Nicaragua border at San Carlos – Los Chiles

Border Run at Los Chiles, Costa Rica – San Carlos, Nicaragua

The main border crossing between Costa Rica and Nicaragua is in the west of both countries, close to the Pacific Coast. At that border, the closest town in Nicaragua is Rivas, 30 minutes away by frequent bus. On the Costa Rican side, the border town is called Penas Blancas.

Most travelers passing between these two countries go through this border point. All the international buses and group tours pass through this border. And people doing quick border runs from either Nicaragua or Costa Rica (when their visa for either Nicaragua or Costa Rica expires) usually use this border too.

at the border of Costa Rica and Nicaragua

As a result the Rivas / Penas Blancas border crossing is generally very crowded and slow. Immigration officials on both sides are usually quite careful about following the official rules, such as requiring onward tickets to enter Costa Rica, and may give repeat border crossers a difficult time. But that’s all hit or miss. In addition, it’s extremely hot.

There’s an alternative border crossing between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. It’s located in remote areas of both countries, in the central interiors. On the Nicaraguan side, the closest town, San Carlos, is located at the southeastern tip of vast Lake Nicaragua. On the Costa Rican side, Los Chiles is situated in an empty remote pineapple / sugar cane farming region.

There are several great reasons to cross at Los Chiles / San Carlos instead of the main Pena Blancas / Rivas crossing. This border is nearly empty, thus faster and easier. And there are several interesting, off-track destinations to visit near San Carlos.

visiting El Castillo Fortress don the Rio San Juan

My Border Run to Los Chiles / San Carlos

Recently my 3-month visa for Costa Rica expired. I was loath to go to the Penas Blancas crossing. I’d already been there twice and knew how hot, crowded, time-consuming and potentially full of hassles it can be.

Quite luckily, I remembered the Los Chiles / San Carlos border. I had been wanting to visit the Solentiname Islands for a long time and after reading about trips on the San Juan River, I was excited about that as well.

So I took the trip to/from Los Chiles in order to start a new Costa Rican visa. I spent three days in Nicaragua visiting San Carlos, the San Juan River and El Castillo. Then I returned to San Jose, new 3-month visa in hand.

It was a wonderful, relaxing, educational and interesting trip. I highly recommend it to other travelers passing through Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

Following are details on the border crossing and the San Carlos area.

trucks crossing remote Los Chiles – San Carlos border

Easy Border Crossing

First of all, very few people use this remote border crossing. That means it’s virtually empty. That in turn means it’s very fast and easy to go through immigration procedures on both sides.

Immigration officers are much more relaxed about the official regulations, so for instance, there’s a good chance travelers won’t need an onward ticket to enter Costa Rica or won’t need to wait the official 72-hour period in the other country before returning to start a new 3-month visa.

In addition, the border crossing itself is extremely short. On the Costa Rican side, buses drop passengers off right at the border / immigration office. After passing through immigration, its merely a 100 meter walk on a wide paved road to reach Nicaraguan immigration office.

On the Nicaragua side, mini-vans drop off / pick up passengers right at the border point and take about 40-50 minutes to/from San Carlos. They depart when full, generally leaving about every 30 minutes. What could be easier?!

On the Costa Rican side, buses run to/from San Carlos de Quesadilla City (not to be confused with Nicragua’s tiny San Carlos border town) every 30 minutes. But the direct buses to/from San Jose only depart two or three times per day, so travelers heading to San Jose should be sure to check the schedule, which is posted at the border bus stop.

Note about Rio Frio boat trips crossing the border

About one year ago the current land border opened at Los Chiles, as described above. Prior to that, all traelers had to cross the border by taking a boat along the Rio Frio from Los Chiles town, located about 7 km from the current border point. After the land crossing opened, the river trips were ended.

So for anyone who happens to read an older guidebook or border description, please note that things have changed. It’s now a land crossing, not a river crossing.

historic Spanish fort at El Castillo – Nicaragua

Interesting Region to Explore

The area around San Carlos, Nicaragua is a great region to explore, with several interesting options for visiting undeveloped tropics off the beaten path.

San Carlos town

San Carlos is a typical, rather grubby frontier / transportation / market town that has a superb location on the shores of massive Lake Nicaragua and at the mouths of two undeveloped jungle rivers. Small Rio Frio flows from Costa Rican hinterlands into the lake there. And the mouth of the much larger jungle-clad Rio San Juan starts right at San Carlos then meanders its way all the way out to the Caribbean Sea.

As a result, San Carlos is surrounded on three sides by water. Although primarily a cluttered, messy town, it does have a lovely, spacious lakeside park with two covered boat piers, two large pavilions with food & drink, a grassy lawn and fantastic views over the lake, the nearby Solentiname Islands, and the two rivers. Beautiful sunsets unfold there every evening. Water birds are plentiful. And lots of interesting local characters can be seen milling about.

malecon – waterside park – at San Carlos

So San Carlos town itself is an interesting destination for a couple days. It’s also the jumping off point for boats to the Solentiname Islands, set in the lake, and for boats down the Rio San Juan to El Castillo and San Juan del Nicaragua at the Caribbean Coast.

Open-air wood boats depart several times daily for river destinations and once daily for the islands.

Solentiname Islands are a collection of 36 small islands, 4 of which are inhabited, 2 of which have accommodations for travelers. They’re rather primitive – no roads or cars, no electricity, no Wifi or phone service. They offer just the peace and quiet of nature.

The islands are most famous for their native artists who carve small wood figurines of the local tropical birds and animals, which the artists paint in vibrant colors.

Besides checking out the local art, visitors can observe daily local life, kayak on the lake and relax surrounded by nature.

along the Rio San Juan

On Rio San Juan several daily boats ferry passengers up and down the river. Most passengers are locals heading back to their villages or returning to San Carlos. But travelers also are welcome on these quaint but comfortable boats.

The main destinations are El Castillo, a small riverside village with a historically important stone fortress sitting on the hillside over town, and San Juan del Nicaragua at the Caribbean Coast.

Boats to El Castillo take two hours while those to San Juan take 5 hours by fast boat or 12 hours by slow boat.

Boat trips on the river are quiet, relaxing and comfortable. Amazingly, boat engines are extremely quiet, emitting only a soft purr. The only other sound (besides fellow passengers) is the gentle sloshing of water against the boat.

sunset over Lake Nicaragua at San Carlos

Easy to Access the Border

Rather surprisingly, from San Jose, Costa Rica there are several daily direct buses to the remote Los Chiles border. And, in fact, the bus trip to Los Chiles is actually shorter than to the Pena Blancas border. It takes 5 hours by direct bus rather than 6 hours to Pena Blancas.

On the Nicaraguan side, it is actually considerably closer and faster to the Rivas / Pena Blancas border. However, there are now 5-hour direct buses from Managua to San Carlos, which isn’t bad. For anyone interested in exploring the Solentiname Islands and/or San Juan River, it’s a great option before moving on to Costa Rica or before/after a border run.

buses in Costa Rica

Getting to Los Chiles in Costa Rica

The fastest, easiest way to Los Chiles is by direct bus from San Jose. They run several times per day and take five hours to reach Los Chiles, Quite handily, the bus goes all the way to the border and the immigration office!

This bus makes very few stops. It does not go through Alajuela or Heredia. It only makes brief stops while passing through Naranjo and Zarceros. It’s only major stop is in San Carlos de Quesadilla (Costa Rican city, not the Nicaraguan border town) .

Anyone traveling to Los Chiles from other parts of Costa Rica can take a bus to San Carlos de Quesadilla first. From there many buses depart daily for Los Chiles.

Try to get a direct bus, though, since the regular bus stops continuously en route and takes three hours or more (it’s only 1.3-2 hours by direct bus).

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