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What is the cost of one of those red cabs from the airport to the gulch?

Either $20 or $25 and you buy the ticket inside the terminal after you pick up your luggage.

Dapper, why don't you go online to http://www.shuttlebus.co.cr and pay $9.50 for the trip. I've used them on the two trips I've made and they were very efficient.

Do they offer anytime pick up? I get in around 8pm. How long is the wait? Where do they pick you up at the airport?

I don't know for sure about the anytime pick up, but I imagine they do. You put your flight # and expected arrival time on the reservation and they will send you a confirmation email. They wait for you just outside the arrival area - with all the other taxi drivers and tour operators. They hold up one of those placards with your name on it. Both times, they have been waiting when I got to the exit.

Great, thanks for the info.

I'm booking a trip right now. It's weird that a date I selected was in red. I thought that would mean it's not available or it's more expensive. I was still able to purchase it though. The round-trip is cheaper than a taxi!

I think the red numbers are just a feature of that calendar. Looks like it's Saturday and Sunday.

Are you sure about that? He was asking about the RED cabs not the special ORANGE AIRPORT cabs that those tickets are for and which I think you're actually thinking about. To catch the regular RED cabs you have to either go upstairs and grab one of them after it has just left off a departing passenger or go out to the street and flag one as it passes by on the road.

Re: the shuttle, IMHO, for a SINGLE traveler, short of taking the public bus (which is my personal usually preferred mode of travel), the airport shuttle is DEFINITELY the way to go. The only possible negative with the shuttle is that you need to book it in advance of your trip (3 days or more in advance if you book using their on-line form though possibly less if you call them direct) rather than just arriving at SJO and being able simply to hop into one of the vehicles always waiting outside. But how big a deal is that, when the savings are at least 50% over taking an ORANGE airport taxi? Even the RED cabs or pirate taxis will probably cost you way more than $9.50. The ONLY way I could see those taxis POSSIBLY being a better deal than the shuttle would be if you're traveling with one or more wingmen (or can find another likely looking single male monger type once at the airport) to share the ride to the Gulch with since the shuttle prices are PER PERSON whereas the taxi prices are PER CARLOAD

I didn't think about this until after I booked the shuttle, but I won't be able to go to the exchange booth upstairs will I? The shuttle will be waiting for me downstairs right? I can't imagine they want to wait for me to go upstairs and change money. I guess I can change currency at the SL or a casino.

If they are waiting when you get out, just ask if they mind if you go change some money. The last time I was there, I asked and the guy said okay. When I came out of the departure area after changing the money, he was up there waiting for me. The guy with the sign has to call the driver, so there is a slight delay - maybe a couple of minutes. I always tip the waiting guy 500 colones and the driver 1000. If the guy is not waiting for you, go ahead and change the money and come back down to the arrival exit - he'll be there. Just to make everything clear, the shuttle bus is not waiting outside when you arrive - only the guy with the sign.

I agree, just tell him you want to go change some money. By the time you get back down, the shuttle may already be there waiting.

Please not to forget another strong option--if you are visiting our Sponsor Esthetic Dental Center Smile 90210 with the work scheduled the first day, they will shuttle you airport to clinic then on to your hotel afterward. Great deal on a great deal. They also offer hotel/clinic/hotel shuttle service if the work's done on a subsequent day.
May I interject another small reason for cab vs. shuttle? The shuttle may make a few stops before your hotel, and outbound, will have you picked up way early for the same reason. A trifling consideration to be sure--unless you have an o'dark:30 flight out and/or you are impatient to get that "nuisance nut" out of the way.

_________________
"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

Both times I have been there, I was the only customer in the shuttle, so it was direct to my hotel. I read a post on another site from someone who had been there numerous times and stated he was the only customer on all but one trip - that trip there was another customer going to the same hotel. On the way out, just tell them your flight is later than it actually is. They schedule to pick you up four hours before your flight - I move my flight time up an hour so it's three hours. There is NO reason to take a taxi over the shuttle!

My understanding is that the vast majority of the time, you're the only one being picked up at a time, so having multiple stops on the way in is not supposed to be that common of a problem. Maybe that has changed as the airport shuttle services have become more popular. OTOH, on the way out, whether you have other passengers sharing your ride or not, they INSIST on picking you up a full 4 hours before your scheduled departure time, which for an already early flight out means arriving pretty much unnecessarily in the pre-dawn hours. IME, 2 hours has always been more than adequate and even then most of the time you wind up sitting around twiddling your thumbs waiting for your flight to depart. Flights departing mid-day might require that 2 hours but flights leaving before 8 or 9 AM rarely if ever do.