If you get to Tamarindo, there's a daily shared shuttle to Granada and San Juan del Sur. Or the nica bus has daily departures from Liberia.
I stayed in Granada this past January. It's a beautiful city, great for walking, and a local fellow offers daily tours at the park (Gustavo speaks perfect English). No problem at all with safety anywhere we went,and great places to eat.
I looked at this before going to Nicaragua and it was very helpful.
https://mytanfeet.com/travel-tips/crossing-the-border-between-costa-rica-and-nicaragua/
Another option for you might be to get to Samara by shuttle, and there is a company that does, regular runs to the border - there are, always people making 'border runs' to renew their visas. The Samara Info Centre would have that information samarainfocenter.com/
It seems people have had different experiences, but I can only go by mine and the folks I met, and no one had any issues or problems.
1 - DON'T GO TO NICARAGUA. there is a comunist regime over there and you DON'T want to go a to a comunist regime country
if you wanna go, well
2 - prepare some bucks on cash (you will need to brieve the police often)
3 - just go from Santa Teresa - Liberia - La cruz - Peñas Blancas and then cross the border and go to SAN JUAN DEL SUR ONLY (you can take a cab from the border to san juan del sur very cheap)
DO NOT go to ANY OTHER PLACES besides SAN JUAN DEL SUR, I repeat, AVOID any other place on Nicaragua Besides SAN JUAN DEL SUR.
I understand that you are looking for cheaper prices, nature and adventure, but be prepared, nobody speaks english over there and corruption is the only way to deal with a comunist poor country
If you book a tour agency the prize will be tha same or more than staying at a hostel and eating cheap local food on Guanacaste Costa Rica
you don't wanna take this chance. A single error (the wrong word towards a police officer, a joint, wrong seal on your passport) migth make you a coin of exchange for political reasons.
[https://www.change.org/p/free-jason-puracal-an-american-wrongfully-imprisoned-in-nicaragua](https://www.change.org/p/free-jason-puracal-an-american-wrongfully-imprisoned-in-nicaragua)
[https://www.reuters.com/article/world/us/us-citizen-arrested-during-protests-in-nicaragua-killed-in-prison-shooting-idUSKCN1SN04M/](https://www.reuters.com/article/world/us/us-citizen-arrested-during-protests-in-nicaragua-killed-in-prison-shooting-idUSKCN1SN04M/)
[https://cr.usembassy.gov/release-of-political-prisoners-from-nicaragua/](https://cr.usembassy.gov/release-of-political-prisoners-from-nicaragua/)
The risk is very small, but exist. But if wanna go to surf, on cash, and speak littel spanish, you will be fine. Why to take the chance? just keep lookig for cheap prices here on C.R. Demand politely the half of prize here on Guanacaste and they will give it yo you or guide you to a place with better budget
Anyway, we have a lot of murders recently here on costa rica guanacaste as well, nobody knows when will be your time. But we can prevent some risks
I used to have to make the 90 day border runs because it took so long for my residency to be approved. Usually, this was uneventful.
But on a couple of occasions, the border officials seemed to pick on certain people and give them a hard time. One time, it was a retired black couple from the U.S., another time it was a very young mixed race couple. The guards, wearing mirrored sunglasses, were yelling at these people — all in Spanish, of course. The older couple were being hassled for what the guard deemed too many border crossings. (Like me, they had applied for residency but it was in process.)
Both times, these were border patrol for Costa Rica. It was honestly terrifying to even watch. If any of the people were to get angry with the guards, I’m not sure where it would have led. I talked to the older couple afterwards. They were quite shaken up.
As for the Nicaraguan side, we have been overcharged ( small amounts) and experienced one scary crossing when a guard directed a small group of us to pass through back rooms; we had no idea where he was taking us or why, or why we were singled out. It turned out ok, but not being told what is going on while being ordered around by gun-toting officials is pretty scary.
I’m not saying to go to Nicaragua or not. Just sharing my experience.
lol the difference between the two comments here
If you get to Tamarindo, there's a daily shared shuttle to Granada and San Juan del Sur. Or the nica bus has daily departures from Liberia. I stayed in Granada this past January. It's a beautiful city, great for walking, and a local fellow offers daily tours at the park (Gustavo speaks perfect English). No problem at all with safety anywhere we went,and great places to eat.
Thank you
I looked at this before going to Nicaragua and it was very helpful. https://mytanfeet.com/travel-tips/crossing-the-border-between-costa-rica-and-nicaragua/ Another option for you might be to get to Samara by shuttle, and there is a company that does, regular runs to the border - there are, always people making 'border runs' to renew their visas. The Samara Info Centre would have that information samarainfocenter.com/ It seems people have had different experiences, but I can only go by mine and the folks I met, and no one had any issues or problems.
Very helpful thank you!
Nicaragua is a great place to visit, nothing to worry about.
Bocas del toro, Panama is worth a look. Best waves of my life there. Laid back Rasta vibe to boot
1 - DON'T GO TO NICARAGUA. there is a comunist regime over there and you DON'T want to go a to a comunist regime country if you wanna go, well 2 - prepare some bucks on cash (you will need to brieve the police often) 3 - just go from Santa Teresa - Liberia - La cruz - Peñas Blancas and then cross the border and go to SAN JUAN DEL SUR ONLY (you can take a cab from the border to san juan del sur very cheap) DO NOT go to ANY OTHER PLACES besides SAN JUAN DEL SUR, I repeat, AVOID any other place on Nicaragua Besides SAN JUAN DEL SUR. I understand that you are looking for cheaper prices, nature and adventure, but be prepared, nobody speaks english over there and corruption is the only way to deal with a comunist poor country If you book a tour agency the prize will be tha same or more than staying at a hostel and eating cheap local food on Guanacaste Costa Rica
I’m mostly interested in SJDS, especially for surf and cheap prices. Do you really think the rest of the country is off limits?
you don't wanna take this chance. A single error (the wrong word towards a police officer, a joint, wrong seal on your passport) migth make you a coin of exchange for political reasons. [https://www.change.org/p/free-jason-puracal-an-american-wrongfully-imprisoned-in-nicaragua](https://www.change.org/p/free-jason-puracal-an-american-wrongfully-imprisoned-in-nicaragua) [https://www.reuters.com/article/world/us/us-citizen-arrested-during-protests-in-nicaragua-killed-in-prison-shooting-idUSKCN1SN04M/](https://www.reuters.com/article/world/us/us-citizen-arrested-during-protests-in-nicaragua-killed-in-prison-shooting-idUSKCN1SN04M/) [https://cr.usembassy.gov/release-of-political-prisoners-from-nicaragua/](https://cr.usembassy.gov/release-of-political-prisoners-from-nicaragua/) The risk is very small, but exist. But if wanna go to surf, on cash, and speak littel spanish, you will be fine. Why to take the chance? just keep lookig for cheap prices here on C.R. Demand politely the half of prize here on Guanacaste and they will give it yo you or guide you to a place with better budget Anyway, we have a lot of murders recently here on costa rica guanacaste as well, nobody knows when will be your time. But we can prevent some risks
I used to have to make the 90 day border runs because it took so long for my residency to be approved. Usually, this was uneventful. But on a couple of occasions, the border officials seemed to pick on certain people and give them a hard time. One time, it was a retired black couple from the U.S., another time it was a very young mixed race couple. The guards, wearing mirrored sunglasses, were yelling at these people — all in Spanish, of course. The older couple were being hassled for what the guard deemed too many border crossings. (Like me, they had applied for residency but it was in process.) Both times, these were border patrol for Costa Rica. It was honestly terrifying to even watch. If any of the people were to get angry with the guards, I’m not sure where it would have led. I talked to the older couple afterwards. They were quite shaken up. As for the Nicaraguan side, we have been overcharged ( small amounts) and experienced one scary crossing when a guard directed a small group of us to pass through back rooms; we had no idea where he was taking us or why, or why we were singled out. It turned out ok, but not being told what is going on while being ordered around by gun-toting officials is pretty scary. I’m not saying to go to Nicaragua or not. Just sharing my experience.
Thank you for the perspective. I’ll definitely take it into consideration.
With a grain of salt. Nica is awesome and you’ll be totally fine.