Do I Need a Car in La Fortuna?

You can do La Fortuna without a car. Take the public bus if you have time and a light bag, since the regulator ARESEP sets the fare at ₡3,920 from San José on route 214. Take a shuttle if you land late or carry a lot. In town, pick a hotel with its own hot springs and use taxis for the waterfall and the park.

The bus from San José: the fare, not the times

Price: Route 214, San José to La Fortuna: regular fare ₡3,920, and ₡2,940 for adults aged 65 and over. The operator is A.T.Z. Alfaro Ruiz S.A. Resolution RE-0115-IT-2026 of 28 Aug 2026, in force from 4 Sep 2026 (ARESEP open data, tariff table for buses, read 12 Oct 2026)

Price: Same route and resolution: San José to Ciudad Quesada ₡2,840, and ₡2,730 on another line of the table (ARESEP open data, same table)

ARESEP says every bus fare is set by the regulator and not by the company. The ICT says that the public bus to La Fortuna takes longer than driving and may need one or two bus changes, and its guide puts the drive from San José at about 2.5 hours (ICT La Fortuna mini-guide, October 2024, read 12 Oct 2026).

We found no official timetable for route 214 online. Ask the operator or the ticket counter for the next departure, and whether the bus goes through Ciudad Quesada.

If your bus stops in Ciudad Quesada

Price: Route 234, Ciudad Quesada to La Fortuna: ₡1,700 regular, operator Empresarios Unidos del Norte S.A. Route 286, Ciudad Quesada to La Fortuna: ₡1,640, operator Transpisa Limitada. Both under resolution RE-0118-IT-2026 of 2 Sep 2026, in force from 8 Sep 2026 (ARESEP open data, read 12 Oct 2026)

Price: Route 272, San Ramón to La Fortuna: ₡2,660, operator Compañía Carbachez e Hijos (ARESEP open data, resolution RE-0115-IT-2026, same table)

Ciudad Quesada is also called San Carlos. Our page on Costa Rica without a car shows ₡1,705 for route 234 from a May 2026 bulletin. ARESEP's table now shows ₡1,700, and the regulator rounds fares to the nearest ₡10 since 1 July 2026.

Shuttle or public bus

The public bus costs less and takes longer. A shuttle is a private van, and ARESEP does not set its price. The ICT's guide lists agencies in La Fortuna that hold a tourism declaration, and one of them, Arenal Volcano Shuttle, is named in its list (2021 list, in the October 2024 guide). Get a written quote before you pay.

Our view: take the bus if your budget is tight and your day is open. Book a shuttle if you land late, have heavy bags or have children, and ask for the price in writing.

Arenal Volcano National Park: hours and fee

Hours: Open every day, 8:00 to 16:00. No free days. Tickets are bought at the entrance and paid by credit or debit card only, as cash is not taken (ICT attraction page, read 12 Oct 2026)

Note: The ICT's page for the park lists the Heliconias, Coladas, Tucanes and Los Miradores trails, and says the park is about 15 km from La Fortuna (ICT park page, read 12 Oct 2026)

Price: Adult non-resident $16.95, non-resident child $5.65. Costa Rican and resident adult ₡1,130, child ₡565. All with VAT included. Hours every day 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (SINAC, Parque Nacional Volcán Arenal page, undated, read 12 Oct 2026)

SINAC runs the national parks, and its page says all the entry money goes to the national parks fund. The park is about 15 km from town, so use a taxi or a tour to reach it, and agree the return time with the driver.

Hot springs and the waterfall without a car

Note: The ICT says the Arenal Volcano, the La Fortuna waterfall and the hanging bridges can be visited on your own. It says there are free things to do, such as walking around town, visiting clear rivers and Arenal Lake, and renting a bicycle to ride to El Castillo or La Guaria (ICT La Fortuna mini-guide, Oct 2024)

Note: The ICT says hotels on the road from La Fortuna toward the park have views of the volcano, and some have hot springs inside their grounds. It lists River Tabacón hot springs and the La Fortuna waterfall among the top things to see (ICT guide and attraction page, read 12 Oct 2026)

The official sources give no bus, price or hours for the waterfall or the hot springs. Here is what we suggest. It is our advice, not an official rule.

• Pick a hotel that has hot springs in its own grounds. This avoids a second ride.

• Ask the hotel for the price of a taxi to the waterfall before you leave, and ask the driver to return for you at a set time.

• Use the free options the ICT lists: the town, the rivers and the lake, and a bicycle for short rides.

The weather

The ICT's guide says January to April are hot with less rain. It says May, June, September, October and November are the rainiest months, but sunsets can still be good. It says the weather can change in one hour.

If you live in the US but are not a US citizen

Costa Rica sorts passports into four groups in its visa directive of 17 November 2025, in La Gaceta, Alcance 148 to La Gaceta 216, which we read on 12 October 2026. It is in Spanish. India, the Philippines and China are in different groups.

Whether a US green card counts as a "residencia" under this exception is not confirmed. Ask a Costa Rican consulate before you rely on one. Our Costa Rica guide, linked below, has the Gazette quotes and the Chinese tourism protocol.

What is checked here and what is not

Checked on 12 October 2026: the ARESEP open-data tariff table for buses, the ARESEP tariff page's rule on discounts for older adults, SINAC's Arenal park page, the ICT's attraction page and park page for Arenal and La Fortuna, the ICT's October 2024 La Fortuna mini-guide, and the Gazette text of the visa directive of 17 November 2025.

Not confirmed: any bus timetable, the San José departure terminal, shuttle prices, entry prices or hours for the waterfall and the hot springs, taxi prices, and whether a green card counts for the visa exception. We did not travel this route for this page.