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I'm familiar with Jaco and SJ areas but I will be making my first visit down to Dominical to visit some vacationing family members. I'm traveling solo and looking to spend 1 night mongering in SJ and then getting down to Dominical. Should I rent a vehicle and do it meself or hire a service? What route is best if renting the vehicle? Also if anyone has Tica info for the Dominical area. Is there a spot to monger down there? Thanks!!

If renting a vehicle, I know of two routes to take from San Jose to get to Dominical. The first is to take the Pan American Hwy south and head towards San Isidro del General. Once in San Isidro take Hwy 243 west to Hwy 34 along the Pacific Coast. Make a left onto Hwy 34 and go past a checkpoint and over a bridge. As soon as you cross the bridge, Dominical will be on your right. This route can be done in about 3 1/2 hours. You will be crossing Cerro del Muerte on your way to San Isidro which can be hairy at times because of fog and rain.

The other route is to head towards Jaco from San Jose but continue traveling south on Hwy 34 until you reach the outskirts of Quepos. Look for signs to Dominical. The 25 - 26 mile segment of Hwy 34 from Quepos to Dominical is unimproved (no pavement, bumpy and dusty). Many times, a bridge will be out over one of the rivers, and you will be required to ford the river in your vehicle. For this reason, I would advise choosing the first alternative. The trip can be done in 4 - 4 1/2 hours barring any unforeseen obstacles.

Some members on here claim there is a third, more direct route via Quepos, but I have yet to figure it out.

If traveling by bus, you can take the MUSOC bus line to San Isidro del General. The MUSOC bus station is located near the Pacific Railroad Station in the southern half of the city. The trip takes about 3 hours by bus. Once in San Isidro, the Quepos/Dominical bus station is situated about 200-300 yards away. Busses for Dominical and Quepos run several times a day and take about 45 minutes to get to Dominical.

Renting a car will cost more, but I believe it offers you more flexibility and comfort to get to your destination. There are no mongering venues in Dominical and extremely limited in San Isidro.

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Blue Devil

Pura Vida...enjoying life to the fullest...

Thanks Blue! Will I need a 4x4 or would a car be suitable? What rental agency should I use? I'm looking to stay 1 night in San Jose, Feb. 4th. I've stayed at the SL and it was great so I have a request in for then but I didn't realize super bowl stuff was going on, any recommendations for any other places close by in case I cant get a room for that night? Much appreciation....

If you take the first route (through San Isidro), a standard car (eg Toyota Yaris) will be fine. However, if you take the second route (through Quepos), a small SUV or 4x4 is recommended for the unimproved segment of Hwy 34 between Quepos & Dominical. I use Thrifty http://www.thrifty.com ... the cars are reliable and have very competitive rates. Thrifty has two offices: one at the airport (behind Denny's Restaurant) and a downtown location on Calle 3 & Avenida 13 (near the Amon Plaza hotel).

As far as finding a hotel other than SL, check out the list of CRT sponsors like hotels La Amistad, Castillo, Dunn Inn, Hemingway, Inca Real, Freebird, etc. and you may increase your chances of finding a room during Superbowl Weekend. (If you are so inclined, you may want to consider joining VIP to take advantage of the CRT hotel discounts for the one night you spend in SJ. The annual membership fee is $39.) There are other chica-friendly hotels like the Morazon, Presidente & Del Rey inside the gulch. (Del Rey charges a $10 chica fee, though . ) I would take an airport taxi or Interbus shuttle into SJ, so you don't have to worry about parking, and pick up your rental car when you are ready to leave for Dominical.

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Blue Devil

Pura Vida...enjoying life to the fullest...

Whora,

I was just in Perez Zeledon (S.I. del General) back in Dec. and getting a rental car from there is both very expensive (Cheapest I found $85/day base for a 4x4) and difficult. I had to wait at least one day if I was just stopping in and trying to pick up that day, very limited supply. Maybe with reservation it would work but never know in a different place down there. I had a real nice time and took the buses as Blue D discusses. ONly $4 for a 3 hour bus ride on nice clean newer bus and NO driving stress. I went to Dom. for the day and looked fun at night but didn't have a wing so came back to S.I. where I stayed all 3 nights. One nice strip of bars and restaurants in Dom. looked promising possibly to pick up a chica at night. Lots of surfers and beach type crowd during the day also. Looks like a chill place.

As far as whoring in San Isidro saw some pretty nasty streetwalkers who very badly needed to shave their legs, about sums up their appearance. Dont think they were trannies but didn't get too close to find out. There is also one whore hotel up past the mercado central on right hand side one or 2 blocks from the central parque. Small town so in couple hours you will have seen it all. When I looked in the hotel (cant remember name) saw one doable and 2 I would not touch from afar. Also I saw a nightclub on the route back to San Jose on my way home which is very close in town which I would of checked out if I was there another night.

Cool place down there.