Costa Rica Questions

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OpenMinded1
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Costa Rica Questions

Post by OpenMinded1 »

My wife and I are planning a trip to Costa Rica. We are most interested in areas where we can see animals in their natural habitat, and are particularly interested in monkeys, sloths, and cats. We want to avoid crowds, and don't want to spend more than a day or two in areas where it is hot and humid. (For us this would be average max daily temp in the 90s with high humidity.) A secondary interest is beautiful natural features like waterfalls, but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Activity interests: hiking, photography, flat-water boating (no white water rafting, tubing, or kayaking) hanging bridges, canopy trams, possibly zip lining and horseback riding.

A very tentative itinerary is nine days/eight night, 12/5/2023 to 12/13/2023.

Flight arriving at San José International Airport (SJO) 12/05

Private Transfer from San Jose to Arenal Valcano Area 12/06

Arenal Valcano Area - 12/07

Taxi-Boat-Taxi from Arenal to Monteverde Cloud Forest Area - 12/08

Monteverde Cloud Forest Area - 12/09

Private Transfer from Monteverde Cloud Forest Area to Manuel Antonio -12/10

Manuel Antonio Area - 12/11 & 12/12

Manuel Antonio to San Jose and fly home 12/13.


Questions:

Currently we plan to let someone else do the driving, but might be willing to rent a vehicle, and drive ourselves. What are driving conditions like? Difficult to navigate? Rough roads? In general are other drivers courteous?

Looks like it will take a while to get from one area to the next - three to five hours. Do you think there will be some beautiful natural features along the way, or is it going to be dull and mostly boring with maybe the wrong kind of excitement provided by rough roads, unsafe drivers etc.

Given our interests, is the Arenal Volcano area worth it, or should we maybe skip it and add more days to the Monteverde cloud forest area, or another area? Seems like it would be a lot more interesting if the volcano was still active.

It appears that the Manuel Antonio area fits the category of hot and humid. Is there generally a breeze there?
Last edited by OpenMinded1 on Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:36 am, edited 7 times in total.
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White Coat Investor
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by White Coat Investor »

Driving is no big deal. Just rent a car. You're going to have a great trip. That Zip Line in MonteVerde is still one of my favorites in the world, although a ghetto one on Roatan comes in a close second. There's a pretty cool one in Colombia too, but it's just out and back. Heck of a view though. But that one in Costa Rica on a misty day....watch your family zip right out of sight.
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OpenMinded1
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by OpenMinded1 »

White Coat Investor wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:08 am Driving is no big deal. Just rent a car. You're going to have a great trip. That Zip Line in MonteVerde is still one of my favorites in the world, although a ghetto one on Roatan comes in a close second. There's a pretty cool one in Colombia too, but it's just out and back. Heck of a view though. But that one in Costa Rica on a misty day....watch your family zip right out of sight.
Thanks! It does look like an awesome area for zip lining. We did it once in the New River Gorge area of West Virginia, and had a great time.

I wonder what the road signage is like. Guess even if it's bad we can use our phones and/or our Garmin to navigate.
CloudNine33
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by CloudNine33 »

We rented a house up in the hills near Manuel Antonio in May of 2019 and loved the area. We did a guided park tour and had an amazing guide who pointed out all kinds of wildlife and used a spotting scope to let us get close up looks of things. Highly recommended. Lots of good restaurants, the people were fantastic and weather was good although yes it was hot, humid and brief rain most afternoons for an hour or two. Other than a small earthquake that left our hillside VRBO home rental swaying for a couple of minutes, it was an epic trip.

Driving? We had a Toyota Landcruiser and needed it to get up the house we rented (the steepest driveway I have ever driven up). In general lots of fun twisty roads with great elevation changes. The roads closer to San Jose were a bit crazy with so many trucks and aggressive drivers but that stuff doesn't bother me.
motorider
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by motorider »

That is a great itinerary and we did something very similar in late June.

1) Rent a car but be aware the roads are mountainous and narrow. It can be stressful if foggy/rainy but you're going during the dry season. It's likely not cheap and estimate an average speed of only 30MPH even on the highways due to construction.
2) Arenal/Fortuna has amazing views and definitely go see the Arenal waterfall
3) Monteverde has some of the best ziplining anywhere. Way better than Fortuna IMO.
4) In Quepos, pay for the guide. You'll get so much more out of the visit.
5) There are animal sanctuaries on the Nicoya peninsula that you can visit. Also look into turtle nesting season and make it a point to watch baby turtles be released on the beach.

There is a Walmart near SJO that might be the best grocery store you'll see down there. We loaded up on snacks/food after we arrived and so glad we did. The "Mega Supers" can have limited selection.
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OpenMinded1
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by OpenMinded1 »

CloudNine33 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:52 am We rented a house up in the hills near Manuel Antonio in May of 2019 and loved the area. We did a guided park tour and had an amazing guide who pointed out all kinds of wildlife and used a spotting scope to let us get close up looks of things. Highly recommended. Lots of good restaurants, the people were fantastic and weather was good although yes it was hot, humid and brief rain most afternoons for an hour or two. Other than a small earthquake that left our hillside VRBO home rental swaying for a couple of minutes, it was an epic trip.

Driving? We had a Toyota Landcruiser and needed it to get up the house we rented (the steepest driveway I have ever driven up). In general lots of fun twisty roads with great elevation changes. The roads closer to San Jose were a bit crazy with so many trucks and aggressive drivers but that stuff doesn't bother me.
Thanks for the information. I've driven in many US cities including DC, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Baltimore without being bothered by it. Hopefully San Jose isn't much worse than those.

Was hoping there is a steady breeze off the ocean at Manuel Antonio like there is on some coasts, but it doesn't sound like it. Heat (or cold) didn't bother me when I was young, but now that I'm mid-60s with some health issues I try to avoid being exposed to it for long periods. The upside of the Manuel Antonio area seems to be the biodiversity. It sounds impressive.
Last edited by OpenMinded1 on Thu Jan 26, 2023 2:27 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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gatorking
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by gatorking »

You itinerary has too many travel days for my liking.
The information here is outstanding: https://www.twoweeksincostarica.com/
I ended up renting from their recommended car rental company.
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OpenMinded1
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by OpenMinded1 »

gatorking wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:36 am You itinerary has too many travel days for my liking.
The information here is outstanding: https://www.twoweeksincostarica.com/
I ended up renting from their recommended car rental company.
Thanks. I'll take a look at that link. I've been communicating with a few travel agencies.

I was considering skipping the volcano area to reduce the travel days. Also, thought about just using one area as a base, and then driving out and back each day to some other regions. But it seems to take too long to drive to those other regions to do that. The road system must not be very good in many areas.

Added: Lots of great info at that link. Thanks again.
Last edited by OpenMinded1 on Thu Jan 26, 2023 12:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
desiboy
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by desiboy »

OpenMinded1 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:17 am
White Coat Investor wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:08 am Driving is no big deal. Just rent a car. You're going to have a great trip. That Zip Line in MonteVerde is still one of my favorites in the world, although a ghetto one on Roatan comes in a close second. There's a pretty cool one in Colombia too, but it's just out and back. Heck of a view though. But that one in Costa Rica on a misty day....watch your family zip right out of sight.
Thanks! It does look like an awesome area for zip lining. We did it once in the New River Gorge area of West Virginia, and had a great time.

I wonder what the road signage is like. Guess even if it's bad we can use our phones and/or our Garmin to navigate.
There's also a great zip line near Arenal...I think it's called Sky Adventures or something. IIRC, it's 1/2 mile long. Wonderful!
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gatorking
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by gatorking »

desiboy wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 12:04 pm
OpenMinded1 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:17 am
White Coat Investor wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:08 am Driving is no big deal. Just rent a car. You're going to have a great trip. That Zip Line in MonteVerde is still one of my favorites in the world, although a ghetto one on Roatan comes in a close second. There's a pretty cool one in Colombia too, but it's just out and back. Heck of a view though. But that one in Costa Rica on a misty day....watch your family zip right out of sight.
Thanks! It does look like an awesome area for zip lining. We did it once in the New River Gorge area of West Virginia, and had a great time.

I wonder what the road signage is like. Guess even if it's bad we can use our phones and/or our Garmin to navigate.
There's also a great zip line near Arenal...I think it's called Sky Adventures or something. IIRC, it's 1/2 mile long. Wonderful!
YES!! Sky Adventures was awesome.
brawlrats
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by brawlrats »

We spent a full week in the Arenal area in 2009. It was gorgeous. The volcano was still erupting then and we got to see that, but the area is wonderful regardless.

If you rent a car, get a GPS. Its absolutely necessary, IMO. I almost didn't and, in hindsight, don't know how we would have made it to the Arenal area and back without it. It may have been slick marketing, but the GPS advertisement behind the rental desk had a picture of the GPS saying "turn left on unnamed dirt road". It worked to get me to rent it and I was so glad I did.

I also drove all the way to the Arenal area (a few hours) with my emergency brake on. I don't recommend doing that. My wife still makes fun of me for it 14 years later.

Have a great time!
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by White Coat Investor »

OpenMinded1 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:17 am
White Coat Investor wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:08 am Driving is no big deal. Just rent a car. You're going to have a great trip. That Zip Line in MonteVerde is still one of my favorites in the world, although a ghetto one on Roatan comes in a close second. There's a pretty cool one in Colombia too, but it's just out and back. Heck of a view though. But that one in Costa Rica on a misty day....watch your family zip right out of sight.
Thanks! It does look like an awesome area for zip lining. We did it once in the New River Gorge area of West Virginia, and had a great time.

I wonder what the road signage is like. Guess even if it's bad we can use our phones and/or our Garmin to navigate.
We just used Google maps like every other country (including the US) we've been to in the last few years. You're probably going to have to buy their insurance though so keep that in mind.

Costa Rica is probably the easiest Latin American country for Americans to visit with the possible exception of Belize.
1) Invest you must 2) Time is your friend 3) Impulse is your enemy | 4) Basic arithmetic works 5) Stick to simplicity 6) Stay the course
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OpenMinded1
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by OpenMinded1 »

brawlrats wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 12:54 pm We spent a full week in the Arenal area in 2009. It was gorgeous. The volcano was still erupting then and we got to see that, but the area is wonderful regardless.

If you rent a car, get a GPS. Its absolutely necessary, IMO. I almost didn't and, in hindsight, don't know how we would have made it to the Arenal area and back without it. It may have been slick marketing, but the GPS advertisement behind the rental desk had a picture of the GPS saying "turn left on unnamed dirt road". It worked to get me to rent it and I was so glad I did.

I also drove all the way to the Arenal area (a few hours) with my emergency brake on. I don't recommend doing that. My wife still makes fun of me for it 14 years later.

Have a great time!
I appreciate the information. I'm starting to think we should drive, but not sure I can talk my wife into it. Seems like there are some definite positives regarding having a rental car. With a rental car we don't have to rely on someone else to get us places. What if they don't show up? Also, we can be a little more flexible about when we leave one area to go to the next, where we stop along the way etc.

I wonder what would happen if we damaged the rental car somehow. Seems like I've heard some stories about people having to stay in the country until the damage was paid for one way or another; for example out-of-pocket, or by insurance.
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by OpenMinded1 »

White Coat Investor wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 1:50 pm
OpenMinded1 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:17 am
White Coat Investor wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:08 am Driving is no big deal. Just rent a car. You're going to have a great trip. That Zip Line in MonteVerde is still one of my favorites in the world, although a ghetto one on Roatan comes in a close second. There's a pretty cool one in Colombia too, but it's just out and back. Heck of a view though. But that one in Costa Rica on a misty day....watch your family zip right out of sight.
Thanks! It does look like an awesome area for zip lining. We did it once in the New River Gorge area of West Virginia, and had a great time.

I wonder what the road signage is like. Guess even if it's bad we can use our phones and/or our Garmin to navigate.
We just used Google maps like every other country (including the US) we've been to in the last few years. You're probably going to have to buy their insurance though so keep that in mind.

Costa Rica is probably the easiest Latin American country for Americans to visit with the possible exception of Belize.
Yes we will probably get their rental car insurance, and traveler's insurance.
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by White Coat Investor »

OpenMinded1 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 1:52 pm
brawlrats wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 12:54 pm We spent a full week in the Arenal area in 2009. It was gorgeous. The volcano was still erupting then and we got to see that, but the area is wonderful regardless.

If you rent a car, get a GPS. Its absolutely necessary, IMO. I almost didn't and, in hindsight, don't know how we would have made it to the Arenal area and back without it. It may have been slick marketing, but the GPS advertisement behind the rental desk had a picture of the GPS saying "turn left on unnamed dirt road". It worked to get me to rent it and I was so glad I did.

I also drove all the way to the Arenal area (a few hours) with my emergency brake on. I don't recommend doing that. My wife still makes fun of me for it 14 years later.

Have a great time!
I appreciate the information. I'm starting to think we should drive, but not sure I can talk my wife into it. Seems like there are some definite positives regarding having a rental car. With a rental car we don't have to rely on someone else to get us places. What if they don't show up? Also, we can be a little more flexible about when we leave one area to go to the next, where we stop along the way etc.

I wonder what would happen if we damaged the rental car somehow. Seems like I've heard some stories about people having to stay in the country until the damage was paid for one way or another; for example out-of-pocket, or by insurance.
I'm getting the impression you've never rented a car in a foreign country. This is a great place to start.If you'd drive in France or Germany, you should drive in Costa Rica. What else are you going to do? Hire someone just to drive you around for a week and feed and house them? Try to catch buses? Uber? Just get a car. You drive and have your wife navigate. You'll be on some rural two lane roads and some will occasionally be steep (but paved). You'll stop and see sloths and coatis and monkeys. It'll be fun. There will be lots of other tourists around. Lots of people will speak English. Occasionally you'll lose cell coverage but not for long.
Last edited by White Coat Investor on Thu Jan 26, 2023 2:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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GT99
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by GT99 »

OpenMinded1 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:23 am
CloudNine33 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:52 am We rented a house up in the hills near Manuel Antonio in May of 2019 and loved the area. We did a guided park tour and had an amazing guide who pointed out all kinds of wildlife and used a spotting scope to let us get close up looks of things. Highly recommended. Lots of good restaurants, the people were fantastic and weather was good although yes it was hot, humid and brief rain most afternoons for an hour or two. Other than a small earthquake that left our hillside VRBO home rental swaying for a couple of minutes, it was an epic trip.

Driving? We had a Toyota Landcruiser and needed it to get up the house we rented (the steepest driveway I have ever driven up). In general lots of fun twisty roads with great elevation changes. The roads closer to San Jose were a bit crazy with so many trucks and aggressive drivers but that stuff doesn't bother me.
Thanks for the information. I've driven in many US cities including DC, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Baltimore without being bothered by it. Hopefully San Jose isn't much worse than those.

Was hoping there is a steady breeze off the ocean at Manuel Antonio like there is on some coasts, but it doesn't sound like it. Heat (or cold) didn't bother me when I was young, but now that I'm mid-60s with some health issues I try to avoid being exposed to it for long periods. The upside of the Manuel Antonio seems to be the biodiversity. It sounds impressive.
I think others are doing a poor job of managing expectations when it comes to driving. Driving in Costa Rica is nothing like driving in any US or European city I've driven in. Signage is poor, road upkeep is lacking, and adherence to driving laws is minimal. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Costa Rica, and I'm not saying don't drive, but we drove our first visit, and we didn't our second. :D I distinctly remember driving into San Jose and finding myself on what was probably a 5 lane one way road with no lane markings. Cars were all over the place.
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by OpenMinded1 »

motorider wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:15 am That is a great itinerary and we did something very similar in late June.

1) Rent a car but be aware the roads are mountainous and narrow. It can be stressful if foggy/rainy but you're going during the dry season. It's likely not cheap and estimate an average speed of only 30MPH even on the highways due to construction.
2) Arenal/Fortuna has amazing views and definitely go see the Arenal waterfall
3) Monteverde has some of the best ziplining anywhere. Way better than Fortuna IMO.
4) In Quepos, pay for the guide. You'll get so much more out of the visit.
5) There are animal sanctuaries on the Nicoya peninsula that you can visit. Also look into turtle nesting season and make it a point to watch baby turtles be released on the beach.

There is a Walmart near SJO that might be the best grocery store you'll see down there. We loaded up on snacks/food after we arrived and so glad we did. The "Mega Supers" can have limited selection.
Good-to-know info. Thanks. I don't think December is turtle nesting season, at least on the Caribbean coast, but I'll look into it for the Pacific side.
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OpenMinded1
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by OpenMinded1 »

White Coat Investor wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 1:58 pm
OpenMinded1 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 1:52 pm
brawlrats wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 12:54 pm We spent a full week in the Arenal area in 2009. It was gorgeous. The volcano was still erupting then and we got to see that, but the area is wonderful regardless.

If you rent a car, get a GPS. Its absolutely necessary, IMO. I almost didn't and, in hindsight, don't know how we would have made it to the Arenal area and back without it. It may have been slick marketing, but the GPS advertisement behind the rental desk had a picture of the GPS saying "turn left on unnamed dirt road". It worked to get me to rent it and I was so glad I did.

I also drove all the way to the Arenal area (a few hours) with my emergency brake on. I don't recommend doing that. My wife still makes fun of me for it 14 years later.

Have a great time!
I appreciate the information. I'm starting to think we should drive, but not sure I can talk my wife into it. Seems like there are some definite positives regarding having a rental car. With a rental car we don't have to rely on someone else to get us places. What if they don't show up? Also, we can be a little more flexible about when we leave one area to go to the next, where we stop along the way etc.

I wonder what would happen if we damaged the rental car somehow. Seems like I've heard some stories about people having to stay in the country until the damage was paid for one way or another; for example out-of-pocket, or by insurance.
I'm getting the impression you've never rented a car in a foreign country. This is a great place to start.If you'd drive in France or Germany, you should drive in Costa Rica. What else are you going to do? Hire someone just to drive you around for a week and feed and house them? Try to catch buses? Uber? Just get a car. You drive and have your wife navigate. You'll be on some rural two lane roads and some will occasionally be steep (but paved). You'll stop and see sloths and coatis and monkeys. It'll be fun. There will be lots of other tourists around. Lots of people will speak English. Occasionally you'll lose cell coverage but not for long.
No. We've never driven in another country except for Canada, and I operated a moped in Mexico one time. :D A travel agency came up with the package above based on our preferences. The agency would set up transportation between the primary destinations. It would be by mini vans and boats.

This will be the first time we use a travel agency, if we do. Did you use an agency, or just make all the arrangements yourself when you went to CR?

Added: I was glad to read they drive on the same side of the road as in the US. There's no way I would try driving in a country where they drive on the other side after doing it the other way for 50 years.
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White Coat Investor
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by White Coat Investor »

GT99 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 2:00 pm I think others are doing a poor job of managing expectations when it comes to driving. Driving in Costa Rica is nothing like driving in any US or European city I've driven in. Signage is poor, road upkeep is lacking, and adherence to driving laws is minimal. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Costa Rica, and I'm not saying don't drive, but we drove our first visit, and we didn't our second. :D I distinctly remember driving into San Jose and finding myself on what was probably a 5 lane one way road with no lane markings. Cars were all over the place.
You make it sound like Cairo. I can't imagine going to Costa Rica and not driving. How much 5 lane highway is there in the entire country, 10 miles? My recollection of that 5 lane highway was this:

https://wwtl.info/cr-n1.html

i.e. painted lanes, plenty of signs, a reasonable amount of traffic, and courteous drivers. The traffic builds a bit the closer you get to the airport.
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by White Coat Investor »

OpenMinded1 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 2:08 pm
White Coat Investor wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 1:58 pm
OpenMinded1 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 1:52 pm
brawlrats wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 12:54 pm We spent a full week in the Arenal area in 2009. It was gorgeous. The volcano was still erupting then and we got to see that, but the area is wonderful regardless.

If you rent a car, get a GPS. Its absolutely necessary, IMO. I almost didn't and, in hindsight, don't know how we would have made it to the Arenal area and back without it. It may have been slick marketing, but the GPS advertisement behind the rental desk had a picture of the GPS saying "turn left on unnamed dirt road". It worked to get me to rent it and I was so glad I did.

I also drove all the way to the Arenal area (a few hours) with my emergency brake on. I don't recommend doing that. My wife still makes fun of me for it 14 years later.

Have a great time!
I appreciate the information. I'm starting to think we should drive, but not sure I can talk my wife into it. Seems like there are some definite positives regarding having a rental car. With a rental car we don't have to rely on someone else to get us places. What if they don't show up? Also, we can be a little more flexible about when we leave one area to go to the next, where we stop along the way etc.

I wonder what would happen if we damaged the rental car somehow. Seems like I've heard some stories about people having to stay in the country until the damage was paid for one way or another; for example out-of-pocket, or by insurance.
I'm getting the impression you've never rented a car in a foreign country. This is a great place to start.If you'd drive in France or Germany, you should drive in Costa Rica. What else are you going to do? Hire someone just to drive you around for a week and feed and house them? Try to catch buses? Uber? Just get a car. You drive and have your wife navigate. You'll be on some rural two lane roads and some will occasionally be steep (but paved). You'll stop and see sloths and coatis and monkeys. It'll be fun. There will be lots of other tourists around. Lots of people will speak English. Occasionally you'll lose cell coverage but not for long.
No. We've never driven in another country except for Canada, and I operated a moped in Mexico one time. :D A travel agency came up with the package above based on our preferences. The agency would set up transportation between the primary destinations. It would be by mini vans and boats.

This will be the first time we use a travel agency, if we do. Did you use an agency, or just make all the arrangements yourself when you went to CR?

Added: I was glad to read they drive on the same side of the road as in the US. There's no way I would try driving in a country where they drive on the other side after doing it the other way for 50 years.
I get that we're more adventurous than most travelers (our last family vacation was Medellin) but Costa Rica is a pretty darn easy vacation. Never felt unsafe. Rarely had to speak Spanish. My big beef is that it felt like I paid US prices everywhere. Both times we've just stayed in AirBNBs or hotels we booked before leaving the US. But if you'd hire an agency to plan a trip to the Utah National Parks, then you had better hire an agency to plan this trip. Similar levels of complexity in my view.

Here's our process:

1) Book flights
2) Decide what we want to do
3) Book any tours that require advance booking
4) Figure out where we will stay that is close to what we want to do. Some trips it's one place. Some trips it's 4. Just depends on how close the stuff in # 2 is. Book them (usually AirBNB).
5) Book the car. You can see what's available with Orbitz then go directly to the rental car company. Check with insurance company to see if we'll need to buy the insurance when we get there (we usually do need to.)
6) Go to the country. Walk out of the airport ignoring the hordes of people trying to hire a taxi for me. Get the rental car.
7) Drive to a supermarket and get food
8) Go to the AirBNB and check in.
9) Go have fun.

I agree that driving on the other side of the road is a big step up. I think I hit the curb three times on my way out of Heathrow.
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orlandoman
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by orlandoman »

FYI, not sure how common this is, but be aware if you are driving a rental vehicle & are in an accident that injures someone, you may not be able to leave Costa Rica for months:
- https://costa-rica-guide.com/travel/hea ... xpatriate/
- "If there is an ongoing investigation of a vehicular accident resulting in death or injuries, you may not be allowed to leave the country for several months." https://travel.state.gov/content/travel ... aRica.html (under Travel & Transportation)
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epictetus
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Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2007 5:43 pm

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by epictetus »

one suggestion:

you might check out the Costa Rica guided tours/ trips on www.globusjourneys.com

they have several in Costa Rica.

we have been on several trips with them before and have always had a good experience. we have not been to Costa Rica.

Some people enjoy all the planning that goes along with a trip. And the driving when you get there. Etc.

We don't. For us, doing a tour let's us focus on enjoying the trip and knowing we are using our time well on the trip.

just a thought
Focus on what you can control
Panky
Posts: 81
Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2020 5:25 pm
Location: Seattle

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by Panky »

OpenMinded1 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:05 am Given our interests, is the Arenal Volcano area worth it, or should we maybe skip it and add more days to the Monteverde cloud forest area, or another area? Seems like it would be a lot more interesting if the volcano was still active.
I visited Arenal a decade or two ago - at the time it was very active and amazing.

What was most magical was when we went to a hot springs resort nearby - sitting in a hot spring watching glowing lava flow down a mountain at sunset and into a moonlit night was surreal. I strongly recommend you do a hot spring visit as well if you go.

We also had a road wash out so were unable to go to one of the cloud forests (not sure if it was the same one, going to a primate preserve was the plan). It was interesting as well - dozens of cars were waiting at the wash out point (hoping water would go down, maybe 1 in 20 cars trying to ford it) and an impromptu farmers market sprung up, very festival atmosphere.


Airport transfer - the airport transfer in San Jose felt very odd (no signage, people helping with bags but with no uniforms, etc) but I suspect they have modernized this more now.
GT99
Posts: 757
Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2018 5:26 pm

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by GT99 »

White Coat Investor wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 2:47 pm
GT99 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 2:00 pm I think others are doing a poor job of managing expectations when it comes to driving. Driving in Costa Rica is nothing like driving in any US or European city I've driven in. Signage is poor, road upkeep is lacking, and adherence to driving laws is minimal. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Costa Rica, and I'm not saying don't drive, but we drove our first visit, and we didn't our second. :D I distinctly remember driving into San Jose and finding myself on what was probably a 5 lane one way road with no lane markings. Cars were all over the place.
You make it sound like Cairo. I can't imagine going to Costa Rica and not driving. How much 5 lane highway is there in the entire country, 10 miles? My recollection of that 5 lane highway was this:

https://wwtl.info/cr-n1.html

i.e. painted lanes, plenty of signs, a reasonable amount of traffic, and courteous drivers. The traffic builds a bit the closer you get to the airport.
The 5 lane road I was talking about was not a highway. It was a one-way street in San Jose with cross streets, etc. And it probably wasn't intended to be 5 lanes, but because it didn't have lane markings, that's what it ended up being. We spent our last night that trip in San Jose because we had an early flight out - it was going to the hotel.

I'm not saying it's the worst thing ever, and I can't compare to Cairo. Driving on the opposite side of the road in the UK was probably more stressful. Probably not as bad as most of South America. But for an OP who's never driven in a foreign country other than Canada, it certainly didn't seem appropriate to make them think it would be just like driving in the US.

Costa Rica is awesome, though. The Arenal area is one of my favorite places I've ever been anywhere. And it's crazy how friendly the people are. At first it just seems like well trained hospitality, but then you realize most everyone you encounter is friendly.
CFOKevin
Posts: 189
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2014 3:07 pm

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by CFOKevin »

Costa Rica is about as chill as it gets for an American traveling to a foreign country. Temps won't be an issue, expect low 80s that time of year (except on the Pacific beaches). Crowds won't be an issue, either, as December is a pretty slow time. Driving is no problem at all everywhere except San Jose. If you are concerned about how you'll do with a rental car, consider flying into Liberia. It's low key, a much easier airport/rental car scene to navigate and it's wide open two lane roads from there for your entire trip. Everything is in English, prices are in dollars and most of the those in tourist facing jobs are exceptionally good at them. As noted above, supermarkets aren't great and prices are reasonable, but not cheap. If you're interested in a link to an amazing boutique property on an estate near Arenal, send me a PM. We usually fly into Liberia, drive there and let them arrange excursions for us.

Pura Vida,

Kevin
rrt
Posts: 49
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2012 11:01 pm

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by rrt »

We've lived west of San Jose for about 3.5 years. Here are a few of my thoughts...

Website a lot of us gringos have used is https://mytanfeet.com/ Know their stuff. Also has a link to a discount for Adobe Car Rental. If you plan on using you credit card for insurance have the credit card company send you a letter stating that you are covered for rental cars outside the USA. The insurance is stupid expensive.

Waze app for navigation tends to be much more accurate down here. All the locals use it. Easy to have hotels etc send you their location on waze.

Don't drive after dark. It's can be scary. Blind turns, single lane bridges, no lane markings and no shoulders. CEDA means yield. If you see this the traffic coming from the other direction has the right of way at the one-lane bridge. If you get in late, do a hotel and start fresh in the morning.

As another person recommended, Liberia if you are more up North is easier to get in and out of.

Don't estimate driving time by anything your used to from the states. Will always take longer to get anywhere than you thought possible. Gas is full service you don't pump your own.

Walmart straight across highway from the airport. Rental cars are around the corner. San Jose

Download google translate onto your phone to use offline. That way you're not using data to look up words in restaurants etc.

One last note. If several flights show up at the same time immigration can bog down. We've gone thru in less than 15 minutes and we have been in line for over two hours plus. Bring patience and bottled water just in case.

Pura Vida
Last edited by rrt on Thu Jan 26, 2023 8:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Topic Author
OpenMinded1
Posts: 1568
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2020 8:27 am

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by OpenMinded1 »

orlandoman wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 4:35 pm FYI, not sure how common this is, but be aware if you are driving a rental vehicle & are in an accident that injures someone, you may not be able to leave Costa Rica for months:
- https://costa-rica-guide.com/travel/hea ... xpatriate/
- "If there is an ongoing investigation of a vehicular accident resulting in death or injuries, you may not be allowed to leave the country for several months." https://travel.state.gov/content/travel ... aRica.html (under Travel & Transportation)
Yes, I read that somewhere before. It makes me wonder whether getting a rental car is worth the risk.
Topic Author
OpenMinded1
Posts: 1568
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2020 8:27 am

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by OpenMinded1 »

CFOKevin wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 7:08 pm Costa Rica is about as chill as it gets for an American traveling to a foreign country. Temps won't be an issue, expect low 80s that time of year (except on the Pacific beaches). Crowds won't be an issue, either, as December is a pretty slow time. Driving is no problem at all everywhere except San Jose. If you are concerned about how you'll do with a rental car, consider flying into Liberia. It's low key, a much easier airport/rental car scene to navigate and it's wide open two lane roads from there for your entire trip. Everything is in English, prices are in dollars and most of the those in tourist facing jobs are exceptionally good at them. As noted above, supermarkets aren't great and prices are reasonable, but not cheap. If you're interested in a link to an amazing boutique property on an estate near Arenal, send me a PM. We usually fly into Liberia, drive there and let them arrange excursions for us.

Pura Vida,

Kevin
I appreciate the information. The airport area at Liberia does sound a lot better. But seems like San Jose would be in a better location considering we want to include Manuel Antonio NP. If it weren't for that, I'd much rather use Liberia.
Last edited by OpenMinded1 on Thu Jan 26, 2023 9:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Topic Author
OpenMinded1
Posts: 1568
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2020 8:27 am

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by OpenMinded1 »

rrt wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 8:19 pm We've lived west of San Jose for about 3.5 years. Here are a few of my thoughts...

Website a lot of us gringos have used is https://mytanfeet.com/ Know their stuff. Also has a link to a discount for Adobe Car Rental. If you plan on using you credit card for insurance have the credit card company send you a letter stating that you are covered for rental cars outside the USA. The insurance is stupid expensive.

Waze app for navigation tends to be much more accurate down here. All the locals use it. Easy to have hotels etc send you their location on waze.

Don't drive after dark. It's can be scary. Blind turns, single lane bridges, no lane markings and no shoulders. CEDA means yield. If you see this the traffic coming from the other direction has the right of way at the one-lane bridge. If you get in late, do a hotel and start fresh in the morning.

As another person recommended, Liberia if you are more up North is easier to get in and out of.

Don't estimate driving time by anything your used to from the states. Will always take longer to get anywhere than you thought possible. Gas is full service you don't pump your own.

Walmart straight across highway from the airport. Rental cars are around the corner. San Jose

Download google translate onto your phone to use offline. That way you're not using data to look up words in restaurants etc.

One last note. If several flights show up at the same time immigration can bog down. We've gone thru in less than 15 minutes and we have been in line for over two hours plus. Bring patience and bottled water just in case.

Pura Vida
Thanks for the tips. It's great to get info from someone that actually lives there.
rrt
Posts: 49
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2012 11:01 pm

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by rrt »

You can message me here or I'll try to make sure to look each day at BH. If you have any specific questions more than happy to help.
1060WAddison
Posts: 36
Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2022 8:05 pm

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by 1060WAddison »

My wife, two kids and I have had two great vacations in Costa Rica and I highly recommend it. The zip line experience is amazing: https://skyadventures.travel/arenal/

That said, the highlight for us was 5 nights at Bosque del Cabo in the far south of the country. I thought of it immediately when reading your description of your interests. It's very remote - you fly to a small airport in the south and people from the resort pick you up and take you there. There are no crowds at all and the nature is simply amazing. Hard to describe how remote, unspoiled and non-commercial it is. There are tons of reviews on tripadvisor, etc., and their website is decent. Highly recommended. https://www.bosquedelcabo.com/index.html

For what it's worth, we rented cars on both trips and felt quite comfortable driving San Jose to Arenal and back, etc. We didn't drive on the Osa Peninsula during our stay at Bosque del Cabo.
nordsteve
Posts: 1104
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:23 am

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by nordsteve »

Just back from a CR trip at the start of the month.

Driving was a bit exciting but nothing we could not handle. Roads are narrow and signage is a problem sometimes. Keep an eye out for potholes. Returned the rental car with the same number of dents it came with.

Agree on the Sky Adventures zip line. We have an annual travel insurance policy and used that at the rental car agency no problem.
Topic Author
OpenMinded1
Posts: 1568
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2020 8:27 am

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by OpenMinded1 »

1060WAddison wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:15 pm My wife, two kids and I have had two great vacations in Costa Rica and I highly recommend it. The zip line experience is amazing: https://skyadventures.travel/arenal/

That said, the highlight for us was 5 nights at Bosque del Cabo in the far south of the country. I thought of it immediately when reading your description of your interests. It's very remote - you fly to a small airport in the south and people from the resort pick you up and take you there. There are no crowds at all and the nature is simply amazing. Hard to describe how remote, unspoiled and non-commercial it is. There are tons of reviews on tripadvisor, etc., and their website is decent. Highly recommended. https://www.bosquedelcabo.com/index.html

For what it's worth, we rented cars on both trips and felt quite comfortable driving San Jose to Arenal and back, etc. We didn't drive on the Osa Peninsula during our stay at Bosque del Cabo.
Thanks for the input. Bosque del Cabo sounds great except I don't think a long stay there would suit us because of the heat and humidity. Pretty sure the average daily high temp is around 90 year 'round there, and it's very humid. As I mentioned above, I try to avoid stressing my body with high heat and humidity for extended periods - health issues. And I think it's too far away from cooler areas for us to spend just a day or two there and then travel to those cooler areas. Thanks anyway though.
Last edited by OpenMinded1 on Fri Jan 27, 2023 3:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
radioactive
Posts: 27
Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2013 10:18 am

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by radioactive »

GT99 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 2:00 pm I think others are doing a poor job of managing expectations when it comes to driving. Driving in Costa Rica is nothing like driving in any US or European city I've driven in. Signage is poor, road upkeep is lacking, and adherence to driving laws is minimal. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Costa Rica, and I'm not saying don't drive, but we drove our first visit, and we didn't our second. :D I distinctly remember driving into San Jose and finding myself on what was probably a 5 lane one way road with no lane markings. Cars were all over the place.
OP should read the above, several times.

I live in Germany and just returned from CR for a 10 day trip over the winter holiday. We rented a car in SJ, and returned it in Liberia with several nights in Monteverde, Arenal and Tamarindo. We rented the car through Amigo, since the cost (700 USD/week) was significantly cheaper than Avis, Hertz, Europcar (all above 1500 USD/week) with every discount code possible from a very, very long list I have gathered from former employers, Flyertalk, etc. The high cost was due to the winter holiday, if you go now, you'll pay significantly less.

Our car was a BYD, every time we closed the door, we feared it would fall off. In the end, it was probably a good idea to have such an inexpensive car, the roads between SJ, Monteverde and Arenal are generally in bad repair. Outside of Monteverde and around Arenal, roads turn to unmaintained dirt roads with rut and large rocks.

Driving requires lots of attention, but it's not dangerous by any means. I would recommend it, but it really depends on what kind of person you are, and how much you want to tie yourself to Uber and transfers vs. being spontaneous to see new things.
Topic Author
OpenMinded1
Posts: 1568
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2020 8:27 am

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by OpenMinded1 »

radioactive wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 11:47 am
GT99 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 2:00 pm I think others are doing a poor job of managing expectations when it comes to driving. Driving in Costa Rica is nothing like driving in any US or European city I've driven in. Signage is poor, road upkeep is lacking, and adherence to driving laws is minimal. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Costa Rica, and I'm not saying don't drive, but we drove our first visit, and we didn't our second. :D I distinctly remember driving into San Jose and finding myself on what was probably a 5 lane one way road with no lane markings. Cars were all over the place.
OP should read the above, several times.

I live in Germany and just returned from CR for a 10 day trip over the winter holiday. We rented a car in SJ, and returned it in Liberia with several nights in Monteverde, Arenal and Tamarindo. We rented the car through Amigo, since the cost (700 USD/week) was significantly cheaper than Avis, Hertz, Europcar (all above 1500 USD/week) with every discount code possible from a very, very long list I have gathered from former employers, Flyertalk, etc. The high cost was due to the winter holiday, if you go now, you'll pay significantly less.

Our car was a BYD, every time we closed the door, we feared it would fall off. In the end, it was probably a good idea to have such an inexpensive car, the roads between SJ, Monteverde and Arenal are generally in bad repair. Outside of Monteverde and around Arenal, roads turn to unmaintained dirt roads with rut and large rocks.

Driving requires lots of attention, but it's not dangerous by any means. I would recommend it, but it really depends on what kind of person you are, and how much you want to tie yourself to Uber and transfers vs. being spontaneous to see new things.

Thanks. We are thinking of early to mid-December for a number of reasons. First, it appears to be one of the coolest (temp-wise) times of year, but also it seems to be the start of the dry season, or at least it isn't consistently considered the rainy season. November and December seem like transition months regarding the amount of precipitation. Finally, it doesn't seem like it would be super-crowded early to mid-December. It seems like the real crowded time starts around Christmas and runs thru April or May. (Posters should feel free to correct me if I'm getting my facts wrong.)

I'm carefully considering what would be better for us - rental car or what the travel agencies call "private transfers." I requested more details from a few travel agencies I've been communicating with about their "private transfers." What type of vehicle? Is there a bathroom on the vehicle? If not, do they make regular stops, or stop on request? Would we be traveling with other tourists, or would it be just the two of us and a driver?

Also, somewhat concerned about something mentioned upthread. A person might be required to stay in the country, until the legal process plays out, if they are driving a rental car, and are involved in an accident that injures someone.
retired recently
Posts: 579
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 6:09 pm

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by retired recently »

We took our 10 year old out of school for a month and went to Costa Rica in 2013. Arenal was no longer erupting at that stage and while an interesting town and a gorgeous volcano, it was not that interesting really.

What was interesting was a 7ish hour hike to the ranger station on the Oso Peninsula where we spent a few nights. It was an experience we all still talk about as it was challenging to hike that far given much of it was in sand. Great experience.

Overall though, CR seemed quite overpriced at the time for what you get.

We traveled via bus and plane mainly, which was also very interesting (and we traveled huge portion of the country) but did rent a vehicle for a day to drive to see another volcano as our son was really into volcanoes at the time. No issues with the roads, etc.
Topic Author
OpenMinded1
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by OpenMinded1 »

retired recently wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 5:43 pm We took our 10 year old out of school for a month and went to Costa Rica in 2013. Arenal was no longer erupting at that stage and while an interesting town and a gorgeous volcano, it was not that interesting really.

What was interesting was a 7ish hour hike to the ranger station on the Oso Peninsula where we spent a few nights. It was an experience we all still talk about as it was challenging to hike that far given much of it was in sand. Great experience.

Overall though, CR seemed quite overpriced at the time for what you get.

We traveled via bus and plane mainly, which was also very interesting (and we traveled huge portion of the country) but did rent a vehicle for a day to drive to see another volcano as our son was really into volcanoes at the time. No issues with the roads, etc.
Thanks. Like I said up thread, given our interests, I wonder whether the Arenal Volcano area is worth it. I'm considering skipping it and adding more days to the Monteverde cloud forest area, or another area. Seems like it would be a lot more interesting if the volcano was still active. It seems to get mixed reviews, but mostly positive.
new2bogle
Posts: 1779
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2009 2:05 pm

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by new2bogle »

OpenMinded1 wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 7:35 pm
retired recently wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 5:43 pm We took our 10 year old out of school for a month and went to Costa Rica in 2013. Arenal was no longer erupting at that stage and while an interesting town and a gorgeous volcano, it was not that interesting really.

What was interesting was a 7ish hour hike to the ranger station on the Oso Peninsula where we spent a few nights. It was an experience we all still talk about as it was challenging to hike that far given much of it was in sand. Great experience.

Overall though, CR seemed quite overpriced at the time for what you get.

We traveled via bus and plane mainly, which was also very interesting (and we traveled huge portion of the country) but did rent a vehicle for a day to drive to see another volcano as our son was really into volcanoes at the time. No issues with the roads, etc.
Thanks. Like I said up thread, given our interests, I wonder whether the Arenal Volcano area is worth it. I'm considering skipping it and adding more days to the Monteverde cloud forest area, or another area. Seems like it would be a lot more interesting if the volcano was still active. It seems to get mixed reviews, but mostly positive.
Do you have a "finalized" itinerary yet? I am planning our July trip and currently thinking of skipping Arenal (La Fortuna area) as well and staying on the other side in Santa Elena/Monte Verde area for access to the cloud forest and related activities.
WhyNotUs
Posts: 2606
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2013 11:38 am

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by WhyNotUs »

Excellent advice below. Waze +1, big increase expected travel time, don't drive at night
CR is one of the few countries where I buy the rental car insurance. I studied it a bit before going the first time (it works a bit different in CR versus other countries) and finally decided to just compare prices with a total coverage given some of the areas that I was intending to visit. Used Vamos both times with no issues.
The places that you are going to will be busy by CR standards.
I do not think MO should be that hot in December, can't speak to humid.


rrt wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 8:19 pm We've lived west of San Jose for about 3.5 years. Here are a few of my thoughts...

Website a lot of us gringos have used is https://mytanfeet.com/ Know their stuff. Also has a link to a discount for Adobe Car Rental. If you plan on using you credit card for insurance have the credit card company send you a letter stating that you are covered for rental cars outside the USA. The insurance is stupid expensive.

Waze app for navigation tends to be much more accurate down here. All the locals use it. Easy to have hotels etc send you their location on waze.

Don't drive after dark. It's can be scary. Blind turns, single lane bridges, no lane markings and no shoulders. CEDA means yield. If you see this the traffic coming from the other direction has the right of way at the one-lane bridge. If you get in late, do a hotel and start fresh in the morning.

As another person recommended, Liberia if you are more up North is easier to get in and out of.

Don't estimate driving time by anything your used to from the states. Will always take longer to get anywhere than you thought possible. Gas is full service you don't pump your own.

Walmart straight across highway from the airport. Rental cars are around the corner. San Jose

Download google translate onto your phone to use offline. That way you're not using data to look up words in restaurants etc.

One last note. If several flights show up at the same time immigration can bog down. We've gone thru in less than 15 minutes and we have been in line for over two hours plus. Bring patience and bottled water just in case.

Pura Vida
I own the next hot stock- VTSAX
texasdiver
Posts: 3935
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2009 12:50 am
Location: Vancouver WA

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by texasdiver »

I don't know if this thread is still live or not.

My wife and I have visited Costa Rica many times. We have also traveled all over Central and South America. She is Chilean so we also take annual trips to Santiago Chile and when I was younger I did Peace Corps and subsequent development work in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, and NE Brazil. So lots of experience living and traveling in Latin America.

My advice for Costa Rica as a first timer.

1. Fly into Liberia not San Jose. Smaller international airport and easier to navigate but you still have all the regular car rental agencies and such right there. And no city driving at all since you don't have to ever enter Liberia itself.

2. For a 10-day trip only hit two locations not three. Costa Rica is a small country and you can do a LOT of day trips and see a lot of variety from just one location. You don't need to bounce around from hotel to hotel which is always a big hassle.

My recommendation would be to split your time between the beach and mountains as follows:

Fly into Liberia and spend the first half of your trip on the Guanacaste Coast somewhere (Samara, Nosara, Playa Carillo (our favorite) or any of many beach towns on the Guanacaste Peninsula that are easy to reach from Liberia. Any one will have a wealth of activities and side trips available like boating, horseback riding, sea turtle refuges, etc.

Spend the second half of your trip in the mountains. Pick either Arenal or Monteverde but DO NOT try to do both as it is a seriously long expedition to get between those two locations. It looks close on the map but it is not. If you want more luxury type amenities (restaurants, hot springs, massages, upscale lodging) then pick Arenal. If you want more outdoorsy hiking and are less into vacation luxuries pick Monteverde. It is a town, not completely rustic, but the Arenal area has a lot more upscale options than Monteverde.

Also, Arenal is much more central so you will have a LOT more good side-trip options out of the La Fortuna/Arenal area than from Monteverde. For example, when we stayed in La Fortuna we did a day trip side excursion boat trip to the Cano Negro wildlife refuge on the Nicaraguan border which would not have been really possible from Monteverde. Monteverde basically only has the cloud forest reserve to visit. Arenal has a LOT more different things to see and do.

As for driving in Costa Rica? Get ALL the local insurance, most of it is required by law anyway. Before leaving the US, download all the google maps for the entire country to your phone as offline maps so you don't need a cell signal to navigate by google maps. Then you can leave your phone on airplane mode and still drive everywhere if you don't want to do international roaming. All the hotels will have WiFi. You don't really need a 4x4 unless you plan to really get offroad. The car rental agencies in Costa Rica all know you are driving to the regular tourist spots and have appropriate cars for that. I have driven all over Costa Rica with both my cell phone running google maps and my Garmin running Garmin maps. Both work fine although Garmin is better at keeping you on main roads while Google maps is more tempted to take you on back road shortcuts. So you have to use your brain and decide if that dirt road short cut makes sense to save 4 km of paved road driving.

My wife and I are both 100% fluent in Spanish and Latin American culture (it is her first language) so we are entirely comfortable driving anywhere in Latin America. But if you do not speak Spanish then you may want to reconsider an itinerary that involves long distance traveling. The cost between car rentals and hiring long-distance taxi/van service is probably a wash. And every small town in Costa Rica has taxis.
Topic Author
OpenMinded1
Posts: 1568
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by OpenMinded1 »

new2bogle wrote: Sun Feb 19, 2023 1:48 pm
OpenMinded1 wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 7:35 pm
retired recently wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 5:43 pm We took our 10 year old out of school for a month and went to Costa Rica in 2013. Arenal was no longer erupting at that stage and while an interesting town and a gorgeous volcano, it was not that interesting really.

What was interesting was a 7ish hour hike to the ranger station on the Oso Peninsula where we spent a few nights. It was an experience we all still talk about as it was challenging to hike that far given much of it was in sand. Great experience.

Overall though, CR seemed quite overpriced at the time for what you get.

We traveled via bus and plane mainly, which was also very interesting (and we traveled huge portion of the country) but did rent a vehicle for a day to drive to see another volcano as our son was really into volcanoes at the time. No issues with the roads, etc.
Thanks. Like I said up thread, given our interests, I wonder whether the Arenal Volcano area is worth it. I'm considering skipping it and adding more days to the Monteverde cloud forest area, or another area. Seems like it would be a lot more interesting if the volcano was still active. It seems to get mixed reviews, but mostly positive.
Do you have a "finalized" itinerary yet? I am planning our July trip and currently thinking of skipping Arenal (La Fortuna area) as well and staying on the other side in Santa Elena/Monte Verde area for access to the cloud forest and related activities.
No haven't finalized it yet. I think I'm going to hold off a few months before committing since the trip wouldn't be until November or December, and a certain amount is non-reimbursable - at least without travel insurance. I've heard it's safe to wait until five or six months before the trip. There shouldn't be problems with availability that far in advance. So it will be a while before I finalize the itinerary. I have some time to think about it.
Topic Author
OpenMinded1
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Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by OpenMinded1 »

texasdiver wrote: Sun Feb 19, 2023 2:37 pm I don't know if this thread is still live or not.

My wife and I have visited Costa Rica many times. We have also traveled all over Central and South America. She is Chilean so we also take annual trips to Santiago Chile and when I was younger I did Peace Corps and subsequent development work in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, and NE Brazil. So lots of experience living and traveling in Latin America.

My advice for Costa Rica as a first timer.

1. Fly into Liberia not San Jose. Smaller international airport and easier to navigate but you still have all the regular car rental agencies and such right there. And no city driving at all since you don't have to ever enter Liberia itself.

2. For a 10-day trip only hit two locations not three. Costa Rica is a small country and you can do a LOT of day trips and see a lot of variety from just one location. You don't need to bounce around from hotel to hotel which is always a big hassle.

My recommendation would be to split your time between the beach and mountains as follows:

Fly into Liberia and spend the first half of your trip on the Guanacaste Coast somewhere (Samara, Nosara, Playa Carillo (our favorite) or any of many beach towns on the Guanacaste Peninsula that are easy to reach from Liberia. Any one will have a wealth of activities and side trips available like boating, horseback riding, sea turtle refuges, etc.

Spend the second half of your trip in the mountains. Pick either Arenal or Monteverde but DO NOT try to do both as it is a seriously long expedition to get between those two locations. It looks close on the map but it is not. If you want more luxury type amenities (restaurants, hot springs, massages, upscale lodging) then pick Arenal. If you want more outdoorsy hiking and are less into vacation luxuries pick Monteverde. It is a town, not completely rustic, but the Arenal area has a lot more upscale options than Monteverde.

Also, Arenal is much more central so you will have a LOT more good side-trip options out of the La Fortuna/Arenal area than from Monteverde. For example, when we stayed in La Fortuna we did a day trip side excursion boat trip to the Cano Negro wildlife refuge on the Nicaraguan border which would not have been really possible from Monteverde. Monteverde basically only has the cloud forest reserve to visit. Arenal has a LOT more different things to see and do.

As for driving in Costa Rica? Get ALL the local insurance, most of it is required by law anyway. Before leaving the US, download all the google maps for the entire country to your phone as offline maps so you don't need a cell signal to navigate by google maps. Then you can leave your phone on airplane mode and still drive everywhere if you don't want to do international roaming. All the hotels will have WiFi. You don't really need a 4x4 unless you plan to really get offroad. The car rental agencies in Costa Rica all know you are driving to the regular tourist spots and have appropriate cars for that. I have driven all over Costa Rica with both my cell phone running google maps and my Garmin running Garmin maps. Both work fine although Garmin is better at keeping you on main roads while Google maps is more tempted to take you on back road shortcuts. So you have to use your brain and decide if that dirt road short cut makes sense to save 4 km of paved road driving.

My wife and I are both 100% fluent in Spanish and Latin American culture (it is her first language) so we are entirely comfortable driving anywhere in Latin America. But if you do not speak Spanish then you may want to reconsider an itinerary that involves long distance traveling. The cost between car rentals and hiring long-distance taxi/van service is probably a wash. And every small town in Costa Rica has taxis.
Thanks. We're still thinking about it, and I certainly appreciate information from someone that has spent a lot of time there.
tfunk
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2016 11:50 am

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by tfunk »

Owned a house at the beach in Ocotal for almost 30 years. You need to rent a car. In the 90's they let the roads go to potholes but I believe it has improved over the past 20 years. Since we bought in 1992, Costa Rica has gotten much more commercial. On the other hand, that means they have a lot more Notre American infrastructure. When we bought there was only one little store in Coco. Now there are several huge grocery stores with goods that people from the North want to buy. Many places have built tourist infrastructure that you will enjoy.
thedaybeforetoday
Posts: 836
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2022 5:16 am

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by thedaybeforetoday »

Just came back from our first trip to CR.

Definitely recommend you check out the “ my tanfeet” website mentioned above. We rented through them at Adobe abs had a great small 4x4 suv.
Highly recommend the you get the mobile WiFi hot spot over the gps. This will allow you and your passengers to not only use gps on phone but everyone on the vehicle will have access to internet a vast majority of the time (we lost signal once in la fortuna). Adobe was great and our vehicle only had 3k kilometers on it. Waze is the way to go.

Due to the narrow and winding roads drive times will be much longer per mile than in the states. You will probably be on dirt/gravel roads at some point. Don’t let your tank get below 1/4 as gas stations are infrequent in most of the country. Gas is about $5/ gallon, but you won’t use much per hour of driving.

The rain forest was cloudy, grey and rainy most of the time so we were glad we were on the pacific coast for the majority on our stay. You won’t have any problem finding sloth/nature tours, zip lines etc in the rain forest.

We used the Xe app to figure out the exchange rates. The rate changes moment to moment and the app keeps up with a nice simple calculator. We brought colones and paid either in usd or colones based on the rate.

Get the “traditional” breakfast and eat at the sodas. We only ate breakfast where we stayed and lunch at about 2 every day at a soda as the meals are large and hearty.

We would definitely go back but probably not to the rain forest as we like sun and blue skies for a winter vacation.

You’ll have a blast. We’ve traveled quite a bit and the people of Costa Rica are among the friendliest and most helpful we’ve encountered.
"When I was a kid my parents moved a lot, but I always found them." R. Dangerfield
Frugal_fire
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 18, 2021 11:43 am

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by Frugal_fire »

I just returned today from a first-time trip to CR, in which I had originally planned a quickie 4 day solo visit to Manuel Antonio to the 'parque nacional' to experience its diverse flora and fauna. Some comments to share:

1) From the time I arrived The temperature had steadily risen over three days to reaching 94f. as a fair skinned and hypertensive 60yo male that doesn't do particularly well in the heat (though being otherwise in good physical condition), I decided to leave M.A. one day early to escape the heat. I ended up booking the local puddle jumper flight back to San Jose on Sansa Air, and at a $106 one-way fare with a flight time of only 20 mins, the time saved in traffic made it an excellent value. However it was very turbulent and perhaps not for the faint of heart!

2) Though I did see animals in the park during the day, and took a guided nocturnal tour which was pretty cool, I learned that animal lovers are actually advised to visit during the *wet* season, with the dry season seemingly more suited to beach going of which I am not generally an enthusiast.

3) On my last day in CR I had some extra time before my departure and decided to visit the 'Refugio Animal' rescue operation in the Santa Ana district. Here I experienced much more animal diversity than in the actual park, and though obviously not as exciting as seeing creatures in the wild, I highly recommend a visit to this facility for its educational aspect and to support what I believe is a very good cause. Being apparently not a terribly popular attraction (at least not on the day I was there), I had a young English-speaking volunteer guide exclusively to myself which I found invaluable to get the most out of this visit.

4) In general, as a solo visitor focusing exclusively on the town and park of M.A., I perceived that I could likely do without a car. Though this generally proved correct, I found it very difficult to hail taxicabs (with Uber drivers apparently not well represented there), nor did I determine exactly how to ride the very few buses that apparently service the area (the stops are not marked at all) resulting in an over-reliance on my feet. I will say that, given my only OK physical condition, walking up these very hilly areas in the heat was a real workout and in hindsight I might have re-considered booking a vehicle just to streamline the ground transportation component of the trip. For certain, if I knew how much walking I was going to be doing I should have packed twice as many undergarments!

5) As other posters have mentioned, expect to spend as much on food and transportation as in the US, but such expenditures still seemed like a good value to me.

In summary while I did very much enjoy my visit and the friendly 'Tico' people, it was a bit harder to spontaneously 'wing it' on a first visit than I expected, though I believe I pretty much made the most of it and hope to return to the country again.

Hope this info is helpful.
Topic Author
OpenMinded1
Posts: 1568
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2020 8:27 am

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by OpenMinded1 »

Frugal_fire wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 9:48 pm I just returned today from a first-time trip to CR, in which I had originally planned a quickie 4 day solo visit to Manuel Antonio to the 'parque nacional' to experience its diverse flora and fauna. Some comments to share:

1) From the time I arrived The temperature had steadily risen over three days to reaching 94f. as a fair skinned and hypertensive 60yo male that doesn't do particularly well in the heat (though being otherwise in good physical condition), I decided to leave M.A. one day early to escape the heat. I ended up booking the local puddle jumper flight back to San Jose on Sansa Air, and at a $106 one-way fare with a flight time of only 20 mins, the time saved in traffic made it an excellent value. However it was very turbulent and perhaps not for the faint of heart!

2) Though I did see animals in the park during the day, and took a guided nocturnal tour which was pretty cool, I learned that animal lovers are actually advised to visit during the *wet* season, with the dry season seemingly more suited to beach going of which I am not generally an enthusiast.

3) On my last day in CR I had some extra time before my departure and decided to visit the 'Refugio Animal' rescue operation in the Santa Ana district. Here I experienced much more animal diversity than in the actual park, and though obviously not as exciting as seeing creatures in the wild, I highly recommend a visit to this facility for its educational aspect and to support what I believe is a very good cause. Being apparently not a terribly popular attraction (at least not on the day I was there), I had a young English-speaking volunteer guide exclusively to myself which I found invaluable to get the most out of this visit.

4) In general, as a solo visitor focusing exclusively on the town and park of M.A., I perceived that I could likely do without a car. Though this generally proved correct, I found it very difficult to hail taxicabs (with Uber drivers apparently not well represented there), nor did I determine exactly how to ride the very few buses that apparently service the area (the stops are not marked at all) resulting in an over-reliance on my feet. I will say that, given my only OK physical condition, walking up these very hilly areas in the heat was a real workout and in hindsight I might have re-considered booking a vehicle just to streamline the ground transportation component of the trip. For certain, if I knew how much walking I was going to be doing I should have packed twice as many undergarments!

5) As other posters have mentioned, expect to spend as much on food and transportation as in the US, but such expenditures still seemed like a good value to me.

In summary while I did very much enjoy my visit and the friendly 'Tico' people, it was a bit harder to spontaneously 'wing it' on a first visit than I expected, though I believe I pretty much made the most of it and hope to return to the country again.

Hope this info is helpful.
Thanks for providing the details of your trip. I appreciate it. Your experience at Manuel Antonia supports why I'm leery about spending more than a day or two there. I plan to spend more time in Monteverde and the Arenal area because those areas appear to be quite a bit cooler. I don't handle the heat very well anymore either, and it appears the Manuel Antonio area is hot and humid year 'round.

It sounds like you set up that "puddle jumper flight" at the last minute. Did you have any trouble doing that? I've been thinking that at least one short flight might be worth it. The ways things stand we're going to be spending a large percentage of our time on the road if we go to Manuel Antonio, Monteverde, and Arenal over the course of eight days with long flights into and out of San Jose.
CFOKevin
Posts: 189
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2014 3:07 pm

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by CFOKevin »

Following up on my earlier post, read texasdiver's advice and take it to heart. A beach/mountains split, flying into Liberia and renting a car is a great way to experience CR as a first timer. For us, it is Samara and Arenal and we like to go to Arenal and be more active the first half of the trip.
MDfan
Posts: 1112
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2016 7:32 am

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by MDfan »

We went in 2009 and rented a car.. Drove from San Jose to Arenal to Manuel Antonio and back with no problem. Some roads werent great but nothing we couldn’t handle. Our only issue is we got stopped by the police one the way back to San Jose for speeding. We were very clearly not speeding and ended up paying $60 cash to the policemen to avoid getting a ticket and likely missing our flight home. It was most definitely a shakedown. I assume they targeted rental cars.

We enjoyed the Pacific Coast much more than Arenal where it was cloudy and rained for 3 days.
Topic Author
OpenMinded1
Posts: 1568
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2020 8:27 am

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by OpenMinded1 »

CFOKevin wrote: Tue Feb 21, 2023 8:12 pm Following up on my earlier post, read texasdiver's advice and take it to heart. A beach/mountains split, flying into Liberia and renting a car is a great way to experience CR as a first timer. For us, it is Samara and Arenal and we like to go to Arenal and be more active the first half of the trip.
Thanks. Yes we're going to split time between the coast and the mountains, but, as mentioned above, probably not a lot of time on the coast because of the heat and humidity. I need to look into some other spots on the coast other than Manuel Antonio including Samara. Seems like flying into and out of Liberia would be a more pleasant experience than San Jose. However, Liberia is a good bit farther from Manuel Antonio if we stick with our tentative plan to make that one of our destinations.

I'm still a bit leery about renting a car because of horror stories I've read about a foreign driver getting in an accident that injures another party. In this situation, Costa Rican authorities have been know to force a foreign driver to stay in Costa Rica until everything is settled. The process could take awhile. I wonder what happens if the driver is found guilty of criminal charges. From the US Department of State website: If there is an ongoing investigation of a vehicular accident resulting in death or injuries, you may not be allowed to leave the country for several months.

I'm leaning toward what the travel companies call private transfer - my wife and I being driven to our primary destinations by a hired driver arranged by a travel agency.
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cruzbay
Posts: 67
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2018 4:47 pm

Re: Costa Rica Questions

Post by cruzbay »

The best decision we made was to hire private drivers for our transfers. The drivers were prompt, vans clean and with A/C and the drivers were knowledgeable about sites along the route. We saw and learned much that we would have otherwise passed right by. We used a travel company to arrange everything, (anywhere.com) Did the common San Jose arrival, Immediate transfer to stay at Tabacon in La Fortuna, then the boat/van transfer (a slog and the worse roads for sure) to Monteverde where we stayed at what was then the Aguti Lodge now called the Koora. They have their own nature preserve and the hotel was small and wonderful. Then, off to Manuel Antonio by private transfer and stayed at Tulemar with its own private beach. The moving around would have been too much for us if we did the driving. Have a great time!
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