# Travel in Costa Rica **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 11, 2008, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-in-costa-rica/440938 "2008-03-11T06:42:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HoldenCaulfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/22d042/32.png) [@HoldenCaulfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoldenCaulfield)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-in-costa-rica/440938/1 "2008-03-11T06:42:57Z")
My SO has the following issue: > [@](#): > > I am going to be in Costa Rica for 6 days. I’d like to travel to the following places: Arenal Volcano, Monteverde Cloud Forest, and Manuel Antonio’s Beach. What’s the best way to travel between these places? I’d like to do it in that order, unless there’s a better way. Are there any suggestions for how I should allocate my time, or does anyone have a feel for how long it would take to drive between these places? > > Is there anything else I should know about traveling in Costa Rica? > > Thank you! =D ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-in-costa-rica/440938/2 "2008-03-11T09:40:11Z")
There’s buses to all those from San José and from other large towns; regular lines (then you find your own hotel once in place) as well as excursions (from one to three days). If your SO likes hair-raising driving, renting a 4WD also works. Just do NOT accept a car that’s not 4WD. I don’t get dizzy easily, but heading up to El Arenal I almost returned my mom’s milk to sender… If you rent, there will be a very high security. It does get returned, but we’re talking 4 figures here. Bring dollars. Don’t bother change them to colones. If you want colones for some reason, hie thee to an ATM directly, it will be cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-in-costa-rica/440938/3 "2008-03-11T11:08:16Z")
A classmate of mine went over the university winter break. She and her BF hitchhiked around down there when they couldn’t get to a place via a bus. She also said they took boats to get from one place on the coast to another a few times. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-in-costa-rica/440938/4 "2008-03-11T12:17:56Z")
I was there a month ago! We did Arenal and Puerto Viejo with excursions to Cano Negro (a nature preserve near the Nicaraguan border) and the Pacuare River. We spent four nights in Arenal, so we had three full days, which we had no trouble filling up. I’d say you need at least two full days there. It’s a bit expensive, but you absolutely have to do an evening at the Tabacon Hot Springs Resort (assuming you can’t afford to stay there, which I certainly couldn’t). The other hot springs are no substitute. The best way to get from Arenal to Monteverde is by what they call the Jeep-Boat-Jeep trip. It’s about two hours. We had thought about doing it as a day trip, but the timing is such that you really can’t, so you’ll want at least one night. Can’t tell you about Manuel Antonio. I can’t recommend the Caribbean side highly enough, though. Getting around is generally pretty easy. The public buses are not horrible, and services like Interbus aren’t too expensive and will take you directly hotel-to-hotel. If you go with Interbus you’ll want to make sure you have a reservation at least a few days in advance, because they sell out. E-mail is in the profile–drop me a line if you’d like more info. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-in-costa-rica/440938/5 "2008-03-11T12:19:55Z")
Rent a car. Many of the roads suck a good deal in terms of bumpiness and the speed you can travel, but they’re generally not dangerous. My gf and I drove 1500 km in a week and saw about a quarter of the country, including Arenal and Monteverde. Just be sure to leave plenty of time to make it to your destinations. The cloud forest was really really nice. We even tried wind surfing in the lake up at Arenal, but the wind was too strong for us. Make sure you check out some hot springs there. Also keep in mind that half of the ATMs in the country are on a separate system than the one used in the states, so you won’t be able to access your money through them. Occasionally it was a problem, but we always found a different one that worked. Oh, and if you get a speeding ticket, the cop will try to get money from you directly. It’s not too expensive, and you can pay it lots of places (banks, where you rented your car, etc). I saw editorials in the local papers comparing the police to the Mexican Federales, and saying how they were hoping to stop the corruption before it gets as bad as Mexico. Anyway, it was a bit ago, but if you want some specifics about car rentals/trip planning, drop me a pm. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-in-costa-rica/440938/6 "2008-03-11T14:06:47Z")
**BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed** : I’m glad you had a good experience, but I can say that in the eight days I was in CR I never once wished I had rented a car. Bus and shuttle service is easy (as long as you plan ahead a little), and taxis are cheap and plentiful. I also lack the _huevos_ for proper Costa Rican driving, where the best defense is a good offense. Another thought for the OP on portioning the trip: we had a couple of one-night stays while we were there, and I vowed to never do that again. I wouldn’t go anywhere without staying for two nights, at least. But that’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-in-costa-rica/440938/7 "2008-03-11T20:39:11Z")
[QUOTE=DoctorJ I also lack the _huevos_ for proper Costa Rican driving, where the best defense is a good offense.[/QUOTE] I agree. Do those of you who have been there remember the white heart shapes painted on the major roadways? Thye are _everywhere_. Those are part of a government driver awareness program - they mark the spot of fatal auto accidents. One 5 mile section near San Jose averaged a little over 10 hearts per km. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-in-costa-rica/440938/8 "2008-03-13T01:56:07Z")
There are tourist bus services that go to and from all the popular tourist destinations in the country; one I remember is the Grey Line. We were very glad that we’d opted not to bring a car - the roads are frequently very bad (particularly around Monteverde, where they’re unpaved and extremely rutted.) We found that the basic unit of travel time was four hours - 4 hours from San Jose to Arenal, 4 hours on the Jeep-boat-Jeep thing (the ‘Jeep’ is a van) from Arenal to Monteverde, 4 hours from Monteverde to the Guanacaste beaches, and 4 hours from there back to San Jose. Doing a trip like that in six days might be a bit much, as the travel will eat a lot of your time. Seven or eight days ought to be about right. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-in-costa-rica/440938/9 "2008-03-13T05:37:51Z")
Granted travel time is an obstacle, but remember to not think of it as something to just be completed. A ton of what we did was travel time, but except for the couple times we absolutely had to be on that one major hwy that runs across the entire country and always has traffic up the wazoo, the driving was pleasurable. The country is very very beautiful, and has many different landscapes to enjoy while driving around. I think I may have spent at least 5 hours a day in the car, and though I was tired, I certainly didn’t feel like driving wasted my vacation. I feel like I saw many things that I wouldn’t have been able to without driving like that. And if you do feel like deviating from the more touristy spots, good luck trying to find a bus that will take you there. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travel-in-costa-rica/440938/10 "2008-03-13T20:45:50Z")
[QUOTE=Nava] I almost returned my mom’s milk to sender… [/QUOTE] I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know what this means…