This is a road trip report from September 2022 of how I travelled from San Carlos in Nicaragua to La Fortuna in Costa Rica via the Las Tablillas/Los Chiles Border Crossing.
Enjoying a well-deserved Imperial beer in La Fortuna in Costa Rica, my 102nd country, 95th UN listed:
On the way back north, from Panama City to Mexico City, I crossed at the Peñas Blancas border crossing.
San Carlos to La Fortuna in three stages:
Note: The border crossing is called Las Tablillas on the Nicaragua side and Los Chiles on the Costa Rica side!
- San Carlos to Las Tablillas
- Los Chiles to Quesada
- Quesada to la Fortuna
1. San Carlos to Las Tablillas:
My ‘border crossing’ journey began in San Carlos, a small town on the northern side of Lake Nicaragua.
I had travelled to San Carlos from Matagalpa, via Juigalpa, over two days. The road used to be one of the worst in the country. Now it’s paved, but it’s still a tiring journey.
So after experiencing the delights of an end-of-the-road Nicaraguan town, I took a combi-van from the main bus terminal in San Carlos to the border at Las Tablillas.
The combi van does not take the main road. Sometimes it’s referred to as Las Tibillas:
Just after the Santa Fe Bridge, there is a security check. Just like the check coming into Nicaragua at Potosi, they emptied everything out of my bags, but at least they had a table here. And it was a bit faster and more amiable experience than the Potosi one.
So the ride from San Carlos to the frontera took 45 minutes in total. The fare was 60C$.
I befriended a lady from Costa Rica. I don’t know her name, but she had been through the border before and knew the ropes.
Nicaragua-Costa Rica border
From where we stopped, it’s a short walk to the immigration office.
Make sure you are in the right queue. Seems like there’s one for exiting and another for arriving. As always, it’s not easy to tell which is which.
Nicaraguan immigration is slow. It depends on the people in front of you having their paperwork in order. And of course, the officer.
I was processed pretty swiftly.
And bear in mind we are leaving, yet they still want to know irrelevant details such as marital status.
Hell, their database is obviously not linked, as the details should be on the system. But no. They seem to like making things more complicated than needed in Nicaragua.
After 1 hour, I am stamped out:
You get your bags scanned. Walk through No Man’s Land to the Costa Rican border. Right before the border, you give the customs declaration form to the officer in the little hut seen here.
Walk across the border.
The officers are efficient and speak great English.
You get 90 days.
Go to the customs desk where they ask if you have any fruits, and then you are free to go. 5 minutes if that.
Welcome to Costa Rica.
2. Los Chiles to Quesada:
The township of LOS CHILES is 6km away. The only transport available seemed to be big buses that were going all the way to San José, and my newfound friend told me I needed to get off at Quesada and then get another bus to La Fortuna, which is exactly what I did. So the bus left the border at 11:10 am and arrived in Quesada at 2:15 pm. 3550 CRC (Colones)
3. Quesada to la Fortuna:
Luckily, I didn’t have to wait too long. The next bus left at 2:30 pm and I arrived in La Fortuna at 3:55 pm. It cost me 1675 CRC.
Changing Money:
There are no ATMs at the border!!
You can change leftover Córdobas at the San Carlos bus terminal. Just keep back 60 for the fare. I changed 180 C$ here.
You can also change money shortly before the border. The minivan stops!
And again, once you exit the Nicaraguan immigration. I changed 20 USD here to. I got 650 Colones to the dollar.
So that was the border crossing experience as of the end of August 2022
The currency in Costa Rica is the Colones . The plastic bills, which are great in humid countries, are 20,000, 10,000 (plastic version coming in October 2022 apparently), 5,000, 2,000 and 1,000. And the coins, 500, 100, 50, 25, 10 and 5 Colones. The 500s and 100s are a bit clunky, like the old 1 penny in the UK pre-1971.
Banco Nacional in Costa Rica offer free ATM withdrawals.
One of the cool things you can do in La Fortuna that doesn’t require a guide or tour is to visit the La Fortuna Waterfall. I walked there and back. Bit of a ways, though. Super hot and sweaty:
