www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I 100% agree with Pac's response... I live here and drive back and forth from a beach community (near Playas del Coco) to my office in Sabana on a regular basis... sometimes two trips per week.

Driving in San Jose is not a problem, as long as you know where you are going. 6 years ago it was awful and I never knew where I was going. Now through experience and trial by error I can get to almost anywhere I need to go and have gotten the directions down.

If you do not know where you are going, then take a taxi.... It will save you a hell of a lot of stress and headache. Even GPS is useless! To me GPS in downtown San Jose will only lead you to an accident by paying attention to the equipment rather than the craziness of motor cycles, mopeds, pedestrians, and taxi drivers all over the place.... and they do not hesitate because they DO know where they are going.

Diving out to the beach areas is EASY.... there is only one main road through each major beach community in the country. Coco, one road with two turns to the neighboring beaches of Hermosa/Panama or Ocotal (those beach areas only have one road through them. Jaco, one road with a couple of turn offs to areas such as Los Suenos. Manuel Antonio, one road through the area. Playa Samara (don't blink you will miss it) Tamarindo, one road with a couple of turn offs (one towards Flamingo and other smaller beaches). Never been to Dominical but it is smaller than even Playas del Coco.

Driving out of the city towards the beaches is easy if given the correct directions. Leaving from SL to Jaco is not terribly difficult but is easy to end up on the wrong street that will take you to a right turn only when you need to turn left. But a little patience and this can be overcome.

Rental car companies... I agree with the comment above about Thrifty (owner of Thrifty Costa Rica is a relative of a business partner of mine). But all the major companies are here Hertz, (National, Budget, Alamo, and Toyota Rental Car are all operated by a company called ANC in Costa Rica.... out in the beach areas the offices are separated but at both SJO and LIR they are under one roof.

AVOID renting a car through the SJO airport branches of the rental car companies... this adds a tax that you can avoid by renting from any of their other office (check the company you chose to use on their web site for locations).

A company that is not in the U.S. Adobe rental car is a reputable company (I use them often in my office as our employees make reservations for our clients coming to visit their condos or tenants renting for hoildays... they pay a high commission for refferals.... If you rent from them not using someone in the middle their price is often the best).

All of this being said.... I would HIGHLY recommend the use of brother PuraVidaTransport if you are going to the beaches.... he will take care of the driving and provide the knowledge along the way for a price that is unbeatable in Costa Rica!

Thanks!

-Helpmann

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"What it takes is the will to do exactly what you want." -Helpmann
"A hard dick has no conscience." -Anonymous

So how does driving in Costa Rica compare to driving in the Dominican Republic?

It's much easier, but get GPS. The roads are much much better, the police are there to help (not look for hand-outs), the traffic lights work, less congestion, fewer aggressive drivers, and fewer slow moving vehicles (donkeys).

My only complaint is that the street signs in San Jose are few to none, which is why you need GPS. Although, I didn't drive much in San Jose (cabs are the better, cheaper option), I did drive a lot on the west coast between Jaco and Uvitas.

Cheers!
Helpmann

_________________
_____________________________________________________
"What it takes is the will to do exactly what you want." -Helpmann
"A hard dick has no conscience." -Anonymous