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A few clarifications.
1) GT and Hal, I stand corrected. I don't know why but I was thinking of the Rav4 not the 4Runner. You still could fit 4 men in Rav4, at least if they leave their hockey gear at home, but it would definitely be tight. OTOH, 2 guys and their chicas would fit just fine.
2) Tman, I'm glad to see you finally qualified your statement about ALWAYS needing an SUV and that it depends on which beach you want to go. Again the original question was on going to Jaco and for that a smaller car will indeed suffice as GT's experiences prove. GT is also mostly correct that an SUV is mainly needed for off-road mountain driving in the rainy season however higher road clearance is nice to have whereever there is uneven pavement and a vehicle with a larger engine than a Yaris is nice if you plan to be able to drive a heavily loaded car up some of the steeper mountain roads at more than a crawl.
3) Another thing for Tman: of course driving in CR is not the same as driving in the US. GT, although it does have many similarities to driving in Boston, you have to admit it isn't exactly the same either. However, if you notice, the original question didn't ask to compare the driving conditions to anywhere in the US but rather to Colombia. Comparing driving conditions between one developing latin country with another IS a fair comparison. Having driven in both countries, I'm in the position to assure the original poster that his own experiences driving in Colombia should give him a better idea of exactly what the driving conditions in CR are actually like. As I stated the biggest difference is that one doesn't have to worry about road-jackings in CR like you do in Colombia.
4) Finally, this thread DOES seem to get repeated every month and the main reason that I feel compelled to jump in each time is to bring some balance and objectivity to the debate. If you listened to most of the other posters here, you would think one would have to be crazy to rent in CR under any circumstances and yet besides GT and myself there are plenty of rental companies. So a lot of other people must think that there is something to be said for renting.
You will notice that, unlike nearly everyone else who seems to have a personal opinion on this subject that they feel has to be right for everyone else under every circumstance, I qualified a lot of my remarks and discussed pros AND cons of each approach. In fact both GT and I agree and have stated many times that renting a car while you are in SJ to get around is simply crazy. That is something we all universally agree on. But the question was specifically the merit of renting a car to get to Jaco for one individual or a group of people for a couple of days. Even here I said it was probably not the best option for Elmoreno because he was traveling alone and only MIGHT be a valid option for Hal and his group. I also clearly stated that I was in part "playing devil's advocate".
In fact, there are many valid options particularly for the relatively short and common trip to Jaco. They include the public bus for those individual travelers who don't have someone to split the costs of more luxurious travel with or those who simply don't want to pay the added cost of either rental or a private driver (incidentally, I've also met interesting Ticos on public buses that I probably never would have talked with if I'd been isolated with in a private car or tourist shuttle-van, though I wasn't as lucky as Scuba), the public shuttle van as a moderately priced alternative, rental cars for those who actually enjoy the freedom and adventure of driving yourself and the private driver for those who like the added luxury and don't mind paying the higher cost (though I can't understand how someone who uses crazy Tico drivers as a reason not to rent would then want to hire one to drive them around).
Some final points, despite what Micky says, while scams and break-ins occur, to say they're common is to suggest they're somehow likely to happen to most people which they simply are NOT. He is right though, similarly to walking in SJ or getting BBBJ's, if you're going to be paranoid about it all the time, you should just choose a different option. The idea is to have fun while in CR. Despite what TMan suggests, I've been able to enjoy the sites I came to see just fine while sitting in the driver's seat. I don't speak fluent spanish, though I speak some, and I manage fine. In fact, the one group I've had the biggest problem understanding are cab drivers themselves, so unless you get the right driver, their translation services may not be much help. The risk of a ticket or a breakdown in CR may be higher in CR for a tourist, but I just drive more carefully in CR and neither has ever happened to me. How often do such things occur back home? I rarely get tickets in the US or have breakdowns and I drive thousands of miles each year in a much older car than the ones I rent in CR, so I don't worry too much about it. For that matter, how often do you have the $1000 of damage to your car at home like Micky worries about. I just don't see either of these as that huge risk.
TMan is right. Renting and driving a car in CR IS for the adventurous and is NOT for everyone. But the adventure is not about any of the risk factors he mentioned. The adventure for me is in finding my own way in a strange land without anyone to hold my hand and, yes, sometimes getting lost and then discovering new areas, and sometimes people, that I had not intended. Sure, the drawbacks that others have mentioned exist though IMHO are not as severe as they make out, but drawbacks and tradeoffs exist with all the alternatives. The point is that each person should make the choice that is right for themselves based on their own personal preferences, attitudes and circumstances and a thorough understanding of the advantages, disadvantages and sometimes the actual risks of each of the various alternatives and not the biased one-sided views of other members.
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