Transport to/from SJO to Puerto Caldera

[susiesan]

I will be on the Feb. 9 Wind Surf Costa Rica cruise to and from Puerto Caldera. I will do my own flights to and from SJO. I'm having trouble finding reasonably priced transport between the San Jose and the cruise ship dock. Best price I can find for a private transfer is $140 each way. So far, I haven't met anyone else on this sailing to share the transport cost with; no one has responded to the roll call.

 

For those of you who have begun or ended a cruise at PC and went to or from San Jose, how did you get there? Can I buy a transfer from Windstar if I did not go with their hotel package?

[honumaui]

We were on that cruise a few years ago & bought the transfers from Windstar..It was a long ride but like a tour of the countryside...Even had a tour guide. Was worth the cost to have them take care of everything & not worry about missing the ship if there was a traffic problem. Ps..we did not buy their hotel pkg but stayed a night at the same hotel..booked direct for much less.

Edited September 14, 2013 by honumaui
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[susiesan]

We were on that cruise a few years ago & bought the transfers from Windstar..It was a long ride but like a tour of the countryside...Even had a tour guide. Was worth the cost to have them take care of everything & not worry about missing the ship if there was a traffic problem. Ps..we did not buy their hotel pkg but stayed a night at the same hotel..booked direct for much less.

 

What hotel do they use? Did you get a transfer with Windstar direct to the airport at the end or did you stay one more night post cruise?

[honumaui]

It was in 2009 and was the Ramada Plaza Herradura. There was a free shuttle from the airport..had to call for it. Yes we also got their transfer back to the airport . You may want to check their web site..I believe they list the hotel pkgs there. Ps..The Manuel Antonio Natl Park in Quepos was a great tour. Did a snorkleing tour that wasn't very good.

[susiesan]

It was in 2009 and was the Ramada Plaza Herradura. There was a free shuttle from the airport..had to call for it. Yes we also got their transfer back to the airport . You may want to check their web site..I believe they list the hotel pkgs there. Ps..The Manuel Antonio Natl Park in Quepos was a great tour. Did a snorkleing tour that wasn't very good.

 

The hotel is now the Wyndham San Jose Herradura. I made a reservation through hotels.com for $97 incl taxes and breakfast. Windstar wants $290 a night for the same room.

 

Did you go to Manuel Antonio Nat'l Park with Windstar or on your own? Since the ship has snorkeling equipment on board we will not do a ship snorkel tour but will just go on our own. I plan to locate things to do in each port independently. I'm sure there will be taxi drivers waiting at each port and I can just make a deal on the spot if I haven't arranged something in advance. One couple has responded to the roll call so far, but I don't know if they want to do independent excursions.

[honumaui]

We did Windstar's tour of M.A. Nat Park...It was very good. I forgot where but some of our landings were from the zodiac directly to the beach... called "wet landings". .no cabs around. In Nicaragua we hiked up to the Pelican Eyes resort...fantastic views from their 2 infinity pools.. great place to relax..just buy a beer & u can use their pools. Some pgs did the Volcano excursion....we passed as we've already been to Halealaka in Maui. We did the congo trail zip line in Playa del Coco..fun but strenous for us over 60s....The snorkel tour we took was in Isla de Cano....not very good but we are spoiled from Maui & the Carib.

[screen-gem]

@susiesan,

We did this same Windstar trip a few years ago (and loved it!!!).

 

Had the same dilemma: how to get from SJO to Caldera.

I booked a private transfer to take us to the port, then pick us up a week later. The driver (Roiner) took us on a countryside tour on the way back to SJ, stopping at some interesting small towns (Sarchi is one I remember). Also a stop at an amazing aviary/zoo just outside SJ where we saw all the tropical birds we didn't see in on the Windstar rainforest excursion! Roiner dropped us at our hotel in SJ (Hotel Grano de Oro) where we stayed a couple nights. Next morning, he picked us up at the hotel and took us on a tour of SJ, saw the market, the Gold museum and various other sights. Next morning, he picked us up at hotel and took us to SJO.

 

I don't remember what we paid, but it was well worth it. We saw some of the Costa Rica countryside and the city of SJ that complemented the cruise experience. Roiner was a great driver/guide.

 

Contact Patricia at http://www.trekscostarica.com. She made all the arrangements for us.

 

On the cruise, we took the Windstar excursion to Nicaragua (town of Granada) and the Masaya volcano. We really enjoyed it.

[SailorJM]

We used Roiner also, but we got to him at http://www.coachcostarica.com. Maybe he has changed companies? Patricia also was the one we made arrangements through. Website is still good, since I just checked. But so is trekscostarica.com...hmmm??

 

Anyway: LOVED him, and Patricia! He took us around the countryside and to a coffee plantation, butterfly farm, and for an authentic Costa Rican lunch (buffet), which was excellent...he's very pleasant, fun and knowledgeable. Patricia had a free day, so she joined us. After touring, they drove us to the ship. I highly recommend Coach Costa Rica, Roiner and Patricia. The price was reasonable, but I can't recall what...that was almost 4 years ago.

 

At the time, they said their company was the only one that had permission to actually drive into the docks area and take you right to the ship. We watched other drivers offload passengers outside the docks area, and those folks had to lug baggage in a long way.

[screen-gem]

We used Roiner also, but we got to him at www.coachcostarica.com. Maybe he has changed companies? Patricia also was the one we made arrangements through. Website is still good, since I just checked. But so is trekscostarica.com...hmmm??

 

 

@SailorJM,

I was in touch with Patricia earlier this year (re a referral for some friends who were planning a trip to CR). As of Feb 2013, she and Roiner were both at trekscostarica.com.

[ILCruiser]

We've done this journey twice, once with Coach Costa Rica (several years ago) and once (in 2011) with Odyssey Tours. Odyssey's rate was $110 including a drop-off for a couple of hours at the Aventura zip line tour along the way (zip line not included).

 

They also picked us up at the airport the day before for the ride to our hotel (InterContinental) for $30.

[a601mom]

Buses run from San Jose to Punterenas and on to Puerto Caldera about every hours-takes about 3-3 1/2 hours. Check out "thebusschedule.com".

[RAYSAN11]

If you look on he TripAdvisor Forums for Costa Rica there is a lot of good information on drivers and hotels

[tvl4life]

We did this cruise in 2012 and really enjoyed it. It is quite some distance from the airport to the port, making transportation expensive. We stayed at the Villa Caletas post cruise (which was wonderful) and the concierge arranged all transportation for us, which seemed more reasonable than ala carte. We arranged a private tour at Manuel Antonio National Park with Johan Chaves, a wonderful nature tour guide. Can't say enough about how great the day was with Johan and the cost was less than the tour through Windstar. His email is: johanchaves@yahoo.com.mx. Enjoy your vacation!

[a601mom]

We will take the bus from Quepos to Manuel Antonio Park- there are restauranrs outside the park and a walking tour through the park

[skoobadiva]

@ Susiean - I am on the Costa Rica/Panama sailing in a few weeks and just booked transfers through Windstar for $69/pp. I booked the hotel directly (did not opt for the package), but you can still pay for the transfer and go to the hotel for pickup should you decide to stay elsewhere. The hotel they are currently using is the Real InterContinental San Jose.