Border crossing: Nicaragua to Costa Rica
Of all the borders we crossed in our journey through Central America, Nicaragua was the most frustrating. While Costa Rica and especially Panama can be nightmares for anyone without proper documentation, Nicaragua was confusing for unexpected reasons. Whether it was a tourist card with outdated information about visa length or border officials collecting entire groups' passports and mixing them up or needing exact change in US dollars — not Nicaragua's currency — to pay the entrance or exit fee, there always seemed to be some unforeseen problem. But with some patience and tolerance for inefficient bureaucracy, it's pretty straightforward to cross from Nicaragua into Costa Rica on your own.
The only official land border crossing between the two countries is Peñas Blancas. For most travelers in Nicaragua, you'll need to first make your way to Rivas to catch the chicken bus to the border. We were coming from Ometepe Island, and took a chicken bus from the ferry at San Jorge to Rivas for C$10 ($0.33 USD) each. Once we got off the bus in Rivas, we simply walked across the street and waited on the side of the road for the chicken bus to Peñas Blancas. The ride costs C$20 ($0.66 USD) and takes about 40 minutes. There are money changers at the border who offer a decent exchange for colones (Costa Rica's currency).
Enter the Nicaraguan immigration office and pay the municipal fee of C$30 ($1 USD) at the little booth on your left. We were able to pay this fee in córdoba, however, the $2 USD fee you pay at the immigration desk has to be in dollars and must be exact change. We were a little confused about this, since Nicaragua's currency isn't the dollar. And since the money changers outside only exchanged córdoba for colones, we were a little panicked. The immigration officer wouldn't let us pay in córdoba, even when we offered to pay more than $2 USD worth of córdoba. She told us to go through immigration and ask the people selling snacks and newspapers to exchange córdobas for dollars. After asking a few different vendors without any luck, one lady thankfully agreed to give us dollars. We then walked back into immigration, each paid $2 USD, and received our exit stamps for Nicaragua.
Once through Nicaraguan immigration, walk staright across into Costa Rica. Before we reached Costa Rican immigration, we had to show our passports to police officers twice. Once in the immigration office, we were asked a few basic questions about where we'd be going in Costa Rica, as well as proof of onward travel. Costa Rica accepts flights and bus tickets out of Costa Rica to any other country as proof of onward travel. If you don't have a ticket, you'll need to walk across the street and buy a TicaBus ticket to either Panama or Nicaragua. Since we were going to be leaving Costa Rica into Panama by local bus, and since we didn't want to waste money on a TicaBus ticket we weren't going to use, we bought and then immediately canceled plane tickets from San José to the US. As long as you have a valid passport and proof of onward travel, crossing into Costa Rica is a breeze. There's also no entrance fee.
Once through Costa Rican immigration, cross the street to the bus stop where you can catch a bus to Liberia or San José. After taking so many chicken buses in Central America, Costa Rica's buses felt like first class because you can store your luggage securely under the bus and each person gets a seat. Since we were heading to Playa Sámara, we caught the bus to Liberia. A one-way ticket to Liberia costs ₡1,650 ($2.95 USD) and takes about 2 hours. From Liberia, we took the bus to Nicoya for ₡1,200 ($2.14 USD) and then another one from Nicoya to Playa Sámara for ₡1,300 ($2.32 USD). The entire trip from the border to Playa Sámara took about 6 hours in total. Be aware that the last bus from Nicoya leaves at 8 pm, so it's best to start your journey from Nicaragua on the earlier side.