When considering how best to get around Costa Rica during your holiday, it is important to first understand the basic geography of the place. It is a relatively small country by any standard. Think about the same size as the US state of West Virginia or the European country of Slovakia. You would understandably think that it will not take long to get around by driving. Unfortunately, you would be wrong. Costa Rica has 12 different climate zones from Lowland Rain forest to High Mountain Cloud Forest. It has both a Pacific and an Atlantic coast, which are bisected by a high mountain range that reaches up over 12,500 ft. Fun fact, right at sunrise during the dry season, you can see both coasts at the same time from the peak of Mount Chirripó.
The reason geography is so important is because, in Costa Rica’s case, it severely limited where roads and highways could be built. Other than the Pan-American Highway (Ruta 1), from the norther border with Nicaragua down to the southern border with Panama, there are only a couple of other main highways. Over the past 10+ years there has been major improvement to the overall road system and its underlying infrastructure. The highlight of this improvement was the completion of the Southern Pacific Coast Highway (Costanera Sur) and the Caldera Highway Toll Road. Together these have drastically reduced drive times from San Jose the entire Pacific Coast Region. However, there is still only one main highway to the Caribbean Coast (Ruta 32) and it is prone to being shut down by mudslides during the Atlantic Rainy Season.
There are two main points of entry into Costa Rica for most tourists and they are the San Jose Airport (SJO) and the Liberia Airport (LIR). There are also visitors coming on cruise ships to both the Pacific and Caribbean sides, but they mostly do the ship’s tours, so don’t need transportation. Others come by land from the neighboring countries of Nicaragua and Panama.
They enter mainly by bus and through the border towns of Penas Blancas and Pasoa Canoas. There are international bus companies like Tica Bus, that connect the Central American capital cities. There are also direct buses from the boarder to San Jose that you catch once you are over the border.
The capital city of San Jose is located smack dab in the center of the country and, as with Ancient Rome, all roads lead to the capital. The San Jose Airport is located about 10 miles outside of downtown and there are plenty of buses and taxis connecting the two. If you want to visit the Caribbean side or anywhere in the south of the country, this is going to be your airport.
Liberia is the capital of the northwestern province of Guanacaste. This is the dry forest area of the country and where many of the famous surf and beach destinations are located. You can also get to Monteverde or Arenal from here as well. The airport is small, but it is very modern and clean. You can get to pretty much every beach on the Nicoya Peninsula in less than two hours by car.
Once in country, you will need to figure out how you are going to get around. There are a lot of options from which to choose, but which is best for you will depending upon a number of factors. For example; say you’re traveling as a couple and your idea of a topical vacation is to rent our Casa Margarita Beachfront Studio in Tamarindo for 10 days? In this case, I would highly recommend that you fly into Liberia and take a private driver to our place; it takes about an hour and is $95. There is no need for a rental car as Tamarindo is very walkable and our place is in the center of town. If you want to get out and see other beaches or attractions, you can use a private driver, taxis, shuttles, public buses or rent a car for a day or the weekend. There are 9 rental car agencies in town and one is across the street.
However, say you are a family of 5 and you are renting our 2-Bedroom Beachfront Apartment, but only for three nights, as part of a larger 10-day tour of Costa Rica. You plan on traveling to Monteverde, Arenal and Manuel Antonio. In this case, I would recommend that you rent a good-sized SUV with 4-wheel-drive at the airport. You could do this trip by private shuttle or by private driver, but with 5 people, it starts to get very pricy. A private driver from Tamarindo to Arenal is going to run you at least $250, one way. And while driving in Costa Rica can be confusing, as long as you download and use the phone app Waze, you will manage. This does mean that you will have to have a cell phone data plan, but most US carriers have international plans in Costa Rica.
If you are a Millennial on a budget and your renting one of our Shared Rooms at Casa Margarita at the start of your 30-day backpacking adventure, then public buses and private shuttles are going to be what you need. There are $25/person shuttles from Liberia Airport to Tamarindo, usually every hour. They can drop you off across the street form our place. There are regional buses connecting the main towns in Guanacaste and national buses that connect Tamarindo to Liberia and San Jose. Since most national buses go directly to San Jose, if you are going to some place like Monteverde or Arenal, you will want to splurge and take a private shuttle. Getting to these places from Tamarindo by public bus is quite complicated and time consuming and you don’t really save that much money. Instead you can take a shuttle that costs $55/person/way and be there in four hours.
Hitchhiking in Costa Rica is not common in the Central Valley or main cities. It is more so in rural areas were bus service is only once or twice a day. In the area in and around Playa Tamarindo, you will see local Costa Ricans (Ticos) standing on the side of the road at random places. In most cases they are not trying to hitchhike, though most would take a free ride. They are waiting for what they call Collectivos. These are pirate taxis that cruise along the main roads between the neighboring towns. These vehicles are usually in very poor condition and they will pack as many people in as they can. If you see one coming, you put up your hand. If they have room they will stop and pick you up. They have standard pricing for each destination, but nothing is posted because they are illegal and if they get stopped, their cars will be impounded. The price between Tamarindo and Villareal is c500 colones, or about $.80 USD.
In Playa Tamarindo, you can rent golf carts by the day, week or month. They are a fun way to tool around town, though when it rains, you can get a bit wet. Average daily rate for a 4 seater is $80. You can also rent bikes, but I would highly recommend against riding a bicycle on the street
in Costa Rica, it is very dangerous. Mountain biking is different as there are some amazing trails and tours for that.
As you can see, there are lots of options. The key is to know what kind of experience you want to have and then plan accordingly. Costa Rica is a beautiful country, so no matter what you choose you are going to see some amazing nature during your journey. Pura Vida!
Here is a List of the Transportation Options in Costa Rica. Check it out for more detailed information.
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