The San Jose International Airport, Costa Rica, is easy to reach from downtown San Jose. Taking the bus either from the airport or to the airport is a simple, safe, cheap, and quick 35-minute journey. This is the SJO Airport Bus to San Jose and it’s easy to find, catch and pay for. We’ll also cover San Jose Costa Rica airport transportation options and all the ways to get from San Jose Airport to San Jose Costa Rica. Times and prices have been updated for 2022.
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SJO Airport to Downtown San Jose
There are many options when you’re trying to work out how to get from San Jose Costa Rica airport to downtown San Jose Costa Rica. To get from SJO Airport to San Jose you can take a bus, a shared shuttle, a private transfer, or rent a car. SJO Airport transportation is pretty well organized and you’ll be able to get into the city whatever time your flight arrives.
BEST WAY TO TRAVEL
Easiest Way to Go from SJO to Downtown
The easiest way to go to your hotel in San Jose from the SJO airport is to take a transfer. Pay online with a card – no cash is needed. Book early to guarantee.
San Jose Costa Rica Airport Bus to San Jose
The bus service that runs between SJO and San Jose is called Tuasa Bus San Jose, It is also known as the big red bus and you can take it from San Jose airport to city center.
Where to catch the TUASA bus at the San Jose Costa Rica Airport
To get to the Tuasa bus San Jose Airport, leave the arrivals area. Cross the road, heading towards the parking garage. In essence, this is the only building on the other side of the road. Once across the road, turn left and follow the pavement/sidewalk as it skirts around the side of the building.
You will now end up on the main street, as you turn to the right (do not cross this main street), you’ll spot a bus stop and perhaps buses stopping there. That’s where you need to be. It’s about 20 meters away.
If you’re en route to Costa Rica you’ll want our guide to everything you need to know about Costa Rica and our free Travel Checklist – read it here.
SJO Airport Bus Stop Map
Here’s a map of where the SJO bus stop is, as well as where the bus arrives into San Jose, plus the locations of some of our recommended places to stay, so you can get your bearings in San Jose.
You can also find this map here.
The Tuasa airport bus takes you to the Tuasa Bus Station San Jose on Second Avenue near Merced Park in San Jose.
Where to Stay in San Jose, Costa Rica
If you only have a short time in Costa Rica’s capital you’ll want to get a centrally located hotel or hostel. Here are our recommendations on where to stay in San Jose. If you’re using San Jose as a base and then heading out into Costa Rica then you’ll want to check out where your next bus leaves from. The San Jose Bus Terminals for buses going to different locations are spread out around the city.
Spurge on luxury at the Grano de Oro Hotel Perfect location with a rooftop garden, it’s a great place to acclimatize to Costa Rica. There’s free wifi in all areas and air conditioning in all rooms. Each room features a flat-screen TV, a private bathroom and you can also opt for a balcony or terrace. > Get a price and reserve a room now.
Incredible reviews at the Capital Hostel de Ciudad Seriously clean with a fabulous breakfast. There are barbecue facilities, a garden, and a terrace. Each room has a kettle and you’ll find some with a kitchenette, a microwave, a toaster, and a fridge. It gets justifiably rave reviews for the superb free wifi. > Check availability and book now!
Small, friendly, practice your Spanish at the Hotel Trianon A superb location very close to the San Jose Main Square, the owner here speaks English but is happy to let you practice your Spanish with her. There’s wifi throughout the property and private bathrooms are available. Breakfast, which is included, is a fabulous introduction to Costa Rican cuisine. > Book your room now.
Bus Companies between SJO and San Jose
The most common bus you’ll see is the big red TUASA bus.
San Jose Airport Bus Schedule
The San Jose Costa Rica airport bus schedule is “every 10 minutes”, between 0450 and 2300.
Timetable for SJO Airport Bus Frequency (2022)
04:50 AM – 06:00 AM: 6 min
06:00 AM – 08:00 AM: 4 min
08:00 AM – 03:00 PM: 6 min
03:00 PM – 06:00 PM: 4 min
06:00 PM – 07:00 PM: 6 min
There’s also a Station Wagon Alajuela bus that plies this route twenty-four hours a day. Both of these services run between SJO airport and their terminal. So if you take the Tuasa bus your final stop will be the Tuasa terminal San Jose downtown.
TUASA (Transportes Unidos Alajuelenses )– tel.506-2442-6900
Station Wagon’– tel. 506-2441-1181
SJO Airport Bus to San Jose Cost
The San Jose airport to the city bus ticket costs 665 colones. You pay the driver as you enter, in Costa Rican colones. The bus will have the destination on the front of the windshield, however, we ALWAYS confirm with the driver where they’re going! We had 40-litre backpacks with us plus day packs and did not have to pay extra for our bags.
Get cash from an ATM at San Jose Airport Costa Rica
There are ATM’s at the airport that are easily accessible – ensure you aim for an amount that is in multiples of 5,000 so that you don’t have to give the driver a 10,000 colon note! The ATMs at SJO Airport are tucked at the back of the baggage reclaim belts in arrivals. You might struggle to get back in after you’ve exited, so be sure to get cash BEFORE you leave the baggage area!
SJO Airport Bus to San Jose – Route
The big red TUASA bus follows a direct route into town. If traffic is bad, a taxi won’t make much difference to the time taken for your journey. The journey time is around 35 minutes without travel hold-ups. The endpoint of the bus is the Tuasa terminal on Second Avenue at Merced Park. A map and full address of the terminal is below.
Book a Shared Shuttle from San Jose Airport to your Hotel
There are several options that you can also pre-book and that will also take you directly to your hotel or hostel.
Book a bus from SJO to San Jose (US$14) > Reserve your seat here
Book a shared shuttle from SJO to San Jose (starts from US$15 per person) > Reserve your seat here.
Book a San Jose Airport Transfer
If you do want to prebook a San Jose Costa Rica Airport shuttle then you can book and prepay for your transfer here. Transfers work at a flat rate that you’ll agree to and pay in advance and you’ll be met by a driver and taken right to your hotel or accommodation
Best Costa Rica Transport Booking
Bookaway has the best selection of routes, providers, and transport available in Costa Rica – choose from private taxis, shared shuttles, buses, and boats.
Car Rental San Jose Costa Rica
CAR RENTAL IN COSTA RICA
If you need to rent a car in Costa Rica we recommend Discover Cars for car hire. You can search, compare and save up to 70%, with no hidden fees and free cancellation, it’s the perfect option! Get a price for a rental car in Costa Rica here.
Taking an SJO Airport Taxi to San Jose
At the airport, you’ll be approached by drivers. If you choose to take a taxi, always agree on the price before getting into the taxi.
How much is a taxi from San Jose Costa Rica airport to downtown San Jose?
A taxi will cost the equivalent of US$25 to travel from the airport to downtown San Jose, or vice versa, depending on your negotiating skills.
If you prefer the convenience of a transfer, then you can book your transfers here.
Want to head straight to the smallest of Costa Rica’s National Parks? Here’s our guide on getting to Manuel Antonio from San Jose.
Transportation to San Jose Airport
When going from San Jose to SJO airport you can take all of the transportation options already discussed. Transfer time from San Jose to the airport is around 35 minutes depending on the traffic. The bus to San Jose airport can be just as quick as a taxi or transfer, as they are subject to the same traffic!
Tuasa Bus from San Jose to SJO Airport
Catching the bus from San Jose to the airport is easy. You just need to get to the Tuasa terminal in San Jose. TUASA buses both depart from and arrive at their own specific terminal in San Jose. This is on the north side of the Nuestra Senora de La Merced Catholic Church, near Merced Park on Second Avenue. You can find this on any map. This San Jose to airport bus is really easy to find.
You can also find this map here.
Arriving in San Jose Downtown
We took the Tuasa bus from San Jose airport to downtown San Jose. We arrived late morning in San Jose. The area felt as safe as any big city. We walked the 30 minutes to our hotel, the Posada Trianon – get prices and availability for this small hotel , near the Museo Nacional, it was a pleasant walk and a good introduction to the city.
Here’s our guide on the best things to do in San Jose, Costa Rica
Popular Routes Around Costa Rica
Here are our guides to some of the popular routes around Costa Rica.
- How to go from La Fortuna to Monteverde
- How to go from Monteverde to Nicaragua
- How to get from SJO Airport to San Jose
- How to go from San Jose to Manuel Antonio
- How to go from San Jose to Tamarindo
- How to go from Puerto Viejo to Cahuita
- How to go from San Jose to Jaco
- How to go from Manuel Antonio to La Fortuna
- How to go from San Jose to Puerto Viejo
- How to go from Puerto Viejo to Tortuguero
- How to go from San Jose to La Fortuna
Travel Tips for Exploring Costa Rica
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- Arriving by air? Arrange your airport transfer with Welcome Pickups.
- Make sure you have the right plug adapter for Costa Rica.
- Book the best Costa Rica tours and guides on GetYourGuideand Civitatis
- Save money in Costa Rica with a Wise debit card
- Book Buses in Costa Rica with Bookaway
- Book accommodation in Costa Rica with Booking.com
Final Words on the SJO Airport Bus to San Jose
The San Jose to SJO Airport bus is an easy way to get into the city from SJO airport. If you’re staying downtown it’s a great option to get into the city of San Jose. There are several different bus stations in San Jose, so if you’re planning on taking a bus straight out, then you’ll want to confirm which station your next bus leaves from.
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42 thoughts on “SJO Airport Bus to San Jose, Costa Rica [+ taxis + transfer costs]”
Hi, thanks for this information! Just making sure – we want to be at the public bus station on the same side of the street as the airport? My map is showing another “SJO airport bus stop” across the street. I want to take the TUASA bus to av.2 downtown.
Hi there – yes its the same side of the street as the airport – we had the same concerns, but a final check of the front of the bus confirmed it.
can i take the bus from the san jose airport to holiday inn san jose-aurola, also for return to airport take the bus from holiday inn express
san jose forum hotel? is the cost like one dollar per person?
Hi there, the bus does to the TUASA terminal in San Jose – from there it’s a 15-20 minute walk to the Holiday Inn San Jose Aurola. We’ve walked this route several times and felt very safe. It’s 1.2km. The San Jose Forum is quite a bit further out from the city (further away from the airport), so you might want to book a transfer or a car for that return journey. The price for the airport bus is, yes, US$1 per person each way. Good luck and let us know if we can help further!
Hi. I just wanted to confirm that a bus does run 24 hours from the airport. Another site showed the station wagon bus is only until 23:00. We are looking to arrive on a 12:05 flight and don’t want to be stranded. Hoping to head to San Jose to get a bus to Cahuita in the morning.
Thanks for your help.
Hi there. You won’t be stranded. – I keep checking and updating the information on buses as it changes. So to the best of my knowledge they run all the time, but later at night they are less frequent. The airport themselves says 24 hours for station wagon, but that may just be to Alajuela. If that’s not the case, there are official tais at the airport. They are an orange colour. They are metered.
Thanks, folks, this was very helpful, thanks for what you’re doing.
I will check out your blog!
Keep on traveling!
Trevor
Hi: Will the TUASA bus from airport to San Jose CR make stops along the main Hwy to San Jose. My destination is in Cd. Cariari a few km. from the airport and right beside the Hwy.
Thanks
Yes, so long as its a regular stop if you have good Spanish you may be able to convince him to stop at a non regular stop too – there are stops along the way to collect and drop off – just ask the driver when you get on
Hi Sarah, thanks for this very useful post, me and my girlfriend made it to San Jose no problem.
Getting money out at the cash point didn’t cost us anything in charges and was a very favourable rate. Although we have a Starling card which doesn’t charge us to withdraw money and has the best rates worldwide.
The cash point is tucked around the corner by the baggage reclaim (number 1 I think…)
Also, the bus has gone up to 670 colonies. And because we dilly dallied a bit we didn’t get the bus TIL about 5pm and got stuck in rush hour traffic for over an hour.
Once you go out of the terminal it is very hard to get back in so I’d suggest getting your money out straight away and going straight for the bus, avoiding the millions of taxi touts!
Thanks again for the post. Have fun travelling 🙂
Clare
Thanks Clare! I’ll update the details on the ATM and bus! Glad to hear you made it into San Joses – enjoy Costa Rica !
Hello, can you tell me what bus I need to get in San Jose, to the Airport?
You can take the Tuasa bus from their terminal in San Jose to the Airport. You’ll find the Tuasa terminal on the north side of the Nuestra Senora de La Merced Catholic Church, near to Merced Park on Second Avenue. You can find this on any map. This San Jose to airport bus is really easy to find.
Hi!
Thanks for all the great info. Do you have any info or any opinion about traveling from San Jose to Puerto Viejo? My husband and I have read lots of conflicting information.
We are coming on Saturday, spending one night in San Jose and then traveling to Puerto Viejo. I feel like it would be easy to take the bus, but we don’t want to be miserable.
If you have any suggestions, I’d greatly appreciate it. I’d love to save the money rather than and not have to pay for the shared transfer at $55 each.
Thank you
hi there – Its really easy to get to Puerto Viejo from San Jose on the bus. We did it and weren’t miserable. It was a normal coach sized bus. The TERMINAL MEPE is where you want to go from and there are buses at 0600,1000,1400 and 1600. There’s also a 12 noon one that should stop there. I’d suggest going to the terminal (we walked it from downtown in about 15 minutes) the day you arrive and booking the tickets for the next day. We booked the day before and had no problems. It should be around 5,300 CR.
I am in Tamarindo and need to get to SJO airport. Is there a bus that leaves Tamarindo and stops at the airport or will I have to go to the bus depot downtown San Jose and then find my way (taxi? Uber? Bus?) to the airport?
Here’s what Inknow about buses from Tamarindo to the airport Two bus companies run routes to Tamarindo: Alfaro from San José (via Liberia), and La Pampa from Liberia. Alfaro runs two buses per day from San José: 11:30 a.m. (stopping in Liberia) and 3:30 p.m. (via Caldera). The cost is around $10 per person and the trip takes around 5.5 hours. If you to get to downtown San Jose, then the Tuasa bus service is as easy as getting from the airport to downtown.
We are traveling from SJO to Samara and would like to take the bus. Can we take the Airport bus to a bus terminal that travels to Samara?
Hi the bus from San Jose to Samara leaves from downtown San Jose – the Alfaro bus station. Its a 10 minute walk (easy streets to walk on) from the Tuasa bus station. Directions available on Google.
After taking airport bus to downtown Tuasa Terminal what is the best way to get to the Hilton Garden Inn La Sabana?
Its about 3 kilometres – I would take a taxi. You’ll find lots waiting around by the Tuasa terminal. Be sure to confirm the price before getting in.
Are there buses to Quepos (Manuel Antonio) at the airport? Do you know the schedule?
Hi William, sadly not. You’ll need to get the bus into San Jose and then walk – it’s just a few minutes – the Transporte Blanco bus terminal and take the bus from there in the direction of Uvita. They leave at 5.30 am, 11.30 am and 3.30 pm
Hi I want to take bus from downtown San Jose to Quepos
Trackpad.com buses have every hr schedule
Can I bus ticket for a day , or I have to pick exact hour ?
Hi – either buying online or buying at the station you’d need to buy a ticket for a particular time. I don’t know if at the moment they would honour a ticket for a different time to the one on your ticket I’m afraid.
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for all your incredibly useful info! My partner and I are arriving at SJO at 7pm on Thursday. Is the Tuasa bus safe enough at night? We have an Airbnb in the URBN Escalante building. Google says this is about 2.3km / 30 minute walk. We don’t mind the walk but I don’t know if it’s advisable at night wheeling suitcases? Would you do it?
If we take a taxi from there, what sort of price should we be aiming to haggle for? Many thanks 🙂
Hi Rich – no worries glad you’re finding it useful. I’d take the TUASA bus at night, yes. I would, however, try and get a taxi from the TUASA bus station to your AirBnB. ALWAYS take an official taxi (or an Uber). There’s an app called EasyTaxi – which is the Costa Rican version of Uber – and you can check out Uber estimated costs for what your route would be. The EasyTaxi app ONLY uses official taxis, which are red with a yellow box on top, so you’ll know that you’re getting an official one. While you can choose to pay cash or card with the app, you should always be aware that these official taxis are SUPPOSED to use the meter, obviously some drivers might try it on with tourists, but the app is a great way to avoid that! Best of luck and do let me know how you get on!
Hi, just looking for confirmation the airport bus is still running it’s full schedule from early morning (4-5am onwards) as of March 2022 as I need to get a very early morning bus to San Jose airport from the city. Also is the terminal the: “Parada Alajuela, Costado norte parque La Merced, Merced”? This is the place to catch it in the morning?
Many thanks! Really helpful info 🙂
Hi there – I’ve just reviewed the content and updated with a map for the San Jose terminal and also the times, so the Tuasa bus starts at 0450 and runs every 6 minutes. And yes, that’s the correct address for the bus. It’s also worth downloading the moovitapp, which will have real time buses too.
OMG Sara, you are a life saver. How very nice of you to keep this thread going. I going to Turrialba. So i understand the tuasa will take me to dt San Jose. Is that the coco cola staion? Then I can buy a ticket to Turrialba. Thank you. Are you familar with the bus terminal? I understand its big and confusing.
Hi Tammie, apologies for the delay, I’ve been offline! The Tuasa terminal is 2 blocks from the Coca Cola station – you can see on the map that I’ve put on the blog post that the words coca cola are just at the top of it, and you can see how close it is to the Tuasa terminal. The bus to Turrialba is run by TransTusa (different to Tuasa) and their terminal is 1.5km from Tuasa – if you google for Estacion de Buses Turrialba (it’s near Atsui Ramen on the map). And if you can carry or roll your bags easily, then that’s an easy walk – I’ve done it myself with a 40 litre backpack and a day pack – and I felt completely comfortable doing it too.
Wow Sarah, Thank you sooooo much for your reply. You are so nice to take the time. Im amazed. Thank you!!!!
Sara, thank you again, for being an exceptional killer person. I am in Costa Rica, and with your help, it went much smoother. I cannot say thank you enough.
Can I buy you a cup of coffee?
Safe and happy travels, to you and your hubby.
No worries at all Tammie – very happy to have helped! No need for a coffee, just tell other folks where you found the info and I’ll be grateful! Sarah
Very useful tips regarding the SJO ATM and Bus to San Jose which saved me a lot of time and hustle.
Thank you so much!!
Excelente me gusta la idea y varato, ahi estaremos, pura vida!
Hello, we will be staying at Hampton Inn airport one night before we head home. We want to visit the Central Market and was wondering if the airport bus would take us there or if we need to get a taxi ? Thanks !
Hi Chris – the airport bus will take you to within about 2 blocks of the central market, so its a great way to get into town cheaply. Sarah
Rome2Rio shows about a half our from San Jose to SJO, but when I googled Google Maps it shows 2 1/2 hours, both by bus. Which is correct?
It depends on the traffic, so if you’re traveling at rush hour it will be longer. The regular, non rush hour time is about 35 minutes.
Thank you so much. This info is awesome.
No worries Kelly, glad its useful!