Car rental in Costa Rica

We're going to CR for 3 weeks on May 14th. Still working on our itinerary, we're thinking about taking an internal flight between Arenal or Tortuguero and Puerto Jimenez. For the rest of the trip we'd hire a car. Which means we need a company that will allow us to pick up the car at SJO airport and leave it at one of the other airports (La Fortuna, Tortuguero or Puerto Jimenez, or maybe Drake Bay). Unfortunately up to now I did not find this possibility anywhere. Do you have suggestions?

Solid Car Rentals has rates for one-way rentals SJO-to-Puerto Jimenez, and if I recall their website right, they may waive the drop-off fee for longer rentals. My pick-up from them is 2-way and in the future, but there was a recent trip report here that mentioned Solid (in passing, with rate quote included) positively, and to this point I'm happy with what they've quoted to me and their responsiveness to my emails.

In my experience, most of the car rental companies offer this service for a fee. It will be more expensive the farther away you drop off from either San Jose or Liberia, the two major hubs for rentals.
Which companies have you researched?

why not just take shared van shuttles and then rent a car for your time in arenal? just a thought.

If you rent directly from SJO, you'll pay an extra 15% or more for your car rental.
You're better off having a company drop off at the airport or pick up a car in Alajuela, only a few minutes away from the airport.

We didn't book a hotel yet, but do you also pay these taxes if you have the car delivered there?

Don't know about the shared van shuttles, is it the same as public buses or something else?

When my flight arrives late afternoon, I like to spend the first night in Alajuela and have a car dropped off at the hotel the next morning.
This way you won't pay the tax, and save on one days rental.
What's your itinerary if you don't mind sharing?

Re 1 and 4 -- Just to clarify, I was using "SJO" as shorthand for Alajuela. Solid's office, I think like that of most rental companies, is near the Hampton Inn, off the airport premises and therefore not subject to the 15% tax that applies only right at SJO.

shared van shuttle is different from public bus. it is a van that provides hotel to hotel service, seats something like 10 people, is air conditioned and makes rest stops. it is quite a bit more than the public bus, but very convenient. you can look here for more details - [www.interbusonline.com]

you make reservations for the shared van and pay in advance (unlike the bus). it can be thought of as a small and more luxurious version of a public bus.

How much in advance do you have to make reservations for this shuttle? The thing is we're not planning to make reservations for hotels too much in advance, and apparently they need to know where you are staying (of course).

Scoot: we'd visit Arenal, Tortuguero, Corcovado, Manuel Antonio and Puerto Viejo, though not sure in which order yet.

ellen: i really don't get what you are saying here

".....The thing is we're not planning to make reservations for hotels too much in advance, and apparently they need to know where you are staying (of course). "

are you not planning on making any reservations at hotels or what? can you elaborate on this a little.

also - if you go to the interbus website and look around a little, you will become more familiar with the whole concept.

as for reservations for the shared van shuttle - some routes are very popular and fill up fast and others you can make a last minute reservation.

No, we're not planning on making all hotel reservations in advance. I asked this a while ago here and most people said it's not necessary due to low season. We'll have an idea about where to go of course, but we like the option of staying 1 or 2 days longer somewhere if we like it.

reservations on many shared van routes can be made a day or two in advance, if necessary.

also - in your original post, you mentioned taking domestic flights between arenal or tortuguero or puerto jimenez. check with sansa and nature air -- with many domestic flights, you will have to fly to san jose first and then transfer to another flight.

if arenal, tortuguero and puerto jimenez are your destinations, i would recommend taking the shared van shuttle to arenal, rent a car there. turn in your car in arenal. take a shuttle to the boat landing for tortuguero -- pura vida tours in arenal does this from arenal -- and return via boat/ shared van shuttle to san jose. take a flight from san jose to puerto jimenez and rent a car there..... or not.

of course, if you have a rental car, it does give you more flexibility as far as picking hotels in an area. if you want to rent a car, you can do that and drive to arenal, drive to the boat landing for tortuguero - there is covered parking there -- and then drive to puerto jimenez afterward. if you don't want to drive to puerto jimenez, turn you car in at the airport and fly.

Yes, most flight go through San Jose, but if we pay a bit of attention the schedules seem allright.

One company mentioned turning in the car in Cariari (or something like that), I think that's near the boat landing for Tortuguero if I'm correct?

We'll end up not renting a car at all this way ;-))).

cariari is about 45 minutes or so from the boat landing at pavona.

quite frankly, if you are going to plan on turning in your car in cariari, why not just turn it in at la fortuna and take a shuttle to the boat landing? of course, if you want to do some exploring between la fortuna and pavona or make a number of stops, rental car is the way to go.

for your flights - keep in mind that nature air flies out of pavas - a suburb of san jose - and sansa flies out of sjo in alajuela.

the only place that i think you would really need one would be arenal. things are kind of spread out there and having a car is useful. by the time you pay for tours that include transportation and taxis, you could rent a car. keep in mind that the town of la fortuna is 20 km from the volcano and there are many very nice hotels that are close to the volcano and far from town.

otherwise -- it is really up to you. i hope you have more information now and you can make a more educated choice.

I think we'd best get our itinerary right first (i.e. the order).

I'm thinking we'd better keep Arenal and Tortuguero for last as they seem a bit more relaxed/laid back than Manuel Antonio/Corcovado (where more demanding hikes can be done), or am I mistaken here?

For the mini vans: any idea which routes are the most popular (i.e. need to be reserved in advance)?

I see no reason to fly to anywhere in Costa Rica other than Pt Jimenez for Corcovado, though with 3 weeks you can work your way down the coast via Chirrpo (closed in May) and Dominical/Bellena. But you dont need a car there unless your headed to Carate for a base IMO, and you need a SUV IMO with 7 rivers to cross to Carate.

Tortuguero is best accessed without a car, go via bus or shuttle or a tour.

The central areas like Arenal, Monteverde, Rincon, Celeste, Cano Negro are best explored on planned route, 1-2 nights at each.

You can rent cars oneway, but if its a far locale to drop, you will pay a large drop fee.

If you want to explore 3 different areas of the country, break up the trip in sections, and put the beach last IMO.

Get car and explore Arenal/Celeste/Rincon areas, drop car in SJ and fly to Corocvado 3-5 nights, then fly back, and then head to Tortuguero and Caribe, no car needed.

You can raft your way from SJ area to Tortuguero via the Rio Paquare and get dropped for boats to Tortuguero.

[https://www.exploradoresoutdoors.com/]

[http://www.puertoviejosatellite.com/transport.php]

ellen: you can check on availability of shuttles by going to [www.shuttlebus.co.cr] and do some bookings on various locations - just don't buy a ticket! this will give you some idea of availability and how early you have to book. you can also check [www.anywherecostarica.com] for shuttles also.

as for the order in which you visit -- it doesn't matter that much, mostly, just what pleases you. some things will make more sense from a travel perspective - for instance, going to tortuguero from arenal makes more sense than going from puerto jimenez but mostly it doesn't matter.

by the way - manuel antonio and corcovado are two completely different things. corcovado for hiking the wilderness kind of thing and manuel antonio for beaches and popular national park. look here - [www.manuelantoniopark.com] and here [www.corcovadoguide.com]

now that you have more information, perhaps you can refine your itinerary and ask for comments on that.

Is it better to hire a car before we leave, or is it best to take care of that once we arrive in Costa Rica?

Even in rainy season?

it is better to hire a car before you get to costa rica. you will sometimes show up at the counter, all smiles and anticipation only to be told they are out of cars or they are all reserved for someone else.

Also, what size of car would be best for 2 grown ups plus luggage?

With 3 weeks and lots of ground to cover, I suggest a Rav 4, Vitara type SUV, 5 spd manual is better than auto IMO.

Thanks! Would it be a good idea to take extra insurance (apart from the standard one)?

i would look at what extra insurance is offered and carefully read what it covers and then make your decision.

you can reserve a car ahead of time - or just show up and take your chances.. your call.

you should know that if you are arriving san jose - sjo - and you just walk off the plane, through immigration and get your luggage and go through customs and walk over to one of the rental car counters - you will be paying about 13% more since they pay a fee to have a location at the airport.

i don't know what your objection is to reserving a car a head of time - but i am sure you will make the best decision for yourself.

Is it possible to bring the car back earlier than planned? That way we could hire a car for the full period and if we decide to do Tortuguero at the end, bring it back a little earlier.

yes, you can bring the car back early. no problem there.

The best rates I see are with Solid Car Rental. However they do not mention rates for additional insurance. How much would that be? (LP mentions 15-25$ per day for basic insurance, are these figures still correct?)

solid car rental is a good company. mandatory liability insurance will run $10-$18 a day.

Have you thought about just taking the taxi? They're not terribly expensive and there is no liability or headache. Usually I'll head to one or two places and just pay a taxi to get me between places.

dean's 4x4 rental has a mixed reputation. i know people who have used them to rent a cheap, used car and had no problems. others have had trouble. as long as you realize the risks of renting an older, used car.....

taking a taxi from place to place? are you serious? taxis are fine for local travel but to get around the country, probably the worst way to go. if you are going to pay that amount of money, you could fly or even hire a private driver who speaks english and can give you a running commentary and answer questions.

Renting an older car has it's risks no doubt, but not returning my calls for a few days when I had car trouble is unacceptable in my opinion and experience.

have to agree with you there, scoot.

We rented a Suzuki Jimny which is (they tell us now!) not a 4x4, but still a SUV (jeep). Is that enough or should we try to change it for a 4-wheel drive?

as far as i know, suzuki jimmies are 4 wd. who did you reserve this with? what did they say about 4wd?

AutoEurope. We used this company in the past in Portugal, but we didn't know they also rent outside Europe (you have to admit, with such a company name ... ;-)).

Maybe they don't mention it as a 4WD because actually you can choose between 2 and 4WD with these cars. Anyway I'm pretty sure there is a 4 WD option, it says so on the Suzuki website.

AWD is different than a 4x4, as a true 4x4 has a low locking differential, and tends to have higher ground clearance. That said, a AWD is all you need.

ellen: why on earth would you not rent a car from a rental car company in costa rica that is well-known and recommended in costa rica rather than a company from portugal??????

i just don't get it.

solid, service, adobe, alamo, hertz, avis, national, toyota -- pick one!

Edited by: wiremu

Because we used that company before. But however, now they seem to direct us to Thrifty, which has a lot of bad reviews so we're looking elsewhere.

Mapache seems to be good, also ...

sorry, ellen but I just can't help you anymore. i am trying to take you down the "tried and true" path and you are just wandering off to look at butterflies.

mapache is good but has had some mixed reviews.

Big companies like Hertz, Avis etc are of course reliable, but usually they're a lot more expensive. I don't have a dollar tree in my garden, so if I can get a car with a reliable local company, probably it's a lot cheaper. I did ask for the type of car we want at different companies (including several of the ones you mentioned), unfortunately not all of them did get back to me. And if it's already too much for them to give me a price estimate, I don't want to know what their service is if something happens with the car. Call me picky if you want.

ellen - you can get a price quote online with any of the companies i listed. they display the cars available for renting with a description of each one and how many passengers and bags they will hold and the price. really no need for emailing.

because the ones i listed all have good reputations, you can count on getting good service.

don't assume that hertz, avis et al are more expensive - check them out. all of the ones i listed are costa rican companies. some of them have the names of big companies like hertz but they are owned and operated locally.

i understand that renting a car can be a difficult decision - i don't think you are picky.

as an example of what i am talking about, go here [http://www.solidcarrental.com/index.php]

you can google each of these car rental companies by just putting the name and costa rica afterwards. like "hertz costa rica" and each will give you the type of car and price.

Edited by: wiremu

I make reservations and then play the agencies at the airport off each other.

I have used Mapache many times, as well as Alamo, with no issues. I like a agecy with multiple offices and a responsive management, in case you need em, they are there to help....cheap is sometimes not quality.

Dont get on Eleanors bad side (wiremu) she can be a real thorn in your side....haha