We can arrange a private, reliable and safe ride to our lodge. This is highly recommended since it avoids changing from busses to taxis to buses again and this rate will be hard to find in any other taxis.
But if you want to get here on your own here’s how:
There are buses leaving from the Musoc bus station in San Jose every hour starting at 5:30 am until 6:30 pm.
The bus you take at Musoc will bring you to the city of San Isidro which will normally take about three to three and a half hours. From San Isidro you can take a taxi or another bus to Rio Chirripo Retreat.
If you take another bus to Rio Chirripo Lodge(Canaan) you must walk or take a taxi to the central market in San Isidro, a taxi will cost about $3 or $4 to the terminal. It is usually an orange bus and it has a screen in the front of the bus that says San Gerardo- Canaan- Chimirol. It takes approximately one hour. The fare is around 1000 colones (roughly $2).
Here is the current Schedule scroll down to the San Gerardo-San Isidro
If you are not planning on driving a car, taking a taxi is the easiest way to get here. You can take a taxi from the Juan Santa Maria airport in Alajuela or any other location in the Metropolitan area to Rio Chirripo for about $150 to $180 each way. We can recommend reliable taxi services from San Jose, please let us book your trip or contact us for their phone numbers.
If you take a taxi from San Isidro to Rio Chirripo Retreat it will cost about $30 and takes about 30 minutes. There are taxis where Musoc bus stops. Take the red ones as those are the official ones. Tell them you are coming to Canaan/kaanan/. Now there is also Uber service in San Isidro, so that’s another option you have available, just search for Rio Chirripo Lodge in the Uber map and get your ride through the App.
From the North
Once you arrive in the city of San Jose start heading south on route 2 towards San Isidro del General. Once you’re in the city of San Isidro del General take the Pan-American highway heading south, go through the city of San Isidro, over two bridges and you’ll see a sign on your right that says PARQUE NACIONAL CHIRRIPO and Maxi Bodega supermarket on your left. Take the road on your left that goes parallel to the highway. Follow that road for approximately 12 kilometers until you get to the town of Rivas, once you pass the center of town (church will be on your right, bars on your left), turn right (DO NOT continue straight ahead) and go for about 9 kilometers on a, mostly paved, road until you get to the village of Canaan, go past the cemetery of Cannan and 50 meters more you’ll see a paved driveway and a sign that says “RIO CHIRRIPO RETREAT“, we’ll be waiting for you.
From the South
If you are coming from the south pass the Monte General Mall on your left and going north you’ll pass three traffic lights, once you pass the third one start looking for a sign that says PARQUE NACIONAL CHIRRIPO and immediately after that a road on the right side that goes parallel to the highway, follow that road for approximately 12 kilometers until you get to the town of Rivas, once you pass the center of town (church will be on your right, bars on your left), turn right (DO NOT continue straight ahead) and go for about 9 kilometers on a mostly paved road until you get to the village of Canaan, go past the cemetery of Canaan and 50 meters more you’ll see a paved driveway and a sign that says “RIO CHIRRIPO RETREAT“, we’ll be waiting for you.
If you are coming from any other location e-mail us and we can send you the bus instructions to arrive here
Renting a van…
If you have a group of up to 14 people traveling with you, there is a van service for about $245. This price is one way from the airport to Rio Chirripo Retreat & Hotel. The price can change, please contact us for the price at the time that you need the service.