, we had to hurry as the last bus to Monteverde left at 3:00 pm.

1. We decided to take a chicken bus in San Juan del Sur at 7:00 am very close to the Casa Del Oro hostel in the direction of La Virgen (40 minutes), right on the Panamerican Highway to take the other bus that would go directly to the border.
2. We waited about 15 minutes for the next bus to Peñas Blancas, which took about 50 minutes. On this bus (chicken bus) you have to be a bit careful as they were offering us some forms to buy and hand them in at the border. We were already warned about this and simply said: No, thank you.
3. When we arrived at Peñas Blancas, like the other borders we had already been to in Central America, we were “attacked” by the money changers. We had already tried to find out the exchange rate and I think we got a good rate. This time it was better to change it on the Nicaraguan side than on the Costa Rican side.
4. BEWARE! When entering Costa Rica you will be asked for an exit ticket. So you’d better arrive with the printed ticket so you don’t have to do any other paperwork.
5. Once we crossed the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica everything changed drastically. The immigration office was nicer, people were waiting in line for the bus and not like in the other Central American countries where we had to practically kill ourselves to get on the bus.
6. It is best to try to buy a ticket to leave the border before you go through immigration on the Costa Rican side. Many of these buses fill up quickly and you may have to wait much longer. So try to buy your ticket before you go through immigration at one of the booths near the immigration office. We had to wait for about 1 hour because the bus that left after 10 minutes was already full..

 As we were going in the direction of Monteverde we took the bus to San José but made sure to stop in Irma where we would change buses again to go to Monteverde. The buses were super comfortable. It had been a long time since I had been on such a comfortable bus after being in Central America for so long. This bus took about 4 hours.

Finally, at 2:00 pm we arrived in Irma and we only had to wait for our bus to Monteverde which left at 3:00 pm. This last one took approximately 3 hours.