Border Run To Nicaragua To Renew My Driver's License

Thanks, that was very informative. We  have been wondering how to solve that dilemma, as well.

celferis wrote:

Thanks, that was very informative. We  have been wondering how to solve that dilemma, as well.

Another tip. IF you go to Los Chiles/Las Tablillas:

When you go through Los Chiles there is a bus station on the left. Stop there and pay your exit tax at the soda or at the farmacia across from it on the side road intersecting the highway at the bus station. There's only one so you'll find it. ;-D That's because if you go about 5 km further towards Las Tablillas a border cop will stop you (or not) and tell you that the machine is broken at the immigration station and they'll send you back here to pay it. That's what we and others have been told. Either they have a lousy machine that's broken all the time or this is some kind of scam to drum up business for the local soda? I would guess the former but would not be too surprised if it was the latter either.

We parked next to the farmer's fence on the side of the highway just before the immigration offices, and had no problems. Have heard others park there and there were a couple other cars parked there when we went.

My suggestion: ASK what is the next stop as you move through the exit and entrance process because THERE ARE NO SIGNS saying go there next. And no one tells you. It's kinda sorta logical but kinda sorta not. It would be too much to ask, I'm sure, to put numbers up like 1, 2, 3, 4, to lead you through the process; or an arrow pointing to the next station.

Ticos and Nicas are not big on signs as you may have noticed. (However I will say that the signs going to La Fortuna are very good and it's almost impossible to get lost now, not like it was a few years ago when you could get lost if you didn't know the way.) That said, when you leave Fortuna to Los Chiles it's unmarked until you get over to Hwy 35, then it's just a straight shot, anyway.

But going out of La Fortuna towards Las Tablillas you have to go to Los Tanques and then Los Muelles and there are a couple unmarked or not well-marked turns required. Use GPS or do what we do and just ask people "what is the way to _____?" Most of the time that works out well.

I can't imagine why you would put all that expense and stress on making a border run..I did it MANY times  by bus as I waited for my residency. That was when we had to stay 72 hours or thought we did.
It is far more stress free and less dangerous to take a  "Ticabus" from San Jose  I prefer Nicaragua to Panama but did both. The buses are clean , have toilets and now and then stop for a sandwich and juice purchase, But I always took my own just incase. 
The cost way back then was $50 round trip Maybe more now Look it up online. But  even if a little more, it sure beats a hazardous drive, stress and PAYING for hotels on route to Nicaragua.  TRY it you will be surprised how fast the 11 hours passes with a nap or readlng , and TV..I always went to Grenada for overnight cheap stay and to shop for leather goods in the market. Great purse, great prices so made it a fun inexpensive trip even with  cheap clean hotel $10 a night then for 2 nights, LOL  check on line for prices now,
ALSO  there are companies in Heredia,  who do an "all inclusive " shopping trip if you want to make a pleasant getaway in lieu of a  "have to do it" miserable journey.
make it fun

We have made 4 runs by car through Los Chiles / Las Tabillas and it was VERY stress free.  To each their own opinion, getting on a bus is stressful to me.

Figures doubt if we would agree on anything LOL thats what makes us all different eh?

pebs wrote:

I can't imagine why you would put all that expense and stress on making a border run..I did it MANY times  by bus as I waited for my residency. That was when we had to stay 72 hours or thought we did.
It is far more stress free and less dangerous to take a  "Ticabus" from San Jose  I prefer Nicaragua to Panama but did both. The buses are clean , have toilets and now and then stop for a sandwich and juice purchase, But I always took my own just incase. 
The cost way back then was $50 round trip Maybe more now Look it up online. But  even if a little more, it sure beats a hazardous drive, stress and PAYING for hotels on route to Nicaragua.  TRY it you will be surprised how fast the 11 hours passes with a nap or readlng , and TV..I always went to Grenada for overnight cheap stay and to shop for leather goods in the market. Great purse, great prices so made it a fun inexpensive trip even with  cheap clean hotel $10 a night then for 2 nights, LOL  check on line for prices now,
ALSO  there are companies in Heredia,  who do an "all inclusive " shopping trip if you want to make a pleasant getaway in lieu of a  "have to do it" miserable journey.
make it fun

Hi Pebs, There are reasons why one might not want to take a bus, for example I think we would have to first drive to San Jose to get the bus which is impractical for us. If Ticabus or another service would pick us up in San Ramon I would try it probably but I don't think they do, do they?

Some other factors that might cause one not to take a bus for 10-12 hours:
1) long legs
2) bad back
3) restless leg syndrome
4) cost of premium buses like Tica bus
etc.
5) Another factor is that staying overnight means leaving one's home alone sometimes and that can be worrisome for some folks as well.

I've heard Granada is much nicer than San Carlos which imho is a "servicio" not worth spending 20 minutes in, let alone the 3 hours we were told we had to spend.

Sometimes money is a factor as well. For us driving was for sure the most economical even with a $50 overnight stay in La Fortuna. So unfortunately for us there is no good or easy to solution to these border runs to renew my license. It's either spend money we don't want to spend to make it less stress free; or bite the bullet and drive there and back in one or two days. Neither is a good thing for us.

In the future when we hope to have some money, what we will probably do is stay in Fortuna 2 nights and use the hot springs, book ending the trip with hot springs with the Nicaragua run in between. However even with a "cheap" hotel that will cost the 2 of us around $132 plus gas and wear and tear on the car.

Also in the future we hope to make a run to Florida and /or another US state so that will be more pleasant. But it takes $ which we may or may not have to spend.

The bottom line is that these border runs are different for different people and people should understand that just because it is easy or tolerable for you in your situation (I'm not referring to you personally, Pebs, I'm speaking in general terms), that doesn't mean it's easy or tolerable for someone else!

Health conditions, economic conditions and living situations are just 3 factors that may make a border run very unwelcome for some, as it was for us on all 3 of those factors.

Never get lost again. Use Waze instead of gps. It has saved my bacon many times.

It's a fully paved highway all the way to the Panama border, plus you can stop in at Golfito if you want to buy some duty free items.. including brand name appliances at amazing prices.   There are even bus tours out of of the San Jose area.  Stay one overnight in Golfito and make it a fun experience.  You need to stay one night in Golfito in order to qualify to buy at the duty free shops.  The buses have large luggage bins, you could bring back something like a lawn mower, and larger items are shipped at a vey low price.    Better yet.... take a bus tour or drive to Panama and stay one overnight.  Renewing your Vistors visa doesn't have to be a terrible experience.

Sanbuenaventuraman wrote:

It's a fully paved highway all the way to the Panama border, plus you can stop in at Golfito if you want to buy some duty free items.. including brand name appliances at amazing prices.   There are even bus tours out of of the San Jose area.  Stay one overnight in Golfito and make it a fun experience.  You need to stay one night in Golfito in order to qualify to buy at the duty free shops.  The buses have large luggage bins, you could bring back something like a lawn mower, and larger items are shipped at a vey low price.    Better yet.... take a bus tour or drive to Panama and stay one overnight.  Renewing your Vistors visa doesn't have to be a terrible experience.

Thanks for that.
I agree it doesn't have to be a bad experience but if you are short on time or money it can be a major inconvenience!
We were short on both when we made our Nica border crossing.

With enough time and money on hand, many problems can be made better! ;-D

I take it you have made the Panama run. Have you done it recently? Can you give some details?

I heard that they have been kind of jerks at aduanis, demanding tickets out of Costa Rica, demanding you have $500 to enter, etc etc. This is what I have heard and it turns me off of going there. I don't want to be hassled, I just want to get across and back and be done with it.

I also went there years ago to look at property and did not like the heavy police presence. We were hassled in a major way for a bribe by a border agent who was threatening us about b.s., just because he could. Maybe I shouldn't let that one experience turn me off to Panama but it left a lasting negative impression on us.

The major problem Costa Rica is having is not just people involved in money laundering and drug running "it's vagrants".  "beach combers", and thieves.  Many Nica gangs come down, .. rent a house, and go on stealing sprees.  If you do not fit that description the border people won't harass you.  It is also not good to be "big headed" when at the border, they love pouncing on mega mouths.  I always say "Soy de Canada" and they treat me Royally.  If you are not carrying $500. cash with you, just show them a valid Visa card, they just want to be assured you are not going to be a problem for their country.
One guy got lippy and they only gave him 30 days, while his sweet wife got a renewal for 90 days.  Also, if you are on a tour bus they knew you stayed overnight in Panama "and view you as a responsible person", and they won't harass you at all.  These people who do this perpetual tourist thing year after year "what do they do for health insurance"?  It's got to be expensive to buy private health insurance.