Renting a car in Costa Rica?

Question

I am wondering if it's worth it to rent a car in San Jose and drive to Playa del Coco. I'm mostly worried about getting lost, and getting into an accident. Is it more convenient to rent a car or is it just a hassle. How is public transportation? Are there taxis in smaller beach towns like Coco...just looking for guidance.

Answer 1

Public transport is very good.  Bus service between most San Jose and Coco is good.  All towns (almost) have plenty of taxis though at rush hour you may have to wait a bit.Taxis are reasonable unless you hit a particularly difficult driver.  All taxis have meters,  if the driver doesn't have one, get a different taxi.  Tip a bit above the meter.

You may want to consider hiring a car with driver.  BY trip or by day.  Check the ads in amcostarica.com or ticotimes.com.  Lots of English speaker ticos and foreigners

offer this service.  It costs less then twice as much as a rental, may be worth it to you.

If you rent your rental has a special plate which seems to invite the traffic police to pick on you, force you to be generous and make friends, ie. a shake down.  Which of course is not quite the same as a bribe.  Having a bribe you offer get accepted makes you feel really cool.  Being shaken down is humiliating.

To sum  up.  Do not rent a car in Costa Rica in your name.

If you get in an accident in a rental car expect big problems, especially if you get a citation.  Since you are obligated to give a credit card in order to rtent don't expect to get any minor problem cleared up for years and your credit rating will likely take a hit ,too.

Answer 2

I wouldn't consider renting a car to be worth it.  The very narrow, winding, shoulderless, busy, sometimes potholed roads, and the very aggressive drivers, will make it a stressful experience. Unless you can react quickly to coming around a  blind curve and finding a semi heading towards you in your lane, I can't say I advise it.  Meanwhile, you can take a bus for a few bucks, and sit back and enjoy the scenery.  They're generally decent buses with reclining seats, although usually no AC.  And the taxis are very cheap usually.  

There are also shuttles intended specifically for tourists that run to some destinations, they cost a lot more but still probably cheaper than rental.

Answer 3

If you rent a car be very careful. There are lots of bad drivers down there. I am from the US and I went to Nicaragua for a week last month and I got scared every time I was in a car because we nearly got hit several times. My group stayed with a host down so we never had to drive. Also, if you drive you'll have to watch out for bicycles, horses, and buggys on the road.

Answer 4

From San Jose to Playas del Coco yes I will suggest you to rent one with the GPS service which will help you get there with no problems, about 3 months ago I went from San Jose to Playas del Coco on my VW Jetta and it took me 3.5 hours, I know the route so I will say it can take you about 4.5 hours driving slowly and taking your time to look around.  Also I will suggest a small 4x4 SUV so you don’t have any issues, as I said I was driving a regular automobile and had no issues at all.

The benefit of having your own car is that you can stop anywhere you like any time you want…

Public transportation is good but you are subject to  their scheduled  and taxis rates can become a problem to some tourists.

If you have any further questions just shoot me an email I will be happy to help you.