If you’re thinking about renting a car in Costa Rica for your vacation, here is everything you need to know. In this post, we break down Costa Rican car rental insurance insurance, best car rental agencies, costs and much more so you can have a smooth and stress free Costa Rica car rental process for your upcoming trip.
PS. If you’re ready to book your car, check out our exclusive Costa Rica car rental discount and extra benefits just for you!
All prices below are USD unless otherwise noted.
Mytanfeet Renting a Car in Costa Rica Guide
As a foreigner from the US, I have rented a car in Costa Rica many times so I know the process well from a tourist point of view. Yeison, who is Costa Rican, gives his insider local tips as someone who has worked in the tourism industry for over 20 years. Here are our reasons why you should rent a car in Costa Rica.
Why Should You Rent a Car in Costa Rica
Easy Social Distancing, More Flexibility, Explore at Your Own Pace, Go Off the Beaten Path
Road trips are now the most popular way to travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Plus, what better way to practicing social distancing than renting a car and exploring Costa Rica on your own? Avoid sharing transportation, go off the beaten path and have the road trip adventure of a lifetime!
The advantages of renting a car in Costa Rica are obvious: Go where you want, when you want. By renting a car in Costa Rica, you won’t be restricted to anyone’s schedule but your own. To maximize your vacation time, minimize the time spent figuring out how to get around.
Make sure to read our driving in Costa Rica post for local tips to stay safe on the road.
Furthermore, many people are visiting Costa Rica for longer. To really get the most out of your long term stay, rent a car. You can rent one for the entire period or rent one for when you want to do trips.
That being said, you should rent a car in Costa Rica if you want to explore the country at your own pace, you don’t want to depend on public transportation or shuttles and you basically want to experience Costa Rica like a local.
Prices are comparable/cheaper than private shuttles and domestic flights
When you add up the cost of hiring private shuttles, renting a car becomes much more attractive. For example, a private shuttle from San Jose to La Fortuna is around $220 USD total one way and La Fortuna to Manuel Antonio is ~$300 USD total one way.
Likewise, domestic flights cost anywhere from $80-200 USD per person one way.
Then you need to take taxis or book tours with transportation to get around with these options and you will be limited in where you can go. *Do note that due to high demand and low availability, car rental prices have increased since before COVID. Prices fluctuate constantly*
Convinced? Check out our car rental discount to compare prices and get quotes.
Requirements for Renting a Car in Costa Rica
What is required to drive in Costa Rica as a foreigner: Your original passport, a valid tourist visa stamp and a valid original driver’s license from your home country. For Americans wondering “can you drive in Costa Rica with a US driver’s license?” The answer is yes. An international driver’s license is not required in Costa Rica for Americans, Canadians and most countries in general.
However, if your driver’s license is not in Roman script, then you will need to get an international driver’s license. Additionally, you cannot use a temporary paper copy or photocopy of your driver’s license in Costa Rica. Costa Rica car rental companies require the original valid driver’s license. Even if you have rented with the same company before, you need to bring your original driver’s license and original passport with you every time.
Minimum Age
The minimum age to rent a car in Costa Rica varies on the company and ranges from 21-25 years of age. Our partner Adobe Rent a Car has a minimum age of 23. Alamo Costa Rica is 21. Budget Costa Rica and Hertz Costa Rica is 25. Budget charges $10 a day for drivers between 21 and 25, under 21 they can’t rent. Make sure to check as each company is different. With Adobe, they don’t allow drivers younger than 23 even if they are willing to pay a fee.
As for maximum age, there isn’t really a maximum age to rent a car in Costa Rica. Adobe doesn’t have a maximum age limit and senior drivers don’t need to pay an extra insurance or fee.
What Side of the Road Does Costa Rica Drive On?
Costa Rica drives on the right hand side of the road, the same side of the road as USA and Canada.
Cost of a Costa Rica Car Rental
How much your Costa Rica car rental costs depend on the type of car you rent, the insurances you purchase and the time of year you are visiting. Although you would think car rentals would be cheap due to the pandemic, they are not. The demand for car rentals has skyrocketed and there is limited availability so do not expect cheap car rental prices.
In “normal” times, a mid size SUV rental in Costa Rica for one week in October was around $300 USD. The same car during Christmas and New Years was around $600 a week. During February, it was around $550 USD a week. However, price does depend on availability, insurances, extras, taxes, fees, etc. and I’m talking about just the car rental rate.
Most Expensive Time to Rent a Car in Costa Rica
The most expensive time of year to rent a car in Costa Rica is mid December to end of April (high season). Christmas, New Years and Easter week have the most expensive prices (peak season).
If you are visiting during those times of the year, make sure to book your car rental at least three to four months out. Car rentals go very fast during these times of year and get more expensive closer to the date.
Cheapest Time to Rent a Car in Costa Rica
The cheapest time to rent a car in Costa Rica are during low seasons months such as May and September – November. These are our low tourism months and you can book up to a couple weeks beforehand.
Cost of Gas
The cost of gas has risen immensely in March 2022.
The current cost of gas in Costa Rica is around 1024 CRC per liter which is approximately ~$5.60 USD per gallon (regular). Super is a bit more expensive at 1062 CRC per liter.
Diesel is actually cheaper than gas in Costa Rica. Diesel in Costa Rica costs around 1012 CRC per liter which is approximately $5.60 USD per gallon.
On average for a 1 week trip, tourists drive around 500 kilometers (310 miles). In a SUV, they may spend around $100 of gas.
Additional costs
There are a few additional costs to renting a car in Costa Rica.
First, from San Jose, there are several highway toll booths that charge from 100 – 900 colones (20 cents to about $1.50 USD) when you leave the city.
Second, if your rental car is extremely dirty, you may need to take it to the car wash ($10-20) before you return it. Usually extremely dirty means wine/coffee/food stains, vomit, embedded animal hair, caked mud, piles of garbage/sand, etc. So if you return the car extremely dirty, agencies will charge you a fee of around $100 USD since they have to get it professionally cleaned.
Third, you cannot smoke inside rented vehicles in Costa Rica. If you do, the company will charge you a fine for this, usually around $100 USD.
Fourth, if you pick up and return from different offices, there will be an extra fee for this. This can be from $20 – $200 USD depending on your locations.
Lastly, there are some extras like GPS, Wifi, etc. which I will talk about in a bit for additional costs.
How to save money on car rentals
- First, travel during low season since it’s the cheapest time. These are months like May, June, September and October.
- Secondly, rent a manual if you can drive a manual transmission confidently. Automatic cars cost a tiny bit more to rent in Costa Rica and the difference can be from $40-75 USD a week. Just make sure you’re a proficient manual driver as Costa Rica has a lot of narrow roads, steep hills, mountain routes and unpaved streets.
- Third, check your itinerary to see if you really need a 4×4 or 4wd. Renting a sedan instead of a SUV can save a ton of money.
- Next, use your credit card car rental insurance to save money on insurance.
- Lastly, check your pick up and return locations. Companies will charge a fee for different locations. If you can, pick up and drop off your car the same office to avoid this fee.
- Get our car rental discount to save on rentals and get extra benefits like 2 free drivers, free delivery and pick up, free pre-paid SIM card, cooler and much more!
Monthly Rentals
Are you planning to be in Costa Rica for at least one month or longer? Monthly rentals are possible in Costa Rica and most agencies will offer a monthly rate. If you want to rent for a month or more, you can use the discount link above and we’ll give you a quote for monthly or long term rentals.
The Process of Renting a Car in Costa Rica
Deciding which company to rent with
The first step is to decide which company to rent with. Mytanfeet has partnered with Adobe Rent a Car as they are 100% Costa Rican, have the largest fleet and offer all-inclusive pricing. We love supporting local businesses so we made a partnership with them to give car rental discounts and extra benefits for our readers!
However, you can find large international companies such as Alamo, Enterprise, Hertz, Sixt, Thrify and Budget in Costa Rica. There are also a handful of other local Costa Rican car rental companies like Poas and Vamos. Read our post to find out more about the best car rental in Costa Rica.
That being said, the first step when it comes to deciding the company is to comparison shop.
Then you need to make sure to note specific details about each company because it’s not just about finding the cheapest price possible. You want to check the model and year of the car, number of offices, quality of customer service, amount of the deposit, insurances, etc.
Number of offices
One of the important factors when deciding which Costa Rican car rental company to rent with is the number of offices. Some companies may only have two offices: one at San Jose International Airport and the other at Liberia International Airport.
This is something important to think about because for example, if you are in Uvita and run into issues with your car, the closest office of your car rental agency may be in San Jose which is a ~3.5 hour drive. It will take a long time for them to assist you which is time taken out of your vacation.
Adobe has over 10 offices in Costa Rica so if you run into any issues, there is a good chance there is an office nearby and can assist you quickly.
What to Know About International Companies
You may have read from other tourists that car rentals are a scam in Costa Rica. We completely understand why they feel that way. It is because of the way international companies present the taxes, fees, insurances and deposit in Costa Rica.
The thing with those companies is that they aren’t fully transparent about taxes, fees, the deposit and insurance. If you do decide to book with other companies, contact them to be 100% clear about all fees and insurances. (I’ll talk more about insurance in a moment.)
Third party booking sites and how to avoid hidden fees/taxes/insurances when renting a car in Costa Rica
So for example, if you book a car on third party sites like Expedia, Kayak, Carrentals.com or Orbitz, find out which company they work with and contact them. This is because the third party websites only show you the car rental price, not the insurances, deposits, taxes and fees so it’ll look awesomely cheap at first glance ($10 USD a day, $5 USD a day).
However, when you go to pick up the car, you’ll be hit with all these insurances, taxes and fees you didn’t know anything about and it’ll be way more expensive. This is why many people feel like they got scammed when renting a car in Costa Rica.
To avoid this situation, check directly with the Costa Rican agency to get the final quote for your reservation because it is definitely not that super cheap price you see! For example, if Expedia works with Alamo, then contact Alamo Costa Rica directly. Don’t check the Alamo international website.
With our partner Adobe, what you see on your reservation is exactly what you pay. No hidden fees, taxes, insurances. All clear and upfront. All inclusive prices from the beginning to end.
Breaking down Costa Rica car rental insurance
Next, insurance. This is the most confusing thing about Costa Rica car rentals because every company sells insurances differently. Furthermore, there is a mandatory insurance in Costa Rica. If you’re looking at international companies, first read Yeison’s post comparing Costa Rica car rental companies.
When it comes to our partner, Adobe Rent a Car, they offer 3 types of insurances online: Liability, Car Protection (CDW) and Extended Protection.
Liability: This is the mandatory car rental insurance in Costa Rica. Mandatory insurance from Adobe costs $13-25 USD a day. Liability insurance covers you up to $20,000 USD in 3rd party damages with 20% deductible and 3rd parties (not in vehicle) up to $100,000 USD with 0 deductible. This mandatory insurance in Costa Rica cannot be declined or removed since there are no companies that cover this exact insurance.
Car Protection: Covers the rented vehicle damage in an incident. Also covers financial losses from theft. You can remove this insurance by using your credit card insurance. For example, my Chase Sapphire credit card offers car rental insurance and I can use it to decline this Car Protection insurance. Effective October 1, 2021, VISA does not offer this credit card car rental insurance benefit to its Gold and Platinum card members.
Extended Protection: This insurance is 100% optional. It goes on top of Liability and has 0 deductible and covers windows, vandalism, 24/7 road side assistance (one of the Mytanfeet benefits is 24/7 road assistance in every reservation) and tow trucks. The insurance also covers 100% of 3rd party damages up to $5 million USD.
You can read more detailed information about Adobe Rent a Car insurance in this post.
If you check other companies, you’ll see they offer different names and types of insurance.
Deposit
Now, let’s talk about the deposit. The Costa Rican car rental deposits have a huge range as they are based on of the type of insurances selected.
For example, if you purchase only mandatory insurance, your deposit may be $3000. If you get every insurance available, your deposit may be $300. If you waive one insurance and only get mandatory insurance, your deposit can be $8,000… or more.
So you will need to make sure the credit card you’re using has a big enough limit for the deposit and payment. Some companies will allow clients to use one credit card for the deposit, and another for the payment in case your card doesn’t have a high enough limit for the deposit and car rental. Another important thing to know is that the deposit and payment of the rental cannot be paid in cash in Costa Rica or with two different types of cards. For example, the two cards must both be VISA/AMEX/Mastercard, etc. They cannot accept one VISA and one Mastercard.
This is another reason why we prefer Adobe. Their deposit is straightforward as well. For Mytanfeet readers, it is $750 USD for all reservations. It is $500 USD if you purchase all 3 insurances or purchase Liability and Car Protection Insurance.
Additionally, Adobe does take debit cards. However, the debit card deposit can take up to 45 days to return to your bank account (24-72 hours for credit cards). Furthermore, our deposit benefit does NOT apply to those using a debit card. Your deposit will be $1000 USD if you use a debit card, no exceptions. Clients need to sign a form saying they understand these conditions when using a debit card.
Airport pick up and return
Can you pick up your car rental at the airport in Costa Rica?
Yes and no. San Jose and Liberia International Airports are too small for car rental companies to operate inside so all the offices are located around a 2 to 10 minute drive from the airport. Rental companies offer transportation to their office to collect the car.
There are some companies that do offer their cars inside the airport but this is very few or for special occasions only.
Adobe Rent a Car offers a complimentary meet and greet shuttle for their clients. The Adobe agent will meet the clients outside the airport terminal exit, bring them to the shuttle and take them to their office to complete paperwork and pick up the car. And it works for the return as well: clients return the car to their airport office and Adobe shuttles them for free to the airport.
You can watch videos of the pick up process for Adobe at San Jose International Airport and Adobe at Liberia International Airport here.
At the San Jose International Airport, clients who have a flight at an odd hour can see if they can arrange to leave the car in the parking lot with the keys in the glove box for an extra fee. Be sure to arrange this with your agency.
Gas and mileage
Some companies have an option to choose for prepaid gas. Adobe doesn’t. Clients can fill up before returning the car or the clients can return it empty and Adobe will charge accordingly. Read about how to get gas in Costa Rica here.
Most car rental vehicles in Costa Rica are gasoline engines. There are a few that are diesel so make sure to check so you know which one to fill up with.
There may also be restrictions on mileage (remember that Costa Rica uses kilometers but it is the same). Adobe has unlimited mileage for all rentals under 30 days.
Extras
Common car rental extras are GPS, Wi-fi hot spot, baby/booster seats, SIM card, cooler and surf racks. Prices vary so take that into consideration.
With Adobe, our deal gives readers 2 free additional drivers, 33% off GPS, free baby and booster seats, free SIM card with 1000 CRC preloaded credit, free cooler (if available), free dog seat cover and free surf racks. We also have a Wi-fi deal that if you rent for more than 10 days, you only pay for the first ten days.
The Wi-fi hot spot is super useful. You can connect up to 6 devices on it and it has unlimited data. That way you’ll always have Internet on your phone so you can use it for Google Maps, Waze, email, etc.
What Kind of Car Should You Rent in Costa Rica?
The type of car you rent in Costa Rica will depend on your itinerary and the size of your group. Here are some common cars.
Full size 7 seater SUV’s: Mitsubishi Montero Sport, Toyota Prado, Ford Explorer or Chevrolet Trailblazer.
Mid size/Compact SUV 5 seater: Toyota Rav4, Nissan Rogue, Kia Sportage, Toyota Rush, Mitsubishi ASX, Ford Explorer, Ssang Yang Korando, Hyundai Tucson, Hyundai Venue and Geely Gx3.
Sedan or compacts: Hyundai Accent Blue, Hyundai Ionic, Toyota Yaris, Hyundai i10, Hyundai Gran i10.
Minivan: Hyundai H1 9/12 seater vans.
Jeeps are not common to rent in Costa Rica. There are 4×4 cars and trucks, but not specifically the brand Jeep.
Want more information? We took videos and pictures of cars to rent in Costa Rica here.
Automatic vs Manual
Make sure the car you rent is an automatic if you can’t drive manual. Some companies will label the car as “AT” for automatic transmission and “MT” for manual transmission.
If you rent a manual transmission, you will need to be a confident and proficient manual driver due to the infrastructure in Costa Rica. We have a lot of steep and curvy hills, potholes and unpaved roads, especially in the rural and remote places.
If you think you won’t feel comfortable driving manual in a foreign country, don’t. It will be worth paying a little bit more for an automatic to not have that stress.
Furthermore, if you’re from England, Ireland, Japan, Australia, Malaysia, or any of the countries that drive on the left side of the road, we highly recommend an automatic transmission so you do not need to worry about driving on the other side of the road and changing gears with the opposite hand that you’re used to at the same time.
Car and Engine Size
Another thing to think about is the engine size. Although the US likes big engines, it’s not like that in many countries including Costa Rica.
So you need to know that engine sizes in Costa Rica are smaller than the US. A sedan in Costa Rica normally has a 1.6 L, 4 cylinders engines. SUVs are typically 1.6-2 L, 4 cylinders engines. There are also full size SUVs with diesel engines that are 2.4 L – 3 L.
If you want a bigger engine like a V6 or V8, it is not common in Costa Rica and will be difficult to find. If you find one, it will be much more expensive since cars in Costa Rica have small engines. Cars with big engines are considered premium so be prepared to pay more if you want to rent an automatic, V6 engine, American car.
Something else you need to note is that even though your entire group of 4 plus luggage fits in the sedan, it may have trouble going up a hill due to weight and small engine size. So you may want to consider a bigger car in those situations if your accommodation is up in the mountains or hills.
Car condition
If you notice a company offering very cheap rates, check the year of the car. Some companies that have cheap car rental prices in Costa Rica use old cars (5 years or more). You will need to take that into consideration because of the rough roads here so the older the car, the more problems they may have.
Adobe changes cars every 2 years or when they hit 100,000 kilometers (around 62,000 miles). However, some car rental agencies with very cheap rates rent cars that may be 3, 5, 7, even 10 years old with 300,000 kilometers or more (around 185,000 miles). The condition of a 5 year old rental car in Costa Rica isn’t the same as a 1 year old rental car at all!
Is a 4×4 necessary in Costa Rica?
Some places may require a 4wd but in general, a car with high clearance is more important for many places in Costa Rica.
Guanacaste to Arenal: 4×4 not necessary. See the Guanacaste to Arenal route here.
Monteverde: High clearance car highly recommended due to the Monteverde roads. 4wd/4×4 recommended in rainy season if staying outside of the town center.
Puerto Viejo: 4×4 not necessary. The road to and around Puerto Viejo is paved.
Uvita: High car highly recommended and 4wd is necessary for many hotels in the Costa Ballena (Dominical, Uvita, Ojochal).
Osa Peninsula: 4wd necessary. The main road to Puerto Jimenez is paved but ends once you get to town. The road to Carate/Matapalo is unpaved and has a ton of holes. Drake Bay has bad roads and rivers (it is not recommended to drive to Drake Bay).
We created two driving in Costa Rica sections: Driving around Costa Rica videos and Costa Rica road conditions with photos and videos.
Other Important Things to Know About Costa Rica Car Rentals
- If you get a ticket, pay it when you drop off the car. There is a law that can prohibit you from exiting the country if you don’t.
- Child seats are required for children under 12 years of age. Agencies normally have seats for 1-12 years, but not infant seats. If you have a less than 1 year old baby, you will need to bring your own infant seat.
- Rental vehicles cannot be driven across the Costa Rican border. You cannot drive your rental car into Nicaragua or Panama.
- If you have car rental points, they might not work in Costa Rica – it depends on the agency and their regulations.
- Make sure you keep the contract and car documents (registration). If you lose them, you may pay a fine.
- If you get into an incident, report it to the necessary authorities and the car rental company ASAP. You will run into trouble with the rental company if you do not.
- Damage from driving through rivers or any body of water is not covered by any type of insurance. Same with driving under the influence.
- Take part in the inspection. Take pictures and tell them if you see any scratches, dents, or nicks.
- It is the law to wear seat belts in Costa Rica, front and back seats.
- Flat tires are not covered under insurances – you need to change it yourself and then go to the rental office to change out the spare.
Overview
Phew! With all that being said, you can see why I recommend renting a car in Costa Rica. Additionally, this Costa Rica car rental guide tells you everything you need to know about it.
Regardless of how you get around Costa Rica, you will have an incredible time. But if you rent a car and explore off the beaten path and get out of the tourist zones, you will have an even more amazing time discovering the country’s beautiful places.
The Mytanfeet Costa Rica Car Rental Discount
We’re very pleased to partner with Adobe Rent a Car to give our readers an exclusive Costa Rica car rental discount and extra freebies!
“Why Adobe?” you may ask. When it comes to reputable Costa Rica car rental companies, Adobe Rent a Car is the leader. They are a 100% Costa Rican company with the largest fleet of cars that are no less than 2 years old and offer all-inclusive pricing.
We also offer these extra benefits: 2 free additional drivers, 0% deductible on Liability Protection insurance (up to $20,000), road assistance on all reservations, a free SIM card for duration of booking, free baby and booster seats, free surf racks and 33% off GPS, free dog seat covers, WiFi deal, free car delivery and pick up, one hour car return leniency and a special deposit deal.
Book a car, have a trip of a lifetime and save money while doing it!
You can read about our experience with Adobe Rent a Car and why we recommend them.
If our renting a car in Costa Rica article was helpful, feel free to pass it along. Our goal is to give the best information and help our readers out as much as possible!
Jolanda says
Good morning,
I am now busy with sorting out our trip to Costa Rica. Is it possible to have your rental car dropped off at your hotel just outside of San Jose and also picked up at your hotel just outside of San Joe before leaving again?
Thank you for your reply.
Sammi says
Hello Jolanda, our partner Adobe Rent a car can pick up and deliver cars for free but it has to be within their delivery zone, usually it’s about 10-15 km from their offices. If it’s outside that zone, there will be an extra fee.
Dan says
Hi,
Thank you for such an informative page! Super helpful. We are planning to travel in a couple of weeks time to Costa Rica, and plan to pick up a car at San Jose, spend 5 days in/near La Fortuna, before going to Cloud Forest in Monteverde, and then onto Punta Islita for 5 days, then Playa Hermosa. Do you think we will need a 4×4 for this? or will a normal car be OK?
Many thanks
Dan
Sammi says
For rainy season a 4wd is recommended (or at least high clearance) for Monteverde
Dawn J. says
Hi, I found your site very helpful. I used your link to reserve a car with Adobe. I was expecting to pay for and confirm the rental and include info like my flight arrival, other drivers, drivers license, etc. I was not given that option. Instead I received an email reservation confirmation. When I look at the online rental form without using your link, there is an option to pay for the rental or to reserve with rental price guaranteed only 7 days. I am concerned that the reservation I made will not guarantee the rate. Could you help me understand? Thanks!
Sammi says
Hi Dawn, we sent you an email a few days ago, please let us know if you got it as we need your Adobe reservation number to check to answer your question
Dominique B says
Hi, can I decline the insurance on the rental car and use my own?
Sammi says
Yes most companies will allow you to waive the CDW and use your own via a credit card but there is a mandatory insurance in Costa Rica you cannot remove at all
Amanda says
We are traveling in August and trying to rent a 4WD car and Adobe quote is about $2,000 for 12 days. Is this to be expected? Also if I use the Chase Saphire Reserve to book, can I decline the “car protection” insurance??
Sammi says
We sent a couple emails to you, let me know if you got them
Cassidy says
Hi! I have the same question. If I book with my Chase Saphire card, will they provide insurance so I can decline the ‘car protection’ insurance?
Sammi says
Yes – if your Chase Saphire offers credit card car rental insurance, you can get a letter from them to decline the Car Protection insurance (CDW)
Samantha says
Hello! I want to rent a car from Adobe Aeropuerto Lieria, do you think that is the correct location if I’m arriving at the Libera airport. There is not information on this and I want to make sure I have the correct location for pickup before we book. From what I read there is a Adobe Libera shuttle that will take us to the location? Thanks for the help!
Sammi says
Hi, yes so when you use the widget on our booking page (https://mytanfeet.com/special-deals/get-real-discount-rent-car-costa-rica/) please select LIberia International AIrport as your pick up and drop off location – they have an off-site office where clients will be taken to after they land, to collect their car (its 5 minutes drive away)
nicols says
Hi! Family of 5 two adults and 3 teens flying into SJO—>Tambor. Staying in Santa Teresa for two weeks in June and WE ARE EXCITED! Can we rent an SUV from near the Tambor airport?
Sammi says
You’ll need to check with the company you rent with where their office is – in regards to our partner Adobe Rent a Car, they don’t have an office in Tambor so they’ll charge an extra fee if you want to rent from there
Josh says
Hi, myself and my fiancé are heading to Costa Rica in May for two weeks! We are flying into San Jose, then our trip is taking us to La Fortuna, Monteverde, Jaco, Manuel Antonio, and back to San Jose.
We will be renting a vehicle through Adobe, do you recommend the Geely GX3? It is just the two of us and we are only taking carry ons for luggage! Seems like the GX3 has enough ground clearance for the unpaved portions of the trip, and the road to the cloud forest in Monteverde.
Thanks for your help!
Sammi says
Hi josh, the GEely actually doesn’t have a 4wd traction, it’s 2wd and the clearance is only a little bit higher than a sedan. Since you’re visiting in May, I would recommend something for a bit higher clearance if you do plan to explore or go off the main roads and depends on where your lodging is since May is rainy season, but if your lodging is all on paved roads, the Geely should be fine, just be aware that route 606 and 145 to Monteverde does have some pot holes and some concrete sections and concrete gets slippery when wet. Check with your hosts and the places you’re going if you do need a 4wd or higher clearance car.
Mickey says
Hello! Thank you for all of this helpful info.
I will be taking a solo trip to CR mid-June this year. I’ll be picking up a rental car at SJO (likely Adobe after reading this post) and then driving to my AirBnb just outside of La Fortuna. Planning to stay in the area for most activities, a day in Arenal National Park, and a possible day trip to Del Toro waterfall / hiking in Rio Celeste. After that, I will be driving to Jaco to stop over for one day, then to Uvita where I will drop off the car.
Would you recommend a 4×4 for this trip? Thank so much in advance!
Sammi says
Yes, I would recommend a 4wd because you’re traveling in the middle of rainy season and areas like Uvita and Bajos del Toro has roads that will need the 4wd traction and it will also depend on your hotels and where you stay because a lot of hotels, lodgings and even attractions in Uvita will need a 4wd car.
Mickey says
Thank you Sammi!
I checked with my lodging and all said a regular car will be fine. I will not be spending any time in Uvita, just dropping off my car on before boating to my next destination.
But if you recommend a 4×4 for the drive from La Fortuna > Jaco > Uvita and for sightseeing while in La Fortuna that is what I’ll do!
Sammi says
Hi Mickey, I would also check the places you want to visit (Particularly in Uvita) as some places do require a 4wd but if your lodging and places you want to visit do not require a 4wd then you can just do that, also if you do not want to explore or go off the main roads then all the main roads between the destinations are paved.
Renee says
Hello!!
I am so thankful for such an informative blog post! You have really thought of everything! I do have one question regarding a comment in your post. You mention that if a drivers license doesn’t have Roman text, it’s not accepted. Can you please elaborate? We are vacationing in March and don’t want to be caught off guard.
Thanks!
Renee
Sammi says
If your license isn’t in Roman text (Latin Script, Roman alphabet), the driver will need to get an international one so it’s in the Roman alphabet
Brett says
Hello,
We just got into Costa Rica today and rented a car through Avis. I wish I would have read this blog before being so upset that I was getting scammed at the rental agency ( I had the letter from my credit card company and was upset we had to take the $19 a day third party liability insurance and also leave a $2,000 deposit).
Anyways. I was just wondering we were given a Nissan Kick small SUV. We will be heading to Monteverde for four days on January 20th and I am concerned about the roads to get there. I was told it can be tough without a 4by4. Now after the events at the rental agency I’m even more concerned about anything going wrong while we gave the suv. Do you think this vehicle will be okay at this time of year?
Thanks so much.
Sammi says
Hi Brett, if you are going to Monteverde, I recommend to take Route 606 as it is actually asphalted over. It’s still narrow and curvy going up a mountain with no cliffside barriers but go slow and take your time.
Melissa says
Hello! Is there a benefit to renting the gps vs. renting the wifi router and using our phones for map directions? What is most reliable and accurate? Thank you.
Sammi says
I personally recommend the WiFi because Google Maps and Waze works very well here and then of course you can always have internet on your phone to use apps
Melissa says
Hello! First, what an informative and amazing blog you have here! I am curious about the drop off at nearby hotel options that is mentioned. Do we need to be present for the pick up or drop off at a nearby hotel? We are flying into Liberia Airport and staying less than a mile away the first night in and our last night before we leave. Our flight in won’t land until 4pm so a drop off may not work if we need to be present. But our flight out, we could definitely be present for a pick up at our hotel to avoid doing it morning of our flight. I appreciate your thoughts! Thank you.
Sammi says
Hi Melissa, for the collection (pick up) of the car, you have to be present (at least the credit card holder and contract holder) in order for the agent to check your documents, for you to sign the paperwork and do the inspection. In your case, you can get the car right when you land though before heading to your hotel.
Then for your return, depending on your flight hours, clients are able to arrange the car to be left at the hotel if the clients fly out at an odd hour and the Adobe office is not open. Or we can arrange the pick up from the hotel the day before your flight, whichever works better for the schedule since deliveries and pick ups are only between the hours of 830 AM to 430 PM.
Grace Akers says
Hello!
I am planning on visiting Tamarindo in June 2022 with my boyfriend. This will be our first time in Costa Rica. We are planning on renting a car for the duration of our trip and will be flying into Liberia. I noted the requirements you posted for renting a car involve having a valid original drive’s license from the U.S., an original passport and a valid tourist visa stamp. Where would I acquire the tourist visa stamp? This is our first time traveling to a different country together so I am unfamiliar with what that is and where to get it. Do both of us need the stamp or just the one driving the car? Does it cost anything? Thank you.
Sammi says
The tourist stamp is given upon arrival if you are US pasport holder. Every foreigner will receive a stamp and whoever is driving at the moment needs to have their passport on them.
Dustin Piatkowski says
Hello,
First may I say I found your site to be very informative! Thank you.
Now to the meat and potatoes of my reason for comment.
We will be traveling to Costa Rica in January 2022. We have rented a 4×4 Hyundai Tucson (or similar vehicle). We plan to drive from San Jose > Uvita > Manuel Antonio > Monte Verde > Arenal > San Jose.
Will the small SUV be enough car for our itineray?
Thanks again,
Dustin
Sammi says
Yes that SUV will be suitable for your destinations, the Tucson is a 4wd
Patrick Singer says
Hello! Thanks for the information. We are traveling from SJO to San Mateo for a few days, and then from San Mateo to Montezuma, and then traveling from Montezuma back to SJO to leave Costa Rica. What kind of car would you recommend? Or would public transit and ATV rentals in each respective space be more cost effective for us? We appreciate the insight, thank you!
Sammi says
I would check with your lodging to see what kind of car is required because the destinations themselves are off the main road and so have paved roads but if you’re staying at a hotel like in the mountains or outside the town center, you may need a high clearance car so my recommendation is to ask your hosts.
Sammi says
Any car is fine from San Jose to Jaco, just check the hotel you’re staying at where it is and the places you need to go what kind of car you will need to get there
Timna Nwokeji says
Hi this was super helpful! We are staying in San Jose for a couple days then wanted to drive down to Jaco Beach area, (and then back to take our flight back home) what kind of car do you recommend?
Amanda says
Hello and thanks for all the great information! We are a large family group (12 people) and flying into/out of SJO on Jan 4 and Jan 10, going to La Fortuna during that time. I tried looking on your link to Adobe, but I’m not seeing any bigger SUVs/vans available. Is this not something available to rent in CR? Or is it just that Adobe doesn’t have anything available on our dates? We’d like to get 2 vehicles or 1 van. Do you have suggestions for anywhere else to check?
Sammi says
Hi Amanda, we will be emailing you shortly regarding your comment
GeorgePaima says
Drive, drive, drive your car
Gently down the street.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is such a treat.
kimberly a warner says
Hello and thank you for all this great information. We will traveling for Thanksgiving and staying a week. Arriving at Libera Airport then Staying at the Borinquen mountain Thermal spa resort for 3 nights then heading to Riu Palace for another 4 nights. What type of car would you recommend?
Sammi says
I think a sedan will be OK but I don’t know what the roads are like to Borinquen so I would ask them to see what they recommend
Marisa says
Hi! We will be going to Santa Teresa for Thanksgiving. We fly in to Liberia now that Jet Blue cancelled all of the flights to San Jose for our dates. We have considered renting a car or doing a shuttle for our big group of 20 and then renting closer to Santa Teresa. I have found all of your info so helpful and now I need to decide what type of car to rent and where… or if a golf cart around Santa Teresa and Mal País is a better option. Any suggestions?
Sammi says
Hi Marisa, we sent you an email with more details, please check your spam/junk just in case you don’t see it from us (Mytanfeet Costa Rica Travel)
Joe says
Need some help with this as well. We are headed to Santa Teresa at the same time and finding out we have the same issue
Sammi says
You can book private shuttles from the airport to Santa Teresa, and then rent an ATV or car in Santa Teresa then book a private shuttle back. Or get a car from the airport if you want a car for your whole trip, just make sure that you do this drive during the day and it gets dark by 6 PM everyday so if you’re landing in the late afternoon or night, we recommend to stay a night by the airport and then leave the next morning because it is a very long drive going through some rural areas.
Jassy says
Hello,
I’m travel to Costa Rica and staying at the Oxygen Jungle Villas for a week in September . I’m so glad I stumbled across your blog !! When I book with Adobe will the automatically be aware of the deposit discount if I choose 2 or 3 of the insurances?
Thanks
Sammi says
Yes, the insurances you choose will show up on your final confirmation so you’ll be able to see which one you chose and Adobe will have the confirmation details in their system
Kelly LeBlanc says
So many great suggestions! Thank you. We are hoping to bring our service dog with us for three months next winter. Will the car rental companies allow us to bring him along? If so, are there specific companies that are more willing than others? Thanks!
Kelly
Sammi says
Our partner Adobe Rent a Car is very pet friendly and one of the free perks we give our readers through our partnership with them is a free dog seat back cover. You can check out our discount and extra freebies here: https://mytanfeet.com/special-deals/get-real-discount-rent-car-costa-rica/
OKdiver1 says
Hi there,
We will be driving from SJO to Quepos/Manuel Antonio at the end of August. Is a 4×4 necessary? Thank you!
Sammi says
No that route goes on the highway pretty much the entire way, but make sure to ask your hotel in Manuel Antonio if they require a 4×4 or not.
Gina and David Swaim says
Hi, We are headed to Costa Rica as a family in July and I rented a car through your recommendation. I clicked the button on this screen and entered all the info into the widget. When I got my reservation confirmation the promo code section was blank. Its not that big of a deal but I wanted to let you know that its not autopopulating in the promo for mytanfeet.
Thanks, Gina
Sammi says
Hello Gina, we tried to send you an email but got an error (address couldn’t be found or is unable to receive mail). Can you please send us an email through our Contact Mytanfeet form. Thanks.
Michael Wasserman says
Hi – I am picking up a car at Liberia airport next week from Dollar Car Rental – I reserved quite a while ago and didn’t see your page till now. Do you have any experience with Dollar?
Thank you, Mike
Sammi says
Hello MIchael, we don’t have any but I recommend to carefully read reviews for Dollar Costa RIca and contact them directly to break down the costs and details of your reservation.
Lucy says
Hi, I’m going from San Jose to Cahuita area then to Manuel Antonio, Dominical area- hike to some waterfalls. After that drive to Tajo Alto then Tierras Morenas, Arenal area. Possibly Rio Celeste, Upala, Bajos de toro or Pacific coast (Tamarindo, Papagayos Gulf). Do you recommend 4×4 or just a high clearance car? I’m doing this trip beginning of June. Thanks.
Sammi says
I would get a 4×4 or 4wd because you will be visiting during rainy season so a stronger engine with the traction and higher clearance will be better for your destinations.
Maria says
Hello,
I am planning a trip in August to La Fortuna Arenal for a couple of days and renting a car from San Jose. After La Fortuna Arenal I will be going to Tamarindo to the beach and fly back from Liberia. Do I need a 4×4 for the trip? I know that i have to pay a fee for dropping off at different airport.
Sammi says
For this route, a 4×4 isn’t necessary but make sure you check the locations of your lodging, as some hotels or rentals may require one so I’d confirm with your host.
Craig says
Arriving at LIR in mid-April around 5:30pm and wondered if it is safe to drive to the Marriot in Guanacaste at night?
Sammi says
It’s a pretty straightforward route, just use GPS. Most of the route is through small towns and it is a very popular route.
Megan says
I’m looking into Adobe with your discount, but it doesn’t seem to be working. It is the same price when I look it up on a separate window(not going through your site). When I do try to go through your link, it sends me to a login page. Could you help me with this?
If you would respond to me directly that would be great!
yeison says
Hello Megan,
Thank you for your message we will be sending you an email in a few minutes
Robert Kollenbaum says
Hey I can’t get it working either point can you help me?
Sammi says
Hello Robert, we sent you an email a couple days ago.
Kat says
I wonder if anyone has ever rented from Jumbo. I’m supposed to rent with them at the end of the month and I see they’re big in the French overseas territories, but it’s hard to actually find reviews on them.
Sammi says
Unfortunately we haven’t… they must be one of the smaller agencies in Costa Rica.
Sammi says
Hi Dave, it is recommended to have a high car for Monteverde (not necessarily 4×4, 4wd or a high SUV works), you can read more about Monteverde road conditions. here.
Adobe does not have an office in Samara, if you rent the car in San Jose and have Adobe pick it up in Samara, there is an extra $170 USD fee. If you rent a car in San Jose and return it in Liberia, there is an extra $45 UD fee.
Dave says
We are travelling to CR for late March/early April. Tentatively we are planning to land in San Jose and rent a car from Adobe for 4 days during which time we will go to Poas volcano, Monteverde, and then to our final destination of Samara. Do we need a 4×4? I see we can return the rental car to Adobe near the Liberia airport and take a shuttle to Samara but, by chance, is there an option for us to return the rental car in Samara? Much thanks!
Sammi says
A 4wd is the best car to have in that area especially if you plan to explore. For quieter beaches, we really like Playa Hermosa, Playa Linda and Dominicalito is nice too.
Lily says
Hi, we will be visiting La Fortuna and the central Pacific coast (roughly Jaco to Dominical) in March. We’d like to visit some of the quieter beaches around Dominical and Uvita. Can we get away with a sedan or would we need a 4×4?
Thanks for all the information! Your blog is really helpful.
Lily
Colleen Klingseisen says
Hi Sammi, Your site is awesome. I appreciate the information. We are going from Liberia to Sugar Beach and then after a few days on to Tamarindo to spend a week. You mention that if you are only staying in 1 or 2 places that shuttles are better. I know how to organize a shuttle from the airport but what about from Sugar Beach to Tamarindo? Do I ask my hotel to help with that or do you have a shuttle company to recommend? Thank you!
Sammi says
The only option for that route is a private shuttle which you can ask your hotel to arrange for you which is easiest. Or grab a taxi and your hotel can help you with that too.
Megan Hansen says
Hello!
My husband renewed his Minnesota driver’s license but his new one hasn’t came in the mail yet and may not before we leave for Costa Rica in two weeks. Will his temporary license (the paper one that the DMV gives you) suffice? Or should he get an international driver’s license? Any suggestions would be extremely helpful! Thank you!
Sammi says
Hi Megan, at least for our partner Adobe Rent a Car, they require the original driver’s license and do not accept a paper or temporary license. If it doesn’t come in time, he can get an international driver’s license for renting a car and driving in Costa Rica and that will work.
Chris Spinder says
We are spending two days in and around the San Jose area before departing on a ship out of Puerto Caldera in late December. We are staying at a hotel just outside the city center (Hotel Alta Las Palomas) but would like to explore the city as well for a few days. Do we need a rental car in order to do this? Or would we be able to more simply use ride share services like Uber or taxis?
Thanks!
Sammi says
Hi Chris, you can definitely visit the city by taxi or Uber. It’s actually better than driving because driving and parking in San Jose is a pretty big headache so I recommend Uber!
Bontiago says
Hey! Last minute cold feet… we’re coming for a conference, and we have extra money from my company we haven’t spent. Driving SJO to Arenal to Tamarindo to Papagayo to LIR. Currently going to let AVIS deliver an Audi Q3 to the airport for a small fortune (again, it’ll be reimbursed, and if I’m driving 10 hours on a vacation, doing it comfortably sounds nice). Is it dumb to have an Audi in CR?
yeison says
Hello Bontiago,
If you have the money and you want to drive a Q3 go for it you are on vacations :), my only recommendation would be to read carefully the insurance policy just in case you get into an incident Audi is very expensive here in Costa Rica.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions and thank you for reading Mytanfeet.
B says
Thank you for all the info. We are arriving Dec 13 in San Jose, visiting La Fortuna for a few days, then staying in Las Catalinas for the rest of the trip. Will we need a 4×4 for this?
Thank you.
Sammi says
If you’re going to Las Catalinas in Guanacaste, then no it is not necessary.
You can read more about Costa Rica road conditions here.
Rick says
Hi – are the car rental rates on Adobe quoted is US funds?
We are coming fro m Canada for 2 weeks and am trying to compare,
Thanks
Sammi says
Hello Rick! It is quoted in USD.
Steve Terry says
Ignore / Delete my last comment from earlier today – it worked now – before I did not hit Register I had hit Save Quote or something like that…. I am now reserved!
Graciela Lopez says
I’m traveling from SJO to La Fortuna to Manuel Antonio/Quepos for a week later this month June. I don’t think I will need 4WD or 4×4 for that part of my trip but I was wondering if will need it to get to Nauyaca Falls. Great blog by the way, very informative!!
Sammi says
Hi Graciela, the office is right off the main road, there is a small section that is a dirt road going down to the parking lot and if it’s been raining a lot, it will probably be very muddy. I’d ask the office directly to see how conditions have been, their email is info@cataratasnauyaca.com
Anne-Claire says
First of, thank you so much for all the work you put into this blog, it has been an excellent source of information for me and my sister as we plan our trip to Costa Rica! I am wondering about the route we plan to drive, and how the roads might be as it will be rainy season? We get to Costa Rica May 22nd, and stay through May 6th. We plan to go from San Jose to Punta Arenas, ferry across to Naranjo, and drive along the east coast of the peninsula to Montezuma. From there we wanted to hug the coast line to get to our Airbnb near Punta Islita. I’ve read that those roads can be bad during the rainy reason, and there might be some river crossings involved? Do you have any information about the road conditions along that route, at that time of year? Thank you so much!
Sammi says
Hi Anne-Claire, the best route from Naranjo to Montezuma is through Cobano and taking the paved route 21. Then from MOntezuma to Punta Islita, I would go back to Cobano and take the more paved road from there instead of hugging the coastline to Santa Teresa because that way will require you to drive on the beach, cross rivers, etc.
Peter says
What about info on which side of the road to drive on and whether or not there is readily available roadside assistance?
Sammi says
Costa Rica drives on the same side as USA and Canada, and road assistance will depend on which car rental company you rent with as it may only be included in certain insurances.
Matthew says
Hello. I’m having a hard time deciding if I need 4×4 or not. I plan to arrive in San Jose, then go to La Fortuna, Antonio Manuel and then back to San Jose. My trip is in June. Thanks for the help.
Sammi says
Hi Matthew, you don’t need one. All your destinations have paved roads and all the routes are on major highways. A sedan will work for your itinerary.
Braeden says
Thank you for the info/ discount!
I just booked with Adobe for two weeks in May, and have received the total price as given by Adobe (Car Protection included). Can I expect to see any other hidden fees upon pickup/ additional fees since I am currently 23? (younger driver insurance, etc.)
Thanks again,
Braeden
Sammi says
Hi Braeden, 23 is the minimum age for Adobe so there isn’t any fee for that and they don’t have any other fees, what you see on your reservation is what you pay 🙂
Jin Kim says
This is so helpful in planning my trip in April.
We are planning to fly into LIB then drive to Arenal. From Arenal, we’ll travel to Guanacaste. In terms of the Car Protection insurance with Adobe, will a print out of the benefits for my credit card suffice or do they actually require a letter from the company (not even sure if I can get a letter)?
Thank you!
Sammi says
Hi Jin! You will need a letter from your credit card company and they need to have the full name of the person whose name is on the credit card, last four digits of the CC number and the letter must state the company will cover that insurance. Most companies will send it to you via email and it needs to be in PDF format.
Let me know if you have other questions.
Susan Van Mell says
Adobe worked very well for us, thank you! It was great to have a car and stay in out of the way places.
I just wanted to let others know that they may not need the GPS. In monteverde/arenal, connectivity was good and Wayze/Google maps were better.
Sammi says
Hi Susan, I am glad you had a good experience with Adobe and in Costa Rica! Waze does work great here!
Paul W says
I need help! I’ve made a few classic errors renting a car for my trip so far. Booked through a 3rd party site (actually two middlemen before the actual rental -_-) and the booking is with Economy who get terrible reviews. I can cope with the loss but I now don’t know what to do.
The second thing I’ve realised is that my friend who will be driving doesn’t have a credit card. I do, but I don’t have a full driving licence. Can we still rent a car?? I would be happy to put all of the deposits and security etc on my card of course.
Any help you can offer me would be gratefully received! Thanks
Sammi says
Hi Paul! I’m sorry to hear that! So with Adobe, your friend can be the main name on the contract and the main driver and you can pay using your credit card and hold the deposit as long as your friend has your authorization so make sure both of you are present when you are picking up the car and signing the contract. Just so you know, you can’t be a driver if you don’t have a valid driver’s license and have been driving for at least 2 years so make sure your friend fulfills those requirements but you unfortunately won’t be able to drive.
David Linstead says
Hi … I am going to Costa Rica in February. Would it be possible to pick up an ADOBE car at San Jose airport (or nearby) on the 13th and leave the car at Puntarenas on the 18th rather than having to return to the airport ? I plan to drive via Poas, Arenal, Monteverde.
Many thanks
David
Sammi says
Hi David, that is completely possible. Adobe doesn’t have an office in Puntarenas town, their office is in the Fiesta Resort but if you’re staying at a hotel in Puntarenas, they can go to pick up the car from a hotel there. There is an extra fee of $30 for different rental offices. Let me know if you have other questions!
Dan says
Hi There!
Thank you so much for your amazing site and the wealth of information.
We’re travelling to Nosara in March. We’re just debating whether to rent vs shuttle from Liberia Airport. We plan to be mostly staying at the beaches in Nosara but want to do a day trip for a couple days of 9 days we’re there. I’m wondering if there’s places to rent a car in Nosara would be more convenient? Also, what would a cost be to rent a small 5-seater vehicle for day? I know you recommend Adobe – but do they have offices in Nosara? Or should we rent a vehicle from Liberia and drive down ourselves and have the rental for the duration of our trip?
Thanks!
Dan
yeison says
Hello Dan,
I just sent you an email 🙂
Neil says
Thank you for the inforamtion!
We are also flying into Liberia and heading down to Nosara for 4 days and then heading up to Tenorio Volcano National Park for a few days. I initially thought that we should book a 4×4 but now I am re-thinking our plan. Any insight here would be much appreciated. We initially booked with Enterprise but think we are going to switch over to Adobe!
Thank you,
Neil
Sammi says
Hi Neil,
For Nosara, a high car is recommended (not necessarily a 4×4 but a higher car would be good). Tenorio Volcano National Park now has a paved road from Bijagua so the roads up there are in good condition, the only paved road in that area is the main one going through Bijagua and to the national park so if your hotel is on the outskirts of town, it is recommended to have a high car. Some recommendations of cars that will work are the Hyundai Creta, Tucson, Suzuki Jimny.
Let me know if you have other questions.
Melissa says
Hi there, I pretty much have the same question, except that we will leave Nosara to see Monteverde, Arenal, down to Jaco and fly out of San Jose. Car? or a van company?
Thanks!
Sammi says
Hi Melissa, I would recommend to rent a car since shuttles from Nosara are a bit tricky but you could book shuttle if you don’t want to drive (you’ll probably have to book a private for Nosara – Monteverde though) but Terra Tours has shuttles from Liberia Airport to Nosara. Car is the most comfortable, and depending on the number of people in your group, the best options for big groups.
Naomi says
Hi, thanks for all the info! Do recommend adding GPS or using waze with the wifi hot spot?
Sammi says
Hi Naomi, it depends. If you’d like to have internet with you all the time, I’d get the Wi-fi hot spot (if you don’t plan to get an international phone plan or a prepaid sim card). The GPS doesn’t have internet whereas the wi-fi hot spot lets you connect your phone and be able to use it like normal since it’ll have Wifi so you can check email, social media and use Waze as GPS.
Gus says
Hi there!
Thanks for your article, that was really helpful! I’m heading to CR in January. I will be hiring a car from Playas del Coco/Tamarindo to drive down the Peninsula and along the Pacific coast until Quepos (Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio). Do you think a 4×4 is necessary or will a 4×2 suffice? I can’t find any info about the road conditions there
Thanks in advance
Sammi says
Hi Gus, you don’t need a 4×4, that route is all on paved roads and highways 🙂
Laura says
Hi there- thank you for the great information!
I just wanted to clarify the requirements for renting- do I need a passport and a tourist visa? If so, what is a tourist visa and how do we get one? Sorry for the slightly off-topic question but this the first time I’ve rented a car outside of the U.S. so I just want to be sure I’m prepared! Thanks so much,
Laura
Sammi says
Hi Laura! Yes you need to bring your original passport with a valid tourist stamp. If you have a US passport, you get the stamp/visa at immigration at the airport (nothing else required). Also you need a valid, original driver’s license.
Eryn says
Hello,
We will be in CR in February – flying into san jose and staying in uvita then manuel Antonio. We are staying an Manoas in Uvita and read that a 4×4 is necessary. I have rented a Hyandai Creta 4×2. Do you think this will work in Uvita or should I switch to a 4×4?
Thanks for all of your great info!
Eryn
Sammi says
Hi Eryn! I would switch to a 4×4, it’s a pretty bad road going up and it’s steep with lots of holes. Creta is not 4×4, only 4×2 and we used the 4×4 each time we went up to Manoas (we also have a 10% promo code at Manoas, just use “mytanfeet” or email Steve to apply it :)). If you can, I’d switch to a 4×4 for sure. Also even though February is dry season in CR, it can still rain. We spent a week there a couple years ago in February and it poured 5 out of 7 days!
Amanda says
Hi! I stumbled upon your blog and I’m so glad I did! It is super helpful and have decided to rent a car for my trip in January! I will be traveling from LIR to papagayo and staying in this area (looking at different resorts for possible wedding venue). Do you think a sedan (4×2) is sufficient? I’ve read this area has pretty decent road conditions.
Also, I will be booking using my Chase Reserve credit card – is there anything specific that needs to be included in the waiver letter?
Sammi says
Hi Amanda, you don’t need a 4×4 to go to the Papagayo area, all the resorts in the Papagayo peninsula have a decent road.
For the letter, it will need to have the company logo, the last 4 digits of the credit card being used and your full name and the letter stating that the company will cover the insurance. You can send it to us or Adobe via PDF format or bring a printed letter to Costa Rica and present it to the agent at the time of signing the contract.
Jeff G says
Hi! We will be traveling from San Jose to Arenal to Manuel Antonio and back to San Jose. Do we need a 4×4? Thanks!
Sammi says
Hi, a 4×4 is not required for San jose to Arenal and Manuel Antonio. It is all on well paved roads and highways.
Robert Rudman says
Thanks for such an informative article! We are a group of 12 – 5 adults and 7 children. We plan to be at the JW Marriott for 4 days then driving to The Springs in Arenal. We would only need a car for the trip from Liberia to the JW, then for the drive to Arenal, then for the drive back to Liberia. Are there any van rental options? Do you recommend renting a car for this itinerary? Thanks for your help!
Sammi says
Hi Robert! I would recommend two vehicles because you will also have luggage. The biggest car available is a H1 that seats up to 12 but when you pull up all the seats, the luggage space is not very big. You can watch videos of the car with the 9 pax configuration here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTU04ust-M4 so for a group of 12, I would recommend two cars, the H1 and then a full size SUV like the Montero Sport: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjGlShVbyVs so that you have plenty of space for everyone and their luggage. Please let us know if you have any other questions!
Mahia Wright says
Hi Sammi,
Love your blog, have used it for most our Costa Rica planning we fly in tomorrow.
Am wondering if we need a 4×4 or SUV for Arenal Observatory Lodge & Spa where we are staying for 3 nights from 2-5 December? Or will a small compact car suffice?
Last minute decision to hire a car, pick up from SJO airport 2 December and return it Liberia 8th December then catch a shuttle or bus to Tamarindo. Our itinerary is:
2nd – SJO to Arenal Observatory lodge & Spa
5th – Arenal Observatory lodge to Canas
Canas to Rincón de la Vieja National Park return
Canas to Tenorio Volcano National Park return
Canas to Liberia
I think from reviews the road up to Arenal Observatory lodge is our only concern regarding the road conditions? There are only two of us so we don’t need a big car.
Cheers,
Mahia
yeison says
Hello Mahia,
I will be sending you an email in a few minutes 🙂
Sammi says
Hi Kristyn, did you rent with Adobe Rent a Car through our widget (on this page here Costa Rica car rental discount)?
Kristyn says
Hi There,
Thank you for all of the helpful information, we have reserved our vehicle, just wondering now how we go about connecting with the shuttle at the airport once we land? We also did not provide any payment methods, so I want to make sure we do have the car reserved 100%.
Thank you,
Sammi says
Hi Sarah, it is recommended to have a high car for Monteverde since the roads there are not paved. You can read more about the roads here Monteverde road conditions.
Sarah says
Hi,
Thank you for all the info. Your article is really helpful. We are traveling to Costa rica for 1 week and our itinerary includes driving to La fortuna -> Monteverde -> Manuel Antonio and back to San jose. Do we need to rent a 4×4? I saw that you mentioned unpaved roads in monteverde.
Thank you!
Justin says
Thanks for all of this info. My wife and I went to Costa Rica 2 years ago and dummy me thought I was saving money by going through Expedia and bought their insurance package for 240.00 CDN. Only to find out that we didn’t buy the right insurance and ended up spending another 2500.00 for insurance and a 3000.00 deposit. This was on top of the daily rental and wifi/gps unit.
Thanks again for all your info.
Sammi says
Oh no 🙁 This is exactly what we wanted to avoid for our readers by partnering with Adobe. Unfortunately those companies make it so difficult for the insurances when you get there, but online it looks so cheap and easy and it’s not like tourists really know until they get there so the companies really take advantage. Next time if you come back to Costa Rica, you can check out Adobe, the company we partner with as they’re 100% transparent on everything and they don’t pull any of that stuff like Expedia.
Hollie Clevenger says
This might be a dumb question but if I just get the GPS alone I can still use it without the WiFi router/hot spot, correct?
I’m just thinking it’s kind of one or the other. If I do your deal then I can add GPS and I’ll still have that free cell just in case. BUT if I did the WiFi I can use my phones GPS AND be able to have WiFi when/where I need it.
I feel like I’m drowning in insurance info for this trip and it’s days away. Thank you for your clarity.
Sammi says
Hi Hollie, correct you don’t need Wi-Fi to use the GPS device. The free cell phone is not a smartphone however, it doesn’t come with any data (it’s one of those normal cell phones that only have calls and texts) so if you get GPS and the free cell phone, you won’t have any internet or data connection. The Wi-fi hot spot is the only option if you would like to have Internet for your devices.
We wrote a post about Costa Rican car rental insurance that will hopefully help clarify things: Costa Rica car rental insurance
And this is a breakdown of Adobe’s car rental insurance: Adobe Rent a Car insurance.
Let us know if you have other questions!
Dan L. says
This is such a great site! We are planning a trip to Costa Rica in June of 2019. We’re flying into Liberia and will be staying in Playa Junquillal. Will a 4×4 be required? We’re planning a few outings (zip lining, nature tour, etc) but will probably stay in the Playa Junquillal area. Also, we’ll have 8 adults and 2 children; will two Hyundai Tuscons be sufficient if 4×4 is needed? If 4×4 isn’t needed, would the Hyundai H1 be big enough? Thanks for all your help!
Sammi says
Junquillal doesn’t necessarily require a 4×4 but definitely a high car. The Tucson will be perfect actually. You can get an H1 but the H1 is lower to the ground so it’ll be a lot more bumpy and in June, I recommend the Tucsons because June is the start of our rainy month and the Tucson has 4wd.
Sammi says
Hi Philip, thank you for your message, please contact us!
Philip says
Hi
Looking to rent a 4×4 for my partner and our small baby.
Adobe don’t have any 4×4 between the Jimny and the Montero sport which is excessive and expensive for a 1 month hire…
What would you suggest?
Jordan Wilson says
Hi!
So I just reserved a car through Adobe but didn’t have to pay for anything up front. Do you pay when you pick up the car?
Also, I selected airport pickup but noticed that you said there is no office in the airport. Does this mean I take the shuttle?
Thank you!
yeison says
Regarding the payment Adobe won’t charge your credit card until you sign the contract and get the car, however they need a credit card number to back up the reservation, I will be emailing you the instructions.
Regarding the shuttle I just replied your reservation with all the information 🙂
Sammi says
Hi Mike!
We have a partnership with Adobe Rent a Car, a Costa Rican car rental company to give discounts and extra benefits to our readers. They have an office in San Jose and Uvita but I recommend getting the car in San Jose to have more flexibility to travel to Uvita or else you will need to book a shuttle or take the bus. Adobe has a free airport shuttle (shuttle that picks you up from the SJO Airport and takes you to their airport office) and all the insurances, taxes and fees are included in the final quote you see on your reservation so no last minute or hidden fees. The airport tax is added by companies who have a counter in the airport which Adobe doesn’t have.
You can check our discount for more information: Costa Rica car rental discount
They have Hyundai Tucsons, Suzuki Jimnys, Santa Fe’s, L200’s or Montero Sport which are all 4×4.
Also we have a 15% discount for Oxygen Jungle Villas, not sure if you saw. You can use our discount code MYTANFEET at checkout on their website 🙂
Mike Wheat says
Great article!
Traveling to Oxygen Jungle Villas, Uvita, 1.5 KM Noroeste del catarata, 4×4 vehicle ONLY, Uvita, Puntarenas in October 2018.
Where would be the best place/vendor and location to rent and avoid Airport tax, but keeping in mind, as you know, the airport is 65 miles from the resort (added transportation or free pick up)?
Bruce says
Thanks for the great info. Wondering if you can pick up a vehicle in Quepos and return it to San Jose 6 days later. From a convenience standpoint it would save a lot of time time for exploring the numerous destinations along the way. What is the added cost for this convenience? We would want a small 4×4 vehicle for our exploration. I would also want to know the difference between just picking up in SJ and returning to SJ instead.
Sammi says
Hi Bruce! You can definitely do that, car rental companies do add an extra charge. With Adobe it is an extra $30 fee for pick up in Quepos and drop off in San Jose. Please let me know if you have other questions!
yeison says
Hello Joseph,
Thank you for the nice comments about the blog 🙂
Jacamar operates rains or shine but if during the tour weather conditions change and Jacamar deems it unsuitable to continue the tour for safety reason they will cancel and usually in this case they will give the option to either give you a partial refund or do the tour another time. Only if the whole tour is cancelled.
And if they canceled the tour before it starts they will refund you the money or rebook you for another day, but if you canceled before within 24 it is not refundable due to their cancelation policy.
Joseph Timbre says
Thank you for all the helpful information in your blog — it makes planning a whole lot “easier”! But i still have pressing concerns:
I’m planning a trip to CR for two people this November (the 9th thru the 17th). Do you guys have a blog with more information regarding private transportation between destination towns/cities in CR? Do you have a preferred company? I would like to hire private transportation from SJO on Friday, 11/09, (flight arrives at 430pm) to take us directly to La Fortuna the same evening. Then on Monday, 11/12, book another private transportation to take us to Rincon de la Vieja (Hacienda Guachipelin). Lastly, on Wednesday, 11/14, book our last private transportation to Playa Hermosa (El Mangroove Hotel). We fly out of Liberia back to the USA on the 17th. Are there private transportation companies that could do what I just described above?
Also, I plan to book tours with the recommended Jacamar Naturalist Tours while we are in Arenal/La Fortuna. But I was wondering — what would happen in case of rain? Does Jacamar have a refund policy in case of rain or do all tours go on regardless of weather (rain or shine)?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot and thank you for your wonderful blog!
Dana says
Hi,
Thanks for all the information. I have not been able to find any information about gas prices and gas availability on any blogs about Costa Rica. I am trying to budget gas for our trip, we will be renting a car for ten days and we are definitely renting a 4WD vehicle, so likely not the best gas mileage, and we are planning to drive quite a bit… (San Jose to Monteverde to Bijagua to La Fortuna to Playa del Coco to Rincon de la Vieja). I was also wondering how easy it is to get gas around most towns in Costa Rica, and if there are apps for gas prices like Gas Buddy in the US for Costa Rica. Any information would be helpful!
Thanks
Sammi says
Hi Dana, I actually wrote a post about gas in Costa Rica and you can find information for cost, locations, how to get gas in Spanish, how to pay, gas station locations, etc. Here is our guide: Costa Rica gas stations
You will find gas stations in pretty much all the towns including diesel. I made a map of most gas stations because there isn’t an app like Gas Buddy (a good one that I’ve found) but you can always find gas stations on Waze.
Renata says
Hello
We will be travelling to Costa Rica in November.
Is it possible to rent a car with Adobe and get car delivered and picked up from the hotel? We will be staying at Riu Guanacaste. Is there an extra fee for this?
Thank you very much
Looking forward to your answer
Renata
yeison says
Hello Renata,
Thank you for your questions 🙂
All Mytanfeet readers have free car delivery and pickups to and from most hotels and the Hotel RIU is one of them. We will be more than happy to arrange a free car delivery and pick up if you need it at no extra cost (delivery/pickup time window 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM).
Please let us know if you have more questions and thank you for reading Mytanfeet.
yeison says
Hello Lisa,
First of all thank you for reading Mytanfeet and leaving your question 🙂
Many of our readers are from the UK, and we are aware that most UK credit card companies don’t provide the same Car Rental Coverage, as most of the USA Credit Cards, however, neither the USA credit Cards cover liability, they only cover the damages of the car you are renting.
As you mentioned all Mytanfeet readers have 0% deductible on Liability up to $20,000 and it is mandatory for everyone to purchase the Liability insurance. I am not aware of you car rental insurance but if you send us a copy of the agreement we will be more than happy to send it to Adobe’s insurance department for approval, most of the times is OK and in case of any accident Adobe will charge your credit card and then they will provide you with all the documentation you need in order to get the money back from your insurance company.
If you would like to you can reserve the car and get both insurances the Liability and Car Protection, then once you send your insurance agreement we will forward it to Adobe’s insurance department and if it is OK we will deduct the Car Protection Insurance.
Lisa says
Hi
Firstly thank you for all the great information you have on your website!
I am struggling to decide on the car insurance before I can finally book our vehicle. We are from the UK and we do not have the same credit card protection that you get with US credit cards, however we can purchase CDW excess insurance policies that covers excess, windscreen, tyres etc relatively cheaply, so we have an annual policy which can give us Worldwide cover, however it does NOT cover third party and this is where I am worrying. I am concerned re the 20% excess on this so does your offer mean this will be 0% so I would not have to worry re purchasing any additional 3rd party cover?
Just to clarify I fully intend to get both the Liability and car protection, but for 3 weeks hire of a 4WD Tuscon in January its already expensive and to upgrade to the extended protection is an extra $400 Unfortunately £ to $ exchange rate is also extremely poor at the moment so it makes it worse, however I do not want to spend the entire holiday worrying something is going to happen, hence I am stuck trying to decide what to do!
I am happy with a $1000 excess and tyres and windscreen risk, it is just this 3rd party that scares me as I do not fully understand what it covers even though I have spent many hours reading it!
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me
yeison says
Hello Alan And Beth!
First of all, we would like to thank you for reading our blog :), I will be more than happy to answer your questions but I need to know the dates you are coming, road conditions change a lot especially during the rainy season.
Alan And Beth Ann R. says
Guys,
Love your blog. Have a question before we reserve our Adobe Rent a car. We are arriving in San Jose and plan on driving to La Fortuna right after we arrive. From there we are going to Montezuma via 142 and highway1 also going through Quebrada Honda, Mansion, LePanto and Tambor Beach. I know the trip from La Fortuna to Montezuma is a long one so I have two questions. First are the roads on the west side of the Gulf of Nicoya OK? Will we need a 4×4 or high 4×2?
Second rather than crossing the Gulf at the north end would it be better to continue down the 1 to the ferry and cross there to get to Montezuma? We planned to go straight from La Fortuna to Montezuma on one day even though this may be 5-6 hours. Just curious as to your thoughts on this Itinerary. We will be travelling with our two daughters but both are college age.
Thanks
Alan and Beth Ann R.
ADRIANA MANRIQUEZ says
I LOVE ALL THE INFO YOU PROVIDE ON YOUR SITE DOES THE ALAMO TAKE CREDIT CARDS THAT ARE PROVIDED THROUGH A BANK LIKE BANK OF AMERICA?
Sammi says
Hi Adriana, I recommend asking Alamo, we don’t work with them so I don’t know to be honest.
Shiv says
Hi,
I am travelling with 2 friends in a month to CR and was wondering what the driving is like from SJ to Tamarindo? What sort of car would you recommend?
Also, we are there from Wednesday to Sunday and will need to be back at SJ on the Sunday. What is travel time like to and from SJ to Tamarindo? We are thinking of stopping off at Arenal for 2 days then 2 days in Tamarindo and back to SJ Sunday morning.
Do you think this would be too much in the small time we have? Is it risky driving from Tamarindo back to SJ (i.e. what is traffic like etc).
Thanks,
Shiv
Sammi says
Hi, San Jose to Tamarindo is around a 4-5 hour drive but if traffic is very bad, it can take up to 6 hours but on average it’s around 4.5 You will pretty much one full day traveling so I would recommend just picking one destination since Tamarindo to Arenal is around 4 and Arenal to San Jose is around 3.5 – 4 so it’s a ton of driving for just a few days. You don’t want to be spending a lot of time in the car for just 5 days.
yeison says
Hello Sondra
First of all I would like to thank you for reading Mytanfeet.
Here are the answers to your questions:
In order for you to apply the car rental insurance the credit card representative here in Costa Rica requires Adobe to charge the car rental and the deposit to the same card, if you declined the Car Protection insurance and purchase the Total Protection the deposit will be $1000 in order to have a $500 you need to purchase both.
The deposit amount will take from 12 to 72 hours to be available again in your credit card account.
All rates are final with Adobe, the final amount you will pay is exactly what you see in the confirmation.
There is no need to put the name of the second driver on the comments area all Mytanfeet reservations comes with a default note where the agent will see all our exclusive list of benefits, all drivers must be at least 23 years old and must show a valid drivers license and passport.
Sondra Miller says
Hello,
I am planning to rent a car through Adobe. Can I use my Chase credit card to secure the rental so that I can use that credit card company’s rental car insurance, and then use a different credit card for the deposit separately?
If I use my credit card’s insurance to decline Adobe’s Car Protection, but I also elect to get Adobe’s Extended Protection, will the deposit be only $500 even though I am declining Adobe’s Car Protection?
If I decide to use my credit card’s insurance and decline both Car Protection and Extended Protection, how much will the deposit be?
Will there be any other fees, taxes, etc. than what appears on the reservation through your page?
For a second driver, do I put their information in the comments section or inform Adobe upon arrival?
My family will be arriving in June and we are currently about to cancel our Budget rental because I have called them 10 times and each time get different answers about how much this is actually going to all cost once it’s all said and done.
Thanks!
Sondra
kelly says
Hi again, thank you for answering my questions in a previous post. I know you have over 400 posts, probably answering the same questions over and over. I quickly glanced thru them but didn’t an answer to my next question, sorry if I overlooked it:
We are traveling over the holidays and I want to reserve our car asap thru your site, but have not booked flights yet (that could be a long time from now). I want to make a reservation and then, if needed, cancel a day and adjust the pick up/drop off. Is this a problem.
The only FAQ on their site talks of modifying up to 72 hours in advance of reservation, based on availability. I wasn’t sure if I contacted them directly, my question would translate well from Spanish to English. My translators are in college and too busy to help. I don’t want to risk having to cancel the entire reservation and rebook. Your advice!
I am sure this will not be my last post, but once I get the logistics down, I will be back to plan all our activities and must-do/must-see. Thanks so much for your patience, help, and great deals!
Sammi says
Hi Kelly! For Adobe, the cancelation policy is very simple. No penalty 72 hours before your reservation pick up time and 1 day of rental penalty if you cancel within 72 hours. Adobe is also quite flexible and if you cancel for something out of your control they usually don’t charge any penalties. If you want to talk to their customer service, you can call them at 18558611250 and all their representatives speak English.
Sylvie says
What an amazing website – we’ve used it for 2 trips and now will consider Adobe Car next time
Question – any suggestions on where to get a rental car washed?? We will be returning the car near the Liberia airport – thanks ! Sylvie
Sammi says
Hi Sylvie, thanks for the nice words! I believe there is a lavacar in Liberia city.
Dror says
Hi, we are a family of 7 adults and 1 baby and arriving in middle of June until the middle of July, what kind of car do you recommend for us? is it possible to have one car for all of us (like a minivan) or is it better/cheaper to have 2 more robust cars (like large SUV)
thanks
Dror
Sammi says
Hi Dror, for 7 people plus a baby you can rent 2 SUV’s. A mid size like a 5 pax Hyundai Tucson would be great and depending on your location, it is also 4×4 in case you are going somewhere that requires 4×4. Another option is to rent a Hyundai H1 van that fits up to 9 people with luggage if you want to go all together. They’re not 4×4 though and not very high so if you’re going somewhere that requires a high car, it would be better to rent the 2 Tucsons. You can read more about the type of cars to rent here: Cars to rent in Costa Rica and watch videos of them to see what the cars are like. But if you’re going somewhere that doesn’t require a 4×4, the H1 is an excellent option.
Rod Baker says
We’re coming down to surf July 28 – August 05, Spirit Airlines to San Jose. We need a car for four adults, GPS, plus surf racks if possible. Don’t think we need 4×4, going to esterillos and manual antonio.
Sammi says
Hi Rod, a Hyundai Tucson would be a great car for 4 adults and luggage and the surf racks can fit on that one (make sure to bring the straps, they just supply the racks). When you make the reservation, just put a note in the comment section that you’d like the free surf racks and you can tick the GPS box option.
Jamie Gentry says
Hi,
We are currently in Jaco and will be making our way to Tamarindo in a few days. Is it possible to rent a car in Jaco and drop it off in Tamarindo?
Sammi says
Hi Jamie! Yes you can definitely do that but there will be a drop off fee usually for different pick up and drop off locations and most companies will require a minimum of a 3 day rental for different locations. If it’s less than 3 days, they’ll charge the full 3 day amount so I would check.
Lisa says
How much could a drop off fee potentially be? Example: renting a car for 9 days beginning at san jose airport and ending at liberia airport? Early february
Sammi says
Hi Lisa, for San Jose to Liberia, the drop off fee is $40 and you will see it in the reservation page as other charges.
Sammi says
Hi Leah! I checked under your name but I couldn’t find a reservation for your email address. There are a couple different pick up options, if you chose the airport, then Adobe will meet you at the airport and shuttle you (complimentary) to their airport office to pick up the car. There is always an Adobe agent waiting at the airport no matter how late or early your flight is. You will need to also give Adobe your flight information so they can track it in case of any delay.
To drop off the car at 5 AM, that is perfectly fine. Their office starts receiving cars at 4:50 AM so they will be open to take the car and shuttle you to the airport.
Leah says
Hello! I have a couple questions regarding Adobe. So me and my boyfriend rented a car for the week and I want to know how do I know if it’s confirmed or a sure thing? The last thing I would want to happen is arrive at the airport with no ride to our AirBnB. We got one email regarding the information I had just entered but how do I let them know where to pick us up and if they will be there?
Also our flight is at 7:55 so we would have to drop it off around 5 . Will the office be open to drop it off? And will they drop us off to the airport or would we have to get our own transportation.
Thank you!
Leslie says
HI!
We (family of 4) are flying into Liberia and traveling down to Santa Teresa for the first part of our stay in Costa Rica. We will be driving back to Tamarindo for the second part. Do you think the Tivoli would be ok for the driving down to Santa Teresa?
Thank you so much for any advice and all the great information on your blog!!!
Sammi says
Hi Leslie, the Tivoli should be fine. Make sure to take the road through Nicoya and not down the coast as the Nicoya road is paved and same when you go back up to Tamarindo. I’m glad you enjoy the blog, thank you for reading!
Sammi says
Hi Jacob! The Korando only comes in manual and it is a bit smaller than the Tucson but if you ask us which one of the three, we would go with the Tucson. If you can’t drive manual well, then I don’t recommend the Korando because roads in Costa Rica are hilly, steep and curvy so if it will be much better to rent an automatic if you’re not that experienced with manual driving. The Tucson is more comfortable and comes in 4×4. Hyundai Tucson is one of the most popular cars in Costa Rica for locals and for renting. Korando is a Korean manufacturer and that line is very popular in Costa Rica but not in the US and they only have 4wd and manual cars.
You can see videos of each one of those cars in this post and read more about them
Jacob says
Korando or Creta/Tucson. Which suv Has the most horsepower? I want one that has decent gas mileage but not too weak in acceleration. What’s your opinion? It’s about a $40 difference between korando and Tucson. But I’ve never heard of the korando manufacturer ..?
Tony says
Can you rent a car from San Jose and return to Liberia?
Sammi says
Hi Tony, yes you certainly can! There will be a fee for different drop off/pick up locations, usually it is around $30-40.
Nicole Cleveland says
Do you recommend purchasing the extended coverage?
Also, what are the road conditions on the Caribbean coast? Primarily the southern area?
Sammi says
The road conditions in the South Caribbean (Puerto Viejo) are actually very good. The main road through town is all paved and there are only unpaved roads if you go out to like, the BriBri communities. You can perfectly drive a sedan. You can see more photos and a video of that area in this post: Costa Rica road conditions.
I would recommend extended coverage if it’s your first time driving in Costa Rica or a foreign country. Personally for me I like to be covered just in case for my first time driving in a new country. Unfortunately Puerto Viejo area has a tad bit more theft than other areas in CR as well so you will be covered for vandalism, broken windows, etc. You can read more about the insurances here: Adobe Rent a Car insurances.
Matt Bell says
Are the prices I see on Expedia realistic? It seem extremely cheap at only $3-$22 a day.
What other fees/taxes can i expect to pay?
Thanks!
Sammi says
Hi Matt, a lot of third party sites like Expedia shows cheap prices because they don’t add on all the extra fees and taxes. What fees and taxes are added on later will depend on which company the car rental is through since each one has different policies. They usually add a mandatory insurance and sometimes other airport fees or something when you go to pick up the car. This is why we personally work with Adobe Rent a Car because they show all their fees and taxes up front so the final price is exactly what you will pay and you don’t need to worry about hidden fees or last minute fees when you go to pick up the car. We have a discount with Adobe you can check here: Costa Rica car rental discount
Matt Bell says
Hello Again,
I have decided to rent with Adobe.
Before I book i want to be sure the process once arriving to CR.
We are flying into San Jose and will be arriving at ~7:00am.
Is there a shuttle or transportation service to get us to/from the actual rental office?
Also when we depart out flight is rather early (6:55am) are we able to return the car around 5:00am when we arrive to the airport?
Any further information on these aspects would be much appreciated!
Thank you!
Sammi says
Hi Matt, when you make the reservation select SJO Airport office. The pick up process with Adobe will go like this. An Adobe agent will be waiting for you outside the airport when you finish customs and exit the airport. You’ll see a lot of people waiting outside, look for an Adobe agent wearing a blue shirt holding a sign with your name on it. He will take you to their complimentary shuttle to take you to their airport office 1 mile away to finish paperwork and pick up the car.
For returning the car, their office starts receiving cars at 4:45 AM and it will be the same office where you pick up the car. When you drop the car off at 4:45 AM, Adobe will take you to the airport in their complimentary shuttle.
Another option is that all Mytanfeet readers get free delivery and pick up from nearby hotels so you can also arrange for Adobe to pick up your car the day before your flight so you don’t need to drive to their office. You can then take a taxi or arrange transportation from your hotel to the airport in the morning. The hours for this service is 8 30 AM to 430 PM. If you would like to do this instead, please write in the comment section of the reservation that you would like the car picked up and include the date, the time and the name of your hotel.
Please let me know if you have other questions!
Lenny says
Thanks for all the tips in this blog! Understanding the whole car rental process for our trip to Costa Rica has become a lot easier. In the confirmation email from Adobe, it said that a valid driver’s license with more than 2 years from the first date of issue is required but my license’s issue date is from when I renewed my license in 2017. How big of an issue is this?
Sammi says
Hi Lenny, that part just means you need to have had your drivers license for more than 2 years, not that that particular license has been valid for 2 years. The wording is a bit confusing. If you’ve got your drivers license more than 2 years ago, you’re fine.
Steve Mills says
I am traveling in april and will be renting a car, My credit card does not have raised numbers will this be a problem with Adobe?
Thanks in advance for your reply
Steve
Sammi says
Hi Steve, it is no problem if you don’t have raised numbers on your credit card. They can still accept them.
Sammi says
Hi Anette, you can read our post on crossing the Penas Blancas border by foot here: Crossing the Costa Rica Nicaragua border guide. You will find everything you need to know such as exit/entry fees, offices, safety tips, etc.
As for getting a car, you can’t take rental cars across the border and the best way is to take the public bus to Liberia where you can get a car or else you will have to pay a fee since the border is around 2-2.5 hours from Liberia. Our partners, Adobe Rent a Car can coordinate delivering your car to a hotel in Liberia so you don’t need to go all the way to their office (Mytanfeet readers get free delivery and pick up to nearby hotels). We also have a car rental discount and other benefits you can check on this page: Costa Rica car rental discount
Anette says
Hi
We are a family of four adults travelling to Nicaragua and Costa Rica this summer.
We are starting in Nicaragua using shared transportation and when entering Costa Rica at Penas Blancas we are planning on renting a car for about 10 days. We are planning to return the car at San Jose airport.
We are not sure how to handle this “border crossing” so do you have any experience regarding this? I guess we could be dropped off at the Nicaraguan side and cross the border by foot. But are there any car rental companies near the border (walking distance)?
Alternatively we could use shared transportation across the border (if possible??) to a city where we can pick up a rental car.
Looking forward to some advice
Thanks
Anette
Sammi says
Hi Margah, when you make the reservation select LiR Airport and in the comment section of the reservation please write your hotel name and what time you would like to have the car delivered. The earliest they can deliver is at 8 AM and latest is at 5 PM.
I wrote a post on the Monteverde road conditiosn with pictures and videos you can see here You would need to rent a high car to drive, the road you’ll take from Hermosa is the Las Juntas route, it is narrow and windy and the roads around Monteverde in some areas are in pretty bad shape. If you don’t feel comfortable driving, you can take a shuttle instead and then take taxis (there are a bunch of taxis in Santa Elena town).
Sammi says
Hi Margah, we have a partnership with Adobe REnt a Car who gives free delivery to hotels for Mytanfeet readers and they can deliver the car to your hotel in Playa Hermosa for free. For returning the car, they have an office next to LIR Airport so you will drive to their office to return the car and they will take you to the airport in their complimentary shuttle.
For types of cars to rent, for Nosara, it is recommended to have a higher car so for 4 people with lots of luggage, I recommend at least a Hyundai Tucson.
You can check this page for our discount and to make a reservation.
Margah says
Hello Sammi
Thank you for your quick reply. Do you think it is better to have private transport to Monteverde or to drive ourselves, given the road conditions? We are a bit nervous about the road. We are staying in a house in the forest up there and I believe there are taxis. We are comfortable with renting a car and driving for the first part of the trip though (Potrero).
And when trying to reserve a car with Adobe today, there is no option listed in the dropdown list of pickup locations for Playa Hermosa . How do we arrange delivery of the car to our hotel in Playa Hermosa? Thank you again.
Margah says
Hello:
Love your blog. So informative. Have a couple of questions:
In March, four of us will be in Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste, on a retreat prior to renting a vehicle. Following the retreat, we will driving to Potrero area for 5 nights, making day trips to beaches, including Nosara, then heading up to Monteverde for 3 nights, then to Liberia for our flight.
As we will be in Playa Hermosa already, is it possible to have the rental car delivered to our hotel there? If not, what are our options for getting the car? And can we return it in either Potrero area or Liberia? And what vehicle would you recommend, given our destinations? We will be 4 people and have a lot of luggage (i.e. 1 large and 5 medium-sized suitcases plus day backpacks).
First time driving in Costa Rica.
Thank you for your help.
Margah
Casey says
Hey there! First off thank you, my husband and I have found so much great info from your blog! We are traveling next week from San Jose to Manuel Antonio, then to La Fortuna and back to San Jose. Do you think we would be okay without a 4×4?
yeison says
Hello Casey, I think you won’t have a problem with a sedan many readers have done the same itinerary with a sedan, you can check read this article to find out more about the road conditions
Alan Young says
Hi Guys
Thanks so much for the information in this blog. My wife and I will be travelling from Liberia airport to Hotel Punta Islita which is about a 2 1/2 hour drive I believe. Do you think we should rent a 4×4 or will a car be fine. We will be there on Feb 22, 2018 so I think it will be dry. I know the last part of the drive is dirt roads but I am thinking a car may be just fine. What do you think?? We could also opt for the hotel shuttle but I typically like to rent a vehicle.
Sammi says
Hi Nick! I will definitely recommend a full size SUV, that is the only one that will fit 6 plus some luggage like carry ons and we do recommend a 4×4/4wd for Monteverde. We do have a partnership with Adobe Rent a Car to give up to 20% off to our readers plus extra benefits, you can check this page to get our car rental discount and benefits.
Please let us know if you have other questions.
Nick says
Hello
Great blog with details road conditions. For a family of 6 ( including 2 teenagers) + some luggage what car would you recommend to rent in April if our route WILL include driving Arenal – Monteverde – San Jose?
Regards
Nick
Sammi says
Hi Sarah! Yes! We have a whole post about road conditions in Costa Rica with pictures and videos for all your destinations. You can see what they are like here: Costa Rica road conditions.
We just recommend a mid size SUV or a higher car for Monteverde since the road to Monteverde has some pretty steep hills on a unpaved, pot holey-road around the mountain, particularly the Sardinal route (Monteverde – San Jose). I also wrote a specific post on Monteverde road conditions you can see here: Monteverde road conditions.
Sarah Crowell says
Hi!
My friend and I are looking at renting a car when we travel to Costa Rica at the end of March.
Our itinerary is as follows:
1) San Jose -> La Fortuna
2) La Fortuna -> Tamarindo
3) Tamarindo -> Monteverde
4) Monteverde -> San Jose
Do you know what the road conditions are like for these destinations? Any other tips would be super helpful!
Dennis says
Hi guys!
Me and my girlfriend are doing a 3-day beach trip from San Jose to Playa Petrero/ Sugar Beach area and are thinking of renting the Hyundai Grand. Do you think that compact size vehicle could get us there without any hiccups?
It would be great if the the rental vehicle could be dropped off and picked up for us from the SJ hotel we are staying… Is that still a free service? And how would I request that on Adobe’s “costumer information” webpage?
Thanks for all your great info and help!
Sammi says
Hi Dennis! Yes you can definitely rent a Hyundai Grand to go from San Jose to Playa Portrero. That route goes through all main roads which are paved and in decent shape (there are some pot holes here and there but small). Lots of Costa Ricans from the city drive their compact cars from San Jose to Guanacaste.
You can definitely get the rental car dropped off and picked up at your hotel in San Jose if you rent through our widget as all Mytanfeet readers get this service for free. Just write in the comment section of the reservation you would like this service and which hotel you’re staying, the earliest and latest they can pick up/drop off is 8 AM and 5 PM. Here is the page to rent the car: Costa Rica car rental discount. Let us know if you have any other questions about the car rental!
Rebecca says
I will be going to Costa Rica for my honeymoon in May but neither my soon to be husband or I will be 23 yet (both 22). I saw you said their minimum rental age was 23. Would we have to go with another rental company?
Sammi says
Hi Rebecca! When is you or your fiancees birthday? If you are turning 23 close to the time you are in Costa Rica, we can ask the manager to waive it.
Jon Bailey says
Hi There,
I am heading to the Oso Peninsula in March with my girlfriend and we are planning on renting a small 4×4. Everything seems to be fine, I just am not sure when to drop the car off. Our flight leaves at 430 am. should we drop off the car the day before or can we drop it off at the airport?
Sammi says
Hi Jon, no rent a car office will be open at 2 AM to receive cars so you will need to drop it off the day before. Or depending on the company you rented from, you can work with them to see if there is a way for you to drop it off at the airport but you will need to check with the company you rented from.
Katie Kaptain says
Hello!
Thank you so much for writing this blog and providing all of this incredibly useful information! I am looking to rent a car for 4/21/18 – 5/1/18, but I do have one question. If I decide to choose the $18/day extended protection, do I also need to pay for the $6/day car protection? Or is that already included in the $18/day price?
Thank you in advance!
yeison says
Hello Katie!
If the Car Protection insurace ($6 dollars a day is the CDW insurance) and it is not included in the Extended protection insurance ($18 a day), what some people do is to waive the Car Protection ($6 a day) using their credit card insurance and then they get the extended protection.
We have all the information you need in this article about Adobe rent a car Insurance
Ryan says
Would love to use your discount and hopefully give you some affiliate income but there are no cars available for me from december 29 – Jan 12 🙁
yeison says
Hello Ryan!
Thank you so much for your request, I just talked to Adobe and at this they don’t have a car for the dates you need it, I see cars available starting on January second and before December 28th. We will email you if there is any last minute cancellation.
Thank you for reading our blog 🙂
KRM says
there are no small 4wd cars available from Liberia January 4-16. Any other suggestions? Thank you.
yeison says
Hi K,
I just sent you an email with an option.
Dorothy says
Hi, I love all the info in your site. I just went to book a car rental through your site with Adobe for 1/14/17 -1/22/17 at LIR but they do not have any large suvs. We are 5 adults with luggage. They do no seem to accommodate large families. Would you have any other advice? Thanks so much!
Sammi says
Hi Dorothy! I just sent you an email 🙂
Jean says
If we rent a car in Manuel Antonio but fly in to San Jose, will the rental company pick us up at the airport?
Sammi says
Hi Jean, most car rental companies will pick you up from the airport. If you rent with Adobe (we have a partnership with them and offer readers discounts, they have a free airport shuttle). For local flights, they do land in a different area so you will need to get to the arrivals area of SJO airport.
Jerad says
Hey there! My girlfriend and I are looking at renting a car at the San Jose Airport in December. I am currently 24. Is there an additional daily fee for drivers under the age of 25? Or is the price I see when renting on Adobe’s website the final price.
Thanks so much!
Sammi says
Hi Jerad! THe driving age is 23 so you guys are fine 🙂
Sammi says
Hi Kate, yes I would reserve a car beforehand, especially if you are visiting mid to end of December as that is our high/peak season and 4×4 rentals go super fast (in fact, people have already been reserving them) and it’ll be extremely difficult and not really likely to rent one if you wait until you get here. Or if you do, they’ll be really expensive as most rental companies when you do walk ins, have different prices than online. We actually don’t really recommend Alamo for car rentals, we work with a COsta Rican company called Adobe and we offer discounts and extra benefits for our readers. We like Adobe because they are a Costa Rican company so you are helping the local economy and giving money t othe locals, not to the big foreign companies and the big foreign ones like Hertz tend to price their car differently and not are upfront about all of the taxes and insurances and have high deposits. Adobe is completely transparent, what you see on your quote is exactly what you pay. Other international companies unfortunately don’t do that. You can read more about it in this post: Costa Rica car rental discount
kate says
Hi! My boyfriend and I will be traveling to Costa Rica in December 2017 for 9 days! We will be spending the first part of our trip exploring the Arenal National Park and Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve/Santa Elena and ending our vacation on the Guanacaste coast for some R&R! We decided that renting a car is our best bet to explore on our own schedule and were hoping to rent from an agency in the LIR airport. Do you think it is best to reserve the car online prior to our arrival? Is it best to book direct through the agency website, or can we use a site like expedia? It seems like you recommend Alamo for rentals, is there any advantage to that company versus an international favorite like Hertz or Enterprise? Is there any way to assure that our reservation is secure and that all insurance costs are included? I am trying to avoid any unforeseen costs upon arrival. Thank you!
Maurice says
If you are going to rent a car in Costa Rica, you need to rent the car through this blog. We had a minor issue with our rental but was easily resolved when we contacted Yeison and Samantha. The car was in great condition and would rent again using their promo code.
Draxz says
First of all thank you for such a fantastic blog which so much information.
Me and my wife are planning a trip late October for 10 days, would love your thoughts on these questions:
1) We land into San Jose and was planning to rent car to go around (since we want to visit the rain forests and volcano) and visit carious parts of Costa Rica, we are in San Jose for 3 days and was thinking of taking a cab from the airport to the downtown location where we are staying; do rental agencies such as Adobe deliver car to downtown or do they have a location where we can pick it up on our third day?
2) Being a rainy season; would you suggest getting a 4X4 given our itinerary?
3) My credit card already offers Rental Car Collision Loss/Damage Insurance, would there be a mandatory or other insurance which I need to purchase?
Sammi says
Hi Draxz! Thanks for reading our blog and glad you find it useful. For your questions, if you rent with Adobe through us, all Mytanfeet readers get free delivery and pick up to nearby hotels in San Jose. The earliest they can drop it off at your hotel is 8 AM and just leave a note in the comment section you would like the car dropped off and include your hotel name.
For renting a 4×4, it depends on where you are going. In San Jose, you don’t need a 4×4 but it depends which rain forest and volcano you are going to. You can check our post on road conditions in Costa Rica here: Costa Rica road conditions. where we posted information on the most popular routes and destination to see if you need a 4×4.
There is one mandatory insurance everyone needs to purchase but you can decline one of the insurances (Car Protection with Adobe) by presenting a letter from your credit card company on arrival. Please let us know if you have any other questions.
Bruce Peters says
Thanks for a great Service you provide. We used your discount with Adobe last year on our trip and will try them again (waiting for the quote now) Pick up at Liberia and drop off at San Jose was easy and only $50 more for the drop off at a different location. We purchased the complete insurnce plan and it was a good thing, as after dinner one night we found someone had scraped our front bumper. It was no problem, AS LONG as you do the required phone calls to the proper agencies and notify them of the issue ! The only downside was that some theif had stolen our license plate off the front of the car while we were at a secluded beach and it cost us an extra $100 on the return of the vehicle. I would hope the plates were put on with anti theft bolts in the future and I will be asking for that on further rentals from them.
Thanks for a great service,
Bruce & Chris
yeison says
Hello Bruce!!!
I remember your case, thank you for keep reading our blog and I will reply to your quote in a few minutes.
Sam says
First of all thank you so much for such a fantastic, informative website. Appreciate the time you have spent in creating such a nice, informative site.
I have a question regarding best location to rent a car from near San Jose. I usually stay in San Jose but will prefer to rent from outside citiy/ Paseo Colon / Airport etc. to avoid driving in the city. Better to pay a taxi driver to navigate the city traffic.
So any advise on some nice locations to pick up the rentals from (preferably the ones that open early and close late)
Sammi says
Hi Sam! If you book with Adobe Rent a Car, the company we have a partnership with, you can get free delivery to nearby hotels in San Jose actually or they also have a free shuttle to pick you up from the airport to their office (but that is still only 5 minutes away from the airport) but that will be more convenient. You can check our partnership and deal here: Costa Rica car rental discount
Lonna says
I just booked a car with Adobe through your website. Airport pickup was an option. Will I be charged more for this? On some sites I have read you are charged 13% more for getting a rental car at the airport. What are your thoughts on this? Thank you,
Lonna
Sammi says
Hi Lonna! Some companies charge an extra few but Adobe does not, they will be waiting at the airport to pick you up in their free shuttle to take you back to their office to pick up the car and do all the paperwork. Please let me know if you have any other questions!
Sammi says
Hi Megan, there are a lot of horror stories on the web for renting a car in Costa Rica which is one of the main reasons we wrote this in-depth guide and partnered with Adobe because they are upfront and transparent about all rates, taxes, fees and insurances whereas other companies, are not and that is why people have such a bad experience with car rentals in Costa Rica. Over 2000 of our readers have rented a car with Adobe and they have all had great experiences since everything is up front and clear, no hidden fees/taxes/etc.
I checked your car rental information and the rate is actually a bit cheaper today, at $647 with the insurances except Total. Total Protection is optional but whenever we rent a car, we like to get it to be safe as you never know and because even though Yeison is obviously used to driving here, I’m not quite as used to it. Especially if it’s your first trip to Costa Rica/haven’t driven much internationally and aren’t familiar with the driving, road conditions, etc., I do recommend getting it.
The Car Protection can be declined by presenting a letter from your credit card company upon arrival which makes the rate about $48 cheaper.
Please let us know if you have other questions!
Megan says
Thanks for all your tips and posts… This will be our FIRST trip to Costa Rica with 2 couples going. I keep reading HORROR stories about rental cars, but they still want to rent a car. We fly into San Jose end of July for 12 days. We are staying in Quepos. Do you recommend a 4×4? We wil be travelling some but not far outside of Quepos. Also we will be using a Southwest Credit Card. Ive heard if we purchase additional insurance through the agency it voids anything by our CC, have you heard that? Below is what the quote was from your Adobe site for car protection and mandatory liabilty BUT NOT the total protection. Do you recommend the total protection? Thanks in advance!
Hyundai Accent MT / GROUP P
Pickup Information
30/07/2017 12:30:00
San Jose
Return Information
11/08/2017 08:00:00
San Jose
Fare
MY TAN FEET 16
Estimate
$719.06
yeison says
Hello Kathryn,
I hope you and your family are doing great! Regarding your questions, all the SUV’s are for 5 people actually and all the sedans are too. The reason why Adobe recommends 4 adults in the car is for luggage and size of the people to be comfortable but that is a recommendation. The best option will be a Hyundai Tucson because it has enough space in the back seat to use a booster seat for your 6 year old and there will be plenty of space for your other 2 children. The size of the Hyunda Tucson is very similar to a Nissan Rogue in the USA.
The drive from the airport in Liberia to Tamarindo is paved and easy, there are lots of signs in the road, once you get to Tamrindo there is a gravel road that will take you to Langosta but it is a very short gravel road, maybe like 2 or 3 miles max. You can still use a sedan but a mid size SUV like the Hyunda Tucson will be great.
Please let us know if you have any questions and thank you for reading Mytanfeet 🙂
Kathryn says
Hi guys. My husband & I & three children (13, 12, & 6) will be visiting the Playa Langosta/Tamarindo area in late August. Which car would you recommend for us? I only see one that accommodates more than four passengers. Also, how is the drive from LIR to Tamarindo? Are the roads paved? Thanks!
Sammi says
Hi Stephanie, with our partnership with Adobe Rent a Car, all our readers get free delivery and drop off to hotels nearby. We also offer a discount you can check out here:
Costa Rica car rental discount
and just leave a note in the comments which hotel and time you’d like the car to be delivered to. THey do require a 3 day minimum rental period, if you rent less than that they will still have to charge you for 3 days.
Marisa says
Hello, thanks so much for all of the work you put into this blog. I wish I had found it before renting from Economy. I have a comment about Economy rental cars in Liberia (near the airport). Upon arriving to Arenal, I discovered the rear bumper was coming off. I did not go on any crazy roads nor did I hit anything. So I went to a body shop in La Fortuna to ask their opinion about what happened. The mechanic looked at it and showed me that it had been damaged a few months earlier and then very poorly glued back together with windshield glass glue and the glue was now peeling off causing the bumper to sag and come away from the body of the car. I am worried about what other damage was done to the car that will become apparent once I return it. Essentially Economy rented me a car that they knew would fall apart. I am hoping they will take full responsibility and not attempt to charge me for their negligence. I will return the car in a few days so here’s hoping they will have some integrity.
Again, thank you so much for creating this space.
yeison says
Hello Marisa, I am so sorry about your experience with Economy rent a car, I recommend you to take pictures of everything and please let us know if there anything we can do to help. We hate when things like this happen to our readers. One of the reasons why we recommend Adobe rent a car is because we are 100% sure that their cars are in great conditions and we know most of the managers. Have a nice weekend and thank you for reading Mytanfeet.com
Stephanie says
Do you know if Adobe will deliver cars and if so is delivery charge free or is there a fee? I am going to Costa Rica at the end of May but only want a car for a couple of days. I will located in Playa Hermosa area (Guancaste).
Thanks!
Sammi says
Hi Tim, Corcovado is definitely worth a visit if you can make it down south. You don’t need to go all the way down to Osa Peninsula to experience it either if you don’t have the time to go all the way down. There are day trips to the San Pedrillo station from Uvita or if you do have the time, you can go to Drake Bay or Puerto Jimenez to hike Sirena or Carate but that does take more time since it takes quite a bit of time to get there and it’s worth staying in the area for a few days. San pedrillo station doesn’t have quite as many mammals but it’s still an awesome day trip and hike, Sirena is the best to see mammals and they offer day trips to that station from Drake Bay. I have an in-depth guide to visiting the Osa Peninsula and Corcovado National Park: Where to stay in Osa Peninsula
Tim says
Hello-
This is a terrific blog. Thank you.
Our family of five (3 teenagers) are planning a 3-4 week long trip to Costa Rica begining in mid-June. We plan to stay on the Pacific side. We would like to visit Manuel Antonio as well as visit some of the surf spots farther north. Kids would like to river raft and zipline.
We visited the Guanacaste region a few years ago and would like to be farther south this time. Is it worth traveling as far south as Corcovado?
Any advice you have would be appreciated.
Tim
Roger says
Hey guys,
great site with tons of very valuable information!
We will be taking our first trip to Costa Rica this November for 1 month and have incorporated lots of your tips in our itinerary.
We are flying in & out of SJO, staying the first night at a hotel near the airport. Our original plan was to take a taxi to the hotel, then have Adobe deliver the car around 11am the next day in order to have sufficient time to drive to Brasilito.
We were originally planning to rent the car (guessing Something like a Suzuki Jimny) for the whole month, but a friend suggested to take the shuttle from San Jose (/airport) to Reserva Conchal and just spend the first week around there enjoying all that the resort has to offer, with walks into town for dinner and shopping (I guess along the beach… safe at night?… anyway…). He thought we would not need a car there, and if we get tired of the Resort & Brasilito, a taxi to Tamarindo would be best. He also suggested to rent a Moped for a few days to use to visit nearby beaches & towns (i.e Flamingo). Then rent a car from Adobe in Tamarindo for the last 2+ weeks and drop off in SJO.
I think you live in that area, what would your recommendation be:
a) Rent Car in San Jose for the whole month
b) Shuttle to Brasilito, explore w/o car for 1-2 weeks, then rent a car locally to explore further areas & towns, and drive back to SJO at the end of the month
We’re from Europe and very accustomed to walking, but not sure about convenience and safety of option b) there in the Brasilito area.
looking forward to your feedback, all the best, Roger
yeison says
Hello Roger,
First of all we would like to thank you for reading our blog.
Regarding your questions I agree with your friend if you are going to stat at Reserva Conchal, you will be mostly eating or relaxing on the beach or any if their pools, I am not sure if you are staying at the all Westin or at one of the condos in Reserva Conchal but believe me once your are there you don’t want to get out for a few days at least.
I will go for the option b, and just check the first week how do you feel, you will be a month in Guanacaste so you will have the time to explore and visit different areas, if you planning to take a share shuttle just be aware that share shuttles don’t pick up at the airport just private transfers, share shuttles usually pick up clients in front of the airport at a Denny’s Dinner.
The closest town to reserva conchal is Tamarindo and I don’t recommend you to walk all the way there it’s like a 25 minutes drive and walking at night can be a little dangerous, because they are no too much lights or pedestrians paths.I will recommend you to get to the hotel and as soon as you feel that you got enough or want to see something different rent the car, taxis or private shuttles will be way more expensive than renting a car.
You still have time to plan your vacations, plese let us know if you would like us to help you.
Have a good day and thank you again for reading Mytanfeet.com
Deborah says
Thanks much. I did now receive the confirmation but don’t see acknowledgement that an extra driver is included. The conditions state that each extra driver beyond the one listed in the reservation is $4/ day. Do I need to do something else?
yeison says
Hello Deborah,
You might see the price in the reservation system but all Mytanfeet readers have a default note on their reservations. So basically you don’t need to add or put any extra information, once you are here picking up the car the Adobe agent will know that you can add 2 more extra driver for 3 in total including you, just make sure that all the drivers are older than 23 and have a valid Driver License.
Please let us know if you have any questions and thank you for reading Mytanfeet.com
Deborah says
I just made a reservation through your widget but saw no explanation of cancellation policy. Can you explain?
Thanks
Sammi says
Hi Deborah, all the terms and conditions including cancellation policies can be found on their site here: http://www.adobecar.com/en/services-and-conditions/#terms-and-conditions
Pablo says
Hello,
If one were to purchase the best insurance policy for the rental car, is the deposit reduced at all?
Thanks for all of your valuable information on your site!!!
yeison says
Hello Pablo,
All Mytafeet readers have a little bit smaller deposit than the regualr Adobe rent a car clientes, they usually hold $1500 and for Mytanfeet readers it will be $1000, the answer for your question is no they will always hold the money even if you get the highest insurance.
The reason why they do this is because even if you have all 3 insurances there are some situations where the insurance will not cover the incidents, this situations are Driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, Failure to report a car accident that you are involved in, Damages to the car in situations when the driver is not authorized, Damages due to driving through rivers, on beaches, through lakes, mangroves and flooded roads. Anywhere that an official road does not exist and Failure to comply with the legal procedure with the insurance company.
For those reason Adobe rent a car will hold the deposit just to be cover, the process to send the money back to the credit card is very quick from 24 to 72 hours.
Thank you for reading our blog and please let us know if you have more questions.
yeison says
Hello Mike!
We just went to Monteverde early this month and you will definitely need a 4×4 or at least a 4×2 mid size SUV. Can you please email us the details of your rental like the exact dates, pick up and drop off location and if you have any type of car in mind. I will be more than happy to check with upper management to see what kind of family package we can do.
Mike Greer says
Hi Sammi and Yeison. Thanks for this great site. It’s full of great information about Costa Rica. Please keep up the great work.
We have a group of 12 arriving next month for a couple of weeks. We are staying in Jaco for the duration of our trip. We were planning on renting a vehicle for a few days in order to travel to Arenal, Monteverde, and the Guanacaste area. Should we rent an SUV or can we rent a sedan based on that itinerary? Also, when I checked the Adobe site, the largest vehicle available is the Hyundai Tucson which means we’d have to rent 3 vehicles. Do you know if Adobe has anything larger such as a van so we’d only have to rent two vehicles?
Thanks again.
Mike
Sammi says
Hi Brian, you won’t need a 4×4 for any of those routes or areas so you can rent a sedan. Jaco to Fortuna is about 3.5-4 hour drive.
Shawna says
We made a reservation for Adobe using the widget on your website. We are arriving and leaving from SJO. I’ve read elsewhere that there is a large tax charged for renting from the airport – is that applicable to Adobe rentals through you as well? I didn’t see anything about that in the email confirmation they sent me.
yeison says
Hello Shawna.
You can be 100% sure that there are not extra fees or charges with Adobe, this is one of the reason why we recommend Adobe to our readers. More than 1500 Mytanfeet readers rented a car in 2016 and nobody had a problem, the final amount on your reservation is exactly what you are going to pay.
Please let us know if you have any questions and thank you for reading Mytanfeet.com
Brian says
Hi, Yeison.
We are flying into San Jose in May and traveling to Jaco and La Fortuna. There will be three of us. What type of car would you suggest for that traveling? Also, about how far is it from Jaco to La Fortuna?
Sammi says
Hi Robin, I highly recommend staying the night your first night. You’ll get out of the airport probably by 9:15 PM ish and driving in San Jose at night can be really confusing and dangerous for first timers (roads do not have names, signage is bad, drivers are crazy). San Jose to Manuel Antonio is about 2 hours so you can rest and freshen up your first night and then head out early the next day. For hotels close to the airport, there is a Best Western Irazu, Adventure Inn or if you want something cheaper, there is Hotel Aeropuerto.
I recommend renting a car instead of a shuttle because even though Savegre is close to Manuel Antonio, that area is a bit hard to get around by bus because there aren’t a ton of routes and Savegre isn’t a super popular destination like Manuel Antonio. You’ll have wayyyyy more freedom and flexibility to explore that area with a car and you will probably end up spending just as much if you’re taking a taxi the whole time especially if your hotel is far from everything. I have a post of things to do in Manuel Antonio here: Things to do in Manuel Antonio there aren’t any mud baths in that area (only up in Guanacaste) but there are a couple of ziplines.
João says
Hola, que blog riquissimo!! haha
Amazing blog guys!!
Im planing to visit costa rica with my girlfriend and the plan is to get a car in san jose airport and sleep there in a friend´s house that night. Then start to go to tamarindo spend like 3days there. Visit some of those beautiful beaches nearby and then go to arenal spend like 2 days. After arenal we would like to visit manuel antonio, because we hear very nice things about it. Spend 2 days in manuel antonio and then we have to get back to san jose because its our friend´s weding!!!! after the weding we are planing to go to puerto viejo with more three friends for one day and get a van to visit bocas. So the questions are : is this a good plan to feel costa rica vibes? haha do you guys have any advice of some place between tamarindo – arenal – manuel antonio that we most visit? and what type of car we should rent, its necessary a SUV 4×4? I was looking for one Daihatsu Bego or similar but maybe a toyota yaris will be enough no? Sorry for all the questions (that you probably are tired to answer lool) but i wanna be the most prepared possible to enjoy your amazing country!! Mutchissimas gracias!!
João
Sammi says
If you can fly into LIR airport instead, you can cut down on a lot of driving time (but it seems like you’re staying at a friends in San Jose). San Jose to Tamarindo is around 4 hours, Tamarindo to Arenal is around 3.5 hours and Arenal to Manuel Antonio is about 5 so you’ll be driving a lot in a short period of time. If you could fly into Liberia, Liberia to Tamarindo is only 1 hour so you’ll save a ton of time and you’ll have one extra day.
You don’t need a 4×4, those routes are very well paved and the roads in the area are well paved.
João says
Heyy Sammi thank you so much for your reply.
Well, we already have the flying tickets to san jose thats why its impossible for us to change, we are arriving in 2weeks.. Maybe you have a better tour for us to do instead of this one…? If is not too trouble for you to advice us we´ll be very happy to know your opnion… We wanna go to tamarindo because we have a friend living there so the first 2/3 days will be spend there with them. Then we have like 5 days until we have to be in san jose for the weeding… Maybe in those 5 days we could do a different tour….maybe we dont need to go to Manuel Antonio and we can change for other place with the same beauty… what do you think? And about the car, we would like to use your discount and rent a car with adobe… can you tell us a good car for us to rent? Once again thank you so much for your help and i hope im not giving you to much trouble. Thankssss. João
Sammi says
You could also fly from San Jose to Tamarindo which will save a lot of time but it does cost more. There isn’t really anything to see driving from SJ to Tama so you’ll have to set one whole day aside for travel. There isn’t really anything with the same scenery as Manuel Antonio up in Guanacaste but you could go to Arenal and see the rain forest and volcano since you’ll already have beach in Guanacaste. So you can do San Jose to Tama (4 hours) –> Arenal (3 hours) –> San Jose (3 hours). You wont’ need a 4×4, you can rent a normal sedan for those routes since the roads are fine for those destinations.
Robin says
Hey guys,
I posted a comment earlier tonight but it doesn’t seem to be showing up…
Here are my questions! I’m traveling March 18-28 with two friends, staying close to Quepos / Manuel Antonio! We land in San Jose at 8:30pm on the 18th…
-would you recommend staying the first night in San Jose instead of going for the drive at night? We’re confident drivers but don’t want to get completely lost and none of us have been to CR before… If you strongly suggest a hotel, could you recommend one close to the airport? We are trying to travel on a budget so had hoped not to have to spring for a hotel but will if we need to. Google searches have proved confusing for hotel airports!!
-would you suggest having a rental (we’re likely going to book our rental through you) for the entire trip, or could we get away with a one way rental at the beginning and returning it in Quepos? Is there a good shuttle we could take from SJ to Savegre? We want to make sure we can go on some adventures, like zip lining, mid baths (any suggestions close to Savegre for favourite things to do?), etc but if shuttles and buses are easy we’d rather use them than be paying for a rental the entire time!
thank yoU!
Sammi says
Hi, I recommend getting a full size SUV so you will have also have plenty of room for luggage.
Leen says
Hi,
We are going to costa rica for 2,5 weeks. The first day we stay in the center of san jose and the second day we leave for poas and to sleep in san gerardo de dota. The day before we leave we also sleep in san jose. Now i read about restrictions to drive on san jose on certain days. Is this also for rental cars? Because in total we have 4 days we need to enter or exit the city.
Thanks for your answer
Sammi says
The restriction isn’t applied to rental cars so you don’t need to worry about that.
Melissa says
Thank you so much for writing this! Do you happen to know if it’s possible to rent a car in San Jose and drop it off in Limon or Puerto Viejo? We are planning to cross over into Panama to attend a wedding but we’d love to have the freedom of a car as we make our way to the border.
Sammi says
Hi Melissa, yes you can do that but most car rental companies have a drop off/pick up fee and require the car rental to be a minimum for 3 days if you have different locations. If it isn’t at least 3 days, they will charge you for a 3 day car rental and a drop off fee still.
Braydon says
Hello, I need to rent a Car ASAP and plane to use your discount through adobe. we are going to be in costa rica March 7th, we fly in Liberia which we will then be driving to arenal. from arenal to Samara. were we may go to a few other close beaches. Then driving to Tamarindo. also we may check out a few beach near by (Day Trips). Would we be okay with renting a car? or do we need an SUV? Thanks!
Sammi says
Hi Braydon, you won’t necessarily need a SUV if you’re going just to Arenal, Samara and Tamarindo. There are some beaches in the area that are on pretty not so great roads so if you’re going down to Ostional area, a 4×4 is highly recommended. But around Tamarindo, the beaches nearby don’t require a 4×4 like Conchal, Brasilito, Flamingo.
Luis Jr. Medina says
Hi Sammy!
My girlfriend and I are going on the middle of May (hope that’s a good time still) I want to rent a car because I want to work my from from San Jose airport and drive all the way to Samara the first day then work my way along the coast! Ultimately to liberia….
Most roads will be paved am I correct?
Sammi says
Hi, yes most of the roads are paved, the main roads and highways are in very good condition. Down near Samara gets unpaved but unless you’re going to the Ostional area, it is not too bad.
Alan says
Hello,
We’re planning to go to Costa Rica for 10 days later in March and we’ll be looking to enjoy quiet beaches. I’m planning to rent a SUV or 4X4 and hopefully, take it to the beach so we can park it right where we’ll be – question of not having our luggage and laptops stolen – we work on vacation. No more laptops = end of the vacation.
Is it possible to take the SUV on the beach – I mean, not busy beaches but quiet remote beaches?
Any info is welcome.
Sammi says
HI Alan, driving on the beach is illegal. Most beaches, even the quiet less busy ones have some sort of parking lot and you can leave it there but never leave any valuables in the car and never your belongings unattended at the beach. I highly advise against bringing your laptop to the beach (it’d be too sandy and dusty too), since you will need to have someone with it at all times. We always advise people to never go swimming in the ocean and leave their belongings on the beach unattended, even if you have an eye on it, all it takes is 5 seconds for thieves to get in and out and they unfortunately are pretty sly here in CR.
yeison says
Hi Harbud,
Thank you for reading our blog! Here are the answer for your questions.
1 – Yes, but keep on mind that some remote places require a 4×4, I recommend you to find out if you have one of this places in your travel list.
2 – Yes 100%.
3 – They will pick you up at the terminal and take you to their office in one of their shuttles you can see in this post: Adobe Rent a Car Liberia Airport.
4 – The car protection includes damages to 3rd parties for up to US$ 20,000 and for civil damages up to US$ 100,000 with zero deductible. For full or partial damage and theft to the rented vehicle, deductible is for up to US$ 1,000.
The Total protection includes damages to 3rd parties with zero deductible, and increase damages coverage for up to US$ 100,000 and for civil damages for up to US$ 4 million. For full or partial damage due to vandalism, damages to the tires or windshield, and theft to the rented vehicle deductible is for up to US$ 0
5 – Yes, hundreds of tourist drive to this route which is one of our favorites. You can see the route in this post and video: Driving Guanacaste to ARenal
Please let us know if you have more questions have a nice week 🙂
Harbud says
Hi – We are spending 3 days in Costa Rica this March end. We are flying into Liberia and staying at a resort in Guanacaste. We were initially thinking of taking a taxi to and fro from our resort from LIR. Also were planning to take a day trip guided tour to the Arenal area. Reading your blog post it seems like a rental car is much cheaper option. That said was hoping to get some clarifications before reserving a rental car.
1. Is it safe to drive on CR roads on a Sedan – especially from Guanacaste to Arenal and surrounding areas?
2. If we reserve with Adobe, will we get an automatic car guaranteed if we reserve one?
3. If we select LIR airport pickup, is the rental company closeby, is pick up and drop off near the terminal?
4. What is the difference between car protection and total protection options? Do we need total protection? If we take just the car protection option will it cover any damages to the car?
5. Lastly we do not speak or understand Spanish and so are little nervous about driving in CR – do you think we can manage with the traffic and roads have good directions between Guanacaste and Arenal?
Sorry for all the questions, but hoping to make sure we get all the information we can before making a booking.
Thanks a lot for your help.
Chris says
We are flying in to San Jose and then planning on driving to San Isidro de General and Buenos Aires, then on to the Osa Penensula. We are planning to be there June 12th through the 24th. I know we need a 4×4, but how likely would we be to have to cross rivers we wouldn’t be able to cross?
Sammi says
Depends on when you’re going but the only rivers you’ll cross are in the Osa Peninsula if you’re going all the way down Carate or to Drake Bay. And with those, if you’re going during dry season you will be fine. It’s only during the very heavy rainy months of Sept/Oct/Nov that the rivers pose a problem especially if you go at the wrong tide to Carate. Otherwise, if you’re going to Puerto Jimenez, there are no rivers.
Sammi says
Hi Subu, thanks for reading our blog. The route to Arenal to San Jose is on a well paved road, you won’t need to rent a SUV, a sedan will be fine. The roads around Arenal/Fortuna are pretty good too, the road to the national park is unpaved but it is nothing bad. If you want some ideas of things to do in Arenal, we have a post of our favorite things in that area: Things to do in Arenal and La Fortuna
Adobe has a free shuttle to take you from the airport to the office to pick up the car. Most people prefer that way since it’s a lot more comfortable, but you can request to have the car ready for you at SJO airport if you don’t want to go to their office.
Subu Ramach says
You guys rock! What a wonderful blog, thanks for the very helpful information! So excited to visit costa rica for the first time…My girl friend and I are planning to go to Arenal from San Jose Airport just for 4 days in end of March. Plan is to stay in Arenal and do as much adventures as possible (zip line/ rafting/ bridge walking etc). Is it necessary to get a SUV or would a sedan do? And many thanks for referring to Adobe, do they pick up from the Airport to the rental center?
Many thanks guys!
Sammi says
Hi Karina, if you’re staying in the Coco area, you won’t need a 4×4. A sedan will work fine to visit neighboring beaches and the route from San Jose to Coco is on a main highway so it’s well paved though it does take around 4 hours. Renting a car will be great since there are a ton of beautiful spots around Coco.
For ziplining, there is an awesome zipline about 45 minutes away from Coco called Diamante where they have the longest ocean view canopy. For beach hopping, we highly recommend going on a boat tour. It’s the best way to see the beautiful beaches in the Gulf as most of them are boat access only. You can read more about it here: Boating in Playas del Coco
Weather in Guanacaste for March is very hot – March and April are our hottest months. Expect temperatures around 100 everyday. You can read more the weather here: Costa Rica weather
Karina says
Love your blog! very helpful,
My husband and I are going to Playas de Coco (first time in Costa Rica) celebrating our anniversary in early March and staying for about 8 days, we arrive at SJO. We were thinking about renting a car that way we can have more freedom to go around. We want to go beach hoping and zip lining and all that, would you recommend a 4*4 or will a compact car do? also what can we expect the weather to look like in early march? We are very excited and looking forward to relaxing at beautiful beaches and having adventures in the jungles!
Thank you!
Humberto Delgado says
Are the prices under Mytanfeet for Adobe Car Rental adjusted to USD dollars or Canadian CND dollars?
Sammi says
Prices are in USD
Sammi says
Hi David! If you are staying in Playas del Coco, Adobe can deliver the car to you free of charge (for Mytanfeet readers). When you make a reservation in the widget on our discount page (Costa Rica car rental discount) just put a note in the comments that you would like to have the car delivered to your location in Coco.
David Hamilton says
Thanks! we’re actually staying in Playa Hermosa – so I’ll note that on the reservation.
David Hamilton says
Hi there – thanks for providing such good info on your site. I’ll be renting a car for a part of my trip. Is is possible to pick up a car from Adobe in Playa Hermosa/Playas del Coco so we can drive to Arenal and then on to Jaco?
yeison says
Hello Ron Thank you for reading our blog, here are the answers to your questions.
Does the price vary much ? Well it depends of which company operates the tour desk, usually they charge the full price without discount because they have to pay to the Hotel for letting them rent their cars in the resort but I will recommend you to check their rates and if we can give you a better rate the car can be deliver at the hotel.
Is there many car rental companies near there ? A lot of companies work in that area and they can deliver the car at the hotel some charge some fees others no depends of the company all the major rent a cars go there like Economy, National, Adobe, Enterprice, etc. I recommend you to ask more than once for the insurance many times companies offer a car for $9 a day BUT they have some hidden fees that you don´t know until you have the car.
Is there any good day hikes near the north west corner ? The best hike in my opinion is in the Parque Rincon de la vieja we love that hike you can read details here Rincon de la Vieja National Park
The main attractions seem to be 2.5 hours away ? Yes, and some even further I think you are going to Dreams Mareas, that is last resort you will find in the North pacific, but it’s very nice 😉
We hope you enjoy your trip and Thank you for reading Mytanfeet
Sammi says
Hi Jennifer, you can easily take a bus to Jaco (our guide is here: San Jose bus to Playa Jaco) since it’s not far from the city. The bus is 2 hours. Or you can book a shuttle or rent a car. A shuttle costs around $100 and the drive is 1 hour without traffic. We work with Adobe Rent a Car and they do not charge an airport tax which is just a tax made up by other car rental companies to charge more. We offer a car rental discount which you can check out here: Costa Rica car rental discount We like this company because what your quote is, is what you pay. No last minute fees, no hidden taxes or any of that.
Ron Van Dam says
hi, I’m going to CR in 3 days.
I’m staying at a resort near La Cruz.
I’m told there is a car rental company at the resort.
Does the price vary much ?
Is there many car rental companies near there ?
Is there any good day hikes near the north west corner ?
The main attractions seem to be 2.5 hours away ?
Thanks
RVD
Chris says
Hi,
We are planning to rent a car at SJO and drive to Monteverde, then Arenal. But I was told that the road from Monteverde to Arenal is in poor condition, best way is to do the taxi-boat-taxi. But it seems there is no any rental car location in Monteverde I can return the car, what other option do I have?
Thanks.
Sammi says
Hi Chris, you can drive to Monteverde from Arenal. We drove this several times but the road is not in great condition so it is recommended to have a 4×4. There are no car rental companies in Monteverde but since you’re planning on renting a car in SJO, you can just rent a car for the entire period of your trip so you can have the flexibility and comfort the whole time. If you want to return the car in Arenal, you can do that as well just know that many companies will charge you a fee for a different drop off/pick up location.
yeison says
Hello Elaine,
If you don’t want to rent a car, a shared shuttle is the best second option.
Francis says
Hi ! This blog is amazing and was of Great help !
We are landing in San jose at noon. We booked a Hyundai Creta (through your blog) and plan to get to Tamarindo on the same day to spend the first 7 days of our trip in this area. Is that reasonable ? Is the choice of vehicle appropriate ? We then leave the Guanacaste area to spend a couple of day in the Arenal area.
Thank you again so much for all your prescious advices.
Sammi says
HI Francis, it is possible, it’s about a 4 hour drive from San Jose to ramarindo, it’ll be tiring after flying but hopefully you don’t have too long of a flight. I recommend using the GPS app waze for directions even though it’s a pretty straightforward route, it will help get out of San Jose and for the turns since there aren’t any signs for Tamarindo until after you cross the friendship bridge. If you have a long flight or land at night however, I do recommend instead staying the night in San Jose and driving the next day so you won’t be so tired since it’s a long drive and it’s a bit dangerous at night if you don’t know where you’re going because there is not too many towns between San Jose and tamarindo.
Jennifer says
We are going to Jaco. Should we rent a car for that distance? Is there an airport tax for cars rented from the airport? Thank you
Elaine says
Hi visiting CR with my daughter in March. I think we do not want to rent a car but use the shared shuttles. We are going from San Jose to Arenal, spent three days there then travel to Manuel Antonio, spent three days there and then back to San Jose. Questions are does this seem reasonable for getting around and should we book shuttles ahead of time? Thanks for your help, enjoy all of your advice on visiting Costa Rica very helpful!
Tony says
Hi,
I’m so glad I stumbled upon your blog, it’s so helpful!
We are planning our trip to Costa Rica from 5/27 to 6/6 for 4 people (2 adults and 2 kids, 14 and 10). Taking out the arrival and departure date, we have 9 full days (flying in and out of San Jose).
We are planning to visit Puerto Viejo first, then Arenal/La Fortuna, Monteverde and Manuel Antonio ( no particular order).
Do you think:
1. we need a regular sedan or a 4×4 SUV? any suggestions?
2. is our itinerary to aggressive or feasible (average 2 days a place).
3. to visit all 4 places, what order do you recommend?
Thanks in advance.
Tony
Sammi says
It is recommended to have at least a 4×2 for the road to Monteverde as the road is pretty bumpy. We have seen sedans but it’s not very comfortable and you’d need to go quite slow so it’s up to you. You can do that itinerary but 2 days in each place is pretty short, plus all of those places are pretty far apart, it’s at least a 3-4 hour drive to all those destinations except San Jose to Manuel Antonio is 2 hours but honestly, you won’t be able to really enjoy too much I think because the driving is so long so I would take out one destination, maybe Monteverde since it’s similar to Arenal. If you look at all those destinations on the map, you’ll see that there isn’t a straight route from all those destinations, you could first do San Jose to Puerto Viejo, then spend a night in San Jose on the travel day back, then next day travel to Manuel Antonio, and then finally Arenal. Manuel Antonio to ARenal is around 5 hours and Arenal to San Jose is 3.5 hours so either way you go, you’ll be driving a lot.
Tony says
Thanks so much for the advice. I’ll take Monteverde out.
Sorry for the question, but what’s the difference between 4×2 and a sedan? Other than 4×4, aren’t all other cars 4×2?
yeison says
Hi! Tony there are some SUV’s that are not 4×4 they are high cars but they do not have “traction” on all the wheels and we call them 4×2 it stands for 4 wheels but just 2 with traction, all the Adobe sedans are 4×2 as well but when it comes to car rental if you see a SUV 4×2 it means that they are not 4×4 this is the mean reason why they are very clear on the 4×4 or 4×2 only on SUVs. For example Adobe havs Hyundai Cretas a mid size SUV without 4×4 so they put the 4×2 to let the client knows. I hope this is clear if not please let us know
Tony says
Thanks, Yeison. That clears up my confusion.
As for the itinerary that Sammi recommended “you could first do San Jose to Puerto Viejo, then spend a night in San Jose on the travel day back, then next day travel to Manuel Antonio, and then finally Arenal”, is it possible to get from Puerto Viejo to Manuel Antonio directly, without stopping at San Jose? Or it’s too long of a drive?
Sammi says
You technically could if you wanted to, but it’s about an 8 hour drive. Most people stay in San Jose for one night as a stop over because it’s just too long of a drive. And then Manuel Antonio to ARenal is around a 5-6 hour drive, most people just spend one whole day driving and stopping at different places to enjoy the drive. I highly recommend having a smartphone with data to use the GPS app Waze to help get around.
yeison says
Hi! In regards to your questions both beaches are nice and each one has their own “flavor”, here is some information about both places that might help you decide where to go: Playa Conchal. The roads are ok there is a 15-20 kilometers gravel section in the way to Monteverde but after that everything is good.
Desaree says
Hello,
I love your blog it has been very helpful in planning my trip to Costa Rica!
Two friends and I will be traveling to Costa Rica in June. We are planning on arriving in San Jose and then going to Arena for a few days, then to Monteverdi a few days and either Manuel Antonio or Playa Conceal ( we aren’t sure where we are flying out of just yet SJO or LIR). Which of these two beach areas would be better?
As for transportation, how are the roads between these locations ? We aren’t sure if we want to drive. Are there any shuttle transportation companies that you can recommend that can get us between these locations?
Sammi says
Hi Katrina, either option is fine. There are many car rental companies in Fortuna so you can pick up and drop off a rental car there if you don’t want to drive in San Jose once you land. A private van service isn’t cheap but it is pretty comfortable and efficient, let us know if you’d like recommendations for transfer companies as we work with a couple in Costa Rica. As for other adventures, here is our post on things to do in Fortuna/arenal: Things to do in Arenal and La Fortuna
Katrina says
Thank you for providing great information? Thinking of renting a house in La Fortuna for a week. Is it better to take a private van service from the airport and once at the house rent a car ourselves?
Other than ATV rentals can you recommend any other off road adventures?
Clinton says
Hi,
Thank you for the very good information.
Beform making my reservation with Adobe, I would like to know if a 4X4 would be necessary for the following itinerary :
1 – San Jose Airport to La Fortune
2 – La Fortune to Montaverde (In Montaverde we will be going to a ziplining place)
3 – Montaverde to Jaco
4 – Jaco to Manuel Antonio
Thanks you so much in advance!
yeison says
Hello Clinton,
Having a mid size SUV or a full size 4×4 SUV it´s always nice in Costa Rica, we have many gravel roads in most of the touristic destinations and the roads are not as the roads in the USA/Canada. It also depends of how many people are traveling and luggage this because of the weight and you own comfort.
For a party of 2 a sedan like the Hyundai accent or Elantra will be fine for all the destinations, you will find some gravel sections going to to Monterver and in La Fortuna Area specially if you are planning to visit the Arenal volcano but if you go slow you will be fine. Jaco and Manuel Antonio are fine for a sedan too. Now if you are traveling with more than 1 person a mid size SUV like the Hyundai Creta will be better because it has a bigger engine and more space inside the cabin. For families with kids I would recommend a Tucson or Santa Fe it will way more comfortable for all the members of the family.
I hope my answers help you and please let me know if you have any questions.
yeison says
Hello Marie!
The road from Liberia to La fortunes its very nice it’s actually one of our favorite ones. In this article you can read all you need to know about it: Driving Guanacaste to ARenal Enjoy your vacations!
Marie Dubois says
This site is excellent advice. Thank you so much. I am arriving at Liberia airport Feb 7 for 2 weeks. We (2 people in 60’s) to rent a car and travel around La Fortuna for 3 days before heading to the Pacific beaches.
Can you tell us how the road is from Liberia to Arenal/La Fortuna please?
Heather says
Hi there,
First off, this blog has been a truly amazing resource for us as we plan our trip to CR for February 13-20th, and I love the deal with the car rental – I totally almost fell victim to the $9/day “deal” online…saves me a lot of headache when I arrive (especially not speaking spanish).
So, I’ve tried to read your previous responses to answer a lot of questions; but our plan is to fly into Liberia, pick up our car and spend the night (we get in around 7pm). Drive to Monteverde for a couple days and then drive from there to Tamarindo where we’d drop the car off and be without a car for the last 4 days. So…questions…does that make sense (lol)? – mostly being without a car in Tamarindo and getting back to Liberia to fly out? Seems like there’s a lot to do right in Tamarindo and we can walk or take buses to things, right?
What’s the best way to get from Tamarindo to the airport?
Could we do this trip in a “regular” car or do we need a 4 X 4 for our route?
Thanks in advance – you’re doing a great job educating this completely lost Canadian!
Heather
yeison says
Hi Heather! Your planning is very good and yes you will be fine without a car in Tamarindo, there are Shuttles for the nearby beaches like Avellanas or playa grande if you would like to check them out and if I am not mistaken they charge $6 per way and they go 3 times a day. There are a huge selection of tours you can do in Tamarindo, I personally like the ATV tour because they take you to a very nice beach call conchal (let us know if you would like to book some tours we can recommend you our favorite companies) there lots of restaurants and things to do in town.
Then the best way to get from Tamarindo to the airport is by a share shuttle they charge $20 per person and they go like 5 times a day I use it everytime its better than take a taxi, For your trip I would recommend you a mid size SUV if you can like Hyundai Creta I don’t have many people are you traveling with but a normal sedan with 4 people going to Monteverde it’s not the best option, I mean you will make it but in some section you will have to go very slow, for 2 people there will be “fine” but if you can pay a little more I would go for the mid size SUV.
I am glad this blog is helping you we love canadians here (well everyone) very nice and friendly people 🙂 have a great day and let us know if you have any questions.
Heather says
Thank you so much for your detailed reply!
Alison says
This is very helpful! I’m looking to rent a car and go from San Jose -> Arenal -> Sugar Beach. Do you think a 4×4 is necessary? I saw you answered others about the good roads in Arenal but do you know about the roads from Arenal to Sugar beach? Thank you so much! I really enjoy your blog!
Sammi says
If you go to Sugar Beach via Flamingo/Portrero road, it should be fine. We took the crazy monkey road from Coco through Playa Danta to Sugar Beach and that was an insane road so I definitely don’t recommend going that way. Going via Flamingo is faster anyways and is paved.
EVELYN BLOOM says
We are flying into FON on February 2, staying at Hotel Silencio el camp. We wanted to do a day pass at Tabacon or one of the spas. After reading how expensive taxi’s are just to get from airport to hotel, and between spas we are looking at renting a car and came across your very generous offer at Adobe. Two questions: 1. do we really need a 4wd and does Adobe pick us up at the airport or is there an extra charge? This is our first trip to Costa Rica. We are flying to Manuel Atonio on Jan 24th (4 nigthts), plan to take bus to Domonica for a day. Then we bus to Jaco (staying at Punta Leion 2 nites), water taxi/shuttle to Mal Pais for 3 nights (Hotel Oasis), then fly to FON on Feb 02. Any comments are appreciated. Thank you for ALL the information you share.
Sammi says
Hi Evelyn, I’m glad you found our blog and thanks for reading! You don’t need a 4wd in Arenal, the roads there are paved and even the unpaved road to the national park is not that bad. The road from Hotel Silencio to Tabacon is on a nice paved road. When you land, Adobe has a free shuttle and they can also bring the car to the Fortuna airport so you don’t have to go all the way into town to their office if you don’t want to. If you’d like the car at the Fortuna airport when you land, you just need to write in the comments when you make your reservation that you’d like to pick the car up there.
Sammi says
Hi, all those roads are paved except for the South Pacific/Corcovado National Park areas. The road from San Jose all the way down south is paved, but depending on where you are staying in Uvita, you may need a 4×4 because many of the hotels are up in the hills with unpaved, steep roads. I recommend checking with your hotel, they usually post on their website if a 4×4 is required or you can email them. And depending on where on the Osa Peninsula you’re staying, you may need a 4×4 too. There are several different ranger stations in Corcovado National Park since it is huge so it depends if you’re visiting from the east side where the town Puerto Jimenez is or if you’re going to the west to Drake Bay. I’d check with your hotel.
You can choose to get the car at the airport or at the office, we work with Adobe Rent a Car, a local Costa Rican car rental agency and we offer some great discounts and extras to our readers you can check out here: Costa Rica car rental discount They have a free shuttle to and from the airport to their office.
Davis says
Hi Guys,
First, just want to say that you guys and your site are awesome! Sooo, my wife, her parents and I (4 adults and our luggage) will be in CR for 2 weeks in mid Jan. I was hoping to get your expert advice on the car suggestions (4×4, make, model, etc.) if we plan on going to the following places:
-Provincia de Alajuela
– Poa Volcano
– La Paz waterfall
– Jaco beach
– Playa Mantas, Carara National park
– Nauyaca waterfall
– Marino Ballena National park
– Uvita
– Corcovado National park
– Manuel Antonio
Also, we’ll be arriving at the airport in San Jose, so would the car rental be at the airport or would we have to take a shuttle/bus to rental place? Any companies you can recommend?
Thank you in advance for helping out! It’s our first time and we plan to explore (aka drive everywhere) as much as possible.
Best,
Davis
Trevor says
Hello,
Two of us will be traveling in Costa Rica from March 10-20, 2017. We are landing in San Jose on March 10 at 9:00pm. We will be traveling to Alajuela, Arenal, Monteverde, Jaco and the coast to Manuel Antonio.
The Adobe site shows that they close at 7:00pm. Is there anyway that we can get a vehicle that night?
Which type of vehicle should we rent to travel to these places?
Thank you!
yeison says
Hello Trevor,
Thank you for reading our blog, Adobe will stay waiting until the last client arrives so no worry about that then I would recommend you a Mid SUV like a Hyundai Creta or a Hyundai Tucson for your plans, you will find some gravel roads in the way to Monteverde and if you want to go to the Arenal Volcano national park you will the road is gravel too. For all the rest of the destination a sedan will be fine. Please let us know if have any questions.
Ken Walden says
Hello,
My group of 6 would like to rent a Hyundai Grand Santa Fe 4×4 through you for Jan 5 through Jan 11, 2017. If we rent a car through your website can you tell me if there is a cancellation policy in case i can’t get all 6 on board?
Thank you
yeison says
Hello Ken!
Thank you for reading our blog, I will put a note on the reservation that you need to check the car upon arrival, also I will send you a detail description of the Hyundai Santa Fe 4×4. Please email us your confirmation number once you have it so I can put the note and talk to the office manager our email is on our contact page. Please let us know if you have more questions
Vivi says
Hi Sammi,
According to you experience, do I need a 4×4 or 4×2 car to drive all itinerary below?
SJO – FORTUNA – TENORIO – TAMARINDO – MONTEVERDE – QUEPOS – SJO
Is there any difference betwen Suzuki Jimnys or they are all the same?
Thanks in advance 🙂
Sammi says
Hi Vivi, I recommend getting at least a 4×2 for Tenorio, they say it is also better for MOnteverde too since that road is really bumpy. It would be way more comfortable in a 4×2. ALl the Suzuki Jimny’s should be the same, and that is a good car for 2 people with small luggage.
Sammi says
Hi Blaine! We have a bunch of articles that will help answer your questions.
Here are our favorite beaches in Guanacaste that are around Coco all the way down to Nosara: Best beaches in Guanacaste.
The road from Guanacaste to Arenal is well paved, you can see what it’s like in this post: Driving Guanacaste to ARenal
And if you go down to Nosara, the road is well paved except for a short stretch towards the end at Nosara. You won’t need a 4×4 though, the road is not that bad.
And you can read about road conditions in this post: Costa Rica car rental tips
Then for snorkeling, the GUlf of Papagayo has some great snorkeling spots but are only reachable by boat. You can take a snorkel cruise/tour, we love doing that which you can read about here: Playas del Coco boating
And scuba diving is excellent out of Coco too. Rich Coast Diving is Padi certified and they do trips out to Bat Islands and local dive spots.
Blaine says
Hi guys, Thanks so much for all of your input. It is very helpful. My wife and I are flying in to Liberia on Jan.24th. We plan to rent a car for 2 week as we are staying in Playa Del Coco for 7 days, 3 days in Taramindo and 3 days in Nosara. Our first 7 days in Playa Del Coco first and then we are flexible for the last 6 days as far as where we stay. We may want to make a day trip to Arenal. Any recommendations on how we should book our itinerary to stay on the best roads. Would we need a 4x 2 or 4 x 4. What beaches do you highly recommend we visit from Playa Del Coco to Nosara. Is there any good places to scuba or snorkel? Thanks a bunch!
yeison says
Hello Pam,
Thanks for reading our blog!
The best full cover insurance we know is the SSP plan from Adobe rent a car, we have this helpful article about car insurances that you might find useful: Costa Rica car rental insurance and if you would like to check our special rates and benefits you can check them out here: Costa Rica car rental discount
Also if you are landing at 1:35Pm you might be getting out of the airport around 2:10 pm and then add another 30 to 45 minutes to pick up the car so in the best case scenario you will be departing around 3PM to Arenal the whole drive might take you 3 to 4 hours depends of traffic and it gets dark around 5:45 PM everyday so you might have to drive a little bit during the night. This article describes the drive from the airport to Arenal: Driving Guanacaste to ARenal
Pam says
Thanks – we have already spent quite a bit of time on your website and others looking at the drive. My husband just found out from our personal insurance agent that we have umbrella coverage that would cover liability anywhere in the world, so we shouldn’t need the supplemental through adobe. I really appreciate the pictures of the roads! Do you think we are foolish to attempt the drive at this time of day? When we booked the flight I was thinking the drive was more like 2-2.5 hours to Arenal. We already have our hotel booked for the 5th (Volcano lodge and springs) so kind of have to get there that night one way or another. I’m not sure what we will do if our flight would be an hour or 2 late…We will also have a not fun drive on our day of departure. We are driving from Manuela Antonio to catch 2:25 flight. That is about a 5 hour drive, correct? We should be ok if we leave as soon as there is daylight? (by 6 am at the latest?) Thanks!
Sammi says
Hi Pam, the drive is not that bad from Liberia to Fortuna, it does get windy around the Nuevo Arenal area but go slow and take your time. It gets dark around 6 PM here and it’s about a 4 hour drive. I do recommend getting a sim card and using WAZE so you don’t get lost (the signage on that route is OK, not the best).
Pam says
It looks like we can request airport pickup of our vehicle through adobe to save time??
Sammi says
Hi Pam, yes you can request the car to be dropped off at the airport.
Pam says
Thanks so much for your reply. Do you think we are foolish to try this drive? Can we request car pick up at airport to speed things up a bit? We have our hotel booked at Volcano resort and Springs for Feb 5, so we have to make it there that night one way or another. We had looked at the drive quite a bit before booking flight and hotel, but thought it was closer to 2.5 hours than 3-4. On the way back on the 12th, we have to drive from Manuel Antonio to catch a flight at 2:30. Will we be ok if we leave at 6 am? Thanks!
Sammi says
Manuel Antonio to Liberia is about a 5 hour drive, I personally wouldn’t drive on the same day as my flight just because it’d be very tiring and you never know what can happen on the raod so for myself, I would drive back the night before.
Dave says
Pam – are you staying at the Volcano Lodge and Springs? If so, I literally did the same trip you just took about two weeks ago. Our flight (from Atlanta) landed about 1:30pm.
First of all, bring an unlocked cell phone, buy a SIM card at the airport and have WaZe installed. You can literally get anywhere you’re going.
The drive was totally fine. It was more like 3 hours for us and we got there before dark and were able to check-in and enjoy some hot springs before dinner.
I had Adobe bring the car to the airport. They met us just outside the terminal and had a sign with my name on it. There is a lot of construction on the road near their main office so they brought the car to the airport and we signed the papers in the parking lot. They gave us a few bottles of cold water and we were off. The Adobe guys spoke excellent English, were super helpful and friendly, and were there as soon as we stepped off the plane. I was nervous (first time renting a car in CR) but I’d absolutely use them again.
One tip: once you leave the main terminal area you’ll be in the lobby where the taxi drivers are. If you look to your left (inside the airport) you’ll see the Frog mascot of Kolbi cellular. For $20 I got a sim card with 2 gigabytes of data which was MORE than enough for a week of GPS and driving and emailing pictures back home. I can’t stress enough how important WaZe (or a GPS from the rental company) is.
Pura Vida!
Pam says
We have our flights and lodging booked for costa rica for Feb 5-12, but have yet to book car rental. We are leaning toward getting the supplemental insurance just for piece of mind. Do you recommend this? Is there any other travel insurance we could get that would cover liability of other vehicles if we were in an accident? We have been looking, but haven’t found this. Also, our flight lands in Liberia on Feb 5 at 1:35 pm and we hope to immediately drive to Arenal so we can arrive before dark. If our flight would be delayed and we cannot drive that evening, would we be able to book a private driver last minute and pick up our car in la Fortuna the next day? Thanks!
Mike says
Looking to rent from 11/25-12/1. How much per day is the Wi-Fi hot spot? That would be a great bonus!
Sammi says
Hi Mike! It’s $10 per day and then after 10 days it is for free with the Mytanfeet promotion 🙂
Mike O says
Great, thank you!
I reserved today but accidentally forgot to use your promo 🙁 🙁
I immediately followed up the confirmation email with an email of my own saying I wanted to use the “MY TAN FEET” fare so that we could take advantage of the 2nd driver discount and GPS discount. I asked if it’s too late to cancel since we arrive in 3 days, but all I’m trying to do is change the “promo” – I haven’t heard back from them yet.
Sammi says
Hi Mike! No problem, can you email us your reservation number and we’ll sent it to our Adobe representative to modify it and make sure you get the benefits. You can email us on our contact page
Andrea Johnson says
Hi Samantha,
We have booked all of our travel and the car rental is the last thing to book and I have read a lot of terrible reviews about renting a car in Costa Rica and then came along your blog and though I would give a local company a try instead and especially if the price given was the final price. I dhope feel like we need a 4×4 with where we are going and when I looked only had the option of a 4×2 manual. We prefer a 4×4 that is automatic is this something you can help with? We are flying into San Jose on 12/21/2016 and leaving on 12/28/2016. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Andy
Sammi says
Hi Andy! I’ll email Adobe and check to see if there is a 4×4 automatic, however car rentals are going super fast for Christmas/New Years and many cars are already reserved. I’ll shoot you an email once I find out!
Andy says
Awesome! Thanks so much for the quick response and help! Your blog has been super helpful in planning a much needed vacation!
Thanks,
Andy
Sammi says
You’re welcome! Glad to hear that! 🙂
Pedro says
Hello Sammi, great blog I always recommend to my friends and customer… keep writing and keep enjoying Costa Rica. Pura vida. Pedro
Sammi says
Thanks Pedro!
Heather H says
Hi there 🙂 Thanks so much for the info!
My mom, best friend and I are planning a trip 12/10-16 to CR, in and out of SJO. Planning to drive to Arenal/La Fortuna and then to Guanecaste via Rio Celeste. Do you think we will need a 4×4?
I was looking on the adobe site and I’m getting the same price via your discount link as I am without. Is the discount still available?
I appreciate your info!
Heather
Sammi says
Hi Heather! Did you try to clear your cookies? I’ll send an email to Adobe first thing tomorrow and get you a quote for some cars, I do recommend a 4×4 to Rio Celeste as that road is pretty bumpy but the road from San JOse to Arenal is nicely paved and then from Bijagua once you get onto the main highway is very nice. You can probably just get a 4×2 for the road from Tenorio Volcano National Park because by around December, it is the beginning of dry season. Look for an email from us soon!
Frank says
Hi, Great bog! My girlfriend and I are planning a trip to CR in late November. Based on your recommendation, we booked a 4×4 from Adobe. We are arriving late at night San Juan, so will head to the hotel. Do you know if Adobe can bring the car to the hotel in the morning? Also, is their quote during the reservation, the final amount one pays or do they add further charges and taxes on the total? Thanks.
Sammi says
Hi Frank! Yes you can make a comment in the note section and ask if they can deliver the car to the hotel – if it’s within a certain distance they can do it complimentary but if it is far, there may be an extra charge. What you see for the final quote on the reservation is the total, no hidden fees or extra taxes.
Sammi says
Hi Roisin! I think you’ll be fine with a smaller car and then a bigger one before your brothers come. You can visit lots of beaches around Hermosa that are a short drive away and don’t require a 4×4. But definitely when your brothers come, it’ll be necessary to get a big car and you may travel further with them. I do highly highly recommend renting a car ASAP because cars are going super fast and many places have already rented out most of their fleet for Christmas and New Years since that is peak season. We have a promotion for car rentals that is super helpful! You can get it here: Costa Rica car rental discount
And if you find there are no cars you want for your dates, feel free to email us and let us know, we can help you figure something out!
Roisin Tankink says
Hi there,
We have rented a home in Playa Hermosa for the month of December. We will be primarily travelling with our two kids, age 1 and 8 – to beaches and parks in the area. Then my two adult brothers are joining us for the week of Christmas. Would you recommend renting a smaller car for the first three weeks then a 7 passenger when they arrive – or just bite the bullet and rent a bigger vehicle for the whole month. Do you think we would benefit from a 4X4 to explore that area, not sure how adventurous we will be with the baby along!?! thank you 🙂
Sammi says
Hi Delmy, you can get a quote or make a reservation on this page: Costa Rica car rental discount the final quote includes basic mandatory insurance and you can select which car you’d like.
Delmy says
Hi
Could you please let me know how much will cost me to rent a car for seven people with insurance included, air condition, automatic, 4×4 ? No hiding fee.
Thank you,
Delmy
Rey Santos says
Hi Sammi & Yeison, I am getting the exact same price booking a car (tried 3 different ones) directly on Adobe’s website as I get on mytanfeet’s widget. Is there a specific reason, date, or am I doing something wrong?
Location SJO, dates 12-22 November 2016, looking for a manual 4×2 or 4×4
Thanks,
Rey
PS: Your blogs and CR info and tips are awesome!
Sammi says
Hi Rey! I am so sorry for the inconvenience, Adobe is updating their widget and prices may not have changed yet. I have sent you an email regarding the car rental reservation and you should hear back from Adobe very soon. Again I apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for reading our blog!
Sammi says
Hi,
I would say that’s way too short of time to do all of that unless you’re OK with spending literally 1 day in each location which isn’t fun at all. You can do San Jose to Irazu as a day trip, San JOse to Poas as another day trip, Poas to Arenal can be one or two days, you can see Tenorio in one day from Arenal, and then you can spend a couple days in Monteverde. Then to Manuel ANtonio is like a 4 hour drive, then Manuel Antonio to LIberia is like 5 hour drive so there’s not really any way to do all that in 10 days and enjoy it. And it’s true, the roads get worse in rainy season and a few of those routes are quite long. Some of them are paved such as Manuel Antonio to Liberia and back to San JOse, so you won’t necessarily need a 4×4 but the roads up to Tenorio is very bad, to Monteverde is bad (depending which one you take) so you will need a 4×4 for those.
Mario says
Hey Sammi,
Me and my gf are going to Costa Rica this November and planned to rent a car.
Our first plan would include the following roadtrips
San Jose to Volcan Irazu
San Jose to Volcan Poas
Volcan Poas to Volcan Arenal
Volcan Arenal to Tenorio Volcano National Park
than to Monteverde and from there may be down to Manuel Antonio or north to Liberia and give back the car there to fly back to San Jose.
First of all is it doable in lets say 8-10 days? We have 2 weeks in total but would like to relax 3 -4 days at the beach.
We are also open for any suggestions – may be the carribbean side is more likely to have nice weather that time of year for the last 4 days (end november)?
Also my concern is now, since our trip is during or right after the rain season, that the roads might be in bad condition.
How is the situation actually around that time of the year – are those paved roads or do we need 4×4 for our trip?
Thanks a lot!
Mario
Kimee says
Hi there!
Great blog! There’s so much information!
My boyfriend and I are going to be traveling to Costa Rica at the beginning of October. We were thinking of renting a vehicle for 2 weeks while we did Monteverde, the Nicoya Peninsula and over to the Pacific coast, Playa Ostional and other beaches to hopefully see turtles.
We were also wanting to stick a mattress or foamies in the back and just sleep in the vehicle instead of bothering with hostels. Would this be okay? Or would you recommend against it? What size of vehicle would we need? (Obviously one where the back seats fold down fully.)
Any help you can provide would be much appreciated! Thanks so much!
Sammi says
Hi Kimee!
Honestly, I don’t recommend using a mattress and sleeping in the car. First, a mattress wouldn’t fit and renting a car that would fit like a SUV or even a H1 is super expensive and it would cost even more than if you stayed in hotels. And it’s not always safe to sleep in your car here since it’s not normal in Costa Rica… I recommend just renting a normal sedan or the smaller i10 sedans which are cheaper and staying in hostels, in October you can find beds for as low as $10 a night since it’s low season right now. But I do recommend renting at least a 4×2 because you’ll need it for the roads to Monteverde and the Ostional, the roads there are pretty bad and during rainy season the rivers get super full and you might have to cross some. So basically, it’s not recommended to sleep in your car and you’ll need to rent a least a 4×2 SUV for those routes because of the bad roads and rainy weather conditions. October is our rainiest month so do be prepared for rain.
yeison says
Hi! I would highly recommend you to get at least a SUV 4×2 you can check our rates here: Costa Rica car rental discount
Barb says
We would like to drive from Samara down to the Malpais area. Will we be OK in a sedan or do we require an SUV 4×2 or 4×4? Are the beaches of Santa Theresa, Montezuma, etc accessible with a sedan?
Leo says
Hi,
How much (average) does it cost to fill up a 4 cylinder tank with current (2016) gas prices ? Also, does Adobe rentals require to return the rental car with a full tank as most rental agencies?
yeison says
Hi Leo, a full tank for a 4 cylinder can go from $35 to $40 and Adobe will ask you to return the full at the same level you got it, and it is usually full other wise they will charge you some fees.
yeison says
Hi Paul, The best company we know is Adobe and the car you need is the Hyundai H1 I think this car will work great for you guys if you would like to you can check the rates here Costa Rica car rental discount./ Let us know if you have any questions, we also have a friend that takes people to witches Rock and Ollie’s point
Paul says
Here is a question!
Do you know the best place to rent a minivan, or van that could hold 6 guys, luggage, and boards? Does that even exist?
Thanks!
Paul
Eric Martin says
Hi Sammi – Adobe did respond to my email and basically said the same as you, and I called and we’re all set! So far I’m impressed with them. I’m sure my traveling companion will have a question or two — she’s the one doing all the planning — so I will likely get back with you soon. Thanks again.
Sammi says
That’s great to hear!
Eric Martin says
Hello and thanks for the response. I actually just used your discount agreement and reserved a 4×4 Tuscon with Adobe, thank you for that service — the cost was a fair amount less than it would be by going direct through their site. Is it unusual that we got the Reservation Confirmation and Number but there was no mention of making a payment or even a request for credit card information for a deposit? I emailed Adobe but I don’t know if/when to expect a reply.
Sammi says
Hi Eric, that’s so great to hear! That’s our goal, to help travelers save money 🙂 As for the reservation, Adobe will email back for a request of cc information or you can do it right now to get it done but your reservation is confirmed. Let us know if you have other questions!
Eric Martin says
Hello and thank you for all the information, and I’m glad it looks like you’re still responding to questions! In a few weeks I’m going to CR with a friend for the first time. Here is a brief rundown of our expected travels (please forgive misspellings). Do you think it looks OK for a compact car? San Juan Airport to Poas Volcano National Park to Arenal Volcano National Park to Rincon de la Vieja National Park to Tarcoles Bridge to Jaco Laguna Resort & Beach Club to Manuel Antonio National Park to Turrialba back to the airport. We don’t intent to do any off-road traveling (at least not on purpose).
yeison says
Hi Eric Thanks for reading our blog, If I were you I would get a little more bigger like a sedan there are a lot of hills going to the Poas Volcano and I will not recommend to go with a compact car to the Rincon de la Vieja Volcano, I mean you can go but you will have to go very slow. If you would like to we can get a quote for you for different models just email us on our Contact page, have a good day
Carolee says
Hello; your website is so helpful, thank you! I am trying to make a car rental reservation through you and would just like a little clarification. I can’t find the place on the referral to provide the information for the 2nd and 3rd driver. I would like to be able to have all of that completed before I arrive, is that possible? Also, I made a quote, does that mean I am reserved but not paid? Thanks!
Sammi says
Hi Carolee, please put in the comment section the information for the 2nd and 3rd driver. If you made a quote, you haven’t made a reservation yet so you will need to confirm the quote in order to reserve.
Sammi says
Hi Jeff, yes a small car like the Hyundai i10 will be fine. Those routes have all nice paved roads so there is no need for a SUV or 4×4. The Hyundai i10 is perfect for two people and small luggage. We drove a small sedan from Coco to La Fortuna many times before. Also the route from Arenal to Guanacaste is one of our favorites, it is really beautiful so renting a car will let you stop when you want to enjoy the views and drive. You can see more about that route here: Driving Guanacaste to ARenal
Jeff C. says
Hi Sammi,
Thank you for your suggestions. We decided to make reservations with Adobe rent a car using the offer in your blog. We are excited to travel in December!
Sammi says
That’s awesome and glad we could help!! 🙂
Jeff C. says
Hi,
We just found your blog and want to thank you for all of the helpful information you have! It has been a pleasure reading your blogs.
My girlfriend and I will be traveling to Costa Rica in late December. We are staying in La Fortuna for several days and then traveling to Playas del Coco for the remainder of our trip. We are still deciding whether or not we should rent a vehicle, but renting seems to be the most cost effective and most flexible. Our current itinerary is LIR- Arenal/La Fortuna – Playas del Coco – LIR. Do you think a small car, such as a Hyundai i10, is okay for this trip? We are only traveling with one carry-on each so we do not need a lot of space. We appreciate any feedback you can give us. Thank you!
yeison says
Hello Emily, if you ask me the best option is a H1 Van, you will have plenty of space for everyone and the luggage, the H1 is the most used tourism van and you see them all over the places you are going to visit. We have many benefits for our readers and a discounted rate that you can check on this link: Costa Rica car rental discount.
Emily says
Hi- thank you so much for all this great information. We are planning 6 people from San Jose, to Sarapiqui, to Arenal, to Monteverde, to Rincon de la Vieja staying at Anita Rainforest Ranch and visiting Sensorio, and then to Samara and leaving from Liberia. Do we need a 4×4? I’d like to get a van for everyone to be more comfortable but want to make sure all those roads would be ok for that.
richie hullings says
Ill be down there august 14-20th. How are road conditions then? I’d be going from san jose stopping in arenal, la fortuna waterfall, on my way to guancaste and if i have time going by nicoya peninsula. What do you recommend that I get?
Sammi says
Hi Richie, you can read in the post what kind of car we took for Arenal, Guanacaste and Nicoya Peninsula routes. My only suggestion is depending on which route you take to the Nicoya Peninsula, to get at least a 4X2 especially in rainy season. But if you’re taking the paved road route, you won’t necessarily need it. The roads in Santa Teresa/Mal Pais are not paved.
yeison says
Hello Victor, it will be definitely cheaper and more convenient for your family to rent a car, shuttles are expensive here and at the end you will pay more by buying individual shuttles for the family for all the destinations you want to go than renting a car, also once you are in the areas you want to go you will have to use taxis to move around and they aren’t cheap neither. So if you can it will be better and you will enjoy more, we see hundreds of North Americans driving around here without problem.
You can check our rent a car special right now is one of the best deals you can find here: Costa Rica car rental discount Regarding your last question our favorite snorkeling place is the Caño Island it is located in the south pacific Cano Island snorkeling. Enjoy your vacations and thanks for reading our blog have a good night!
Victor Colbert says
Hello,
My wife and I are traveling with 2 teenagers to CR for the first time in early June. We are arriving at SJO and staying in Atenas. We plan on taking a few day trips to La Fortuna, Jaco and Manuel Antonio National Park. Do you recommend a rental car? Also, any recommendations on best snorkeling on the Pacific side of CR?
yeison says
Hello Karina, you can read this article about the Costa Rica weather: Costa Rica weather. I will definitely rent a car for two reasons it is way mo cheaper than shuttles and public transportation is not the best on tourist areas the roads are on good conditions and you can even get a small sedan the Hyundai i10 is a cheap option and all our readers get special rates and benefits. I hope you and your boyfriend have an amazing time in Costa Rica.
karina says
Hello I will be in Costa Rica for the first time with my boyfriend in July, do you know how the weather is like? Also we will be arriving in san jose airport and then driving to Jaco beach from Jaco we are going to Manuel national park back to san jose and then to Arenal. Do you recommend renting a car? or going on the shuttle? how are the roads? also do you know where is the best place to go ziplining? and the best waterfalls and beaches in Costa Rica?
yeison says
Hello Anaise, I am happy you enjoy the blog and the benefits on our rent a car deal. In regards to your questions if you are planing to go to Rincon de la Vieja its better to have a SUV it could be a 4×2 but the road is not the best many people go on a Sedan but its not very conformable, there are many accessible beaches around Nosara you can go to some of them with a sedan. Adobe is 100% reliable no worries if you rent an automatic you will get an automatic and if just by a weird case something happen just email us and we will take care of the situation, we are a very good relation and they know our readers are #1 priority.
Anaise says
THANK YOU for putting together this AMAZING blog! I am also looking for advice as I am arriving in Liberia 5/27-6/4 (first time in Costa Rica) and will be traveling to a beach near Nosara that day (I arrive at about 1pm). I’d like use the car to visit neighbouring beaches during my stay (over 7 days) and then will drive up to Rincon de la Vieja for the last 2 days. My question is do you think I need to rent a 4×4? Also can you recommend beaches nearby Nosara or on the way from Liberia airport that are easy to access? If driving a sedan would be acceptable, can you let me know which beaches are best accessible by sedan? Finally, is Adobe reliable if I need to be able to drive an automatic transmission, can they guarantee my rental vs only manual being available when i get there? Any other tips would be helpful, as I’m a female traveling alone for this trip. Also what is the typical mileage per tank on a mini SUV? I’m heading to the Adobe website now. Thank you!
yeison says
Hello Marissa! Customs in Liberia is very quick it usually takes not longer than 30 minutes to get out of the airport. Then it takes around 4 hours to drive it depends where you go this article will help you: Driving Guanacaste to Arenal
Then just keep on mind that here gets dark every day by 6 pm. Don’t forget to check our our rent a car special here: Costa Rica car rental discount
Marissa says
Hi! Not sure if you’ve been asked about this already. But this will be our first time in Costa Rica and are so excited. We’re coming 1st week of July. Our flight arrives at 2pm but with customs and all other airport hassles we’re giving it another hour or 2 by the time we may get on the road. Do you think it’s ok to drive from Liberia to Arenal at that time. We’ll probably still be driving way after the sun sets. Thanks. You guys are awesome!
Aeri says
Hi!
Your blogs have been so helpful with planning my trip!!! But I have another question: We plan on driving from LIR airport to Arenal, then Arenal to Tamarindo area, then back to LIR. Do you think we need to rent a 4×4?
I read that you guys were in a sedan from Guanacaste to Arenal, but now I’m concerned with the roads to Tamarindo and from Tamarindo to LIR.
We will be in Costa Rica at the end of July/beginning of August.
Thank you!!!
Sammi says
Hi Aeri, the road from Tamarindo to LIR is normal – nice and paved. No need for a 4×4.
yeison says
Hi Jill thank you for reading our blog, the road from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio has some good and bad sections specially close to Monteverde that usually warrants a 4×4. You are right about the car rentals, there no offices in Monteverde. We do have a car rental discount you can check out to get 10-25% off and other freebies: Costa Rica car rental discount
Jill says
Hi,
We will be traveling from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio (in June 2016 ) and then eventually up to Liberia Airport to go home. We were going to take a private transport from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio then rent a car in Manuel Antonio and work our way up to Playa Hermosa. Now, I’m wondering if we should just rent a car in Monteverde and drive ourselves to Manuel Antonio then up the coast as planned. What is the drive like from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio. I am also finding it hard to locate a car rental company in Monteverde. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
roger says
Hi,
Lots of great info.
I am coming to CR next week. Will be driving from San Jose to Monteverde then Manuel Antonio and back to San Jose. We won’t be driving around Monteverde, just up to the hotel. 2 adults with little luggage.
Do you think we can do this in a small car or will we need a 4×4?
Thanks!
Sammi says
The road to Monteverde is not good, it’s unpaved for a large portion of it and you have to drive on that road to get to the hotels in Monteverde. They recommend a 4X4 to Monteverde but we have seen sedans make it, albeit very slowly and uncomfortably. If you rent a sedan, drive very carefully and I highly recommend getting the SPP plan just in case especially as it is the transition to rainy season. I don’t know if it has rained in Monteverde but it very well could, and in that case I do recommend getting at least a 4X2.
David Gilhousen says
Thinking of coming to Costa Rica in September to visit La Virgen, Sarapiqui, and then the long drive to Cahuita. If I rent a car at Juan Santamaria, will I need a 4×4 if I travel routes 126, 4, 32, and 36? Other than parking lots, I doubt I’ll travel off these roads.
yeison says
Hi David, roads in Costa Rica are not the best and if you can afford to get a 4×4 it will be great if you can’t check the mid size 4×2 SUV’s, You will be able to drive the roads you mentioned with a sedan but just for you to know in September we usually have lots of rain on the Caribbean side of the country and for safety I always recommend my friends to get the 4×2 mid SUV. Enjoy your trip 🙂
Sammi says
You can read about driving times from Liberia Airport here: Liberia International Airport and about Playa Flamingo here: Playa Flamingo guide . There’s a map of Playa Flamingo on Google Maps so you can see how far it is from Liberia Airport and the drive time.
We have an article with tips for driving from Guanacaste to Arenal with a video of the roads and drive time here: Driving Guanacaste to Arenal
Jamie Goodwin says
Hi! My husband and I are traveling to Costa Rica in two weeks -renting an SUV and staying at the Flamingo Beach Resort (Play Flamingo) the first half of our trip and the Nayara Hotel & Spa the second half. Wondering if you could give us and drive times and tips we’re flying into Liberia. About how long of a drive to the Flamingo is it from there? and the drive back to the airport from Nayara? When should we leave?
yeison says
Hi, first of all we want to wish you a happy birthday! There are lots of canopy tours around Costa Rica and to be honest we haven’t been in the San Luis one. I know that Samantha’s favorite is the one at “Sky trek” in Arenal but the ones in Monteverde are very nice too, to be honest it’s very hard to say which one is the best.
For white water rafting the Río Pacuare is the best we did it with this company: One day Rio Pacuare white water rafting Yes you should go to the Poas volcano if you are already in the area and I feel that the waterfall gardens are too expensive. It will be better if you rent a Mid size SUV.
Jorge says
Hi;
My wife and I are going to Costa Rica from April 1st, arriving at Noon, to the 8th (leaving at 6:00 pm) for my birthday. I definitely want to check out Sarchi, Arenal/Fortuna, Poas/ La Paz Waterfall Gardens and Manuel Antonio. I also want to do a Canopy/zip lining tour and white water rafting. I found a San Luis canopy tour but everyone in your site keeps talking about monte verde. What would you recommend for the canopy tour? What white water rafting tour would you recommend? Should I go to the Poas volcano if I’m already going to La Paz Waterfall Garders and Areal?
Also, could you recommend in what order I should plan the things that I want to do that would be most efficient? How much time should spend in each of the places? Would renting a sedan or hatch back work or do I need a 4×2 SUV?
Thank you!!
Sammi says
Hi Murray, since you’ll be in Guanacaste and you want to hike, I highly recommend going to Rincon de la Vieja National Park. There is excellent hiking there (you can even hike to the summit). Read more about the national park here: Rincon de la Vieja National Park
As for renting a car, I definitely would. Guanacaste has many hidden treasures not accessible by bus. Many beaches and viewpoints are off the beaten path and the buses are not as frequent in this area so it’ll be hard to get around efficiently and to maximize your 5 days in Guanacaste. It’ll also be cheaper than hiring a private shuttle to take you everywhere since things are a bit spread out in Guanacaste. Depending on where you’re staying, transportation to the Rincon de la Vieja National Park is around $60 alone, so renting a car would be much more practical.
If you decide to rent a car, you can get great days with our discount with Adobe to save for your car rental. You can read more about it here: Costa Rica car rental discount We also offer a free 2nd driver, cell phone (for local calls) and 33% off GPS. This way you can explore more of Guanacaste and go to places that aren’t easily accessible.
Murray says
Hi Guys
Great blog. My partner and I have got 5 days in the Guanacaste Province in the beginning of May. Would you recommend getting a rental car for those days…we are keen hikers is there any walks we can do and what other attractions would you recommend?
Sammi says
Hi Peyton, you can certainly pick up a car at one location and return to another. However there is a fee for this and the amount varies depending on how far apart the offices are. On the page with your final car booking, you can see how much the drop off fee is (might be around ~$50).
An economy car would be sufficient for this trip, the road is paved from San Jose to Arenal to Guanacaste (check out Liberia to Guanacaste conditions here) Driving Guanacaste to Arenal . The roads are also paved through La Fortuna town and main roads to the beaches in Guanacaste. The roads in the Arenal Volcano National Park is not paved but it’s not that bad, you can certainly gt by with an economy car to the national park entrance if you go there.
Peyton Wilson says
Hi! My friend and I are heading to Costa Rica for a trip in May. We are flying into San Jose, planning to drive to Arenal for a night, then to the Guanacaste region. We will fly out of Liberia to head back to the states. Does Adobe allow you to pick the car up at one airport and return to another. Also, do you think an economy car would be sufficient or should we get one with 4 wheel drive in case (don’t have the whole trip planned out yet so may make other stops along the way). Thanks so much!
Sammi says
The only roads that aren’t paved are to Monteverde and Rio Celeste. The Monteverde road is pretty rough and it’s bumpy for pretty long but you can get by without a 4X4, though it’d be much more comfortable. A sedan will work, just be careful when driving those roads. And it’s dry season now so you won’t have to worry about heavy rains.
You can check our “driving around Costa Rica” section to see the types of cars available and videos of some of those routes (Tamarindo/Playas del Coco) Driving in Costa Rica videos
Miguel Vargas says
Hello!
Thanks for your post, it is awesome.
I am about to go to CR next weekend for a full week and I was wondering which type of car should I get. My itinerary is from the airport to Tamarindo beach and some others around, like playa del Coco and Flamingo, then I will go all the way up to the border with Nicaragua (we will leave the car there and cross the border line for one day), after comng back the next stop will be Monteverde, then Celeste River and La Fortuna. Then Manuel Antonio and San Jose after that. Another place that we will try to go is Volcan Poas and La paz waterfalls.
We won’t try to do anything crazy or adventurer like driving at the beach, we just want to reach those places. Would you say if a Mini or compact vehicle would work for my plans?
Thanks a lot, I do appreciate your time and your posts.
Braden says
This is a great blog post! Thanks so much!
If I want to drive from San Jose to Playa Flamingo will I be okay with a compact car, or do I need to get a 4×4? Thank you!
Sammi says
You won’t, the road from San Jose to Flamingo is nicely paved and one main road.
Billy says
Jello. We are going to costa rica in march and wanted to rent a car. My concern is that we will be driving from san jose to arenal area. During that day we want to stop and explore some. La paz area etc. As we do so we will have our luggage with us as we will not be ti the hotel until that afternoon. We wanted an suv but am worried that out luggage will be seen by locals and stolen. I have heard this is a big issue. Is there something that you would suggest? I have heard that you can bring bile locks and lock luggage and all zippers eith yhose. Or rent a car with a trunk and never open it . keep everything valuble in back packs on you etc. Any info you have would be greatly appreciated.
Sammi says
Hi Billy, yes unfortunately this is an issue in Costa Rica. It is pretty easy to spot rental cars and who is a tourist and sadly there are people who target tourists who leave their stuff in their car. If you absolutely have to leave your belongings, I’d suggest to definitely buy luggage locks anyways since they are useful (TSA friendly or any lock is fine and just put it on after you reach Costa Rica) Or rearrange your belongings so you carry your valuables with you in your backpacks to La Paz and leave the rest in the trunk and don’t open it until you get to the hotel. It’s best to take every precaution you can because it only takes a minute for thieves to get in and out and unfortunately, it’s not a rare thing to happen here.
Sammi says
All readers who book a car through Mytanfeet will automatically receive a 2nd driver and free cell phone. It’s already included in the reservation which is why you may not see it in the comments, but if you want to double check (even though we guarantee 100% that you will receive the benefits), you can email Adobe. They automatically have it in their system for every single Mytanfeet reservation for these benefits.
As for the GPS, WAZE is the best GPS you can use in Costa Rica. If you get a pre paid sim card (Costa Rica pre-paid sim cards ) you can use data on your phone for GPS but jus tmake sure you have enough credit for data.
Tricia says
Thank you so much for your reassurance and timely response! We leave in less than a week and are excited for our adventures. : )
Tricia says
Hola! What a great website and thanks so much for all the useful information. We decided to go with your recommendation and book our SUV rental through Adobe rather than with Enterprise, which we use when we travel to the US. We’ve received our confirmation but is there any guarantee that they will honour the second driver fee for free and free cellphone that we requested in the notes section based on your offer? We’ve opted not to add a GPS…we hope that our extensively printed directions, print and downloaded maps and in a pinch WAZE will suffice…comments? Thanks so much for sharing all this helpful advice and the discounted rate!
smiles
Tricia
Beth says
Please advise, how far is the Adobe Car rental from the air terminal in Quepos, and shuttles running regularly?
Likewise, in LIB. We are after a rental 4 X 4 for 6 days, but we want to make sure we spend little time obtaining and returning the rental. Is Adobe efficient? Will they have the vehicle we request, or, will there be some snafu as to why there is not a VEHICLE that meets our reservation?
Sammi says
Hi Beth,
When you make the reservation, send your flight information including arrival time to the adobe email address and add it in the comments, so they know to pick you up from the local terminal in Quepos. This is a complimentary pick up.
As for Liberia, will you be in Liberia city or LIR (Liberia airport)? They do complimentary pick ups from Liberia International Airport to take you back to their office to get your car and finish paperwork. Adobe is very efficient, they are always on time and very prompt. As for vehicles, it will be “something similar” to what you request for example, Hyundai Tucsons 4X4 automatic or something similar because they can never guarantee the exact make and model.
Jon says
Great blog! Really helpful!
3 questions:
1. My itinerary is LIB-Papagayo(Andaz)-Arenal(Nayara)-LIB. What kind of car do you recommend? From reading your blog it seems that the roads along those routes are fairly well kept, if not a bit windy.
2. Do you have any advice for those arriving late in the evening? I land at 9pm in Liberia, worried that after retrieving baggage, and going through customs most rental car offices/shuttles may be closed?
3. I don’t anticipate us going off-roading or exploring too much beyond pre-paid excursions that include transportation, so is a rental car worth it vs private shuttles? After doing a price check on Adobe on the cheapest automatic for 7 days, it was nearly $500.
Thanks again for your amazing blog- glad I stumbled upon it!
Sammi says
Hi Jon,
1. You can drive any kind of car, the road is very well paved from Liberia to Arenal, it is just very windy.
2. Car rentals will pick you up and take you to the office to get your car whatever your landing time is.
3. The Papagayo Andaz and Nayara are not close to town, so you’ll have to take a taxi or pay for a shuttle to take you to town if you want to go. You obviously won’t be driving yourself to the tours since transportation is included in them, but it’s something to think about if you want more freedom because both hotels aren’t close to town or anything like supermarkets. So it’s up to you, if you don’t want to explore or go anywhere beyond the hotel, you probably don’t need a car. You can book a shuttle from LIR to Arenal for about $200, eat at the on-site restaurants (probably be the same price because taxi from Nayara to La Fortuna is around $15) and just stay at the Papagayo Andaz beach (not the prettiest but you will have to take a taxi to get to the other beaches, go boating for the beautiful hidden ones in the Gulf or go on a beach hopping tour)
jon says
Thank you so much Sammi- really appreciate your insight and help!
Sammi says
Hi Mark, I suggest getting a Kolbi pre paid sim card (Costa Rica pre-paid sim cards ) because they have the most cell phone coverage. We get service pretty much everywhere, but the South. Once you get past Uvita the service goes in and out. If you set your route and pre-load the maps though, it should keep going. But you can get service nearly everywhere and there are just a few spots here and there where it goes in and out.
Mark Bennett says
Hi – We will be in CR soon and downloaded WAZE (as recommended above), but am curious if there is really any consistent cell service once you leave the bigger cities and towns – anyone have any experience? If not great, we can rent the additional GPS, but was trying to avoid the additional expense since we’ll be there for a while.
Any input greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
CLAUDIA says
Hi!
We are thinking about going south to explore Corcovado National Park from somewhere in Guanacaste. Any suggestions about getting there? We not opposed to driving and have the time.
Otherwise, would it be possible to do a one-way car rental (i.e. San Jose/Liberia) so we can fly from Liberia to Drake or Puerto Jimenez?
Thanks!
Claudia
Sammi says
Hi, you can drive it but I don’t suggest driving it all in one day since it’ll take about 10-12 hours to get from Guanacaste to Osa (either Drake or Puerto Jimenez) by car. You can break it up and stop in places in between like Jaco, Manuel Antonio and Dominical/Uvita. If you don’t want to do that, then yes you can do a one way car rental and fly to Drake or Puerto Jimenez. Just note that there will be a drop off fee if you have a different drop off/pick up location of around $50.
Marissa Humblet says
Hi…my husband and I are visiting Costa Rica in February, . After reading all the comments we would like to rent a car .. How can we get the car from Liberia airport to the nearest rent a car office ?
Thank you so much
Marissa
Sammi says
Adobe will pick you up at the airport free of charge to take you to the office. An Adobe representative will be waiting for your with a sign with your name 🙂
Sammi says
Hi Judy, all those activities can be done in Arenal and La Fortuna actually (read more here Things to do in Arenal and La Fortuna ) so for the rest of the days, it depends on what you want to do after doing some adventures. You can go to Guanacaste to relax at the beach, you can spend some time in the Central Valley or go to Monteverde for more cloud forest adventures.
All roads leading to SJO are in good condition since they are highways. You can read more about the drive from Arenal to Guanacaste here: Driving Guanacaste to Arenal , these are some of the beaches you can visit in Guanacaste: Best beaches in Guanacaste..
Judy says
Hi, I am planning on visiting Costa Rica the end of March which will be first time there and will be renting a car with Adobe after reading all the comments. We will be there for 9 days and will be staying 3-4 days in Arenal but not 100% for the rest of the days. I like to do the zip lining, hot springs, rainforest, la fortuna waterfall and white water raft. Do you have any suggestions on where where I should do those activities and where else I should visit and must do actives and how are the roads from SJO? Thanks!
Sammi says
Hi Joanne, there is a mandatory insurance in Costa Rica every renter must purchase. The reason why we like Adobe is because they put all the costs up front so you know exactly what you’re paying for – no hidden fees. Some car rental companies will include only the car rental in their quote and omit the insurance, charging the insurance only when the customer picks up the car so they get a very not-so-nice surprise and much bigger bill. Adobe doesn’t do this at all – what you get in your quote is the final price. We also offer a free 2nd driver and cell phone with Adobe for extra benefits which is a great deal if you’d like that. You can read more about the discount here: Costa Rica car rental discount
Joanne malek says
We are planning a trip to Costa Rica and at this time have a suv booked from dollar rental. We are very confused about the rental insurance. Would Adobe be a better choice
Sammi says
Hi Karen! The link to the discount is at the end of the post and here: Costa Rica car rental discount
All you have to do is fill out the widget and you’ll get a confirmation email. The Ford Everest was great for us 6 adults, but the 3rd row is not that roomy. I and my sister in law sat in the 3rd row because we are the shortest (we are 5’3 and 4’11), so I suggest putting your tall person in the front or else he will be fairly cramped! San Jose to Tamarindo is pretty straight forward, and it is all paved roads. You just need to get on the road to Caldera and then the InterAmericana highway to Tamarindo.
Karen says
We are coming to Costa Rica for the first time, next week! We’re flying into SJO and then driving to Tamarindo (6 adults). We’ve been going through your posts and see where you recommend Adobe Car Rental but we didn’t see any link?. Is this where you rented your Ford Everest for the 6 adults you were traveling with? Was there enough leg room in the 3rd row (we have one person that is 6’4″). Is it difficult to navigate around San Jose to get on the road to Tamarindo? Thanks so much for all the great advise and help you give to all ! Wonderful site!
Sammi says
Hi Erica, all you have to do to get the free 2nd driver is put a note in the comment section of the reservation that you’d like the 2nd driver or you can send us an email with your reservation number and we’ll have Adobe add the 2nd driver on there.
Depending on where you stay in Guanacaste, definitely go boating and visit beaches/snorkel. Here’s more about all our things to do in Guanacaste articles are here: Things to do in Guanacaste
If you like adventure (ziplining, horseback riding etc.) we highly recommend one of the adventure tours at Rincon de la Vieja National Park (Buena Vista/Guachipelin/Canon de la Vieja/Borinquen/Rio perdido)
As for Arenal, you can visit the national park, the La Fortuna waterfall, go white water rafting, there are actually a ton of fun things to do in the area. We wrote a post about the best things to do which you can read here: Things to do in Arenal and La Fortuna
Erica Cooper says
Thank you for the great reply, it really helped.
I just booked my car through Adobe (Reservation #510860) and noted in the comments that we would like to add the 2nd Driver and also the 1 hr. cell phone if possible (just in case of an emergency). Can you double check this was added please.
(Drivers #1: Edward Cooper, #2: Erica Cooper)
Sammi says
Hi Erica, all Mytanfeet readers who book a car through the widget on our site automatically gets a free 2nd driver. If you need to double check, please email Adobe. Thank you!
Kiely says
I can’t get enough of your website! It’s awesome and very thorough! My mom and I are traveling to Playas del Coco from LIB in a few weeks. We mostly planned to beach hop, but since she has a bad hip we planned to rent a car. We saw another post yours about a day trip to the Catarata Llanos de Cortes waterfall. Will need a 4X4 for that trip or do you think a taxi would be better? Are the roads from LIB to Coco ok? Thanks for all of your awesome information!
Sammi says
The roads to Liberia to Playas del Coco are normal, you drive on just one road from the airport and it is well paved. As for Catarata Llanoas de Cortes, you don’t necessarily need a 4X4 but it is quite bumpy in some parts. Also just note that the walk from the parking lot to the waterfall is not paved, it isn’t even a dirt path. It’s a little steep and slippery, and there are big rocks to maneuver around so if your mom has a bad hip, make sure she has good shoes and a cane or hiking stick to help her. Go slow, I’ve slipped a couple times going down!
Erica Cooper says
My husband and I are traveling to Costa Rica at the end of this month. I do see your link to Adobe rental car and will be booking with them. How do we go about getting the extra free driver? For our trip we will be staying 4 days in Arenal and 3 days in Guantacaste. Is there anything you would consider a must see at either of these places or on the road? This is our first trip to Costa Rica and we are a little overwhelmed.
Jenn says
Any advice on travelling from Tamarindo to Santa Teresa? Then from Santa Teresa we have to get back to Liberia to the airport. Its only a 4 day trip through Teresa so was thinking of renting a car….but we are leary of the deposit they are asking!
Sammi says
You can definitely drive it but it will take around 5 – 6 hours depending which route you take. If you only have 4 days, then you may want to think about taking a local flight instead since that will save you a lot of time. Nature Air flies from Tamarindo to Tambor and from Tambor you can grab a cab to Santa Teresa/Mal Pais which is not very far. Then from Tamarindo you can fly to LIR.
Sammi says
Renting a car would be the best way to visit the waterfalls in my opinion. Llanos is not too far from Liberia (probably 40 minutes) and we always suggest getting there as early as possible, because once it hits around 10 AM, then all the tours start stopping there. If you go early, you can have the waterfall all the yourself. You can read more about the waterfall in our guide: Catarata Llanos de Cortes
Rio Celeste is in Tenorio Volcano National Park, about 2 hours from Liberia.
Larry Englund says
I am planning to fly into Liberia on March 9, and need to be in San Jose on March 12. I’d like to visit Lake Arenal and the Monteverde Cloud Forest while traveling to San Jose. Will I need a 4×4, or is bus service sufficient to visit these places?
Sammi says
The road from SJO and Liberia to La Fortuna is very good actually, it is well paved, just very curvy. However to Monteverde the road is incredibly bumpy and has huge holes. It will be a lot easier and much smoother and comfortable to drive with at least a 4X2, but I have seen sedans do it. You can also take the public bus, but it takes a lot longer so it depends on your preferences, if you’d like to save money on transportation by taking the bus but spending more time, or driving and saving time and being more comfortable.
Marco Villalobos says
Hello there, I stumbled upon your blogs and I have to thank you because they have been so helpful to me. My gf and I are planning on visiting Costa Rica and the information you provide in your blogs with regards to the country and what it has to offer is very helpful. I have just one question for you and I was wondering if I could get your opinion. We’ll be in Liberia for two nights and we were planning on dedicating one full day for waterfalls. I was wondering if you would recommend we rent a car in order to see Llanos de Cortez Waterfall and Rio Celeste Waterfall at the Tenorio Volcano National Park? And how the drive to each would be?
Thank you in advance, look forward to your response!
Marco.
Kim and Mark Fleming says
Hi Guys , We are travelling to CR for a month, landing in Liberia end of January 2016. We have a place to stay the first few days in Playa del Coco. We’re wondering if you know if you can rent CamperVans or even camping equipment anywhere if we decide to take advantage of all the beach camping that is available ? this website is really, really helpful !! Thank You !
Sammi says
Hi guys, I can’t think of anywhere that rents camping equipment or vans in Coco. Sorry.
Chris says
Hi, I’m planning to rent a cqr and travel from Liberia to Playa Grande. 2 adults & 2 kids and we are just staying close to the area. I mostly need the car to travel to different beaches around the area and also to tamarindo. How are the roads there? could I go with the car rather than the 4×2 / 4×4 ? Do most people get the sup protetction plan as well?
thanks in advance. I loved going thru your Blog… very imformative
Sammi says
Hi Chris, that area isn’t too bad. The road to Grande isn’t really paved, but it’s not horrible. The road to Tamarindo is paved normal and the roads to the main beaches in that area are fine like Avellanas (not paved but not bad), Brasilito, Conchal, Flamingo, those beaches. People get the super protection for more coverage, so that’s up to you if you’d like to get it. I rented a car a couple months ago and got the super protection plan because I knew I was going to areas where the road was rough.
Chris says
I just wanted to say THANKS!!!!!. Adobe Car rental was a great!! We went with a SUV Creta and it was perfect for all the roads on the pacific coast. I was a bit considered because I couldn’t clean out the sand all over the inside of the vehicle. I returned and no problems, no questions asked with great fast service. GPS was a plus and having the protection added made it worry free.
Sammi says
Hi Chris, that is so great to hear! I’m glad you had a good experience with Adobe! That’s exactly what we want all our readers to have when they are in CR 🙂
David says
We will be in CR from Jan. 15-24. Our first time! We are flying into San Jose. Our plan, so far, is to rent a car and drive up to La Fortuna/Arenal area and spend 3 days exploring the area, with stops along the way at Volcan Poas, Los Chorros & Catarata del Toro waterfalls. Then we drive back to San Jose for one night. Then we drive to Limon area and spend 3 days exploring the Caribbean coast, with stops along the way at Volcan Irazu, and white water rafting on the Pacuare River. Then drive back to San Jose for one night, and leave Jan. 24. Do you think we need a 4×4 and/or GPS? Thanks!
Sammi says
If you stay on the main roads, you won’t need a 4×4. The road to La Fortuna, up Poas, Irazu and to Limon are nice paved roads. As for a GPS, you may need one for some spots, there are lots of signs for Poas, Irazu and Arenal and Limon is only one road from San Jose, but you may need one if you want to explore around and I don’t remember if there is a lot of signage for Chorros and Del Toro.
Rich says
I tried to sent you an introductory email, but I got an error.
Sammi says
Thanks Rich, we just fixed it!
Sammi says
Hi Awana, you can rent a golf cart to get around town, but you will need a car to get to other beaches. We have a rent a car tips post:
Costa Rica car rental tips
From Playas del Coco, the best surfing beaches are Playa Tamarindo (most popular, more for beginners and lessons). We have a post about it here: Playa Tamarindo
Playa Grande, also good for beginners but certain tides and spots are excellent for intermediates and high levels. Our post is here: Playa Grande
And Playa Avellanas, which I would say is more for intermediates and high level surfers.
Those three are the best surfing beaches closest to Coco.
Awana says
We will be staying in Playa del Coco. can you rent a car in Playa del Coco? We were thinking about renting a golf cart there for most of the time. But need to rent a car to find some good surfing spots around there. What do you recommend for good surfing spots?
Rose Broglio says
Wow, what a great site and so much info. Love the videos of the roads. Looking to rent car from abode from your site but not sure what to get. It is 1adult and 2 children 10,12 years of age. We fly into Liberia, spend first night at playa Hermosa , then next morning staying 3 nights at arenal observatory lodge then back to playa flamingo 3nights and then back to Liberia. Not sure we need 4×4 will a compact do or do we need small suv? Do we really need at gps? Coming feb 2016.
From reading your responses sounds like I fill in dates and car choice it will add the mandatory insurance and final price will really be the price. Do they pick up at airport or is there a shuttle. Thank you so excited to check out the rest of your reviews and site.
Sammi says
Hi Rose! The only unpaved roads are to Arenal Observatory Lodge, you won’t need a 4X4 necessarily, and you’re coming in February so there won’t be any rain. The road to the lodge is the one into the national park and it’s like a 15 minute drive on gravel roads but nothing horrible when it’s dry. We’ve driven our compact car there before and it was fine!
As for a GPS, for those locations you won’t really need one. Hermosa, Flamingo and Liberia are all really easy to find (signs everywhere) and the lodge has signs as well, and they have directions on their website. I don’t think you’ll really need one to be honest since those locations are pretty well marked and if you get lost, every local will know those locations (and expats).
They will pick you up at the airport by shuttle and take you to their office to finish the paperwork and you’ll get your car there. Just fill out the form, pick the car and insurances, and other things you might want like booster seat, etc. and you’re good to go! Let us know if you have any other questions Rose 🙂
Rose Broglio says
Thanks helpful info. Okay renting the car but when it comes to pick up at office or at airport. I know you said above to take shuttle to the office. May seem silly question but form says pickup car at office or airport. I only hesitate to fill in because i read that you should not asked to be picked up at airpot because they will charge you extra for the drive to office and if there is a shuttle in airport to their office should take that since no additional cost. Which should i mark, not sure if it affects cost or a hidden extra charge. thank you.
Rose
Sammi says
Hi Rose, the Adobe office is not right at the actual airport so they will pick you up in a shuttle to their office at no charge. The office is not far away, it’s like a 5 minute ride. You will see an Adobe employee waiting outside the airport holding a sign with your name.
Barb Owens says
Thank you so much for all the information you provide! I am in the process of deciding on a rental vehicle. We are driving from Liberia to Samara, along the coast road (if possible) to Playa Junquillal, up to La Fortuna and Rincon de la Viejas and then to Playa del Coco. Will be alright in a Hyundai Tuscon 4 x 2 or is a 4 x 4 necessary. We are travelling Feb 27 – Mar 19, 2016. Is the 4 x 2 high enough off the ground to travel the back roads?
Sammi says
Hi Barb, a 4X2 should be fine, especially since you’re coming during dry season so you won’t need to worry about rain or anything like that. The road to Samara and Junquillal are gravel roads for a good chunk of it but nothing terrible. Then La Fortuna to Coco is a nice paved road, Rincon de la vieja National park is all gravel roads but nothing horrible either. Also just take note that they are re-doing the InterAmericana highway 1 in Liberia so there’s a ton of construction going on there right now.
Barb says
Will a 4 x 2 be OK to go Rio Celeste?
I am still waiting for a response from my email inquiry to Adobe. I spoke with Ruth at their office on Wednesday, Nov 18th and then sent her an e-mail requesting a quote. I expected a quicker response…Does it usually take a few days?
Sammi says
Hi Barb, a 4X2 should be fine. I just emailed Adobe and gave them a heads up, they should be contacting you shortly. Sorry for the delay!
Barb says
My rental is now booked. I spoke with Luis @Adobe by telephone. He was extremely helpful in answering all of my questions and explaining the different insurance options. Thank you so much!
Sammi says
Excellent! I am very glad to hear 🙂
Randee says
Hi Guys! Love your blog, definitely using all your knowledge for our Costa Rica trip!! I wanted to reach out and see if you have any advice about our road trip. We are already renting a 4×4 with Adobe. Here is our plan:
San Jose to Domincal
Domincal to Montezuma (ferry)
Montezuma to Brasilito
Brasilito to Fortuna
Fortuna to San Jose
Also, are there gas stations often? Should we plan on buying a gas can?
Thanks!
Randee
Sammi says
Hey Randee! Yep there are gas stations often, the only one I would say make sure you fill up before is Dominical to Montezuma and then depending which route you take, Montezuma to Brasilito. All of those routes are at least 3-4 hours, can help you gauge if you need to fill up before or not.
yeison says
Hello Robert,
I hope you are doing great! Some of the roads where you are going experience are gravel, not for longs distances and on very bad shape but if you can try to get a higher car like a mid suv will be perfect.
The hill of death “Cerro de la muerte” is not that bad it just has a terrible name 😉 we have driven it many times and is all good just be careful and do not speed on the curves. We have some good deals right now if you book using our site. Have a great trip and let us know if there is anything we can help
Robert Sheldon says
Thanks for your informative blog. We are planning a return trip to Costa Rica this Spring, travelling from San Jose to Savegre Lodge, then on to San Vitio and the Wilson Gardens. Not sure of the rest of the trip, possibly same route return, possibly on to Golfito and then back to San Jose. What are the roads like? Paved or gravel? Any reason a 4 wheel drive is needed? We don’t really plan off road side trips. We are a bit wary about driving the “hill of death”, having not driven on our past trip to Costa Rica. Your thoughts are appreciated.
Jo says
Hi Sammy & Yeison! What a fabulous site! Thanks for all the info. We’ll be visiting CR in April 2016, and looking to rent a car as we want to travel from Playa Hermosa to Arenal. Currently, we have a booking with Dollar for $180 (including basic insurance and extra driver) for a week for an economy car. Is that okay?
Based on your recommendation, are thinking about going with Adobe instead. What do you think? Also, you said that you could provide a code for a free extra driver with Abobe? Thank you!
yeison says
Hello Jo,
I don’t know to much about dollar rent a car to be honest, and most of the international rent a car companies always have hidden fees that is the main complain. What you can do is check to see how much it is with Adobe just choose the dates on the reservation form you will find on this page. By default all mytanfeet readers get an extra driver, free cell phone rent and if you rent a hot spot (wifi) after the 10th day of rent is free. Please let us if you have any question 🙂
Troy says
Hi Sammi,
We’re coming to CR for the first time and I just found your blog. I’m really enjoying it. You guys are doing a great job with it! My wife and i, along with our 15 yr old daughter and 12 yr old son are traveling to Guanacaste from the SF Bay Area the 2nd half of November. We’ve got a week booked at the Condominium Pacifico in the middle of our time there, in or near Playa del Coco. We’re flying into Liberia. We have 2 nights in front of our condo stay and 3 nights afterwards before returning home. We’re trying to figure out how to best utilize the book end days. We tentatively booked a couple days to start at the Blue River Resort and Spa based on referals and a good deal. We also have a tentative booking at the Flamingo Beach Resort and Spa to end the trip. The beginning and end are still tentative and can be changed. I wanted to get your advice on whether I should stay with these places or if you have better suggestions.
While there, we plan on doing as much as possible. I was definitely going to rent a vehicle and want to see as much as I can while also being smart with our travel. I don’t want to spend a ton of time on the road for the most part, although we are willing to go places; maybe even a daytrip up to Nicaragua. My wife is full Venezolana and my kids are half Venezolanos, obviously. Our spanish is fine. Any suggestions or ideas you can make would be awesome. Thanks!!
Sammi says
Hi Troy, that sounds like a fun itinerary! It’s up to you whether you want to stay there or not. Flamingo beach is really pretty.
I am sure you will have a great time!
John says
Hi, traveling with family to CR in Dec over Christmas and staying in Tamarindo for a week. Adobo says no full sized SUVs available for this time. Do you have another recommendation for a rental car? Also, Hertz has an office in Tamarindo, would you recommend a shuttle to town and only rent a car for day trips?
Thanks,
John
yeison says
Hi John,
Can you email us at hello(at) mytanfeet.com the dates you would like the car I will try the best I c an to get you the car you want at a great rate. Thanks!
Sammi says
Hi Paige, you can click the link here Costa Rica car rental discount
Paige says
Hello,
First off this is a great blog!!! I am organizing a trip Feb 6- 11th, 2016 for a friend who “won” a casa at Plantation Estates in Rosario ‘d Naranjo, the property manager says it is near Grecia (forgive my misspellings). We will be flying into SJO and have been highly advised to rent a car/SUV; we have 6 in our group and my hubby in 6’5. We are not really a bunch of adeline junkies but we are into cool not extreme nature sites and love discovering eating places to satisfy the foodies in the group plus we have some super huge history lovers. This is our first trip a little fearful of driving but was in Italy recently and it was rather hectic there but not the worst. Like others here I have read a lot of horror stories regarding renting and driving. Can I book online with Adobe or do I call them how do I redeem promotions from you?
Justin says
Hi, I am looking to rent a car with my girlfriend while we travel and I am curious if they have a wide range of 4X4 rentals available in automatic transmission. The reasons to this is because my girlfriend does not feel comfortable driving stick shift in Costa Rica and we want to be able to share driving while we are down there.
This is a great site by the way, very informative,
Thanks
Justin
Sammi says
Hi Justin, all the models they have come in automatic and manual. All you have to do is request one 🙂
Aaron says
We’ll be visiting Costa Rica in late September and staying for 10 days. We fly into SJO and want to see Monteverde/Arenal and then go down to Cahuita/Puerto Viejo (maybe stops in Irazu, Rio Pacuares or Sarapiqui or Tortuguero depending on the route we take). How is the weather and road conditions for renting a car? It looks like buses are cheap from SJO to Arenal/Monteverde, but what is the best way to get to Puerto Viejo from there? We were thinking to take bus back to SJO and maybe rent a car? If we rent a car do we need a 4×4, or is 4×2 okay? SUV or normal sedan? Thanks! Great blog and advise.
yeison says
Hi Aaron sorry for the late reply we have been super busy!
If you have the possibility to rent a car I will recommend you to get one sometimes getting buses around the country can get confuse for tourist and you might spend valuable time figuring out stuff. Then the best way to get from Arenal or Monteverde to Puerto Viejo is by car or a private shuttle that at the end will cost you more.
A 4×2 SUV will be perfect if you check ou promo there are some really good deals going on for september.
Have a great time and let us know if you need any help
Heather says
It’s has taken me too long to come back and thank you for your helpful tips and assistance with travel and especially the rental car. Adobe Car Rental was an outstanding recommendation from you and a seamless experience for us. You advised us not to worry about traveling during the rainy season and were correct. Not only did we luck out with fantastic weather the first week of July but would have had a tremendous experience regardless. The discount offered by you with Adobe is huge and your reassurance of car type saved us from unnecessary expense and the smaller car actually helped my husband maneuver the roads (and local drivers) much more efficient and safely than a large SUV. I panicked once I started reading information elsewhere about what seemed like rental car horror stories. You were so helpful and Adobe was an excellent company to work with! Thank you so very very much for your time and sharing your knowledge. I have no doubt that you made our trip easier and much more enjoyable! Thank you!!!!
Sammi says
Hi Heather! I am so happy to hear you guys had a great time and a good experience with the car! It really makes such a difference when you can explore Costa Rica on your own and I’m glad to hear you guys luckily got some nice weather as well. We just want our readers to have an amazing time in the country and it makes us so happy to hear they do. Thanks for reading our website Heather, we wouldn’t be doing this without you!
Sue says
We want to rent a car from Monteverde to Manual Antonio to San Jose (final drop off). What would you recommend in terms of a car and does Adobe rent in Monteverde? Thanks for the help 🙂
Sammi says
Hi Sue! Adobe doesn’t have an office in Monteverde unfortunately so you would have to get the car dropped off which incurs a fee. Or the closest office is Fortunda de San Carlos so if you are able to get there, you can pick up the car without a fee. For a car, you can either go for a mid size if you have a large party with a good amount of luggage or if it’s just two people, a sedan is fine. The road to Monteverde is a bit bumpy but nothing you need a 4X4 for.
LIsa says
One more question. Is the cell phone received with the special offer only for calls within Costa Rica? Thanks.
yeison says
Hi Lisa!
The cell phone comes with one hour credit for local calls, you can do international calls with that phone but you might need to put some money in the phone. Those lines a pre paid so you might need to go to a super market or any cell phone store to do the transaction it is very easy. I am not 100% sure but with $2 you can talk around 10 to 15 minutes to the US.
Lisa says
Thank you so much!!! Your information has been very helpful and I love your site. I may do a prorated international plan with Verizon as the state they have service in the areas we will be traveling and it appears to be pretty cheap … but will definitely be booking our car rental with Adobe :).
Lisa
Lisa says
Hi! My husband and I are traveling to Costa Rica August 29th thru September 5th. We will be going to Manuel Antonio from San Jose which I hear is about a 3 hour drive. We are planning to rent a car. All of the car rental websites I see online show really low weekly prices (25-40 USD weekly for an economy car). I’m assuming that the rates are so low because the insurance is not included?? I see that you say the LDW is the mandatory insurance and that is included in the rates listed by the car rental company you have partnered with so I’m also guessing that’s why they are higher. How much is the deposit typically required by this rental company for a weekly rental? Is this rental company at the airport itself or off-site? Also, from what previous posts have said it seems the roads travelled between San Jose and Manuel Antonio will not require an SUV. Is that correct? Thanks so much!
yeison says
Hello Lisa,
I hope you are doing great, like you said most of the International rent a car companies (Hertz, Avis, National,etc) do not include insurance in their rates, so when the client pick up the car the rate is different. Basic insurance (LWD) is mandatory by law here in Costa Rica. We like Adobe because there are no hidden fees and the is what it is you don’t get extra charges.
The typical deposit is around $1000 and they put that on a credit card, the Adobe office is located 5 minutes from the airport actually all rent a car companies are off-site, an Adobe representative will be waiting for you and they will take you and your husband to their office on their van, you do not need a SUV if you are just going to the Manuel Antonio area.
You as a Mytanfeet reader will get a free phone and you can add an extra driver at not cost, please let us know if you have more questions.
Betty says
First of all, I love the blog! My husband, myself, and 4 other friends will be in Costa Rica in September (17-26). We will be flying into San Jose but staying in the Manuel Antonio area for 8 days. Based on other comments, it seems we may not need a 4×4 if we will be staying in the Manuel Antonio area, exploring the Arenal, and San Jose area. We don’t know what other “must see” places will end up on our list, but think we might be okay. I was thinking about going with the Tucson 4×2. Do you think that should work for 2-3 of us? Also, is the “mandatory” insurance the Loss Damage Waiver – Theft insurance? It’s already checked off. Can you also tell me if these cars offer unlimited mileage? I think that one of the things I didn’t see listed. Thanks!
yeison says
Hi Betty!
With the Tucson 4×2 you will be more than fine, and yes the LDW is the is mandatory here and many companies call it mandatory insurance. All the rentals are unlimited mileage so no worry about it. If you have more question please just let us know. Remember you will get a free additional driver and a cell phone with one of credit 🙂
Arthur says
Hi,
We will be arriving in LIB on 7/1/15 and staying through 7/15/15. Our itinerary will look something like LIB-Playa Flamingo-Tamarindo-Malpais (tentative)-Arenal-Potrero-LIB. Currently we have a Nissan Sentra 4 door sedan rented for 3 adults and 1 toddler. Do you think this is doable or do we definitely need an SUV 4×4?
yeison says
Hi Arthur!
I would say for the amount of driving and probably the number of bags you will bring I will go for a SUV. But according to the dates you wrote in are about to finish your trip. Hope everything went well
Arthur says
Sorry, I meant to say August 1-15. Not a lot of bags actually and I think we’ll just keep our sedan reservation. I checked with a couple of our hosts and they said that a car should be OK. Considering we are renting for 15 days the price difference is huge between a car and an SUV so if I have to drive a little slower to save a couple of hundred dollars so be it. I just wanted to make sure it’s doable.
Igor says
Hello, we are planning Costa Rica trip around New Year, for three adults. We are planning to drive from Sun Jose to Arenal area, than to Monteverde and Manuel Antonio. Would we need an SUV at this time of year? Thanks!
Sammi says
Hi Igor! New Years is dry season so it will be nice and sunny, you can get a mid size SUV if you have a lot of luggage but you won’t need a 4X4. But the road to Monteverde is prettttty bumpy so it’ll probably be more comfortable if you have at least a mid size SUV, but not necessarily a full size SUV.
Kate says
We want to rent 4×4 in San Jose and drive to the Oso Penninsula for 5 days and the drive to Panama for 7 days. Is it possible to take a rental car across the border? Thank you for your website it is very helpful information.
Sammi says
Hi Kate! Unfortunately rental cars are not allowed to cross any borders in Costa Rica by law.
SGD says
I have a family trip planned for last 2 weeks of July driving from San Jose to Samara to La Fortuna to Manuel Antonio and back to San Jose. Would you recommend 4×4 or should standard sedan be ok?
Sammi says
Hi! A sedan should be fine. The only roads that are not quite as nice are around Samara but those are not horrible, just a dirt road here and there. All the roads for those routes are paved so unless you plan to do some extreme off roading or exploring off the main path, you’ll be able to make it in a sedan perfectly fine. Just be aware that it is now rainy season so if you do plan to do some exploring off the main path that you’re aware of the sudden rainstorms that can occur here. Hope this helps!
SGD says
Thank you!
Pat says
Hi Sammy & Yeison
Superb site!
We are planning a 3-week trip in July.
Most of our driving seems likely to be on good tarmac/surfaced roads – I just want to ask if you know about some sections:
Route 223 Palmar to Sierpe
Route 237 north from Highway 2 to San Vito, then on to Buenos Aires.
Pot holes and windy roads I can cope with. Reasonable dirt roads (even if wet) should be OK as I lived for 3 years in rural Tanzania) but this time my wife & 2 teenagers are with me, so miles of mud & ruts are probably not ideal this trip.
We are heading to Pacuare Reserve for a few days hoping to see turtles laying and walking forest trails, then back to San Jose to pick up a car to head south: taking in Rainmaker and San Antonio NP, then to Sierpe (leaving the car) for a boat to Drake Bay maybe some whale-watching then another boat to Sirena for a night, before returning to Drake Bay and Sierpe. Back in the car and down the Route 2 & 237 to Wilson Botannical Gardens for a couple of days, then north on 237 probably to Arenal/Monteverde (though not in one drive). Perhaps Rio Celeste and if time allows, over to Rincon Vieja before returning to San Jose.
I presume that it will be dirt roads for the last 5-10km to Rainmaker and some routes in Arenal/Monteverde, plus to Rio Celeste. So I’m thinking a 4×4 will be needed on those parts in the “green season” of July.
Your Adobe deal looks good – good for us/them (& you in raising some revenue for this excellent blog) – a win-win-win!
Thanks
Pat
yeison says
Hi Pat!
What a great itinerary and trip you have a ahead sounds amazing for me, I can see that you did lots of research before planning your trip :).
In regards to your questions about some sections of the road let me tell you that you can perfectly do it with a 4×4 no problem at all, the route 237 is in good conditions just drive carefully it is normal to see those big containers trucks in the road so just be patience if you end it driving up behind one of those. Then from Palmar to Sierpe is ok too but is Costa Rica is very hard to predict the weather and if by any chance it rains for several days while you are here please check to see if the road is ok (you can call 800-TRANSITO is a tool free number), but most of the times the road is ok.
Please let me know if I can help you on anything, and if you want to get a quote for the car rental please let me know.
yeison says
Hi Michelle,
Any Tucson is ok you will be able to go everywhere with the 4×2, the only thing I didn’t know was about picking up the car in San José and return it in Liberia, there are a small fee on this (not sure how much will be but I will ask them to see how much it is and what can we do about it).
We are still in high season but you will find rooms available in most of the places so if you are looking to visit the same places I recommend you to do first Guancaste we love Guachipelin tour (you can see it here: Hacienda Guachipelin combo adventure tour) then go to Monteverde and then Arenal.
yeison says
Hi Michelle!
We would love to flight on stand by too 🙂 hehe alright now let me answer all your questions.
will we be able to rent a car without a cancelation penalty?
You can make the reservation in our using the widget we have in our site and in case you can’t show up just let us know and we will talk to our friends and they will not charge any cancellations fees or even if you don’t contact us right away they will not charge you, they are very nice with mytanfeet readers so no worry about that.
Is Adobe best? Best bet to go with a small 4×4?
They are 100% Costa Rican company and their service is amazing, there are not hidden fees or anything, insurance in Costa Rica is mandatory and many other rent a car companies do not include the insurance in the rate so when the client is picking up the car surprise! you have to pay way more money, with Adobe there are not hidden fees and with us you get the best rate here.
In regards to the car depends where you go but if you are looking for a small 4×4 you should get a suzuki Jimny they are perfect for 2 people (you can email us and tell us where you go and we can tell you which car will be the best)
Will my GPS work there or do I have to (somehow) download maps to it?
I will recommend you to bring your smart phone (unlock) and install an app call WAZE it works amazingly good here you just need to get a sim card and data you can read how to get one here (Costa Rica pre-paid sim cards ) some GPS does not work here all depend of your model.
Second, what is your recommendation about the best itinerary for us?
Arenal and monteverde sounds good but I will definitely take more than one day at each destination there are many things to see and do and just one day will not be enough, then you do not need to take the ferry to come back to San Jose.
Any “must sees” on our way down?
Costa Rica is full of most see, but I will say that you should visit the Arenal volcano, the Fortuna waterfall, at least go to one hot springs at night, monteverde go to hanging bridges and try local food.
For a beach destination we recommend to you to Guanacaste there are so many beautiful beaches you can visit.
I think that you itinerary will work better if you do San Jose – Arenal – Monteverde – Guancaste – San Jose.
michelle says
You guys are awesome! I can’t believe how quickly you got back to me with such great info. I have been stressing over this for days now was going to use Vamos but now I will definitely book with Adobe through your link – I just took a loom on the site and it doesnt look like the Jimny is availabme for my dates – only the Tucson 4×2 or the 4×4 (More money)…what do you think? (Also, my 18 year old son will be with us)
With regard to our itinerary, unfortunately, based on the flight availability, we will have to fly in to Liberia and out of San Jose. Based on that info, what do you think would be the best itinerary for us?
I have friends who are planning a trip to CR later in the year – I will definitely send them to your site!
Thanks again!
michelle says
Thanks so much for the quick and awesome reply! I was going to go with Vamos but will definitely book with Adobe now! I just went to the web sit and they don’t seem to have any Jimnys availabke for my dates. …just the Tuscon- 2×4 or 4×4 (more money) – what do you recommend for 3 adults?
With regard to our itinerary, I love your agenda but we need to fly in to Liberia and out of SanJose. Bard on that info, what do you digest as far as an itinerary – and do you think we will have a problem finding places to stay without reservations?
Thanks again – you guys are awesome!
michelle says
Hi!
What agreat blog!
My husband is an airline pilot, so we fly standby. Because we never know if we will be able to get on the plane, we don’t make reservationsthat are noncancelable – we just wing it – which is sometimes stressful but always an Adventure!
Our plan is to go to Costa Rica on Monday, April 6th and stay through the 13th. Based on the flight availability as of right now, we would have to fly in to Liberia and then out of San Jose.
So I have a couple of questions. … first of all – will we be able to rent a car without a cancelation penalty? if not, will we be able to rent when we arrive? Is Adobe best? Best bet to go with a small 4×4? Will my GPS work there or do I have to (somehow) download maps to it?
Second, what is your recommendation about the best itinerary for us? I was thinking we should explore Arenal and Monteverde the first couple of days, then head down the west cost, ultimately taking the ferry across and back to San Jose. Does this sound reasonable?
Any “must sees” on our way down?
We want to experience the culture and have n adventure the first few days – then relax on the beach!
Thanks so much for any advice!
Michelle
yeison says
Hi Meg is not crazy at all :), actually it is a good idea to have a car in Flamingo beach, with a car you will be able to visit all the beaches around the area like Playa Conchal and Tamarindo. You can read more about those two places here:Playa Conchal and here is Playa Tamarindo
Meg says
Hi there. My family and I are visiting Playa Flamingo in June. My aunt has Rapid Reward points from Sountwest Airlines and wants to fly into San Jose then rent a car to Playa Flamingo. Am I crazy for thinking this is a good idea or would you recommend taking a bus? Thank you for any advice on this!!
Meg
henry says
DON’T rent a car at Alamo San Jose – Costa Rica!!!
Don’t let yourself be ripped off like I was! They will charge you huge extra fees when you arrive to pickup your car!
My reservation online total including fees and insurance was $590. After a 12 hour flight when I arrived at the pickup location they charged me $900!!! I got told that if I didn’t pay $900 (an extra 50% of the original price) I wouldn’t be able to pickup the car!
I contacted Alamo international and they gave me the worst customer service ever!
yeison says
Hi Henry!
I am sorry to heard what happened, we have had email from readers saying the same from Economy, Hertz, Enterprise and all those International companies. For the same reason we recommend a 100% Costa Rican company that gives an special rate to our readers are there are not hidden or extra charges, the price they gave you is the final price with the mandatory insurance included.
Thanks for your comment and I am sorry for your bad experience so far 99% of our readers have positive reviews, just one guy lost his sun glasses but they found them next week. Please let us know if you come back to the country we will make sure that you get an excellent service, Like I said this is because of these huge international companies.
Have a great day and thanks for sharing your experience.
yeison says
Hi Pauline! Driving from San Jose to Manuel Antonio is very easy I recommend you to take the route #27 from Sam Jose, then just head to Jaco you will see signs everywhere. As soon as you are in the road that will take you to Jaco you just have to keep going and you will get to Quepos where the entrance to the Manuel Antonio National Park is, so no worry too much about the road or how to get there is one of the most used routes here.
In regards to the car, it will be up to you we always recommend Adobe they give great discounts to out readers and they have a mini van for 9 people ( Hyundai H1) they are very comfortable, but if you have big guys in your group two cars will be better for their comfort, they trip from San Jose takes around 4 hours or more depends if you find traffic.
Please let us know if you have any question about your trip and here is the link if you want to check the price with our discount (including mandatory insurance) Costa Rica car rental discount
Pauline says
Hi, We will be heading to CS this April 2 with a group of nine for a week. How is the drive from San Jose to Manuel Antonio, specifically in Villa Feliz . Can you recommend a mini van that can fit nine people plus nine small luggage and can handle the terrains ? Or should we rent two SUV . Thanks for your help.
Pauline
Geni says
Hola! Thanks for your great advice renting a car with Adobe! We are currently at the Hilton papagayo with one day left on our vacation a and were wondering if you had any advice on what we should see/do on our last day.
We’re interested in seeing as much wildlife and tropical scenary as possible without having to drive all the way to arenal or Monteverde. were thinking about hiking in miravalles or trying to do a tour at palo verde. We would love to hear what you recommend since your site has been so helpful thus far. Do you think either of those are our best bets or would you recommend something different??
Sammi says
Hi Geni,
I’d personally go on a boat tour at Palo Verde, you can see a lot of wildlife there: birds, crocodiles, monkeys, iguanas/lizards and it is a really nice leisurely boat ride. I went on it with my family and loved it, we saw a ton of wildlife! And you’re sure to see animals even if you don’t have a guide since they are fairly easy to spot and the animals can be easily seen on shore.
Darcie says
Hello,
My husband and I are traveling to Costa Rica in April for the first time and we have almost all our itinerary set already.
We do need to rent a car to drive from SJO to the Sloth Sanctuary, I’m wondering how long the drive is and how the roads are? Will we need a 4×4 or will a sedan suffice?
Thanks for all the info, your website is very helpful!
Darcie
yeison says
HI Darci,
To drive there might take you around 4 hours from San José, they road is fine so it is up to you if you would like to rent a 4×4 or a sedan both will make it. Also we have new special rates for renting a car plus some really good FREE benefits like extra free driver and cell phone for local calls. You can check the route here https://www.google.co.cr/maps/dir/Sloth+Sanctuary+-+Costa+Rica,+Limon/Juan+Santamaria+International+Airport,+Alajuela/@10.075168,-83.4952001,10z/data=!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x8fa6ff8e87552023:0x6520ebccd419922d!2m2!1d-82.915112!2d9.799565!1m5!1m1!1s0x8fa0f9a3b2d2fb1d:0xaec408305a420af4!2m2!1d-84.20408!2d9.998238?hl=en
Have a great day and please let us know if you have any question.
Pura vida
Darcie says
Thanks very much, booked the rental car!! 🙂
Here’s hoping all goes well. We are very excited for the trip.
Sammi says
Awesome! I hope you have a wonderful trip!
yeison says
Hi Geni,
Hope you are doing great!
In regards to your question we live 15 min away from the Hilton Papagayo and without a car it is very difficult to move around, there is a public bus system but I don’t even use it it takes forever and it just don’t take you to the nice places.
It is way cheaper to rent a car that get a shuttles around, for example a shuttle from the airport to the hilton might be around $40 and you can rent a car for a similar price a day and go wherever you want, The Hilton beach is ok but the nicest beaches are around that area so definitely you need a car.
For prices we have an exclusive discount for our readers and you can check the prices here:Costa Rica car rental discount We are always on top of everything so if you rent a car using our promo we get a copy and then we follow the reservation to make sure everything is perfect.
For the Arenal Volcano and Monteverde, you can go in a car for me that is the best way to go, you can stops whenever you want go to all the different attractions and at the end you save money by having your own car, in case you don’t want to drive we know an excellent company that is run by local guides with excellent English, when our friends come to visit and want to do a tour we always send them with them, just let us know what you want to do and we will put you guys in contact.
For your last question what I like the most cloud forest vs Arenal volcano, both are great and if you can do both, do it 🙂 Costa Rica is a very friendly country to travel and drive around.
I hope this answer might help you to finish planning your trip.
Please let us know if you have more question or if we can help on anything.
geni says
Thank you so much for all your help and advice! Its so great to have such a prompt and thorough response! I really appreciate it. we are now going to rent a car— we see your offer for adobe rental car service. if we book on that website and the price says it includes an insurance — (such as a basic insurance) will the final price given on the website be the actually bottom line price or are we going to be hit with charges once we pick up the car?? we dont want to be misquoted a price and then be surprised when we get there since i know insurance is required.
thank you. geni
yeison says
Hi Genni,
You can be 100% sure that the price you see where it says total will be the final one no extra charges, that is why we like Adobe they gave us a special rate for our readers and they don’t have hidden fees or anything. We have a good relation with them and they know our readers are our #1 priority. If you would like to add an extra driver please let us know, we can get it for free ;). Also let us know if you have a cell phone in Costa Rica we might be able to get you one for free with one hour credit :).
geni says
hello-
thank you for all your helpful advice in this article. I will be traveling with my boyfriend in 10 days to Costa Rica. We will be flying into Liberia and will be staying at the Hilton Papagayo resort. We are staying for 5 days and I would love your advice on if it makes sense to rent a car or not. We both want to do tours- after looking at the prices for airport shuttles and some of the tours with transportation included- we thought that maybe it would be more economical to rent a car.
We definitely want to do at least one tour that explores the Arenal Volcano or the Monteverde Cloud forest. We do know both of these places are quite some distance away from our hotel. For one day we also would like to check out nearby parks/beaches by our hotels.
In your opinion would renting a car be more costly (with gas, insurance, possible tickets if they target foreigners) and more of hassle (road conditions, directions) than booking tours with transportation included and taking taxis around the nearby parks/beaches?
also, with our limited time period we are trying to decide what excursions would be most memorable because we would rather not spend the whole time in a car– perhaps two days devoted to longer-distance excursions. would you recommend the cloud forest over the arenal volcano or vice versa? any tour packages, companies you highly recommend?
thank you so much for all your advice and help!
yeison says
Hi Daniel,
First of all congratulations for your weeding! We wish you the best to both of you 🙂
Now in regards to your question this is one of the most common complains from tourist, in the United States or Canada insurance sometimes is cover by some credit cards or you can choose which insurance you want to get also you have the option of just don’t get any insurance.
Here in Costa Rica is different whenever you rent a car is mandatory to get at least a “basic” insurance, there is no way you can’t avoid the payment or use your Credit Card car insurance it has to be paid and that’s it. The problem with all those international companies is that they give to the client how much the car will cost but then when the client shows up, surprise ! there is an additional charge of $12 to $15 extra a day for the basic insurance, I do not blame this International companies because they operate all over the world and they cannot change their system just because Costa Rica is a little different.
We always recommend Adobe because they are not surprises not extra charges and they excellent, we always get positive feedback.
If you would like to you can check our special deal widget here:Costa Rica car rental discount Please let us know if you have any question and if you get the car with Adobe Samantha and I are always on top of everything.
Congratulations again and if you have questions about Costa Rica please let us know.
Daniel says
Hello,
My newlywed wife and I will be traveling to CR next week for our Honeymoon next week(San Jose, Manuel Antonio, Monteverde and Arenal). I’m in the process of weeding out the myriad of conflicting information I’m getting regarding rental car insurance. We are looking at a mini, Hundai i10 or similar. We found a quote of $53 for eight days on both Orbitz, Expedia and Priceline using Economy Rental Car (Alamo also had a similar rate). When I called Economy, they are now “sold out” of that car, but can upgrade us to a Hundai Accent for $55.75. They are adding the mandatory Collision Damage Insurance for $15/day. Sounds okay, right? However, I’ve heard horror stories about Economy and Alamo. Are they are reputable companies or will they do the “hard sale” at the airport for additional Loss Damage Insurance and extras? Lastly, the major booking sites are asking if I want to add insurance, ranging from $9/day on Priceline to $12/day with Expedia. The rep at Economy said this is just “extra” and not necessary. Is this true? It shouldn’t be this difficult and confusing to rent a vehicle in your gorgeous country. Any tips or help would be appreciated.
thx!
-Daniel
ps – can you tell me what companies are directly in the terminal of the San Jose airport (where no shuttle is required to get to their rental desk). thx!
yeison says
Hello Charlene,
I understand your position and best you can do is email us and we can help you figure it out with the Adobe staff.
Please let me know how it goes.
Charlene says
This site is sooo helpful and insightful!! Thanks
We are traveling in the beginning of Feb for 2 weeks…rented a small car from Adobe. I 100% understand the mandatory liability and 3rd party coverage that gets automatically checked off when booking the reservation. But the collision and damage waiver seems be something that the car rental companies are trying to make mandatory as well. For example Adobe’s website states this:
2.- LDW / Loss damage waiver.
For an additional daily fee, the rentee can waive his financial responsibility in case of damages to the rental car, produced by a car accident, collision or roll over. It also protects the financial losses in case of a total or partial theft of the automobile. The LDW has a deductible (excess ) of US$1,000 – US$1,500. The cost of the LDW varies with the car category and goes from US$14 per day to US$25per day. The LDW is not an insurance. It is mandatory.
It is a HUGE extra cost which my credit card already covers. I want to be prepared to fight them on it if they try pushing this as mandatory. What are the best steps to take to insure I don’t pay this?
Thanks
Matthew says
I am curious as to what you found out? I am currently deciding on what to do about insurance. We will be renting our car February 14th-24th during our honeymoon and I don’t know how much insurance coverage to get. Obviously have to get the minimum but I don’t want to have to worry about any accidents and having an out of pocket expense.
I tried to add our rental car with our travel insurance through the Berkshire Hathaway company called AirCare but they have said Costa Rica does not allow them to insure cars there. Strange. Anyway, would be great to hear what you have found out!
yeison says
Hi Matthew!
First of all congratulations for your marriage, we wish you the best 🙂
In regards to the insurance in Costa Rica the law is different, all the rent a cars must get at least a basic insurance and the “credit card” insurance does not work, I know it might be weird to you that’s how it is here and unfortunately there is nothing that you can do, every single person (including me as a Costa Rican) must pay the insurance.
I am sorry again for not be able to use your CC insurance here, but if there is anything we can do to help please let us know, we know the Rentals Manager and he always help as much as he can’t all our readers. We like adobe because we haven’t heard any complain from this company and they give us a special rate for our readers.
Sandy says
We’re travelling in April for a couple of weeks, San Jose – Arenal – Monteverde – Nicoya Peninsula – Jaco.
Our group is 7 in total: 4 adults and 3 children under age 6. Can you suggest two or three vehicles that might have suitable passenger and cargo space for us? I’d estimate four large suitcases and a couple small carry-ons.
From the sound of things, 4X4 would likely be best for some of the roads in those places? I have heard there tends to be less washout and potholes that time of year though.
Any advice would be really appreciated!
Sandy
P.S. I love your blog! I’m off to check out some other articles.
yeison says
Hi Sandy !
I think 2 4×4 like the Hyunday Tucson would be perfect ! but if you want keep everyone together you can also consider to rent Hyundai H1 Minivan this van is for 12 people or the seven of you very confortable 🙂
With our rental widget you will get an automatic discount, let us know if you have any more questions.
Ty says
Wow this is great info.
Going through your link for our dates (16/1 through 20/1), we do see the discount, so those dates are not blacked out. Couple of questions –
– Adobe is down to the Hyundai Santa Fe 4×4 as the big SUV option. Do you know if this the one that has 7 seats? We might have 6 people.
– If we go ahead and reserve now, does Adobe charge extra for changes or cancellations later?
– We are on the south end of Jaco Beach and would ideally be able to drive into town on a whim. But it looks like parking is on street sides (no lots I can find), and on driving videos those spots look full. Are we better off taking a cab into town?
Many thanks
yeison says
Hi ty,
Thanks for stopping and check out our blog!
In regards to your questions:
1) The Hyundai Santa Fe they have fits up to 5 adults and 4 big cases in the back, and I am not sure if they have some 7 passengers available (like the Mitsubishi Montero). Costa Ricans kids still on vacations so they are more polices n the road so I recommend you to do not fit more than 5 in that car (you never know 😉 )
2) A cancellation notice is required at least 72 hours upon scheduled arrival in order to avoid one day charge penalty.
3) If I would’ve be you I will take the car every where even in Jaco, this is the peak of the high season and you will see that people will start leaving Jaco, they have to comeback to their jobs or schools, so you might see less people by the 16th.
Remember you are in Costa Rica and unfortunately things can happen so please use common sense and do not leave backpacks or anything valuable inside the car (and if you do hide it or cover it), you will find lots of guys on every street asking you to take care of your car for $1 or $2 (1000 colones), if you dont find a parking lot It wont be a bad idea to pay those guys. Driving and drinking is very dangerous in towns like Jaco so if you drink please don’t drive 🙂
Hope you have lots of fun in Jaco
Pura vida
Perry says
Hi
Great site! Very informative!
I’m still a bit confused about the “mandatory” liability insurance. Some people are saying that if you bring a letter from your credit card company or home country auto insurance that proves you have liability coverage in Costa Rica than you do not have to get any car insurance (including any liability or mandatory coverage). Is this true? Or no matter what you have no choice but to get the mandatory liability coverage? And if so, what’s the cost?
Thanks!
Perry
yeison says
Hi Perry,
The basic insurance is mandatory by law as far as I know every must pay the basic insurance, in regards to prices I am not sure but I think it for a SUV the rate is around $20 daily and $16 for a sedan. If you try our widget the system will tell you exactly how much.
Paula says
Hi Sammi,
I have found your site so helpful! In February, my 10 yo son and I will be going from San Jose to Arenal then on to Pueto Viejo and back to San Jose to fly home. I am an adventuresome traveler so am hoping to drive. What can I expect for road conditions and timing? And will a Toyota Corolla be ok or a mini SUV like a SUZUKI SX4? Thanks!
Sammi says
Hi Paula! Road conditions for your itinerary are fairly decent, mostly main highway the whole time. From San Jose to Arenal is roughly 3 hours, Arenal to Puerto Viejo is about 5-6 hours and about 3 back to San Jose. However driving times always vary with weather, road conditions and traffic so I’d give it an extra hour or so just in case. A Toyota Corolla should be fine if you’re not planning on going to back roads or going off the main road. However, if you want to explore a bit (which sounds like you do!) then you should get a mini SUV. The Suzuki SX4 is great for that – our friend has that car and we did some pretty intense off roading with it and it was not only super fun but worked perfect. The roads in Puerto Viejo get pretty bumpy once you go off the main road and even within town there are unpaved roads. Arenal is also the same way, once you get off the main road, even in the national park the road is gravely and not paved.
Hope this helps! Have a great time with your son 🙂
Paula says
Thanks for such a quick reply. I’m linking to Adobe now to see what their rates are. Seems like none of the car rental sites show the additional charges for the mandatory insurance. How do I know how much additional that will be per day?
Sammi says
The Adobe website usually has the mandatory insurance, the loss damage waiver box prechecked (which you can’t uncheck) on the reserve page. I’m not sure about other websites, they may have it listed under something different or have a different selection method.
lawrence says
In regards to the page that has the insurance (loss and damage is pre-checked), do I have to check the other box as well, or is the pre-checked box enough? thanks.
Sammi says
Hi Lawrence!
The pre-checked box is enough unless you wish to purchase other insurance packages. If not, you can leave the box that is prechecked.
Hope this helps!
Roland says
We are two adults, traveling from San Jose to Arenal area for 4 nights, then from Arenal to Manuel Antonio for another 4 nights, and from Manuel Antonio back to San Jose.
Do you need a 4×4, or a decent sized sedan (Corola, Ford Focus etc.) will be good enough for this trip?
Thanks you.
Sammi says
The main road from all those locations are pretty decent since they are mostly on the main highways. Unless you plan to go back or off roading, you won’t absolutely have to have a 4X4 since the main roads are all nice and paved.
Roland says
Thanks!
Jean says
Sammi,
Great information!
Can you recommend a car for 3 adults and 2 kids(6 and 8 yrs)?
How’s the drive from Nuevo Arenal to Liberia airport? How long would it take? We need to catch the plane at 2pm. If we leave at 9am, is it enough time?
Many thanks!
Sammi says
I’d definitely go with either Hyundai Tucson or the Suzuki. You’ll also be bringing luggage along so you’ll need extra space for that. You probably won’t need the Ford Everest since we were 6 adults and that was plenty of space for us.
The drive from Arenal to Liberia is roughly 3 hours give or take traffic. That’s cutting it pretty close however, if you’re taking an international flight you need to be at the airport by 12 and you never know how traffic is on that road. It could be raining, there might be an accident, anything could happen and it’s best not to take chances. We usually give ourselves an extra hour or so when we go on a long road trip because driving in Costa Rica is sometimes a big toss up on how long it’ll take to get from Point a to b. Although it’s only about 140 km from LIR to Arenal, the road is pretty windy and you have to drive much slower. I’d try to leave earlier if possible, at least by 8 AM so you can safely get there at 12 without any worries.
Dana Gerstlauer says
Hi Sammi: I just wanted to verify that the prices shown on the Adobe site through your link for car rents include the mandatory insurance. I’m thinking that they do, as the Loss Damage Waiver box is checked (you can’t “uncheck” it). I plan to use the supplemental insurance offered by my credit card rather than pay for the supplemental insurance through the rental agency.
Thanks!
Dana
yeison says
Hi Dana,
Hope you are doing great !
The mandatory insurance is included in the price and is mandatory, and unfortunately everyone must get it, including me as a Costa Rican is a rent a car police law to protect third parties in case of accidents or any problem.
Please let me know if you any question regarding Costa Rica in General or the rent a car, but definitely get a car is more fun and you will visit more places 🙂
Sammi says
Hi Stephanie! The Ford Everest 4X4 I mentioned in the post was a great option especially since we drove on a lot of not-so-nice roads. If you don’t need one that big, a Hyundai Tucson is also a good option or if you’re looking for just you and your husband, a Suzuki Jimny. Most car rentals will pick you up from the airport and shuttle you to their office to do all the paperwork and stuff.
Around Jaco, you can see a lot of birds just flying about in the hills outside the city and there is the Carara National Park nearby with lots of birds.
Have a great trip!
Stephanie says
Hi,
My husband and I will be visiting Costa Rica in dec 26th-jan 4. We will be sharing a rental house with a large group of friends in plays del Rey near Jaco.
We want to rent a car to explore. I have a friend that works for Avis who will hopefully be able to get us a good deal. What size SUV/type do u recommend? Also should we get the car from the counter or take the shuttle to pick up car? We have Amex but need to call to see if insurance coverage applies in Costa Rica.
Also,I’m obsessed with birds & sea turtles and was curious if you knew the best places to experience both of these amazing creatures (closer to where will be staying is a plus of course). Any info would be great.
Any info up front to save us time & money would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks,
Stephanie
Chatsworth, Ca
DAS says
BEWARE of renting from Alamo in Costa Rica. Our experience renting a car in Liberia this June was a disaster full of hidden fees and deception. We booked our reservation online through the US Alamo site for a 6 day rental for the cheapest car for an estimated total of $123 dollars. Online, we had declined insurance coverage as my credit card and US-based auto insurance provide coverage, but when we got to the counter we were told that insurance coverage was mandatory. We protested, explaining that we already had coverage and our agent (Sylvia) explained that in Costa Rica she had to charge us for insurance and that she would only apply the mandatory minimum coverage that was allowed. This turned out to be $72 for third party coverages and $90 for accident protection. Furthermore our bill also had a $34 airport fee. When all was accounted for, our $123 reservation became $309!!! Since we were taken by shuttle to the off airport Alamo location, there was no opportunity to shop around for other rentals so we grudgingly signed the paperwork (the US Alamo site says the rental counter is at the airport but this is not true).
We then contacted another Alamo Costa Rica employee a few days later and we were informed that it was not true that the $90 accident protection was mandatory and he removed it from our bill. We were infuriated that we had been outright lied to about what was a mandatory charge (I imagine there is a commission system that encourages this deception). We also learned that the $34 airport fee is a percentage of your total rental and the fee is to take the shuttle from the airport to the counter, a ride that took 5 minutes (for 34 &@!% dollars!!!). At no time on the day of the rental were we told we would be (or had been) charged for the ride. We fought these additional fees with Alamo US upon returning and were told that the email confirmation explains that the insurance purchase is mandatory…we looked at the confirmation and this was nowhere to be found (we even shared it with Alamo and they did not address it). I suggested that they must be more transparent with these charges and that lying about insurance coverage should lead to employee discipline, but nothing has been done. They seemed to suggest that all fees but the $90 fee were fair (meaning our $123 estimated reservation should have been $219, fair and square per Alamo). Unfortunately, they have expressed zero interest in reforming the rental process (if any fee is mandatory, perhaps it should show up on an estimated rental total?). They did compensate us with 3 days of free Alamo rental coupons (whoo-hoo) but I am guessing that they are continuing to rip off other customers.
Sasha says
I’d add make sure when you book online you call the office you rented from and MAKE SURE they have a record of it. Happened to my friends when they booked a car and were told that Liberia office never got the order from San Jose(as all internet orders go through them) and they do not have any cars at all at that price in that class. Also online most companies do not show you the cost of insurance and you get a huge surprise when they tell you the price is more than double quoted online. Also it’a a US Visa policy that covers car rental, so doesn’t matter what bank issued the card if it’s visa it is covered and MUST show a letter from the credit card stating that to the rental agent.
Sammi says
Yikes that would be awful! Yes definitely make sure to always have copies and records of all the purchases online!
Kathy says
Thanks, Sammi, for your response. We decided to rent a car because we might want to do some exploring along the way and spend one day visiting the beaches on the Pacific coast. And, we’ll have the car to drive to the Liberia Airport for our return home. Of course, we won’t need the car if we do a side trip to Nicaragua. Have you been there? Anyway, yesterday we booked a car with Vamos. The have really good reviews. Have you had experience with them?
It’s great to hear about the success of your blog! It makes me realize that I need to spend more time on mine to be successful.
Thank you!
Kathy
Sammi says
Oh glad to hear that! I’ve been to Nicaragua quite a few times and traveled around there, very beautiful country. I haven’t had any experience with Vamos but have never heard anything bad about them so that’s a good thing.
Have a wonderful trip!
Vaida says
Hi, we’re thinking of driving from Liberia to Corcovado National Park. How long do you think it would take? Is it better to fly?
Thanks.
Sammi says
Hi Vaida, that is a pretty tough drive, around 6 hours with not very good roads so it would take even longer if you are not used to driving here. Corcovado national park is fairly remote and you also need to take a boat. It would be much easier to fly if that is an option for you. Less hassle, save time and driving there is not the easiest, most roads here in Costa Rica do not have names and there are no concrete addresses that you can type into a GPS.
Diana says
We need to get to Ylang ylang resort , Montezuma from the Hilton Papagayo Guancaste. We spend one night in Montezuma and then drive back to Liberia international airport to get our flight back home. Should we drive? Is the drive fairly straightforward?
Thanks
Diana
yeison says
Hi Diana, you can drive the road is not that bad and with a gps you can make it, I think that it might take you around 4+ hours from the hilton to the resort it depends of how the road is.
Richard says
The road was much improved this past December. It’s nicely paved except for a very small section. You definitely should rent a car. Be sure to ask to have a price including the mandatory insurance. If you have Amex, before you travel ask about their insurance coverage as it is much better than Visa’s. GPS is a great idea or the trip could take much longer.
Kathy says
Do you know how the road is from San Jose to Playa Hermosa? After a 13-day Gate1 tour, we’re ending our vacation at the beginning of June in Guanacaste (for four days). We’re trying to decide if we should rent a car, take a bus, or fly to Liberia. Once we get there, not sure how much we’ll use the car because we plan to spend time on the beach (staying at Hotel Bosque Del Mar). We were thinking of taking a side trip to Nicaragua with Mardigi Tours, so we won’t need a car that day either. So, do you think it makes sense to rent a car for just a day or two?
Thanks. I love you blog!
Kathy
Sammi says
It takes about 4.5 hours, it’s fairly zig zaggy and though it is paved well, you still need to be careful since other drivers like to go fast, pass, don’t signal, etc. But in terms of road conditions, it is good. My recommendation is not to rent a car, it’s really not worth it when you can just take the bus from san Jose to Liberia/Coco and it’s only $8 a ticket if you’ll just need it for that trip. If you were planning on taking pit stops and maybe exploring off the road then I might say yes but sounds like you guys have reservations at a hotel and you just need to get to Playa Hermosa.