Puerto Viejo · Backpacking

Autotransportes MEPE runs the Caribbean routes and lists San José to Puerto Viejo at ₡6,985 one way, taking roughly four and a half hours from its own terminal. Buy at the counter; seats go on Friday afternoons and around holidays.

The coast road south to Manzanillo is flat and paved, and shops along the main street rent bikes by the day, which covers Cocles, Playa Chiquita and Punta Uva. Expect roughly ₡3,000–5,000 a day; a car is close to useless here.

The Asociación Talamanqueña de Ecoturismo y Conservación is a non-profit with an office on the main road, arranging guided walks, indigenous-territory visits and overnight trips with local guides. Usually cheaper and better briefed than a hotel desk.

Manzanillo is the end of the paved road, 13 km south, and the Gandoca–Manzanillo refuge coast trail starts from the village. Getting there by bike or local bus and walking it yourself costs almost nothing next to a booked excursion.

Reckon on roughly ₡9,000–15,000 for a hostel dorm bed, ₡3,500–5,500 for a casado or a rice-and-beans plate at a soda, ₡3,000–5,000 for a day's bike hire, and the ₡6,985 MEPE fare in and out. One guided tour or animal-centre visit will roughly double the day.