Costa Rica is a breathtakingly beautiful country, with striking beach, rainforest, cloud forest, and volcano experiences all within a relatively short distance. I mean, aside from Maui in Hawaii, we haven’t been to a place that has such dramatic changes in environments pretty much within a 2 hour drive. With that said, is getting a rental car in Costa Rica worth it? Read on to find out if you need one or not, and some tips for if you end up booking one.
When to Book a Rental Car
Although it’s possible to travel across the country utilizing public transportation options, there are various benefits to reserving a rental car. A rental car provides you with the flexibility of being able to get from one place to another on your own schedule. It allows you to explore the abundance of untouched beaches that would be extremely difficult to get a taxi to and from without paying for them to stay with you for the entire day. In addition to this, I think it’s important to understand that restaurants and meals in the country are not cheap, at least compared to other Latin American destinations. You’re likely to pay typical US prices for your meals, unless you can reduce those costs by shopping at grocery stores. Many times your hotel or other accommodation won’t quite be within walking distance of a grocery store, so being able to conveniently grab food and snacks at a lower cost can make a big difference.
When NOT to Book a Rental Car
If you are traveling to Costa Rica for a short vacation and are heading straight to a resort where you’re unlikely to leave the property, then that’s great! You definitely do NOT need a rental car in that situation. Chances are, your resort will have transportation options to get you to and from their property, and any excursions that you book through them will have transportation covered as well.
Rental Car Tips
If you’ve decided that booking a rental car is the way to go, then here are some tips that can help you have a great trip to Costa Rica!
Consider a 4×4
I’m not going to lie, some of the roads throughout the country are ROUGH. It’s very common to be driving on a paved road and suddenly transition into dirt and rocky roads. If you’re heading to any beach towns within the Guanacaste province, you’re very likely to see plenty of bumpy non-paved roads along the way. You might even be surprised to see that you have to cross some streams to get to your destination as well! And, in the Cloud Forest region of Monteverde, you’ll be contending with not only rough, rocky roads, but steep and narrow hills as well. A car with 4-wheel-drive can give you the peace of mind of knowing that you’ll be able to safely get to your destination.
Beware of Hidden Fees
When we originally started researching rental car options in Costa Rica, we were surprised to see rates as low as $10/day for cars. But the more we looked into it, we realized that many times those rental car options don’t include the mandatory Third Party Liability (TPL) coverage that is required in Costa Rica. This coverage costs anywhere between $15-25 per day, which can easily double the rate that you see online. There are also certain taxes, airport fees, and other costs that somehow don’t get disclosed within your initial quote, so it’s always a good practice to reach out to a rental car company to verify that all taxes and fees are included. Bottom line: if the price you see online seems too good to be true (especially when compared to other quotes for similar vehicles), then it probably is.
Check If Your Credit Card Has CDW Coverage
In addition to the mandatory TPL coverage, rental car companies typically require Collision Damage Waivers. The rental car company may try to strong-arm you into getting their CDW package, which could add another $10-25 per day. However, if your credit card provides rental car CDW coverage, then you can decline the rental car’s CDW offer. You may be required to show a letter of proof that your credit card covers CDW, and you can easily call your credit card company and they will email you a letter with that information on it.
Distances Can Be Deceiving
When you put in an address on Google Maps to get directions to somewhere, you’ll usually first see the straight-line distance between the two destinations. For example, the towns of Monteverde and La Fortuna are about 20 miles apart, but it takes you over 3 hours to get from one to another. Not only is there a massive rainforest and lake in between the two, but the road between the two towns is basically one lane each way, with plenty of dirt and gravel roads, and you can easily get stuck driving slowly behind a bus or semi. Ultimately, expect to add on some time to what your GPS tells you because of these circumstances.
Our Rental Car Company Recommendation
After researching our options, we ended up going with Vamos Rent a Car, a national Costa Rican rental car company that offers services at the Liberia and San Jose airports. From the very beginning, they were very transparent with their rates, and even encouraged us to look into whether our credit card offered CDW coverage. They even have an online shop where you can purchase various beach/pool items like floaties, noodles, and sand buckets and they’ll be loaded on your rental car when you pick it up. We decided to book a 4-wheel-drive SUV since we were planning on exploring the beaches of Guanacaste as well as the cloud forest in Monteverde, so we wanted a vehicle with sturdy tires and suspension. We were picked up on their shuttle from the Liberia airport, driven 5 minutes to their office and were on our way in minutes. We also elected to return the rental car to a different airport than we picked up, San Jose, for a $50 fee, which was worth it because it saved us a lot more than that to fly out of there instead of Liberia.
Ultimately, Costa Rica is a country ripe for exploration, and having a rental car can give you the flexibility and confidence to adventure to your heart’s content!
