How To Take Bus Going To Los Chiles To Cross Costa Rica - Nicaragua Border

by: Robelyn Martinez Yambao

Hola mi amores!
I am back again after a long time of not writing here. I've been busy taking care of my kids and doing some vlogs on YouTube. Anyways, I wanna share today my experience about going out of the country to renew my stamp to continue my stay here in Costa Rica. In my previous vlog, I talked about crossing the border at Las Tablillas Los Chiles by car. We traveled using a friend's car 3 months ago but, this time our friend went back to USA and our budget for hiring a car was not enough so, we took a bus for a cheaper choice. Let's get started!

Buses Going To Los Chiles

There are two buses that go to Los Chiles Border: The Chilsaca and the bus from 7/10 terminal in San Jose. If you choose Chilsaca, you need to transit at Ciudad Quesada (change bus). I think it will only take you for 3 hours to the border. We got the direct bus from San Jose Terminal at 7/10 and took us 4-5 hours to reach the border.

7/10 Terminal To Las Tablillas Border

We are staying in San Ramon so, I need to know the schedule for the first trip in order to come back the same day and found it online at 7/10 website. From our town, the first trip is at 4 am but we took the 5:15 am trip. I thought I can catch the 7:10 am trip from San Jose but, the traffic jam in San Jose made it difficult for us to get there on time. We got our ticket on the second floor and waited for another two hours for the next trip which was at 9:15 am. If you have kids with you like me, you can let them play at the playground located on the second floor of the building at the right side of the ticketing booth. The cost for the ticket was 3, 105 colones that was more likely $6 USD. The trip has four stop over, the first town was in Naranjo. The bus will pass by Florencia, Muelle, and lastly Los Chiles. When reaching Los Chiles bus terminal, you don't need to get off the bus if your destination is the border because they will go there after few minutes of rest in Los Chiles. You can talk to the driver if you want, our driver that time can speak in English. 

My Experience

I have two children with me in crossing the border. I have 4 years old and one year old daughters on this trip. We woke up at 4:30 am then prepared to walk to San Ramon Bus Terminal going to San Jose. We arrived exactly at 5:10 that's why I was in a hurry to get the ticket for 5:15 am trip. The cost of the ticket from San Ramon to San Jose was 1, 495 colones equivalent to almost $3 USD and the time travel is one hour depending to traffic on that day. We arrived there at 6:25 am then, took taxi to go to 7/10 terminal that cost us 3000 colones (almost $6) because of traffic jam and a lots of close roads that day because of the festival held the night before.
Anyways, we arrived at the 7/10 terminal exactly 7am and I thought I was on time but, the bus was already full. The counter gave me the tickets for the next trip. I paid two tickets for me and Khimora while my one year old baby was free. After passing by Florencia, the bus has a stop over at the Soda which was 30 minutes away from Los Chiles. We just bought drinks in the said soda (restaurant) while others were eating their lunch. We ate our food I prepared to take with us inside the bus. After 30 minutes, we continued our trip to Los Chiles terminal. When we reached Los Chiles, there are few passengers waiting like me for the bus to continue to the border which was 10 minutes away from the town. If you are in a hurry, you can take taxi to the border. We arrived at the border at 2:25 pm and I made the processing of the stamping exiting the Costa Rica and coming back here for two hours. We stayed at the Nicaragua border too long because our Philippine passports need a visa so, we need to wait for awhile for paper work. My baby Kaylee is American so, I just paid her tax no visa payment. She holds an American passport instead of Costa Rican passport (she's also a tica but we didn't get her tica passport).

Additional Info: I have a minor child, I will need an exit permit for her (Permiso De Salida) the Costa Rican officer will photo copy that to attach in their record for her as Costa Rican citizen. We got that paper from San Jose at Migracion for free a year ago. Just keep that paper with you all the time.

If you want to read how to get the Permiso de Salida, just go to this link: HERE
For our crossing the border experience, Info on how we do it and payments for the visa run, just visit this link: HERE
​I have different interesting articles about living in Costa Rica, all about my experiences. If you want to read those experiences for reference, just go to this page: HERE
​That's all for today and thank you for reading my blog! Pura Vida!

Here's my vlog, enjoy watching!

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