I’ve driven in Costa Rica in the past.  It wasn’t nearly as scary as it looks.

However, I really don’t drive here anymore.  It’s not necessary.  The public transportation system, taxi system and daily driver system is excellent.  However, renting a car or purchasing a car is extremely expensive.

Life without a car is certainly different than the U.S. lifestyle.  The fact is that it is the best way to go in several parts of the world including many parts of Europe and latin America (including Costa Rica).

Why?

Well, the roads here are horrible.  They aren’t very well maintained and are full of pot holes.  In addition, they are narrow and there are deep gorges on each side to handle the massive run-off that occurs from tropical storms.  You will never be able to relax and drive on auto-pilot here like you probably do in the U.S. (I know I did).  You must be constantly extremely alert and concentrate on driving without thinking about anything else.

The alternatives are all much, much better.

Let’s start with a private driver.  You can generally hire a driver with a van for an entire day for around $100-$140.  That is for a bilingual driver with a nice vehicle.  Fuel is included in that cost.   So if you are planning a trip to the coast or the border… or some other day trip to a tourist destination, consider a daily driver.  Leave a comment here and I’ll be happy to give you the contact information to a couple of drivers I recommend.

For shorter trips (but including intercity trips in the central valley between San Jose, Alejuela and Heredia) the taxi service is excellent.  The official licensed taxis are all red with a yellow triangle on their side.  You can hail a taxi in just about any town from just about any street if you wait 10 or 15 minutes.  Just put out your arm to hail a taxi. 

If you are on a street that doesn’t have a taxi coming by every few minutes, look around above the roof line of the houses.  In some direction, you will likely see the Catholic church in that town since it is usually several stories tall.  Walk that direction and the number of taxis that go by will continue to increase as you get closer to the church.  On one side of the church, there will even be a line of taxis waiting for you to select one.

The cost is low.  Going between the major cities of the central valley generally costs less than 10,000 colognes ($20).  Short trips become ridiculously inexpensive.  We like a restaurant in the next town over that is about 10 km away (6 miles).  The cost is generally about 1,000 colognes ($2).

For even more inexpensive service, try the bus system.  It is very easy to understand.  There are 7 provinces in Costa Rica.  The three in the central valley are San Jose, Alejuela and Heredia.  There are several major cities in each province.  The main city in each of those three central valley provinces is named the same as the province (so there is a city called Heredia in the Heredia province).  The cities are then divided into barrios.

So let’s say you are in the San Pedro barrio of the San Jose city in the San Jose province and you want to go to the San Francisco barrio of the city of San Isidro of the Heredia province. 

First, you will see a bus labeled San Pedro/San Jose coming through your barrio.  You are in San Pedro and this bus goes between San Pedro and San Jose so it will take you to the city center of San Jose.

Then you will see a bus that says San Jose/Heredia.  Since you are in San Jose, you know you can take this bus to the main city in Heredia (which is also called Heredia).

When you get there, you will see a bus that says Heredia/San Isidro.  You are in Heredia, so you know this bus goes to San Isidro.  When you get there, you will find a bus labeled San Isidro/San Francisco which will take you to your destination.

BTW, I made up city and barrio names in the above example.  It was just an example.

However, it allows you to see how simple it is.  It’s just a hub and spoke system of provinces, cities and barrios (neighborhoods).  You just go toward the hub of your own province until you get there and then go to another province and work your way out on the spokes to the destination barrio.

Of course, you can also mix it up.  You can always take a taxi to the main bus stop in the main city of your province and then take the bus to another province and then go back to a taxi for your final trip.  That way you get the relatively inexpensive local taxi rides and make the main part of the trip on the very inexpensive bus system.

The buses are very clean and relatively safe.  If you are standing, you should look for pickpockets… especially if you are in San Jose.  The chance of a violence problem on a bus is extremely low (probably much lower than driving in any U.S. city).

Get out there and have some fun without a car.  There is really no need for one.  The transportation system in Costa Rica is excellent!

-James D. Brausch