In this guide, I’ll take you through the entire process of crossing the border from Costa Rica to Nicaragua, Penas Blancas border by foot. You will find everything you need to know about exiting Costa Rica, entering Nicaragua, exiting Nicaragua and entering Costa Rica at the Penas Blancas border.
Costa Rica Nicaragua Penas Blancas Border Crossing Guide
Click on the section to skip to it.
- What You Need (Required documents, taxes, etc.)
- Getting to the Border
- Leaving Costa Rica
- Entering Nicaragua
- Leaving Nicaragua
- Entering Costa Rica
- Fees
- Safety Tips
What You Need for Crossing the Border Between Costa Rica and Nicaragua
- A valid passport that is not within 6 months of expiring (Nicaragua is strict about this)
- Costa Rica Exit Tax Receipt (if you are leaving Costa Rica)
- You must not have overstayed your tourist visa for either Costa Rica and Nicaragua
- Check if you need a visa to enter Nicaragua. (USA and Canada does not)
- A printed plane ticket out of Costa Rica if you are entering Costa Rica
- Small USD bills. All taxes are paid in USD.
How to get to the Penas Blancas Border Crossing in Costa Rica
- Car – You can drive your car to the border but that is as far as you can go as Costa Rican rental cars are not allowed to cross land borders. In this case, you will need to leave it at the house in the front. The family that lives there will watch it for you for a ~$5 USD a day. Do not leave any valuables inside! You’ll start seeing a huge line of trucks when you get close to the border. Don’t stay in this line. Keep going and you’ll be able to cross the over and park by the Costa Rica exit office.
- Private shuttle or taxi – You can book a private shuttle in Costa Rica to take you to the border. Depending on where you are traveling from, this private transfer (~$180 USD from the Guanacaste beaches). The shuttle will drop you off right at the border which then you will cross on your own by foot.
- Bus – You can take the public bus to the Penas Blancas border from Liberia (5 AM – 6:30 PM every 45 minutes with Grupo Transbasa) or San Jose (3:20 AM – 7 PM every hour with Caribenos), get off and cross the border by foot. You can also take a bus like Ticabus that goes from San Jose to Managua and to the rest of Central America. You will do the border crossing with Ticabus.
- Visa Run – If you are crossing the border purely for a visa run and don’t have your own transportation, check with Native’s Way (Tamarindo) as they offer visa runs (transportation only).
Leaving Costa Rica
To leave Costa Rica, you first need to pay the exit tax which you can pay at the border directly.
Costa Rica Exit Tax
Costa Rica charges an exit tax for all land crossings. There are buildings right when you enter at the border to pay your exit tax with lots of signs. With the Costa Rica exit office ahead of you, all the exit tax offices are to the right.
You must pay this exit tax before you exit Costa Rica which can be paid at one of these offices pictured above. They charge a little more for a “convenience fee” so the total will be $10 USD. You can also pay this online on the Banco de Costa Rica website for $8 USD. Print out your receipt and bring it with you.
Costa Rican Exit Office
As you walk towards the border, you’ll see lots of trucks. Costa Rica is the only country who didn’t sign the Central America Marchamo so you will see tons of big rig trucks waiting in line to cross. If you’re driving, you can go around them. Every time I’ve been to the Costa Rican exit office, it’s fairly empty with no line.
Go inside with your passport and exit tax receipt and hand your passport to the officer who will check it. They didn’t ask me any questions but they asked the lady in front of me where in Costa Rica they were staying before they left.
There is a bathroom outside to the left of the exit office (free).
Entering Nicaragua
Now, walk outside and follow the buses and groups of people towards Nicaragua.
After a few hundred meters, you’ll reach the office to enter Nicaragua. You’ll go through one main check point at the border where they will check for your Costa Rican exit stamp. However, any officer can stop you on the road to check your stamp.
Sometimes the officers will ask questions, sometimes not. They’re pretty friendly in all my experiences and don’t worry if you don’t know Spanish. Just show them your passport if they ask for it.
Nicaragua Entrance Office
Continue after this checkpoint and follow the signs to the Nicaraguan immigration office. You’ll see lots of people selling souvenirs, clothes, food and asking if you need change.
The Nicaragua immigration office is quite new and very nice with air conditioning. When you get inside (look for Entrada), get in line.
Then, you will get in the entrance line and pay a $12 USD tax to the immigration officer who takes your passport. When he has stamped it, he will write out a large receipt which you can keep. He will normally ask you where you are going in Nicaragua. Let him know the city and if you booked a hotel, tell him the first hotel you’re staying at in Nicaragua. Sometimes the officer doesn’t ask anything at all.
After you’re done, put any luggage or belongings through the luggage scanner for customs. After that, you are now officially in Nicaragua!
There there is a lady who will ask for a $1 USD municipality entrance fee.
If you continue walking outside, there are some restaurants and taxis if you need one. It’s about a thirty minute taxi ride to San Juan del Sur which costs around $30 USD. Also just in case, here is the bus schedule to Rivas and Managua below.
Leaving Nicaragua
Leaving Nicaragua is about the same process. The exit office is the same office as the entrance, just on the other side.
When you get inside, you have to pay another $1 USD municipality tax (to the small booth to the right) and $3 USD to exit to the officer who takes your passport. Put the location as your first hotel/hostel and town in Costa Rica. If you need the bathroom, it is to the left of the immigration office building and costs $1 USD.
After you get your Nicaraguan exit stamp, walk back on the main road towards the Costa Rican side. Like before, you’ll be stopped a couple times by officers to check your passport. Once you reach the Costa Rican side, head to the right side of the building to go through immigration to enter Costa Rica.
Entering Costa Rica
You’ll see a bunch of orange blocks making a line for the entrance. Try to get in line as fast as you can and while you are in line, get all your documents ready to present to the officer.
The next part is very important for foreigners when it comes to Costa Rica land entry requirements.
Costa Rica Entry Requirements
You will need to present to the immigration officer your flight out of Costa Rica if you’re a tourist. Tourist visas last 90 days for Group 1 countries and you must show proof you are leaving the country before your visa expires.
*IMPORTANT AS OF SEPTEMBER 2023. Costa Rica has now extended tourist visas for Group 1 countries from 90 days to 180 days. The officer will now probably ask you for a ticket out of 180 days. Group 1 countries are USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Germany, Chile… if you are not sure what group your passport is, please check with the Costa Rican embassy/consulate in your passport country.*
Proof of Onward Travel Out of Costa Rica
To emphasis this point, every foreigner must present a return flight ticket home or a ticket out of Costa Rica. Costa Rica is fairly strict about this in all of my experiences. Of all the times I have crossed the border, I’ve been asked for my flight out every single time.
There is a possibility that you can use a bus ticket, instead of a flight. However, this is not guaranteed to be accepted. I’ve known people who were denied entry with a bus ticket and the officer made them purchase a flight. So even though sometimes a bus or shuttle ticket may work, it honestly depends on the immigration officer you get. Some are super strict, some are more lenient.
They are more strict about perpetual tourists (people who “live” in Costa Rica as a tourist and do a border run to renew their tourist visa) so it is best to present a flight itinerary confirmation.
I never want to run into any hassles or problems at the border so I always present a printed confirmed flight ticket. If I’m not actually flying out, I’ll purchase a refundable ticket or many airlines have a 24 hour window where you can cancel without penalty regardless the fare type (like American Airlines). A lot of people use Onward Ticket to rent a ticket.
Getting Your New Costa Rica Stamp
Go up to the window and give the officer your passport first. He will probably ask you where you’re going, your occupation, and how long you are in Costa Rica for. Then when asked, show him your proof out of Costa Rica within 90 days.
Once approved, they will stamp your passport with your tourist stamp and write in how many days your tourist visa is valid for (normally 90).
And there you go! Exit the building, put your luggage or backpack if you have any through the machine and you are good to go! That is the complete guide to crossing the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua at Penas Blancas.
Peñas Blancas Border Crossing Fees
To sum up, here are all the fees you need to pay when you are crossing the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. These prices are quoted in USD so pay in dollars but bring small bills because most of the time, they will not have any change.
Please note that Costa Rican currency is not accepted in Nicaragua and Nicaraguan currency is not accepted in Costa Rica. USD works in both countries and since prices are quoted in USD, pay in USD. Small bills only!
- $8 or 10 Costa Rica exit tax (price depends on where you pay for it)
- $12 Nicaragua (to the entrance immigration official)
- $1 Nicaragua entrance municipality tax
- $1 Nicaragua exit municipality tax (in the small booth of the exit office)
- $3 Nicaragua exit tax (to the exit immigration official)
Safety Tips for Crossing the Penas Blancas Border
I’ve heard about some people having trouble or being scared at the border but luckily I, a Asian-American female have never had a major problem and I have crossed alone and with other people. However, there are always people who will target tourists and try to scam you. Here are our tips and things to watch out for.
Do not accept any offers from people trying to help you
These people will pretend to help you for free and then try to charge you something ridiculous when you’ve crossed over. They are persistent and will follow you too.
Also do not accept any offers from someone claiming they can do the border crossing for you. It’s tempting but never let anyone walk away with your passport. Never. You don’t know what condition it will be when it comes back or what they did with it meanwhile.
If you have questions or are lost, ask the Costa Rican immigration officers or the police.
If you’re a solo traveler, look for other travelers and talk to them to see if you can cross together. You may need to write down some Spanish phrases because not all the officers speak English, especially on the Nicaraguan side. Check our Costa Rican Spanish guide for travelers to learn them.
No more custom forms
Some people might try to sell you these so walk away and find an immigration officer. I stopped a woman once who was about to pay $20 for a form! That is one of the common Costa Rica tourist scams.
Bring small USD bills
The immigration officers usually do not give change so make sure you pay in small bills for the taxes and fees. ($1 and $5). Never pull out a huge wad of cash either.
Do not leave your passport hanging out of your backpack or leave any belongings unattended
You do need to show it several times when crossing to the officers, but always put it away in a safe secure spot each time.
If you’re a solo traveler, try to find another group of travelers to join
Usually officers will bother you less if you’re in a group. If you go by yourself, they tend to bother the solo travelers more.
What to do if you overstay your visa
If you overstay, your passport will be marked and you will need to talk to your country’s embassy to figure out what to do. Usually if this is a one time occurrence and the overstayed time wasn’t very long, they can help you sort things out and it’s not a big deal.
However, if you overstay for a long time or multiple times, don’t think you will go undiscovered. Immigration will probably find out at some point, especially as they’re trying to crack down more on perpetual tourists. Once immigration finds out, you will be kicked out of the country and be denied entry for an undisclosed period of time (depends on your situation). We recommend to contact your country’s embassy/consulate in Costa Rica ASAP.
Do not overstay your visa, Costa Rica and Nicaragua do take this seriously. Nicaragua especially is very strict.
Read more Costa Rica travel tips below!
Driving in Costa Rica: In depth guide with tips and advice for driving in Costa Rica. Includes safety tips, information about how Costa Ricans drive, road sides, and more.
Renting a car in Costa Rica: Tips for renting a car in Costa Rica. What you need to know about car rental insurance, reputable companies, recommendations if you should or shouldn’t rent a car and more. You can also get our Costa Rica car rental discount.
Sammi says
Hi Gian-Paul. That is the best way. But regarding time, if you land around 2:30 PM, you won’t make it to SJDS before nightfall. You’ll probably get out of the airport around 3 PM depending on the immigration and customs line. It gets dark by 6 PM in Costa Rica and from Liberia to the border is roughly 2.5-3 hour bus ride. Then holiday time is always much busier at the border and it could take anywhere from 1-3 hours to cross the border. Then a taxi from the border to SJDS is about 40 minutes. I’d highly recommend staying the night and then leaving for SJDS in the morning. As for places to check out for the evening, there’s nothing really around the airport, but you can head into Liberia city. There’s not much there either to be honest, but you could walk around to explore your first Costa Rican city. There are some places you can visit, but since you are using public transportation some of them are impossible to get to by bus or it’ll take a long time. Even Coco, which is the closest beach to Liberia Airport is 20 minutes by car, but 1 hour by bus and the last one back to Liberia is at 7 PM.
If you need suggestions for hotels in Liberia, we have our recommended list here: Best hotels near LIR airport. You can find a few budget options on there.
Gian-Paul says
Thank you so much for the speedy response!!! I really appreciate it.
Would you reccomend maybe going to Coco, staying for the night, and then waking up early from there to make the journey to sjds? How many more hours would that add to our sjds journey? Is Coco different enough from SJDS to warrant the extra hassle to only stay there for the afternoon/night? Or do you think it would just be most ideal to explore Liberia a little bit, settle in and get ready for the sjds trip the next morning?
Gian-Paul says
Hey Sammi!
Thanks for the awesome blog.
My girlfriend and I are flying into Liberia, Costa Rica on Dec 29th and will arrive around 2:30pm. If at all possible, we’d love to get to San Juan Del Sur that night. Taking public transportation is that unrealistic? I have heard that traveling at night is not reccomended and I do not want to spend lots of money getting there if possible. I heard the best (cheapest and most efficient) way to get to SJDS from LIR airport is take a taxi to Liberia and then take a chicken bus to Peñas Blancas, cross the border on foot, and then take a $20 taxi to SJDS. Would you reccomend a different way?
What is the latest you’d recommend traveling? If we are leaving too late, are there any places in the area worth checking out for a day or night? We are going to SJDS and Ometepe so I thought Rincon de la Vieja or Playa del Coco might be overkill.
Any help would be much appreciated!
chloe says
How much for a taxi ride from Liberia airport to penas blanca? there will be three of us
Sammi says
Probably around $150-180, not sure. I know a shuttle is around that much
Holly says
Thanks for the great information! I have made this crossing many years ago so I couldn’t remember everything. I do have a question. You said that your passport needs to be within 6 months of expiring. My passport expires in May 2016 and I am traveling in January 2016. Wasn’t going to renew for awhile unless I absolutely have too. Can you give me any tips on this or where I might be able to find more information ? Thanks
Sammi says
Hi Holly, I would renew it. I’ve had friends who came into Costa Rica with less than 6 months of their passport expiring but it’s not really them that cares – it’s Nicaragua and you do not mess with Nicaraguan immigration. I went one time with an Italian friend whose passport expired in 3 months and we were stopped at the border for over an hour, talking to the officers to figure out a solution and at the end, my friend had to pay a lot of money. I always advise to never take risks when crossing the border when it comes to things like this because you honestly do not know what either side will do, and trust me, you don’t want to mess with the Nicaraguan officers. Sometimes CR might not care or notice, but Nicaragua will – you get checked probably 5 times within a 200 meter distance when you cross. And you will obviously look like a foreigner traveling so they can target you even more. Nothing is ever guaranteed of course, but it’s just best not to risk it.
Anna says
Hi,
We are travelling from San Juan tomorrow and just saw online that the border is closed today.
Do you know if it is open tomorrow?
Thank you,
Anna
Sammi says
Hi Anna, I’m so sorry unfortunately I don’t have that information. You can ask in the Expats in Costa Rica Facebook group or expats in Guanacaste, since there will probably be people asking the same questions (it’s a huge group). Good luck!
Kate says
Hello,
My family and I will be crossing from CR to Nica and back in December. My husband, 10 yr old daughter and my passports are all valid for a few years still, but my 5 yr old’s will be expiring in February. I checked on the US Passport site and the Nicaragua page says your passport only has to be valid through the length of your stay. Do you think I need to renew my little one’s before we go or will it likely be fine since the rest of our passports are good for quite a while?
Also, do you think there’s any particular time of day it would be best to try to get to Penas Blancas? We will clearly survive it, but it would be great if we didn’t end up behind a giant tour bus!
Thanks so much in advance,
Kate
Sammi says
I would renew it – Costa Rica technically says that your passport needs to be valid for the duration of your stay, but do not always believe everything you read online. Remember, this is Central America and it won’t matter to them what it says on a website. I say this from personal experience. One time I went with some friends whose passport expired within 4 months and the Nicaraguan officer would not let him pass. He had to pay off the officer to let him go.
Since you have a US passport and unfortunately they do like to target Americans, I would not take any chances at all and get the passport renewed. They may be a little bit more lenient since it’s a child but I wouldn’t take any chances. Make the border crossing as hassle and stress free for you and your family as possible.
The best time to go would be early in the morning when the border opens. Most tour buses don’t pass until the afternoon.
Kate says
Thanks so much for getting back to me so quickly! That’s kind of what I was thinking, just wish I had realized I needed to do it sooner 🙂
One other question, does the shuttle service you recommend above transport from Playa Grande, and, would it be crazy expensive to go this route? I’m just thinking that trying to catch multiple buses with kids in tow a week before Christmas could end up being pretty exhausting on top of the border crossing. From Penas Blancas we plan to take a taxi to San Jorge to catch the ferry to Ometepe. I was thinking we would be able to accomplish this in a day pretty easily if we got an early start, but some of the border crossing stories sound a bit crazy!
Thanks again!
Sammi says
Hi Kate, yes he does! You can email him shamantours@live.com for a quote. I would honestly recommend getting a shuttle. You’re looking at at least half a day of buses just get to the border from Playa Grande (it’s around 3 hours driving so it could take up to 6 hours by bus including wait times). Plus Christmas is an insane time for crossing the border because lots of Nicaraguans go back during that time for their families and Christmas is peak season so there are way more tourists. I think for peace of mind for you and your little ones, a shuttle would be much more comfortable especially if you have lots of luggage. It’ll be more expensive than taking the bus of course but it’s either giving up comfort, convenience and time to save some $$ or spending more to be way more comfortable and stress free.
If possible, don’t go on a weekend. I went over a weekend during Christmas time and it took all day to cross!
Sammi says
I just got a quote from him, it’s $190 from Grande to the border.
Kate says
Ok, thanks so much! I will get in touch with him to arrange it. We are going on 12/19 which is a Saturday :(. Do you think getting to the border around 8 am would be ok, or should we try to get there earlier? Thank you so much for answering all of my questions, I appreciate it SO much!
Sammi says
8 AM should be fine, the worst times are the afternoon 🙂 And you are welcome!
Marlena says
WOW! Great detailed post! I alreday crossed this border twice this spring and it was an experience 😀 did it both ways by foot and I am obviously extremly lucky. When I entered Costa Rica I just went to the immigration before a huge group of people came from buses and formed a badass long queue, next a new counter opened and I dind’t had to wait at all, didn’t had to show any flight or bustickets and I could walk through within 5 minutes.
Thanks for this flashback to my CA trip
Sammi says
Thanks Marlena! Yeah the trick is to get there before those huge tour buses or else you’ll get stuck for hours!
Ali says
Hi,
I want to know whether a visa is required for Pakistani citizens who have a valid U.S. visa or permanent residency (greencard)? I knmow in costa rica it is not required, but what about nicaragua? Can such residents just purchase a tourist card on arrival?
Thank you for your time
Sammi says
Hi, you should check on your country’s embassy page to see if you need a visa for Nicaragua. They have different rules and regulations than Costa Rica. I do not know anything about Pakistani citizens.
Nikki says
Hey there!
I am currently in CR for 5 months thus I need to do a visa run.
My choice was Nicaragua, together with my boyfriend who will be visiting me during the this period.
We will be entering through Los Chiles by boat, and return on the west side of the country.
I still have a question though. Is it possible to get a bus (from Managua or Granada or so) just to the border crossing and not any further?
We plan on renting a car from the border crossing back into Costa Rica so we only need transportation to the border and not any further.
Plus, you said you don’t really need to stay for 72 hours to renew your 90 days tourist visa? Really?
Thanks in advance!
Sammi says
Hi Nikki, this is the last information I have about getting a bus from Managua to the Penas Blancas border: Express buses from Managua to Peñas Blancas depart Mercado Huembes at 5 a.m., 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m., and 3:30 p.m. I do not know if it has changed since last time I checked (this was in 2013). Or if you are more adventurous, you can take a chicken bus to the border which is what we did (look for school buses painted with kinda crazy colors, stick out your hand and ask if they’re going to the border).
And yes you don’t need to stay out for a full 72 hours, officially I heard that is true if you’re not planning on buying items you need to announce but I usually do one day visa runs. Last time we just hung out at the border for 2 hours and crossed back. Granted they do ask you what time you crossed and why, we usually just tell them we wanted to go to SJDS for the day. Never ran into any problems with that.
Nikki says
Thanks Sammi for the quick reply!
I have to be honest I am still a bit hestitant about the time to be out of the country though, but we’ll see, not in a hurry 😉
Sammi says
You’re welcome. I’ve been doing one day visa runs ever since I moved here 3 years ago and so do all my friends who I go with. They really don’t ask too many questions and I have like 10 pages full of Costa Rica/Nicaragua stamps, actually one of the immigration officers recognize me every time I go. Just to let you know to relieve your fear a little 😉
Heidi Laros says
What an amazing helpful site. My family of 5 (2 adults and 3 kids ages 9-16) are traveling from Liberia Costa Rica to Playa Yankee Nicaragua to see Nicaragua for a few days during our CR vacation over the holidays. I understand there are a couple of companies who will pick us up at our hotel (Hilton Garden Inn airport) and take us to the hotel in Nicaragua – I also just reached out to the one your recently mentioned. We’ve also considered renting a car at the Nicaraguan border (can’t really tell for sure if we need one or not). You also mentioned taking a taxi – since we aren’t going very far maybe that is a good option, if they have ones available large enough to carry 5 plus bags?
Since we have to switch buses at the border anyway, should we take a private shuttle just to the border (if they will help get us across) and then rent a car or take a taxi? The company I am looking at is going to cost over $200 each way. Plus he is saying we don’t want to leave too early because the border will be busy with employees crossing the border (which goes against everything I’ve heard). He was recommended by the hotel so I believe him but seemed strange. We don’t want to lose a whole day to travel.
What I don’t want to do is to walk very far with 3 kids and luggage. I don’t know how far you have to walk with all your stuff to get a taxi or a rental car – that distance isn’t usually mentioned, although one site suggested it’s like a mile! I really want to do what’s most convenient and then secondarily most inexpensive. Not at all interested in the public bus, that is something I’m certain about!
Also, can you cross the border at Playa de Naranjo? It looks like it would be much faster to get to Playa Yankee that way, but I haven’t seen anything anywhere about there being a border crossing there.
Thank you!
Sammi says
Hi Heidi, you can book the shuttle to the border and take a taxi to your next destination in Nicaragua. There are some I guess you can call it “tuk tuks” at the border and I’ve seen families or people with lots of luggage use them to help you get across. You can get two if you need to, and it’s not too expensive. The walk from the immigration office of Costa Rica to Nicaragua is not very far, and definitely not a mile. Right outside the Nicaraguan office is where you can get a taxi. Most taxis are a regular 4 door sedan but I am sure you can find a bigger one if you need to (I think I remember seeing a van once).