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The Complete Guide to Taking the Bus from Playa Jaco to Manuel Antonio National Park

December 4, 2015 By Sammi 20 Comments

One of the best day trips from Playa Jaco is to Manuel Antonio National Park. It’s not very far and you can have a fun day hiking, swimming in the beaches and wildlife watching. Go for a day or stay a couple nights to explore the area since Manuel Antonio is much different than Jaco. You can cure that itch for a tropical white sand beach!

To get to the park, you can go on a tour or hire a shuttle if you don’t rent a car. However, the bus from Jaco to Manuel Antonio National Park is convenient, cheap and easy to do. I recently did this route by myself and it was one of the easiest trips I’ve ever taken using public transportation in Costa Rica.

For those of you who want to visit Manuel Antonio but don’t want to go on a tour or hire a shuttle, here’s our complete guide on taking the bus from Playa Jaco to Manuel Antonio National Park. *Post updated 2019*

Route

Leaving Playa Jaco

First thing you have to know about taking the bus from Playa Jaco to Manuel Antonio National Park is that you need to take 2 buses: one to Quepos, second to Manuel Antonio National Park.

Bus Stop Location

The first bus stop to Quepos in Playa Jaco is located in front of the Best Western, right across the street from where you take the Jaco bus to San Jose. There are also bus stops all the way to the south end of Jaco town.

Times

I asked the guy selling San Jose bus tickets what time is the Quepos bus and he told me 7, 9, 11, 1, 3, 4:30, 6:30 and 7:30. If you look at the official bus schedule by VisitCostaRica, you’ll see the times are half an hour earlier. I arrived at 6:30 AM and the bus came at 6:45 AM, so I suggest getting there at the times for the online schedule. If I came at 7 AM like the guy told me, I would have missed it and had to wait another hour and a half.

Always arrive early when taking the bus in Costa Rica!

Price

You’ll recognize the bus by the sign that says T.Q.P.(Transporte Quepos Puntarenas) and one bus ticket costs 1300 colones. You have to pay in colones and you don’t need exact change.

If you take the 7 AM bus like I did, be prepared to stand for a bit. This is the bus most locals take to get to work so it was packed when I got on.

Arriving in Quepos and Getting to Manuel Antonio National Park

The bus ride from Playa Jaco to Quepos is roughly 1.5 hours, depending on traffic and how many stops it makes. You’ll arrive at the Quepos bus station where you need to get off and grab a Quepos to Manuel Antonio National Park bus.

bus from Playa Jaco to Manuel Antonio National Park - Quepos bus station
Bus station in Quepos

These buses are white and will say “Quepos  – Manuel Antonio National Park” on the front. The cost for this ride is 380 colones. They run roughly every half an hour (there’s no set schedule) but there’s several of these buses so it runs pretty frequently all day.

You want to stay on all the way until the end (it’s about a 20 minute ride depending on the stops).

The last two stops will both take you to the national park entrance, so as soon as you go down the hill and see Playa Espadilla on your right side, you can get off when you see the a single sign that says “Manuel Antonio National Park 300 meters.” Or you can get off at the next one that ends at the roundabout and you can walk through the path by the coconut vendor to the entrance.

bus from Playa Jaco to Manuel Antonio National Park - path to national park
Last stop by the roundabout. Take this path to the national park. You can see the bus stop in the background with the orange awning

Taking the Bus Back to Quepos and Playa Jaco

To take the bus back to Quepos, you can take the bus from where it dropped you off, at the roundabout or the other entrance by the sign. The cost is the same, 380 colones and you get off at the Quepos bus station.

You need to buy your ticket to Playa Jaco before you get on so buy your ticket at the counter. This ticket costs 1255 colones (I have no idea why it’s 45 colones cheaper). Keep both tickets he gives you.

Here are the bus times for Quepos to Puntarenas. Excuse the reflection!

bus from Playa Jaco to Manuel Antonio National Park - Quepos bus station times back to Playa Jaco

You can board the bus when you hear the driver yell “Jaco.” Give him the copy of the ticket and take your seat. You can stay all the way to the Playa Jaco bus station or get off in downtown since it stops in front of the Mas X Menos supermarket.

That’s it!

As you can see, taking the bus from Playa Jaco to Manuel Antonio National Park is pretty easy. Just remember that the park closes at 4 PM so you got to catch the bus back to Quepos by 4:30 PM or take the last one back to Jaco at 6 PM.

Prices

In total, I spent 3175 colones which is about $6. The entrance fee to the national park is $16 + tax for foreigners.

Thinking about visiting Playa Jaco? Read our Jaco travel tips here!

Coming to Manuel Antonio from somewhere else? Find out how to get to Manuel Antonio from San Jose, La Fortuna, Guanacaste and more.

Want more travel tips? Here you go!

Taking the bus from San Jose to Playas del Coco

Costa Rica wildlife watching guide

Best hotels near Liberia International Airport

Filed Under: Costa Rica Travel Tips

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Melissa says

    January 16, 2022

    Do you know if you see more wildlife at Manuel Antonio park at the 7:30 or 12:00 tour?
    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Sammi says

      January 19, 2022

      You can see wildlife both times but normally animals sleep during the hottest part of the day which is noon

      Reply
  2. Doug Dodson says

    January 7, 2021

    If I just want to go from Jaco to Hermosa Beach, any problem with taking this bus? Also, how would I catch it from Hermosa Beach back to Jaco. One more question…….can you take a surf board on this bus?

    Reply
    • Sammi says

      January 8, 2021

      From what I remember, you can have them stop at the entrance of Hermosa off the main road Route 34 but I don’t remember if it went all the way into Hermosa on the beach. Buses usually have a storage compartment on the bottom so the driver may allow you to store your board under there, or if there is enough room in the bus, you can try to ask the driver if you can take it in with you

      Reply
  3. Nicole says

    December 5, 2019

    Hi,
    My family will be staying in Bejuco by Esterillos Este. Are there bus stops along the way so we can get off there? I’m not sure we need to rent a car if the bus is so easy? Also, do you have any info on Private drivers? We would like to do a night jungle tour and I’m not sure the buses run later?
    Your information was very helpful.
    Kind regards
    Nicole

    Reply
    • Sammi says

      December 7, 2019

      Hi Nicole, having a car in Bejuco will be the best because there is a bus that goes up and down the Costa Nera sur highway but they do not run at night and they are not often. Additionally there isn’t much around Bejuco in terms of full size supermarkets and many of the good restaurants are outside so having a car will be best otherwise you will be pretty stuck in Bejuco since it’s a small town and everything is very spread out in that area.

      Reply
  4. Katia says

    August 3, 2019

    Hi, currently in Costa Rica planning out an itinerary. Do you think these bus times and itinerary is still accurate? Thank you so much!

    Reply
    • Sammi says

      August 4, 2019

      Hi Katia, they should be but you can check the Terminal 7-10 for official times: http://terminal7-10.com/es/rutas/jaco/

      Reply
  5. jacqui says

    December 6, 2018

    When taking the local bus from Jaco to Quepos, then changing buses to MA, do we just get on and pay the driver? Then on the way back from MA to Quepos, pay the driver? But once in Quepos we need to purchase a ticket to return to Jaco? Is this correct? We will be traveling there in May.

    Reply
    • Sammi says

      December 7, 2018

      From Quepos to MA, you pay the driver when you get on board, same thing when you go MA to Quepos. Then from Quepos to Jaco, you need to purchase the ticket at the window.

      Reply
  6. Jason D Lehman says

    May 15, 2018

    Thanks so much!!! I’ve been using this for my travels through Costa Rica. Couldn’t do it without the help found here!

    Reply
    • Sammi says

      May 15, 2018

      Hi Jason, you’re very welcome and glad it’s been helpful! Enjoy Costa Rica 🙂

      Reply
  7. Jamie says

    October 15, 2017

    Hey Jojo,

    I’ve been in Costa Rica since earlier last week and have found your website to be full of insightful tips. I am currently in Jaco and planning on going to Manuel Antonio park and staying at the hostel Selina Manuel Antonio for 2 nights (its 5km away from Quepos bus station). I plan to take the public transport like you say via Quepos – just wondering if the bus stops on the way from Quepos to the park? Be great if I could stop it outside the hostel.

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Sammi says

      October 16, 2017

      HI Jamie, the bus does stop on the way to Quepos from the park a few times. You can ask the driver to stop at Selina Hostel and he’ll drop you off close to it as he can get.

      Reply
  8. Jojo says

    September 15, 2017

    Thanks so much for this detailed post. I just returned from Costa Rica and this post and the one about Jaco to San Jose were a great help to me and my friends. We were able to travel with ease using your information and our very limited Spanish.

    Thanks!!

    Reply
    • Sammi says

      September 15, 2017

      Hi Jojo, I’m so glad to hear that! I hope you guys had a great time in Costa Rica!

      Reply
  9. Sammi says

    March 31, 2017

    Hi Robin, glad the post helped! I wrote a post of how to take the bus from SJ to Jaco and vice versa you can see here: San Jose bus to Playa Jaco

    You will need to buy your tickets to SJ before hand.

    Reply
  10. Robin says

    March 30, 2017

    Many thanks for this blog. I took the bus(s) from MA to Jaco today. It was exactly as easy as you suggested. I was in a bit of a panic before I found you blog.
    THANKS SO MUCH!!!

    Can you share how to return from Jaco to SJ. Actually I’m staying in La Garita.
    The bus station location?
    Times?

    Reply
  11. Brendon says

    March 11, 2017

    Hi there,

    What a great Blog! Super informative! I am wondering if you can also catch a bus from Playa Hermosa, or some of the other small towns between Jaco and Manuel Antonio.

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Sammi says

      March 12, 2017

      Hi Brendon, you can stop and get off the bus along the route from Jaco to Manuel Antonio, a ton of locals use this route to go from home to work. Most people take a taxi from Jaco to Hermosa but it’s I think around $20

      Reply

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