GPS for Costa Rica

In my 35 trips to Costa Rica, over 11 years, I have never felt the need for a GPS/Navigations units, dont get me wrong, its easy at times to get lost, miss a turn off, or plain old just not know where I am, but overall, at least outside San Jose the Capitol, which is best avoided even with GPS, its rather easy, straightforward getting around the country, and the main circuit of venues a tourist would drive.

Its also not a issue to stop and ask, and its also part of the fun, at least for me.

The most difficult areas to navigate are the towns near San Jose on the way to La Fortuna, getting your bearing and finding the right routes in Sarchi, Grecia, San Ramon are bit of a test and some luck, but if you have a Blackberry with Google Map, you will soon see you are not going the way you intended.

That all being said, I have a Harmin Nuvi 1390T that I can get a CA card/download for, but I really see no need, as there are only so many roads connecting all the places you want to go. Unless you plan to take backroads, like from Santa Ana to Santiago and on to Parrita and Quepos, its nice, though its well marked.

Tim

Garmin Mapsource world map has only the major roads. It is about as good as the single page no-detail map you get from the rental car company. That said, with a bit of a spirit of adventure, that's all you need outside of San Jose. What CR roads lack in smooth surface, they make up for in signage. You'll see very good signs pointing you to all towns and cities - usually with distance. The one thing you'll have fun with is the fact that the entire country lacks addresses (house numbers)... you'll simply get a street name & perhaps a distance from a landmark or a cross street name. San Jose is in process of getting building numbers, but that's just getting started. Like I said, bring a spirit of adventure.

I tried some of the other products (Navtec) in South America and the detail was non-existent --- the same as MapSource world map.

BTW, GPS file depot has a lot of great FREE maps for download for your Garmin. They don't show any CR specific maps, but I bet you'll get similar detail as the Garmin MapSource World Map using the world maps they've got for free.