Trip Overview

Costa Rica: March 14-30, 2019

left to right : Luke, Steve and Krista on Tamarindo Beach

Who went?

3 of us: myself, my husband, and our 17-year old son.

Where did we go?

Tamarindo - 3 nights

Bijagua/Tenorio National Park - 1 night

La Fortuna/Arenal - 2 nights

La Selva Biological Research Station at Sarapiqui - 1 night

Tortuguero - 3 nights

Punta Uva (South Caribbean) - 4 nights

San Jose - 1 night

How did we travel?

We flew on West Jet from Vancouver to Liberia via Calgary. From the Liberia airport we took a taxi to Tamarindo which cost $80.

The morning we left Tamarindo we started our 12-day rental of a mid-size SUV from the Alamo office in Tamarindo.  After much reading about the drama around renting a car in Costa Rica we decided to get the full Alamo protection insurance package, even though our credit card provided CDW insurance. For me it was worth the cost knowing that we did not have to worry about any damage to the car, of course this may not be everyone's choice.

We reserved through the corporate Alamo website (not the Costa Rica site which had quoted several hundred dollars more). We ended up paying $635* for 12 days. If you haven't yet read up on car rentals Two Weeks in Costa Rica  has some good information on renting cars, and there is also a very informative  post written by a Trip Advisor commenter . 

I had read so many bad car rental stories that I was prepared for the worst as we went to the Alamo office to pick up the car, but it all went very well. Their service was friendly, quick and efficient. Later on in Puerto Viejo we did experience car problems, and a rep from the Alamo office came within 15 minutes and promptly gave us a new car; a better brand new mid-size SUV.

At the end of the trip we dropped the car in San Jose and Alamo helpfully picked  the car up from our hotel. We flew home to Vancouver via Toronto the next day.

Driving in Costa Rica

Driving in Costa Rica was about what we expected; definitely not as easy as North American highway driving, but neither the crazy insanity of driving in India. 90% of our travel route was on good paved roads. The biggest hazards were unexpected speed bumps and potholes, and truck drivers not content to stay on their own side of the road (fair enough, they were passing other vehicles, but it is a bit disconcerting to see a big container truck, in your lane, barrelling towards you.)

The only really heavy traffic we experienced was on Route #32. Driving south the truck traffic around Limon and the port was horrendous, and heading north between Limon and San Jose there was heavy traffic the whole way and lots of road construction. On all of our other driving routes the traffic was quite light.

We got pulled over by the police one time on our way to Sarapiqui. He was parked on the side of the highway and waved us over. He merely checked my husband's drivers licence and then let us go. One helpful thing we learned on day one is that police vehicles always drive with their lights flashing. So if one comes up behind you it is not a sign to pull over like you may be used to at home.

We used the Waze app on our phone for all of our navigation and it was excellent and accurate, but before setting out I always checked the Waze route against our paper map to make sure the suggested route looked reasonable.

Our driving routes mapped on Google Maps

Food Thoughts

Often in our travels food has been a highlight (India, Bali, Mexico and Morocco to name a few). However, we didn't go to Costa Rica expecting a culinary adventure, and pretty much got what we expected, so at least I was not disappointed. As I re-read through my blog I find myself using the words "adequate" and "decent" to describe most meals. We did have a few very good meals and a shoutout goes to the homemade typical food we purchased out of the back of a van from an industrious señora serving lunches to a long line of people on Calle Central in Tamarindo. On a brighter note, the pineapples, papayas and bananas were uniformly superb.

Water

Probably like you, we really hate buying plastic bottles of water, The good news is we were able to drink tap water in every location we stayed at except for the well water at Casa Viva in Punta Uva where they provided a big container of drinking water.

When we were at restaurants we asked for a "un vaso de aqua con hielo por favor" (a glass of water with ice please). When we forgot ask for a glass, we sometimes got automatically given bottled water. My Tan Feet has a good post on how to decide when to drink tap water.

Crime and Security

We are experienced independent travellers, but I was apprehensive about the crime in Costa Rica. While we have travelled to many places with crime problems, the robberies in those places were not often described as "armed" robberies. I had read a lot of horror stories, but what really spooked me was that my husband works with a woman whose good friends were robbed at gunpoint in San Jose. That brought crime in Costa Rica a little closer to home.

The Government of Canada website recommends "exercising a high degree of caution when travelling in Costa Rica". We'd been to places before with that warning, and not wanting to let it stop us, but not wanting to be foolish, we were cautious. We did not leave anything in our car, we were careful where we went at night (who could stay up past 9:00 pm anyway?), except for phones and an iPad, we didn't travel with expensive electronics or camera gear, I left my engagement ring at home and only wore a simple gold band, we kept our passports, and extra cash/credit cards in the hotel room safe, we always locked our doors, and in general tried to always be aware of our surroundings.

A couple of times we did walk on some semi-deserted jungle paths and beaches, but always in full daylight and I was comforted by the fact that there might be some extra security in being with two men over 6 ft tall.  I am thankful and grateful to report that we had no issue with crime, and there were no instances in all our travels where I felt unsafe.

Money

We took about US$150 in cash with us to use in case we found ourselves short of Colones. We didn't feel like we needed to spend it because living in Vancouver we travel down to the States quite often. On arrival we went to the ATM at the Liberia airport and withdrew the equivalent of $150 in Colones with our debit card. We had a few other ATM withdrawals throughout the trip, but we used credit cards wherever we could, and only paid in cash when we couldn't use our card. We found credit cards were widely accepted.

Often, in the places we went, things were advertised and quoted in $US (not so much so at restaurants and never in grocery stores). This is a little hard when you are spending your Canadian dollars, as the advertised $15 entrance fee to a National Park is really costing $20 CAD. It is good to keep this in mind when budgeting.

Acknowledgement

For several months prior to our trip to Costa Rica I scoured websites and forums to find out as much information as I could. I'd especially like to acknowledge two  helpful sites.

My Tan Feet
Two Weeks in Costa Rica

Thanks so much to these website owners for the wealth of information they provide.

I'd also like to thank all of the travellers who contribute to the Trip Advisor Costa Rica Forum and the Lonely Planet Costa Rica forum. Your advice was really helpful.

*all prices on this blog are quoted in $US dollars, the prices I quote for our meals is for 3 people and usually included 2 beers, and a milkshake.

Next: Days 1-3 Tamarindo