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Hey guys,

New to the forum and very glad to have found it! Thank you to everyone who contributes, it has been a great resource so far.

I will be traveling to CR for 5days in May. I will be landing on Friday morning and heading straight to Jaco and spending most of my time there.

1st question... I was planning on renting a car to go from airport to Jaco. I also wanted to have a means of transportation to visit surrounding areas during my stay. Should I just use the bus instead as I read in the Costa Rica for newbies thread to avoid renting cars.

2nd question... I leave on Tuesday at 11am. My original thought was to leave for SJ on Monday evening and check out the SL or HDR for one night. Do you guys think it would be worth the visit or should I just stay an extra night in Jaco and leave early for the airport on Tuesday morning?

Thanks in advance for the help!

I would always rent a car as I like to be free to pick up and go whenever I choose. Be aware though that the rate you will find online does not include the mandatory insurance that the car rental places make you carry. The good thing is that with complete coverage you can not give a shit about the car as everything is covered. If you decline the coverage they will charge your credit card an amount somewhere from 1000-5000.00 depending on the car, as a deposit until it is returned in the condition you picked it up in. If there are any problems ie: missing hub caps, chips in the window, scratches, etc. you will be waiting to get your deposit back or a portion of it. For full coverage you can figure on adding about 35-50.00 per day to your rental fee. The one good thing about it though, if you want to play "Days of Thunder", you do not need to worry how to get the car out of the ocean.

I would stay first night in SJO, get my orientation at SL bar all day and acclimate.

I always use thrifty rent a car, walking distance from SL and gulch. If you get international reservations on the phone, get an email copy, it helps. They want you to get comprehensive insurance and I do but it is always cheaper if you do it with an agent and get emailed to you in Spanish and English....

Than just drive to Jaco next day....just don’t drive to Jaco at night - confusing as hell for first timer.
I would drive directly back to airport from Jaco on Last day/Tuesday.

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Thanks for the input guys! Looks like I'll definitely get a car. I hate relying on public transportation.

I land at SJO around 8am, figured I'd shoot straight to Jaco and enjoy some outdoor activities.

also, note where your rental is on a GPS of some sort. I rented once and the rental was not near the airport and for some reason I couldn't find it in a search to GPS back to it from San Jose on apple or google maps. I did find the rental when I got closer to the airport. Might have just been me, but it was weird and I say just play it safe if rental is not actually at the airport (I rented Avis)


Also as an FYI, if you stay at SL, Amistad or Castillo, you can get free parking at Amistad...just need to reserve it ahead of time if they have availability. During the week they rent out spaces to INS.

Be sure to pick up some small bills (1,000 crc) when you do the currency exchange, that way you can more easily take the toll road to Jaco.

Someone else might be more accurate, but I think there are half a dozen tolls ranging from 500-700 crc apiece. They'll have coins for change.

And as Californiamann noted, it's best to go directly from Jaco to the airport on your return. There's no sense fighting San Jose traffic twice in 24 hours just to stay overnight downtown.

But in case you're set on spending that last night at SL or HDR, I'd return the car as you pass by the airport and take an Uber or taxi downtown. From a cost standpoint it might be a wash between another day of rental vs roundtrip Uber, but you'd avoid potholed roads, congestion, parking, convoluted routes, and frustration of trying to return the car before a flight.

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the input

IF you rent from an agency that has a downtown location (ie. Thrifty), you can ask them to drop it off downtown and save a 1 way taxi. Just make sure you are downtown before they close at 7pm.

maybe not the best price but i had the front desk set up a car to be brought to SL and i dropped it off there fwiw

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