Costa Rica

1,227 Views | 9 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by Potcake
AustinCountyAg
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doing some research CR seems to be a pretty neat place. Looking at hotel online on the west side of the country many seem somewhat isolated. For those who've been did yall rent a car or just pay for taxi's/private shuttles?

Several hotels have caught my eye, but I dont want to be isolated at the hotel. Looking to travel to different bars, beaches, etc.
NoahAg
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I've been once, but it was 20 years ago. Can't remember much of where exactly we went. I know we flew into San Jose and stayed there one night. Then rented Suzuki Samurais and drove what seemed like all over the country. Saw several of beaches, an active volcano. 2 rafting trips. I remember the couple of main highways being nice, but most roads were pretty rough so we couldn't drive too fast.
Burn-It
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AG
We've been 3 times, love that place and may eventually retire there. We really like Guancaste region but also like Plays Santa Teresa. We stayed in an awesome hotel south of Tamarindo, Capitan Suizo and in a rustic cabin, Red Palm Villas in Plays Santa Teresa and a beautiful house in Plays Longosta.
AKA 13-0
FancyKetchup14
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AG
Fly into San Jose. Get to Quepos either by bus or domestic flight. Go to Manuel Antonio National Park. Bask in paradise.
I Play With Guns
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S
We rented a car and drove all over!

Just make sure when you're driving to carry your passport as they have security checkpoints.

NoahAg
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I Play With Guns said:

We rented a car and drove all over!

Just make sure when you're driving to carry your passport as they have security checkpoints.


We went so long ago that wasn't an issue. No passport needed to get there. Maybe I needed my birth certificate. But we certainly didn't see any security checkpoints. Funny, I don't remember thinking about safety. Except when we walked past a big snake in the jungle, and when my buddy got stuck trying to climb the side of a cliff. Good times.
Jackal99
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AG
FancyKetchup14 said:

Fly into San Jose. Get to Quepos either by bus or domestic flight. Go to Manuel Antonio National Park. Bask in paradise.
This. So much this. Manuel Antonio is absolutely spectacular, and you may wind up on a beach all by yourself. Quepos is a nice little town to hang out in, too.
little blue
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We had our honeymoon in Costa Rica and we flew into San Jose and got a driver to drive us to Arenal. We also rented a car and drove from the Arenal region to the west coast. It wasn't bad to drive at all. This was 3 years ago though, although I doubt things have changed much. There was like only one road to get to the west coast and you have to drive quite slow and they shut down the roads frequently for construction on the many stone bridges. Like I said, it wasn't a bad drive, just don't go by google maps on how long it will take you. As it will probably take you an hour or two longer. Also, most of their rental cars are manual. So if you need an automatic, you might have to hunt around for one. Wasn't an issue for us but we came across some other honeymooners that were trying to learn stick for the first time, which Costa Rica is not the best place to learn.
Col. Steve Austin
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AG
AustinCountyAg said:

doing some research CR seems to be a pretty neat place. Looking at hotel online on the west side of the country many seem somewhat isolated. For those who've been did yall rent a car or just pay for taxi's/private shuttles?

Several hotels have caught my eye, but I dont want to be isolated at the hotel. Looking to travel to different bars, beaches, etc.
For your scenario, rent a car.

We just got back a week ago. Stayed at Dreams Las Mareas (Nicoya Peninsula) for 1 week then La Fortuna area for 4 days. We flew into Liberia, picked up rental car there and drove it to the resort where we dropped it off at the National desk. Shuttles we priced were quite expensive, 1 way rental was cheaper even with the drop off charge. Got another car when we left Dreams for the drive to La Fortuna. Kept the vehicle for the remainder of the trip. Taxis would have been quite expensive for us as we were on the go every day and our rainforest eco-lodge was actually 1/2 hour south of La Fortuna. The excursion shuttles didn't pick up that far out.

Make sure your rental vehicle is 4WD with reasonably high clearance. The highways are pretty good but local roads are pretty dicey, lots of potholes. There will be times when you have to slow to a crawl to pick your way through them. There are no street addresses used in CR. The best "address" you will see in decent size towns is nearest junction, like Avenida 100 Calle 300. Other addresses will be something like "100 meters past the post office" (which has no address). Villages will feature mostly "unnamed road". Get the GPS with the car or get the Wifi gizmo that works in the car and use the Waze app. We didn't know about that option. I had read that CR men drive like madmen but didn't really see much of that. You may find yourself driving aggressively in some situations. I know if I never have to make the drive around Lake Arenal again, it will be too soon. So frustrating with the slow traffic due to constant hills, switchbacks, etc. Oh, and the mudslides/water running across the road.

We had to stop at 3 different police checkpoints but they just looked in the windows and waved us on. As mentioned, be sure to have your passport handy.
I am not the Six Million Dollar Man, but I might need that surgery. "We have the technology, we can rebuild him!"
Snipes
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AG
We just booked trip to CR for week after Thanksgiving.

Flying into San Jose and driving a rental car to Manuel Antonio and Monteverde.

Our 6 month old loves to look at trees so excited to show her the jungle and cloud forest.

I drove to arenal and all over guanacaste 10 years ago with no problems.

We spent couple months in Netherlands recently and I was more stressed driving there with all the bikes than I was in CR.

Totally rent a car if you want freedom to be on your own schedule.
Potcake
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AG
Burn-It said:

We've been 3 times, love that place and may eventually retire there. We really like Guancaste region but also like Plays Santa Teresa. We stayed in an awesome hotel south of Tamarindo, Capitan Suizo and in a rustic cabin, Red Palm Villas in Plays Santa Teresa and a beautiful house in Plays Longosta.

You have a big ass thumb, hitting s instead of a.
Good thread, we're going for first time in February.
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