Visited beautiful Costa Rica for 9 days in the dry season - Feb/Mar 2009 (post-earthquake). Loved our trip and the wonderful, friendly Ticos!
Our overall driving route: San Jose airport to La Fortuna to Monteverde to Manuel Antonio to San Jose.
I ordered a waterproof Costa Rica map before our trip (mapcr.com – Toucan Maps, Inc.) based on another tripadvisor member suggestion. Great map – keep in mind that some highways are not depicted as curvy as they actually are and the light-colored squiggly roads are dirt.
Rented a small 4x4 SUV from Thrifty at the San Jose airport for the full trip. Rental fee was $23/day, but by the time we added full insurance, GPS, taxes, etc., the total bill was $543. We decided to get the full insurance which covered bumper to bumper - so we had no worries. (We were almost backed into by another driver the first day!) The GPS (Garmin) was an absolute necessity. Thanks for the advice tripadvisor members! We would never have found our way around with only the road map and having to stop to ask for directions. Roads are not marked, towns are only partially marked, and street names do not exist. – But that makes for a great adventure!
We drove from San Jose to La Fortuna on Hwy 142 (approx. 4 hours). We stayed in La Fortuna for 3 nights at Hotel Silencio del Campo*. It was cloudy and rainy most of the time while we were in La Fortuna. We visited Arenal Hanging Bridges* and Ecocentro Danaus Reserva Ecologica (small park with extremely nice staff – saw sloths, frogs, a butterfly garden, agouti, and many birds). Paid the infamous Gringo Pete a quick visit to determine if we wanted to book any tours through him. He was very nice, but didn’t offer much knowledge/suggestions on tours. We decided to stay away from tour groups and see the sights on our own for the most part.
We drove 1+ hours from La Fortuna to visit the Selva Verde Rainforest Reserve. After a quick lunch at the lodge, we walked the main trails (one trail section was closed due to a bridge being out over the river) and saw howler monkeys, frogs, and toucans. It was rainy and the trails (across the roadway) were very muddy and slick (there were no concrete walk inlays like there were on other park trails we visited) so we were splattered with mud by the end of the trail (which we did not mind at all).
Left La Fortuna and headed west (approx. 4 hours, although we stopped about a million times for photos) around Lake Arenal on the way to Monteverde to stay for one night (wish we’d stayed 2 nights in Monteverde). Beautiful drive from La Fortuna to Monteverde. The roads were fine except the last 30 km which were bumpy dirt roads, but there were beautiful, mountainous views the whole drive. Stayed at Arco Iris Lodge*. Had a great meal with wonderful service at Mar y Tierra (within short walking distance of Arco Iris). Went on night tour on the Hidden Valley Trail. Very interesting and informative. Saw birds roosting, tarantulas, leaf cutter ants, a porcupine, raccoons, agouti, and bugs of all kinds. Do not wear open-toed sandals on a night tour – bugs and spiders are crawling all over the place! It was chilly at night, so bundle up.
We chose to do the Selvatura Park* zipline tour instead of the Sky Tram tour. Apparently the difference is that the Sky Tram tour zips you at high speeds above the jungle canopy and is more of a thrill-type zipline tour. We were also able to keep our small backpacks on while ziplining. The Selvatura tour was perfect. Fast and long ziplines above and through the jungle with a Tarzan swing. – The jungle was the prettiest one we visited on our trip; green, lush, and beautiful. We lucked out and didn’t have any rain the whole day. Wish we would have had time to visit the park the entire day. There was plenty to see.
Drove from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio via Hwys 1 to 27 to 34 (approx. 4 hours). Ate a roadside restaurant with a beautiful view on the way. Arrived at La Posada Jungle Bungalows* for 2 nights. Visited beautiful Manuel Antonio National Park.* Walked to beach and found shady spot in some rocks near the end of the beach. Hermit crabs were everywhere in the rocks, so be careful not to step on them! The water was warm and the beach was beautiful. It was very hot (compared to the cool rainy temps we’d just come from) and the sun is very intense (take sunscreen!). The sunset was beautiful.
Headed back to San Jose heading east on 34 to 243 to 2 (expect dusty, dirt roads until you hit 243 in Dominical with some very bumpy areas) – this was not the shortest way back to the city, but we wanted to travel on roads we hadn’t been on yet) – approx. 4.5 hour beautiful drive. San Jose traffic was heavy on the way into the city. Stayed at the Marriott San Jose* near the airport for two nights.
Toured the Doka Estate* (Tres Generationes) coffee plantation. Very interesting and informative tour. The Garmin took us on an interesting road leaving Doka (refer to photo – I can’t believe these roads are actually on Garmin!) and headed to Zarcero. Headed north on 141 to Ciudad Quesada (San Carlos), then east on 140 just to drive and see the sights. The scenic roadways are absolutely beautiful with rolling hills, mountains, and farmland. Soon realized we had been on 140 before on our way from La Fortuna to Selva Verde. Was getting late in the day so we decided to head back to San Jose – Garmin recommended south on 126 from San Miguel. Unfortunately, after a few miles, we discovered that the road was impassable due to earthquake damage. A huge bridge was out, and a mountain had slid down due (see photos-even a construction crane had fallen over!). We headed back north on 126 and stopped at the San Miguel police station (at the intersection of 126 and 140) and used the best Spanish we could muster to confirm that the next highway over was drivable to San Jose. (Es el camino bien? – as we pointed to the first paved road west of 126 (unmarked highway on map). “Si, es bien,” we were informed.) By this time it was dusk and we were heading south on the only highway (more accurately described as a single lane pig trail at times) that passes between Volcan Poas on the east and Parque Agiuas Juan Castro Blanco on the west. As the altitude increased, so did the thickness of the fog, the darkness, and it started to rain. We were unable to see more than a few feet in front of the car. According to Garmin, we had 23 more miles of the curviest road you can possibly imagine. We passed trees that had been cut away from the road, some that had not, and severely washed out roads (seemed like lots of earthquake damage, but it was too dark to see – which was probably a good thing). We did not pass another car the entire way – apparently other people had enough sense to stay off that road. Anyway, after more than an hour of hair-raising driving, we finally made it back to civilization and had a great dinner at Kianti’s which was less than a mile from the hotel and had great, much-needed margaritas.
We were very sad to be at the end of our trip, but we were quite proud to be returning our rental in such a filthy condition since it was a reflection of all of our adventures in Costa Rica! We loved our time in Costa Rica and are looking forward to a return trip!
General Tips:
- Do not drive in the mountains after dark! People, animals, clouds, fog, unexpected rain, and severely washed out roads are just some of the hazards you may encounter!
- Electricity can go out unexpectedly in hotels for any length of time.
- Even in the dry season, bring a poncho and umbrella. The “dry season” just means it rains less – at least in higher elevations.
- The temperature and rainfall varied significantly in the areas we visited. We wore pants, shorts, jackets, bathing suits, and raingear at different times the whole trip. Take comfortable shoes that can get dirty and don’t worry about dressing up anywhere.
- We took bug spray, even though we didn’t have to use it much at all.
- Mudslides are common near roads and tend to take part of the road with them. Always be on the lookout for washed-out roads which may or may not be marked with piles of dirt, rock, or sticks, which is customary.
- Most bridges are a single lane and one side must yield to the other side. Be on the lookout when approaching a bridge to see if you’re the one who is supposed to yield. It’s probably smart to let trucks cross bridges first, especially on curvy, mountainous roads, because they’re not very good at stopping.
- Don’t have the misconception that animals are running out of the jungle around every corner so you can see them. They don’t. Costa Rica has tons of national parks with hundreds of acres of jungles filled with wildlife. Keeping your eyes and ears open and taking the time to observe can be rewarding. Animals are everywhere – it just may take you a few minutes to pick them out. Don’t forget your binoculars!
- Margaritas are not made with mix like they commonly are in the U.S. Margarita Especials are made with Tequila, Grand Marnier, and lime juice. They’re awesome!!
* See separate review.

We recently got back from a one week stay in Costa Rica on 1/10/2009. We stayed at Villa Sol in Playa Hermosa. During our stay we booked an excursion through Swiss Travel in the hotel, receipt # 0168638 of which I still have my copy. The sunset cruise tour for 4 of us cost $ 260 US. The rep. at Swiss travel gave us directions on the beach ( I still have the directions) to meet the boat. There was another couple from Canada waiting with us for the tour. The boat never showed and after about 1 1/2 hour we contacted Swiss travel in the hotel. They arranged for another boat to pick us up. We waited on the beach another 1 1/2 hour before they came and told us the boat was full and would not pick us up. Then the rep. told us to come back in an hour and they would refund our money. When we came back they told us that the boat had showed up (the first time) and that we weren't there and so they would not refund us our money. There were two different groups waiting for the tour. Bottom line, wasted our afternoon, and we lost $ 260 US. Dave Wright KS, USA

We just returned from a week in Costa Rica. It was wonderful! The best part- we hired a driver as opposed to renting a vehicle. We used Danilo Jimenez from www.costaricatourdriver.com . Danny ROCKS! He and Emey (spelling?) were wonderful. They picked places of interest to stop, gave us history and information about what we were seeing, and the best part? They know the roads and the alternate routes. This was very important, because there were mudslides on the major roads to Arenal. The cost was slightly more than a rental, but well worth it!

We Just returned from our trip to CR ,If I knew how expensive was to tour in it, I would've chosen a different destination, The country has many beatiful places (if you like nature)but you have to pay, and sometimes is excessive. I've visited: Manuel Antonio National park, Arenal Volcano, Etc. There are somethings you must know before you go if you want to save $$$.....remember the whole country is set up to take your money, from the minute that you step out of the plane. Beware!!