www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Personally, I'm definitely with Paradise in using the public bus to get into town, but I'd hesitate to recommend that to newbies unless I knew their level of travel experience and saavy. In this case, his wife is Colombiana and speaks perfect espanol so perhaps she'd be perfectly comfortable with it. OTOH, Tony seems to have some trepidations so maybe he should just play it safe with a taxi or perhaps the shuttle.

BTW, the shuttle is an excellent alternative to taking a taxi for SOLO travelers but for 2 people traveling together the savings MAY not be so great (2X$9.50=$19 vs $20-26 for a taxi depending on what rate they're charging that week) and for groups of 3 or more a taxi would definitely be cheaper than the shuttle and the taxis have the advantage of not needing to be reserved in advance.

Back on the bus route, I may not carry 2-3 bags with me when I travel but I do carry my share of cash, cameras and even a netbook and I'd have no fear at all of having them ripped off on the bus (at least not during the day). Its not like I travel around with the cash sticking out of my pockets or my camera dangling from a strap around my neck. Just keep your valuables securely stowed and close to you and you'll be fine. Frankly, the simple hassle of lugging around a bunch of luggage if you have more than 1-2 items per person would be a bigger issue and if you aren't prepared to accept the SLIGHTLY greater discomfort of walking a little further with all your stuff and sitting on a bus seat rather than in a cab then it probably would be worth the greater cost to take that cab.

As far as the cab boycott goes, good luck with that. Actually, I think it is a good idea. At the very least it should save you a lot of money personally over the rip-off amounts the airport taxis are now trying to charge. Just don't expect it to have any effect on pricing or lead to any real lack of business. There will always be a ton of ignorant tourists coming into SJ who don't know anything about your boycott or the shady rip-off practices that these cabbies manage to play and there will be plenty who will pay the higher amounts.

Originally, they went with flat rate pricing (with one rate that every knew) through an official ticket booth in order to eliminate the rip-offs that cabbies were perpetrating on tourists. Then they went to differential pricing depending on what part of downtown you were going, which led to a lot of confusion on the part of tourists (exactly how much should it cost me? Well, it all depends). More recently, they started enforcing an existing law that all taxis should have working meters and that they should USE those rather than asking for some arbitrary (and excessive) flat rate when the tourist got into the cab. IF the meters were used and IF they weren't heavily rigged, the resulting fares should have come out to be about the same or even less than what the flat rates used to be from the official ticket booth.

Now, apparently, they're back to some combination of the old system with some people picking up a ticket at the booth (for various rates depending on where you're going), some people just getting into cabs and paying whatever the cabbie feels like asking for and some people insisting that they use the meters. Personally, if I were using the cab I'd insist on the latter and HOPE that the taxi-meter hadn't been gamed too much. The OFFICIAL meter rate (based on ARESEP approved airport taxi fares) shouldn't be much more than $20 to the Dunn Inn depending on any traffic delays. If it was, I wouldn't pay much more than that to the driver and then would consider that to be his "tip".

"Sorry, but taking the bus is NOT for newbies, or for anyone carrying a lot of cash and two or three bags with them, which is what most guys do. The cost of a a taxi is small for the security and privacy that you get. Hell. most guys will be spending a lot of money on hookers, booze and food, so a taxi is nothing, why cut corners there?[/quote]


Personal preference. Maybe not the first time visiting CR, but for people making multiple trips and are not aware how easy the bus is to take for so little money (75 cents) and landing them in downtown SJ, I would recommend at least giving it a try once, especially if not in a rush to get to the hotel, especially during the day.

I don't think our boycotting the orange cabs will have much effect on way or another because we are such a small % of the tourist population. We may sometimes think we are a heavier % but as was talked about last year or so, this just isn't true.

_________________
"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

Maybe a moot point. Airport cabs (orange ones) are having their permit to operate pulled by the government for failure to use meters.

No word yet on what they plan to replace them.l

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Paid 8,000colones (approx $14usd) monday from airport to La Amistad. Went upstairs & made offer to red taxi driver who was dropping somebody off.

_________________
"cuz I'm a back-door man" Jim Morrison-1969

wow..this is pretty serious. I'm curious to know from those of you who just arrived or about to arrive in the next few days, do you see any orange cabs outside? is the taxi booth by the exit completely closed? or has all the private cabs taken over that exit?

Not at all that serious for those of us who already know there are much better alternatives. And not at all that surprising either considering the orange airport cabs have long been footdragging and delaying implementation of ARESEP rules to protect tourists and prevent overcharging.

I will be taking the bus and saving the money to pay the departure tax.
The bus lets me off 2 blocks from my usual haunt....The Nuevo Johnson...check-in , go across the street to Mercado central for a bite and then walk to the key largo, check the temp in Minneapolis....have a good laugh and go to the Del-Rey for some sightseeing.
Unfortunately I will have to wait until March-April for this to come true.......

God I hate winter.....

If you stay at either the Nuevo Johnson or the Hotel Doral, as I sometimes do, it makes particular sense to take the bus since you can easily walk from the bus stop to your hotel and you don't even need to grab a cab at all.

Everything is very correct, thank you Prolijo, about promoting the use of the public bus to depart from SJ Airport to Downtown San Jose, unless maybe it's late at night.

Prolijo has made some very knowledgeable points about taking the bus if you can manage it, especially since it's simple to walk from the bus to your hotel if you do not feel like spending 1 or 2 mil on a taxi when arriving. If you're very rich and don't mind spending 20 times the price, go take a taxi. If you want a cheap 75 cent ride to downtown San Jose which is very simple then just hop on the bus and call it a day. We are talking about a quick 25 minute ride down the main highway until the bus makes a left towards the downtown SJ area.

That is the entire point when traveling to these types of destinations. Take advantage of the amazing deals when using public transportation, and just be watchful and hold on to your belongings when riding the bus.

But then again, if you were riding a bus in the states, you would watch your items and hold on to them as well, correct? So there you go. I don't even see much difference between taking a bus here and back home. They take you from point A to point B and most people mind their busineess. The only difference is lower price which obviously is favorable towards you.

And for those of you who are set on taking a taxi, please avoid that lttle tax booth/window next to all the rental car companies. That booth appears to be the highest priced taxi service.

Just walk outside and find an honest looking driver who will be negotiable with you on the price. Be firm and respectful when negotiating and NEVER pay more than 20 dollars, which is already too expensive, to take a cab from the airport to your hotel in the downtown SJ area. You have 20, 30, maybe 40 drivers waiting outside the airport's exit to get your business. And yes, many of them will negotiate with you.

Those individuals who approach you prior to exiting the airport are the ones who want you to prepay for a receit for the highest priced taxi's available. Avoid them and just walk outside. Plenty of other taxi drivers will let you employ them for less.

I might add to that.....even after negotiating a firm price with a red taxi....you should reaafirm with the driver, that no matter how much traffic he encounters on the way in, the price is still the same.

Last trip, I had a female driver keep trying to UP the price as we drove down the highway....she was basing the increase on all the cars and traffic jams and how much longer it was taking than she thought it would. I refused any increase....a deal's a deal.