Caribbean Coast - Costa Rica - page 300

If you get stranded, spend the night at Hotel El Trópico ( 2767-7070;
www.hoteleltropico.com ; s/d with fan US$25/31, with air-con US$29/33; ) on the main
road 600m north of Terminal Caribeño, which has 17 tidy rooms (angle for one of the
three with front-porch hammocks) and an on-site restaurant (open 7am to 10pm).
There's a gas station and a branch of Banco de Costa Rica with a 24-hour ATM on the
Cirrus system.
Getting There & Away
Cariari has two bus terminals. Buses from San José arrive at the estación nueva (new sta-
tion) at the southern end of town. Those serving Guápiles and the northern Caribbean use
the estación vieja (old station, also known as Terminal Caribeño), about 500m north, on
the west side of main street.
To reach Tortuguero, take a bus from the estación vieja to the dock at La Pavona, then
transfer to one of the several boat services that make multiple daily trips to Tortuguero.
When returning from Tortuguero, if headed to the southern Caribbean coast, take a bus
to Guápiles and then transfer to one of the regular hourly buses to Puerto Limón.
Guápiles (estación vieja) US$1; 20 minutes; departs every 15 minutes from 5:30am to
7pm.
La Pavona for boat transfer to Tortuguero (estación vieja) US$2.20; one hour; de-
parts at 6am, 9am, 11:30am and 3pm.
Puerto Lindo for boat transfer to Barra del Colorado (estación vieja) US$5, 2½
hours; departs at 4am and 2pm.
San José (estación nueva) US$3.35; two hours; departs daily at 7:30am, 9am, 11:30am,
1pm, 3pm and 5:30pm.
If driving, the turnoff for the paved road to Cariari is about 1km east of Guápiles, at the
Servicentro Santa Clara. Drivers heading to Tortuguero can leave cars at the guarded park-
ing by the boat dock on the Río Suerte in La Pavona (about 30km north of Cariari). Casa
Marbella in Tortuguero has posted a very helpful map of the exact route from Guápiles to
La Pavona (see casamarbella.tripod.com/id10.html)
.