Driving in Costa Rica

Rent a car in Costa Rica

To travel around Costa Rica, it’s a great choice to travel on your own with a rental car. You can get wherever you want without depending on timetables or other people. But there are several things you should know when renting a car to make sure you have a great vacation time.

We highly recommend to rent a car with full- coverage insurance. This will cost an extra (+ 14 $ more or less each day of rental) but you are fully protected. Although there are limitations as well- understandable. You are not allowed to drive drunk and if you have flood damage because you drove in the sea or through a river, the insurance will not pay. So be careful, because sometimes you have to cross rivers or creeks.

We recommend to rent a small 4*4 vehicle, like the Suzuki Jimmy or the Toyota Rav4. This is one of the cheapest solutions, although with a very small motor, it is a great car for off-road traveling. But pay attention if you rent a car via Internet (this looks cheaper but you have to look very well) they never promise the exact car. They will say, a Jimmy or similar. And the similar often is a very small tin without 4 * 4.

As well, make sure if basic insurance (around 20$ daily) and taxes are included in the package. Please contact us to order a special fare with all insurance included and the exact car you want to rent. Gas is around 1,2 $ the liter.

You have to be careful with speed limitations. There is lots of traffic on the main streets and policemen (transitos) are taking the speed and charging expensive tickets. Since September 2019 they installed cameras to register the speed on several main streets in the central valley. Be careful.