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Step 1
In Costa Rica the amount of time you have is a trade off for the amount of money you want to spend. The cheapest way to get around is the bus system. The Tralapa or Alfaro bus from San Jose to the Guanacaste beaches takes about 7 hours. And that is a direct bus if you need to make connections your trip will take at least a day out of your vacation. You have to buy a ticket for these at the respective bus stations and if they are sold out you will not be able to go this way.
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Step 2
An easier way to get from San Jose to most tourist destinations is "Interbus" or "Fantasy bus" all hotels will book you trips on these mini buses. At this time it is approximately $30 to get from San Jose to the Guanacaste beaches on the Pacific Coast.
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Step 3
Another option is to rent a car. The car rentals are expensive by US standards, the cars tiny, the roads horrible. Gasoline is expensive but places which are 5-6 hours drive away are less than 200 miles away and the cars are very small so you will use less gas than you regularily would.
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Step 4
The fastest way to get around, if there are planes flying the routes is on small planes. Sansa is the main airline but there are also flights around Costa Rica by Nature Air, and McCaw airlines.
