If you read our post—Costa Rica is for Lovers: What Makes it the Perfect Honeymoon Destination—you know that David and I spent our honeymoon in Costa Rica in July of 2017. If you haven't read that post yet, I'd highly recommend kicking things off there. Even if you're not looking at Costa Rica for your honeymoon, it has a lot of helpful tips!
In that post we also talk a lot more about why we chose Costa Rica and what makes it a great choice for your next vacation too.
Driving in Costa Rica
Once we’d chosen our honeymoon destination, it was time to figure out where exactly to go in Costa Rica. Often compared to West Virginia and Denmark in terms of landmass, Costa Rica is not a very large country. This doesn’t mean you can see all of it comfortably in nine days, though.
Although seemingly tiny, Costa Rica is environmentally diverse—offering up everything from rocky mountainous terrain to sandy beaches to river valleys and hilly jungles. Not exactly like driving through West Virginia...
There’s another caveat too—there's no major highway in Costa Rica. While the majority of popular destinations are generally less than 100 miles apart, it can take anywhere from a few hours to a day to drive between them. Iffy road conditions and the lack of any direct route often mean for a longer drive than you might anticipate.
In general, we found that roads were windy, bumpy, and very narrow at times. One-way bridges are very common too. At these, traffic on one side is expected to yield while the opposite side crosses. They can be a bit alarming at first but you'll quickly adapt once you see how calmly the locals treat them.
But driving is still an excellent way to see most of the country. Given the geographic diversity and lack of public transportation, it's really your only option if you want to venture off the beaten path—and, trust us, you do!
Renting a Car
David and I decided that we wanted to see as much of Costa Rica as was possible and practical for our nine-day relaxed itinerary. The best way to do this, we decided, was to rent a car. Equipped with our significantly dented— but reliable—Toyota RAV4, we were able to do just that.
Make sure you rent (and double-check) an automatic car, unless you want to drive stick-shift up windy hills—something we'd only recommend if you're really comfortable with manual transmissions. It just takes one less challenge out of driving in an unknown place with somewhat unpredictable conditions.
Tips:
If you opt to rent a car in Costa Rica, make sure to do your research. Not all cars are advisable for Costa Rica’s rough and unpredictable roads. We’d definitely recommend an SUV of some kind.
This second tip comes, not from us, but from a kind Costa Rican woman we met at our rental car pick-up point. She advised us to take photos of our car before we took it off the lot. She explained that in Costa Rica there was a tendency for local rental car offices to extort tourists by claiming they had caused pre-existing damage to vehicles. We took photos of the interior and exterior of our vehicle and had no problems when we dropped it off.
GPS, Tolls, etc.
A major difference between driving in Costa Rica and most other places is that there are no real addresses for...just about anything. This makes it pretty tricky to plug in a house or business number and have your GPS get you there.
We learned that Waze is the way to go in Costa Rica, as it's accurate and has the best data for actual locations and for traffic. Google Maps didn't work very well at all when we visited in 2017, though it might be better now. Give yourself plenty of extra time when you're headed somewhere—ETAs aren't exactly predictable in a place with no real addresses and you never know when you might get behind a garbage truck—or a horse.
Another thing to keep in mind is that there are frequent toll booths along the Costa Rican highways. Here you will have to pay various tolls using the local currency (colón). So make sure to stop by an ATM or bureau de change to pick some up before you start driving!
Other considerations
Overall, I'd highly recommend that anyone traveling to Costa Rica consider seeing the country by road. We saw countless landmarks, natural features, and a lot more of Costa Rica in general, than we would've sans car. The ability to drive up a mountain enabled us to capture photos of toucans and other elusive wildlife we never saw elsewhere.
Other highlights of our road trips included the Crocodile Bridge and stopping for authentic Costa Rican meals.
Luckily, David also has a lot of driving experience in different countries and landscapes. If you're not comfortable driving in hilly or mountainous conditions—or you get carsick—this might not be the best form of transportation for you.
Otherwise, it's a great option. Costa Rican steering wheels are also on the same side as in the U.S., which is a big help!
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