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Anyone know of the best place near HDR to grab a cab to the Castillo? The cabs parked want 2000 colonnes for a 600 crc fare. Ive walked it a few times since its a straight shot down calle11 and except for a few harmless trannys no problems but i can see where a cab might be better. If you have made this trip by cab let me know best place to flag a cab and price?

Check this out.
You dont have to take my advice by any means on this.

I am no expert of safety or security.

Now that being said. I am going to tell you that the 2,000 colones for a taxi outside of DR to Castillo is not really that bad. I pay that often. Very often. When I roll late night or early morning

This does not apply in daytime. Daytime tell them to kiss yo ass!
Only afta hours my friend. And after hours for me in SJ would be after about 7:30 P.M. When all da shops and businesses are shuddered and gates down!

I dunno? Rough estimate 2,000 colon maybe about 4.00 or even less with the current xchange. I think this is well worth not being accosted by trannys in the parks or streets, encountering dirty officers lurking for the "mordida" bribe, possibly being struck by a runaway taxi or drunk, possibly robbed by an opportunistic robber, stepping into a pothole and breaking yo leg, etc etc etc


fitty

Simple solution. NEVER take a cab parked at the HDR. Flag one down coming down the street between the HDR and the KL. It's simple and effective. The ride should be no more than 500 CRC.

Berk....

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FRUITCAKE... and you thought it was something you eat! Not on CRT!

I am going to echo 50 in many ways and say, PLEASE, you should look at this for what it really is.

Now, I am not saying it is ok for the taxistas to double the fare, but put it into perspective. Unless you are making this trip every day of your life two or three times a day, it could never add up in any way shape or form to a serious amount of money for you. (for them, yes, it might be a big difference in his day. but who cares. God bless him for making a little extra dough)I dont have any real idea but for sake of conversation I am going to say, most likely you are like most of us and you are probably there on vacation only a few times a year.

Let’s do some simple math. A normal trip, of call it 5 days. You are in this position of having to take this rip off cab ride three times a day. (I know a lot of assumptions) But, really, Ok so each time you might normally pay 600. But you are a decent guy so you give him a 400 colon tip for being a good guy and not soaking you for the 2000 colon rip off fare. Now you have paid 1000.

Now if you have been forced to pay the rip off rate of 2000, you get out of the cab utter some cruse under your breath and tell him to F’ off as far as a tip goes. The difference now is 1000 Vs 2000. So now in each trip you have over paid 2 bucks and each day you have paid an extra 6.00 bucks. Yes, a whopping $30.00 bucks over 5 days for your entire trip. Is this really worth a conversation? I am certain to some it is. But, I don’t get it.

If your convenience, safety, time and legs are not worth $2.00, what is? You should be saving your strength for other more personal activities. I would think this conversation is really only about before night fall. If your safety isn’t worth $2.00 there is nothing more I can say. If your budget is this tight for a five day trip why are you in the HDR to begin with? There are cheaper places. In one session you could save a years worth of cab fare in one session.

At minimum wage I spent two trips ($4.00) just pecking this out with my two typing fingers. I am a terribly slow typist. Hunt and peck.

Just my version of the truth

Well, I guess not.
I dunno but what is your rough estimate on the REAL likelihood of any of those things really happening, particularly the worst of them? While I realize that some of those things HAVE happened to others, I've walked that route MANY times, even AFTER the local shop shutters have all closed and NEVER had ANY of those things happen to me (okay one time a tranny did flash me his/its tits from a distance of a dozen feet or more). Maybe I'm just going about it in a more SENSIBLY cautious way or something or maybe I'm just a bit more lucky than others, but whatever explains it, IMHO it still only goes to show that all those dangers MUST have been GROSSLY overstated. And, I might add, it seems like jimmy shares a similar view as mine on that question - i.e. that the risks from walking the entire way are really pretty MARGINAL but that, given the low taxi fares (of the more honest cabbies), it could well be worth the extra buck or two to take a cab at night.

BUT EVEN IF one really believes things are THAT dangerous, wouldn't it STILL make much more sense to simply walk a few measly extra feet beyond the curb and all those parked scamster taxis to flag down one of the frequent passing ones in order to only have to pay a third or quarter as much and STILL spare yourself from all those lurking "dangers? Walking the ENTIRE way may be too dangerous for you, but walking an extra 6 feet certainly couldn't be. Most of us ROUTINELY venture further from the front doors of the HDR than that ALREADY whenever we walk between the HDR and the KL (or NYB). Actually most of the problem I've experienced with street riff-raff hassling me has occurred right outside the HDR/BM itself and hopping into a cab really doesn't do that much to eliminate that.

Okay, many of you may fairly disagree with me about the relative risks of WALKING ALL THE WAY to the SL after dark, but this is not really a question of whether to simply WALK that 1/4 MILE or whether it is better advised to play it safer, pay $1-4 bucks extra and take a CAB. The specific issue here is whether it is worth it to MAYBE walk an extra 1-4 FEET to save $2-3.

Is that a huge amount or will it break our budget? OF COURSE NOT! But why throw away ANY money when it is so SIMPLE (and really not ANY more dangerous) not to? If you don't mind throwing away even just the $6/day that GSS calculated, then throw it to me instead Or give it to your chica as a propina for providing exceptional service, rather than giving it to some taxista who thinks he can pull something over on the rich, dumb, drunk gringo. GSS may want to "bless him" for trying to make some extra dough, but there are plenty of much more honest taxistas who try to make their extra dough by actually hustling legitimately for rides and providing relatively honest service rather than sitting on their duffs all night in front of the HDr waiting for some gringo sucker to walk out the doors. BTW, I also think tipping someone 67% for not ripping you off (something they shouldn't be doing anyway) is also needlessly extravagant. When did we go from tipping people ONLY when they provide us GOOD service to not only tipping them but tipping them extravagantly for NOT providing us BAD service?
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But enough of the soapboax, I think jimmy had already reached his own conclusion about the cabs right outside the HDR being needlessly expensive and he really wasn't asking any of us about our opinions on that. What he was asking was, if one WANTS to catch a cab OTHER THAN the ones immediately outside the HDR with the jacked up prices, then where would be the best place to do THAT and how much should that cost.

Personally, given the typical traffic flows and congestion around the HDR/BM, I think probably the easiest and most convenient place to flag a passing cab in the immediate area is outside the doors of the BM on Avenida 1 rather on the lobby side of the hotel (Calle 9). Unfortunately, both Avenida 1 and Calle 9 are one way in the direction AWAY from where you're heading (if going to the SL) so, whichever door you use and/or whatever cab you choose from in front of the HDR, your taxista will have to drive a block or two out of your way to turn around. Even then, your total fare STILL shouldn't be more than the BASE amount (what's that now, ~500c?)since the total route will still be under 1km, however if you wanted to catch a cab that was already heading more in your direction, you could also go next door to the Colonial Casino, cut through there and flag a cab heading north on Calle 11 (without much added "street risk").

Good summation Prolijo, as usual. You must be a dam good typist! I have flagged a taxi in front of the Colonial many times and it takes about 30 seconds and is cheaper, as you said.

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" Omit no happy hour that may give furtherance to our expedition."

As the cabs come down the street between HDR and KL, I walk up and tell them where I am going (Clarion/SL/LA) and tell them 1,000 Colones and 99% of the time they nod their head OK and off we go.

Prolijo. I would send you $6 bucks any day of the week. Better yet, I would like to buy you a few beers and met you some day. I enjoy reading almost all the post you write. I find them extremely enjoyable, complete and full of accurate detailed info. Well, worth $6 bucks on each of them. And judging by your post count I am deeply in debt.

But in response to this thread. I get a little tried of reading about guys who are constantly trying to squeeze a nickel from a dime. I do not see the taxistas waiting outside the front door as ripping me off. I don’t see them as lazy either. They only have a different business model then the ones “hustling” fares in other ways. In that way I do say “God bless” each of them and the way each earns their living. One is not better or worse, only different.

Ok with the taxi waiting out the door of the HDR “sitting on his ars” and not burning fuel and not putting excess miles on his taxi, not adding to the crazy traffic in SJO and in the end not making as many trips. While the other Business model is to run up and down every street honking his horn every 3 seconds at imaginary pedestrians always on the look out for the “fare”, burning fuel, adding to the smog, risking accident and adding to the traffic. These are the two extremes of the business model and of course there is soup to nuts between the two. At the end of the day I bet they are within colonies of each other as for total profit.

But back to the point……


We all know that the taxis out the front door cost more. This is true in front of many, many Latin and Southern American major hotels and airports. And it is unlikely to change no matter how many posts we dedicate to it on this board. I only say, If a dollar has more value then time or convenience, then walk the half block and wait for another to come buy. If not, be the fat lazy American and jump into the 1st one out the door.

I guess I look at it this way. I am paying a premium for a convenience. Let me try and illustrate my point using the current example, but making it a bit more extreme. Lets say it is pouring rain. Is the taxi waiting at the front door of the HDR be the same value, to you, as the one flying down the street half a block away? (that is if I can hail him??) Is there not a value added for walking out the door blowing past the beggars and jumping into the 1st taxi Vs walking even 20 yards to the corner and getting soaking wet?

Now lets say I am a little buzzed, not having to cross the street or deal with the street life at night, there is no question what the value of 2 bucks is. I am taking the easiest, safest way.

For those who use taxis at the airport, why don’t we lug all our stuff down the ramp at the airport and jump a cab in the street there instead of out the front door of the airport? Because that would be a pain in the "ars" and cost us valuable time. Can you get from the airport to the HDR cheaper? Of course there are a 100 ways. But, if you want convenience it comes at a price.


In this free market economy the price has been set. If you want to be lazy and not walk any more then you have to, it comes at a price. It is 2 bucks. It is agreed and paid every day. It is not a rip off, it is the cost of convenience, nothing more. You have a choice don’t like it don’t pay it, walk 20 yards, but don’t hate the game and/or its players.

As for me over tipping by 67% yes, I might be guilty as charged and sorry if my laziness to count the goofy little coins is costing or driving the prices up on my fellow brothers. Lol. I always seem to end up with a pocket of them and never seems to pay attention to what they are. I know the big one is 500 but after that I just heave them out until the guy says he has enough. The old eyes aren’t what they used to be. If over tipping by 100 to 400 colons continues to cause heart ache I will give it my best effort to stop destroying the economy of CR. (sorry just had to bust your balls for actually doing the math on the percentage difference between 600 colons and 1000. But as I said before you are very detailed. You still da man.)

Man this one had to cost me $7.50 in lost time. Glad its Sunday and I am off the clock.

Thanks for your responses guys. A couple of bucks changes nothing in the scheme of things but I retired early by watching that type of thing while still enjoying myself. We go to CR and not Vegas becasue who wants to spend 200 - 1000 $ for some fun. I am spending $3500 this trip at Smile 90210 which may I say is the most unbelievable benefit of this site!! I know some here say we are squeezing money but it makes it go farther when you are smart with it I am proof.

GSS,
I'd accept the "money vs. convenience argument" as a valid one IF we were just talking about whether to walk the quarter mile to the SL (or even the 20 yds to the corner in the rain) vs. paying a buck or two for a cab. But that is not usually what we're really talking about here.

You ask "Is the taxi waiting at the front door of the HDR be the same value, to you, as the one flying down the street half a block away? (that is if I can hail him??)", but come on now, I've NEVER had to walk half a block from the front door of the HDR to flag a cab, and rarely had to struggle in any way to hail a cab as it was "flying down the street". Nearly always you can spot them coming from the door of the hotel and catch them literally no more than 6 feet from the curb in front of that door as they get stopped by the light at the corner (assuming that it's raining and you don't even want to have wait more than the 30 extra seconds that MIGHT take).

"Is there not a value added for walking out the door blowing past the beggars and jumping into the 1st taxi Vs walking even 20 yards to the corner and getting soaking wet?" Again, that assumes that it is raining so hard most of the time that you'll get "soaking wet" from what can't be more than a 10 second exposure, or that the difference between walking the 6 ft between the door and the curb vs the extra 6 feet it will take you to walk around that cab and into the first LEGITIMATELY priced taxi.

As for avoiding beggars, I've always consider the HDR taxistas THEMSELVES to be among some of the worst examples of "beggary" that one is forced to deal with outside the HDR, as they'll often harass you persistently as you walk past them trying to convince you to use their cab, day or night, rain or shine, drunk or sober. In fact, IMHO if all those taxistas weren't allowed to park there and harass the hotel guests, half of the problem of harassment HDR visitors wouldn't be there and then there wouldn't be so much need to rush past them in order to avoid them.

"Now lets say I am a little buzzed, not having to cross the street or deal with the street life at night, there is no question what the value of 2 bucks is. I am taking the easiest, safest way." Again, you're making an assumption that is not always true, that we're ALL so drunk most of the time that we can't even deal easily enough with the "risk" of walking MAYBE an extra 20 feet (NOT 20 yards). I don't know about you, but I don't ever get THAT drunk, but even if I did it would be more like the occasional exception than the norm. Also, regarding your comment above, one normally does NOT really have to "cross the street" to find a regular cab, but if crossing the street and dealing with the street life is so difficult that it precludes flagging a cab from the doorway of the HDR and stepping off the curb to get into it, then crossing ALL THE WAY to the other side of the street and dealing with all the street riff raff would also mean never going to the KL, something most of us routinely do with barely even a second thought.

MAYBE paying the extortion rates of the cabbies who stake out the curb would be worth paying for simple convenience sake in your grossly exxagerated examples, so drunk that one can't even safely step off the curb, so rainy that a 10 second exposure gets you soaking wet, so rushed that even a clear sober evening the POSSIBLE 10 second delay flagging a cab is an inconvenience worth paying $2 to avoid (what does that equate to ... $720/hr?). I'll grant you that in those cases the convenience of using one of the HDR cabs instead of one of the passing street cabs 6 feet further away could well be worth extra cost. But my point here is that those sorts of conditions are more the rare exception than the norm and that nearly all of the time and under most conditions for most guys the savings are well worth the small extra bother of flagging down a cab, if there is even any extra bother at all.
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I think that answers the money vs. convenience argument pretty well, though maybe you'd still disagree with me. In that case, let's just say that I (and I'm guessing a lot if not most other guys) have very different values than you have. But what about your statement that the HDR taxistas have a legitimate or even superior business model as you seem to paint it? Again I can appreciate some of your arguments but still have to disagree with your conclusions. I agree that it often makes a LOT of sense for taxistas to stake out the places where they're more likely to find paying customers rather than to drive around aimlessly. But ONLY with certain provisos.

First of all, I understand this is not the way they do it in the 3rd world and our discussion here will never change any of that, but the way airport and hotel taxis work in most "civilized countries" is that they wait in line with the next cab in line taking the next fare and that is really the way it SHOULD be done everywhere, whether the fares they're allowed to charge is higher than those charged by cabs on the street or not. This is much fairer for all the cabbies involved and also avoids creating the situation of cabbies harassing the approaching customers or even just potential customers) in their competition to snatch that fare from the hands of the other cabbie who may have been waiting there longer.

Secondly, waiting (with their engine off) at places that offer a steady flow of potential customers may be more fuel efficient than driving around all day (as well as saving wear and tear on the vehicle) however, because they're also competing with many other cabbies with the exact same idea, they may not wind up with any more and quite possibly wind up with even less customers than they would have had driving in a more active pursuit of customers. In fact, the principle of supply and demand suggests that the savings in expenses (fuel etc.) vs the change in revenue most likely winds up being a wash (as you said within a few colones of each other), because if it weren't even more cabbies would be doing it until it really was a wash. Not only that, I'm guessing that, ceteris parabus (all other things remaining equal) those cabbies actually would actually wind up making much LESS than the taxis driving the street and only don't because they try to make up for it by charging ILLEGAL fares.

And that brings me to my last point, it is not really a free market economy when it comes to taxis. The rates are supposed to be regulated (in order to protect the consumer while also providing a fair rate for the taxista) and we probably wouldn't even be having this discussion if these taxis were charging what ARESEP (CR's regulatory authority) says they're ALLOWED to charge. Airport taxis are specifically allowed to charge their higher fares (though even there some of them try to cheat customers by rigging their meters, asking higher flat rates, or other measures). And, incidently, while I may be one of those trying to squeeze a nickel from a dime by taking the airport bus, I can much more easily understand why someone would pay the $20 premium for the airport taxi so that they wouldn't have to lug their bags 200yds to the street side bus stop (or catch a regular taxi from there) and thereby maybe get to their hotel 20 minutes sooner after a long flight, than I can understand a guy without any baggage (or probably any real need to rush anywhere) paying a $2 premium to avoid walking not even 20 feet. But, back on the authorized fares, if those fares were truly justifiable then ARESEP would have approved them. As it stands, they get away with charging what they do because they've rigged their meters to run fast and high (and there aren't any inspectors to catch them) or get ignorant gringos to meekly accept whatever absurd flat rate charge they choose to quote and then go off meter, because most of those gringos don't know any better.

So you may feel like blessing them for their "industriousness" and "ingenuity", but I wouldn't portray them as a bunch of guys just trying to make an HONEST living, as you seem to be doing. I fail to see anything to be admired or condoned about guys who make their living by preying on the ignorance of their fellow man (laziness maybe, ignorance no), whether that fellow man has so much money that he doesn't know or care how to spend it wisely or not. It may be just a cost of convenience IF all their customers are simply lazy BUT understand that they're paying so much extra for that convenience (i..e. it is an informed choice). But IMHO it IS a RIP OFF if those customers are paying the extra charge simply because they don't know any better and the taxista is taking advantage of their ignorance because most of those customers probably wouldn't choose to if they understood how much extra they were paying for so little added convenience.

If anyone pays MORE than the honest fare you are doing nothing but supporting the "rip the tourist... rip the gringo"... mentality. It's not about helping out some poor soul who makes 50 bucks a day. It's about the promotion of stickin' it to anyone and everyone who doesn't have a clue. It damn sure isn't about squeezin' a dime here and there. YOU ARE BEING RIPPED OFF... wake up and smell the cafe!

No one would tolerate this from a cabbie in the US of A because it's wrong. Why tolerate it in another country?

Berk....

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FRUITCAKE... and you thought it was something you eat! Not on CRT!

Ingenuity???

The HDR taxis are a bunch of lazy, no-good rip-off artists. You may respect them but they laugh at you behind your back. Really, they don't understand why somebody would pay 3-4X the rate, so they laugh at you. They aren't parked at the HDR to lower the pollution or reduce traffic. They are too lazy to make an honest living, like most cab drivers.

In Costa Rica, if the fare is 600, you're supposed to pay 600, not 1000, and definitely not 2000. That's what unknowing gringos do. If the fare is 570, you can round it off to 600. That is not nickel and dime-ing, or being cheap, that's the way things work down there.

To catch a taxi in front of HDR is simple... on the cafe side, just walk outside the doors and wait till one passes, or if somebody is being dropped off, take it. On the BM side, taxis pass by all the time. It shouldn't take too long on either side.

What is up with this never-ending urge some people have to regulate other people's behavior? What is this with all the preaching and berating?

If the taxi drivers want to charge gringos 4 or 8 times the going rate for a 6 block ride, why does that disturb people so much? What is this about expecting CR drivers to adopt US business customs because you happen to be a gringo? Just DON'T PAY IT, and more power to you.

However, if someone feels like not having to walk down the block OR wait 15 minutes for an empty taxi to pass by at 3 AM because he's tired, drunk, or randy, why rant at him?

Fiddy and Jimmy412 obviously are not doing it out of ignorance -- they are doing it because they feel like it and they feel it's a fair exchange FOR THEM. They are not saying to everyone, "DO AS I DO, OR ELSE YOU'RE STUPID AND WILL LOSE FACE WITH THE TICOS!".

If they were newbies and you would be trying to advise them, that's a different story. But these posts read like lectures instead of advice. Jesus.



mh

P.S. I suppose some of you don't buy insurance from the rip-off medical insurance companies either, do you?

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mh

Re-reading my own post, I thought I should clarify. I did NOT mean to suggest that I thought GSS was an ignorant gringo, though I see now how some might have read it that way. He obviously knows about the difference in rates and KNOWINGLY CHOOSES to pay the premium for what he sees as the added convenience. And as for Jimmie, I really don't understand how MH would think I was even remotely referring to him since he isn't even coming at this from the angle of a guy who normally uses the more expensive "rip-off" cabs but rather as a guy who normally (or often) WALKS it and doesn't see the huge danger or inconvenience of that, but could also see the point of using a regular STREET CAB for the couple of bucks it would cost provided he knew more about how to catch one.

What I was referring to with my ignorance comments was more specifically the larger masses of gringos, mostly newbies, who probably stay at the HDR and who take those cabs NOT because of any added convenience but rather because they aren't even wise to the scam. And, let's face it, it is mostly that demographic that makes up these guys' customer base and not the handful of gringos here and there (like GSS) who know about the price difference and still think its worth the (really small) added convenience. In the case of the latter, if that's their purchasing decision, far be it for me to tell them they are wrong. "If someone feels like not having to walk down the block OR wait 15 minutes for an empty taxi to pass by at 3 AM because he's tired, drunk, or randy" that is CERTAINLY their choice, and I would never rant at anyone for that. But then we'd be talking about a very specific and not and not all that usual set of circumstances, wouldn't we? And, in the case of the former group, the ignorant NEWBIE, it is ALSO still in a way THEIR decision (albeit an uninformed one) and its not like I can really blame them since they don't really know any better. However, in those cases, my sympathy for them is still somewhat limited (caveat emptor),

So my "ranting and preaching" (as it were) was not really directed at ANYONE for USING those taxis. It is really more about the taxista side and directed at those who would suggest that what these taxistas are REALLY doing is somehow okay (just their way of trying to make an honest living), and in THAT case that DOES include GSS. This is NOT a matter of a bunch of taxistas who have just have different "business model" that they employ to make a living. Nor is it a matter of a bunch of taxistas who are mainly about honestly and forthrightly providing added convenience for their customers at a fair price. And it isn't even that much about saving the expense of driving around. Its really about standing around outside the HDR hoping to make an easy score off what in most cases is some green-behind-the-ears gringo who doesn't know about the better values waiting just 6 feet further on. For them its like shooting fish in a barrel and certainly much easier than having to drive around in SJ traffic (and actually working for a living). If there was anything forthright about it, then these taxistas would not have to grossly and illegally rig their meters to run up the higher fares or, assuming those meters aren't rigged, they wouldn't have to quickly quote so high a fare with the hopes that the gringo doesn't know what the normal fare should be or even the need to ask the taxista to use the meter like he is supposed to.

Lol, I clicked on this thread wondering why it had so many posts over a taxi to castillo, and now I see why, a full fledged debate war zone in here!