Despite its small size, Fortuna is something of a transport hub , and with a little planning you can get from here to Guanacaste, Puntarenas, Monteverde and Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí without backtracking to San José. For Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí , take a bus to San Carlos (6 daily; 1hr), where you can pick up a service east to Puerto Viejo. Buses currently leave San Carlos for Puerto Viejo at 6am, 10am and 3pm, but double-check these times, since if you miss your connection you'll need to stay the night. For Monteverde , there are two daily buses from Fortuna to Tilarán , at the head of Laguna de Arenal (3hr). The bus currently leaves at 8am and 5pm - if you take the later one you'll have to stay the night in Tilarán. You can connect in Tilarán with the Santa Elena service (for the Monteverde Cloudforest Reserve), which currently leaves at 1pm (3-4hr). There are also frequent local services from Tilarán to Cañas and the Interamericana, where you can pick up buses north to Liberia and the beaches of Guanacaste , or south to Puntarenas . To get back to San José from Fortuna, take the Garaje Barquero directo service (3 daily; 4hr 30min), which currently departs at 2.45pm, or head to San Carlos from where you can connect with hourly buses to the capital.

For those driving , the roads are good, with the exception of a perennially difficult patch between Fortuna and Arenal Town.