Costa Rica and Monteverde area, maps, facts and links

Straddling the Continental Divide at 1440 meters (4662 ft), the Santa Elena and Monteverde cloud forest area offers one of the most interesting place to visit in Costa Rica. Click here for more info on Reserves, etc.

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Costa Rica weather and most recent Monteverde weather, satellite view and forecast

FACTS about the Monteverde Cloud forest

Mean temperature : 16-18 C (61-64 F) Annual rainfall : 3,000 mm (118 inches) Dry Season: December to March. 225 km northwest. of San Jose, 3h30 by 4x4, 4h30 by car, 5h by bus. Population of Monteverde: 250. Population of Santa Elena: 6,500. Altitude, village Santa Elena: 1,250 meters or 4,100 feet, highest trails: 1,800 meters or 5,900 feet.

Because we are near the equator the sunrise is roughly at 5h30 am & sunset is at 5h30 pm all year long. See our Costa Rica Sunrise Sunset Time Table or this educational page about why season changes (opens in a new window).

How to get to Monteverde

By car, see northwest Costa Rica region map. By bus (See Northwest map to follow, keep an eye on your luggage):

From San José
You can take a bus at 6:30 AM or at 2:30 PM. You can ask for the old Puntarenas bus stop, at Calle 14, avenida 11 y 9 . The morning bus pass by Lagartos at about 9 h AM arriving in Monteverde at 11h AM. The afternoon bus pass by Lagartos at 5h PM arriving at 7h PM, later in wet season.

From Puntarenas
There are 2 buses: one at 1:00 PM (via Las Juntas) and one at 2:00 PM (direct). The 1:00 PM bus pass by La Irma, and the 2:00 PM bus pass by Lagartos at 3h PM both arriving in the village at 5:00 PM.

From Guanacaste
There are buses from Nicoya, Santa Cruz, Tamarindo, Flamingo, Playas del Coco, the Nicaragua Border and Liberia. Taking one of these buses, you can go to Lagartos and La Irma and hop on one of the Monteverde buses. See above, San Jose.

From Tilarán
The bus leaves Tilarán for Monteverde at 1h PM, arriving at 3h30 PM approximately, later in wet season. Don't eat a big meal before, it's a bumpy ride.

From Southern Pacific beaches: Ballena National park, Uvita, Dominical, Matapalo, Quepos, Manuel Antonio, Jaco, Herradura, go to Puntarenas.

We offer daily mini bus shuttle between more than 50 destinations in Costa Rica.

How to get to/from Arenal Volcano Alternatives, shortcuts, maps of trails on the volcano, hotels locator
Public bus schedule for Costa Rica Mini bus with driver recommended Costa Rica books & maps

Links bookmark our page or add to favorite if you want to return to Monteverde info

Guatemala, Santiago Atitlán disaster: an entire village of more than 800 people was wiped out. The first photo was taken when this small hospital built by volunteers was inaugurated in April 2005. The second one on October 7 after a mud slide due to Tropical Storm Stan. From the nonprofit website of the Hospitalito Atitlán - "This is a special plea for the people of Santiago Atitlán. Tropical Storm Stan produced mudslides in two areas of Santiago, which killed several hundred T'zutjil Maya and left an estimated 5,000 people homeless. Panabaj, where the worst devastation occurred, is one of the poorest of neighborhoods in Santiago. The recently opened Hospitalito was hit with a six foot wall of mud and the road to Panabaj, where the Hospitalito is situated is still impassable." You can help.

To learn more about Monteverde

BBC's web page about climate change & endangered species in Monteverde Costa Rica

http://www.mvinstitute.org The Monteverde Institute - a non-profit educational association by Monteverde residents, the MVI blends international study and research with educational and cultural opportunities for local Monteverde communities.

Monteverde Costa Rica Cloud Forest research data base Over 125 ecologists, agriculturists, and educators have contributed to the natural history and ecology of the area. Our objectives are to bring together the extensive body of knowledge that researchers and natural historians have gathered; to point up connections, to identify areas for future research. Extensive bibliography related to Monteverde.

Monteverde Natural History - Plants & butterflies of Monteverde: Identification and Other Resources by William A. Haber.

Monteverde Friends School - bilingual (Spanish and English) school serving preschool through high school students in small, multi-age classes. Founded 50 years ago by the original Quaker settlers who left the United States for Monteverde Costa Rica. Now primarily serves local Costa Rican children as well as children of North American parents, this non-profit school is looking for volunteers & contributions.

http://www.cloudforestschool.org Creative Learning Center. Elementary non-profit school in Monteverde

Beautiful photos of birds of Costa Rica. Stunning!

Costa Rica's Hot Spots for birders. Lots of links to great photo sites.

http://www.coffeetraders.com/monte.html Montana Coffee Traders - if you live in USA and would like to buy online fairtrade Monteverde's cooperative coffee.

http://www.coffeefarmerscoop.com/coffees.html if you live in USA and would like to buy online fairtrade Monteverde's cooperative coffee.

http://www.monteverde.net/ Productores de Monteverde. In Spanish, the cheese producing coop.

http://www.banales.net/daniel/archive/basement/photos/index.html Nice photos of Costa Rica, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Thailand, etc.

Costa Rica general info

ATM automatic teller machine locator: (note: Visa is the most accepted card in Costa Rica by far because of the high commission rate charged to merchants by MasterCard & American Express. Traveler's check in US$ and US cash are accepted everywhere.)

Locator of ATM in Costa Rica accepting MasterCard, Maestro, and Cirrus. Select Costa Rica under "choose a country": http://www.mastercard.com/cardholderservices/atm/

Visa & Plus ATM locator for Central America & Costa Rica. Select Costa Rica under "choose a country": http://visaatm.infonow.net/bin/findNow?CLIENT_ID=VISA

ATM of Costa Rica by region:

Banco de Costa Rica: http://www.bancobcr.com/bcr.php?id=63

Banco Nacional: http://www.bncr.fi.cr/BN/sucursales/index.asp?c=sucursales#nowhere

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La Nacion Costa Rica's national news paper (English weekly summary version also on this site).

The Tico Times Costa Rican newspaper, in English

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cs.html The CIA's Costa Rica Factbook page.

http://www.worldheadquarters.com/cr/protected_areas National Parks of Costa Rica. Missing private non-profit reserves, like Monteverde.

Other sites of interest:

http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/8089/costarica.html World Travel Link, official Internet travel sites directory

http://forests.org/forsite.html Forest, Rainforest & Biodiversity Conservation Internet Resources

http://www.Eco-Portal.com site which is very unique in allowing you to search the Internet for the best ecological resources.

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pm.blais/index.anglais.html Orchids of France Provence, and Mediterranean Orchids.

webdirectory.com Environmental Organization WebDirectory

http://www.akrain.org/ Alaska Rain Forest Campaign

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