www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Last month I took a pre-planned trip from the Cocal to the Baldi resort in Arenal via rental car. The plan was to leave early enough to avoid any nighttime driving, period. Well, stuff happens, and especially when it comes to trips with chicas. By the time I left the Cocal with my favorita (fifth trip to Costa Rica, fifth time with her), it was somewhere north of 2:00 PM. Then we had to go grocery shopping. Then I had to wait for her to pack up for the 2-night trip. Then we got our rental car, a Toyota Corolla from Alamo (the car and the agency were five stars).

We finally left Jaco after 4:00 PM. It was Sunday, May 3rd, the last day of the 3-day Labor Day weekend (May 1st is Labor Day all over the world, save for the USA), when everyone was travelling home from their holidays. We hit some bad traffic. The good part was we were allowed to drive on the "wrong" side of the divided freeway (very cool - I took an iPhone video of my scofflaw wrong-way excursion!), which was opened to reverse traffic by public announcements on radio and TV (I saw only one sign entering a toll booth the entire way). Unfortunately, nightfall came all-too-quickly, and I was driving in pitch-black darkness on narrow, winding mountain roads, with a concrete V-ditch where one would welcome the trivial margin-of-safety of a small shoulder, and large trucks coming the other way every once in a while. The worst thing was that every now and then a pedestrian would materialize out of nowhere on the edge of the V-ditch! This terrified me to no end. To my plaints, my companion blithely commented "Where do you expect them to walk?" ... Her Costa Rican stoic-fatalism at that moment making me feel more gringo then ever in my entire life.

Next thing, we stopped for an accident. I walked a third of a mile from my car, now parked in the traffic lane, and asked the authorities how long the road would be closed. "At least half an hour" was the reply, which I acknowledged as "oh, half an hour?" to which I was admonished "AT LEAST half an hour!". After consulting with some fellow night road warriors, we decided to bail and take a detour. The detour was via San Ramon, a particularly treacherous nighttime route. We got in to the Baldi resort at around 9:30 PM, got checked in expeditiously by the front desk (top notch!) and went directly to some hot spring pools open 24 hours. PURA VIDA!

At least your trip ended well, soaking in the hot springs! I love Arenal and La Fortuna. I've been there a couple of times, but I took the Interbus. Those shuttle drivers know the winding roads well, but some drive the curves at top speeds. A couple of my fellow passengers were motion sick.
I am always looking to save money when travelling. I was sitting in a return shuttle in Jaco and saw "Transportes Jaco" pull up. (Garabito bus). I am learning that certain parts of the country are easy enough to get around by bus and that gives me more money for fun!

http://www.transportesjacoruta655.com/rutas.php

http://www.transportesjacoruta655.com/tarifas.php

The road from San Ramon to La Fortuna is a beautiful drive during the day, but tends to have foggy patches that make it a treacherous route at any time of the day.

Great 5 min. video re driving in Costa Rica: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9af7o9MFxU

If you do not mind driving at a leasurly pace then I like driving at night. The occasional walker on the side of the road does wake you up quick, but you have the advantage of seeing the headlights before you see the oncoming car, so for me I like it. You just have to be careful about not getting mesmerized by the fire-flys sometimes. Driving during the day you do get a much better view though, along with the traffic.

Thanks for posting that video. What they said about drivers and driving in Costa Rica is true! D'Angelo and Michael Alan have put together a ton of great videos with helpful tips and they are another source of info on Costa Rica.

In October 2014, I was taking a shuttle to Panama via the highway past Cahuita southbound, when a bus driving northbound, about a quarter mile ahead, had just killed a 6 year old Ch*ld on the road. It was horrible. I felt so badly for the family and of course, there was the usual gridlock of traffic. In a personal way, it was traumatic, because everyone had to get out of the shuttle with their luggage and walk it right past the accident scene.
I mean right through the scene. Some of the luggage was too heavy to carry, so people had to wheel it through the grass on the edge of the road, where the clean up crew had just rinsed the aftermath away. It smelled like death.
It brought home the harsh reality of what can happen on the rural two lane roads of Costa Rica. I personally felt like that particular shuttle driver had a death wish and I felt terrorized the whole ride. He would pass not only a loaded semi trailer, but also a school bus full of Ch*ldren, in the same pass, at a high speed. I will NEVER shuttle to Panama and walk that rickety, hole-ridden bridge, over crocodile infested waters again. (Sixaola Guabito bridge). Flying is the only way to go.

On the way back, using the same shuttle company, we got to Limon, only to be confronted by a protest blockade of port workers. They had been clashing with the police on and off, so I knew this was a possibility. This time, the driver was able to keep moving and took the long way through Limon and back around to the highway to San Jose.

So, I can attest to the fact that driving in CR is dangerous, although supposedly the Dominican Republic is worse.

Night driving between San Ramon and LaFortuna is a risk I would not advise taking. There is a stretch that is consistently foggy to the point that daytime driving is dangerous. At night in fog you would be lucky just to see the road a few feet in front of you.

Definitely thinking with my little head instead of my (slightly) bigger one.

I'm with ya on this one. I got the same response from my girl when driving the leisurely road down from Irazu, in fog thick enough to eat! Can't go too fast, can't go too slow. Don't dare stop. Oh look! Pedestrians in the middle of the f*kin street!

_________________
bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!

Been on some windy tight roads but that one is the only one i got physically sick from. Pulled over at that little restaurant about half way and regained my bearings.

_________________
im way deep into nothing special
riding the crest of a wave breaking just west of hollywood

The first time I went to Arenal (staying at Tabacon) was with a driver and a van. Thanks to the winding mountain road and my chica's cigarette smoking, I began to get carsick. We stopped at a roadside bodega in the pitch darkness, where my companion convinced me to enjoy an "Alka Seltzer cocktail" (for the first time in my life). In the end, I'm left with the happy memory of enjoying that nocturnal libation in the midst of a mountain rain forest with my Costa Rican novia.

Having driven that road perhaps a hundred times, I do agree it is one of the more treacherous drives in Costa Rica. However, with the rains of late in that area, that road is now closed. You can still take it most of the way but about 20 miles outside La Fortuna, you have to detour off to another road. The area around the Los Angeles Cloud Forest is about the worst for fog in the entire country. Have been days driving that road I could have walked faster. The other thing I always loved about that road is the buses...if one is coming around a corner, you better STOP quick because they use up both lanes on that narrow road.

_________________
The only thing that matters is happiness in all it forms...

Steve:

The nighttime pedestrians "walking the line" separating the 18-inch-deep concrete V-ditch from the shoulderless road was far and away the scariest thing for me.

Is there a place to fly into and avoid all that?

Yes, there is an airport in La Fortuna...fares are minimum $150 round trip per person out of San Jose on either Nature Air or Sansa. The easy way to avoid the most hazardous driving is do it in the daytime. It is a really beautiful drive with one of the best zip lines in the country on the way.

The road from San Ramon to La Fortuna re-opened today so no more detours

_________________
The only thing that matters is happiness in all it forms...