How To Volcan Barva

As you may have noticed in my description of the hike, I took the hard way. You can absolutely find a tour bus or taxi that will at least take you until the road turns to rock.

Again, as with the last How To, this is just they way I did it and I’m sure there are other ways.

I live near Barva de Heredia, so it is easier for me to catch the bus from Barva but it is possible from Heredia also. From Barva you just stand in front of the church:

If you are coming from Heredia (many buses run from San José to Heredia throughout the day and night) you get on the bus in about the same place for Barva. I know this doesn’t help many people but here it isn’t common to use street names or addresses to get anywhere, if there are even are street names.

This means if you ask a Tico (Costa Rican)for directions expect and answer like “Oh yeah, take a left at the old church, walk 200 mts. then stop at the bank and do a little dance in a circle, continue on and then you will see it next to the park of pregnant women.” Not kidding – I have gotten these directions before and the church wasn’t there anymore; people just still use it as a reference.

Okay, so from Heredia  you can see the bus stop labeled right in the middle of the screen shot because Google Maps is awesome. It’s called San Jose de la Montaña. MAKE SURE that you ask for the bus that passes Paso Llano because there are two identical buses and you have to ask the driver.

The bus was 550 colones and in Barva it came at 6:40am, so it probably left Heredia at 6:30am. I suggest getting there early and waiting because only one bus passes every few hours. The earlier you get to the volcano, the better chance you have of seeing the lagoon.

The bus ride up was about 20 minutes because there is hardly any traffic. On the way back it was about an hour! You ride until the last stop and just start walking up that road. There are a few roads that go off the the road as you walk up but just stay on the main one and you’ll be fine. If the driver stops near the bar instead, then just walk down hill a bit and take the right fork (to go up) when the road splits.

It’s pretty straightforward. The road ends in the national park. Entrance fees, though I didn’t pay, are about 4000 colones for foreigners and 1000 colones for locals. This is just how it works in CR.

Pura Vida!