Poas in October

Poas will be open. But you have to get there early in the morning, probably before 9am, to get a good view. After that, in rainy season misty weather will probably set in to obscure the view. Rain itself isn't going to make it pointless. In CR it rarely rains all day long. Most days have a lot of sunshine included too.

There is public transport that goes up to Poas from the Alajuela bus transit center. I don't know the bus schedule, and I imagine the public bus would arrive after the window for a good view has closed. It's best to have a rental car to go up there. I enjoyed staying at the Poas Volcano lodge, on a dairy farm.

And yes, if you want a bus for the Caribbean coast, you need to go back to San Jose. If going to Cahuita or Puerto Viejo or Tortuguero, you don't need a rental car for that.

Poas Volcano is currently closed to visitors due to increased and unpredictable volcanic activity. There was a large eruption in April and again in June.

We took the bus from Alajuela and I believe it arrived at 10 am. It was completely clouded over (that was in November) but we got lucky and the clouds lifted for 15 minutes or so.

But as you are going to Nicaragua you can see many volcanoes there! Volcano Masaya is very active but visits are allowed and they drive you right to the top. Ometepe Island has two volcanoes. Leon has Cerro Negro and Telica...

With 7/8 days in CR in October it is indeed best to focus on the Caribbean coast: Tortuguero, Cahuita (amazing National Park) and the beaches south of Puerto Viejo. You could use the rafting trip on the Rio Pacuare to get back to San Jose (they pick you up in Puerto Viejo, take you rafting and drop you off in San Jose).

This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you.