You can travel Costa Rica quite comfortably by pre-arranged transfer but you miss out on so much along the way. We did have a few pre arranged transfers as part of our itinerary, mainly in Tortuguero where the itinerary needed expert navigation because of its remote location. But, once we picked up the car, it gave us so much freedom to explore as we wanted to – we definitely saw things we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to had we not taken on the self-driving in Costa Rica.
Whilst we found the self-drive aspect of our trip straight forward, Costa Rica does reward a bit of preparation and as you read on you’ll see we missed a couple of great sights we didn’t plan for.
Here’s what actually helped us, over four regions and around 12 hours of driving in total.
Picking up the car
We collected our hire car at our Tortuguero-to-La Fortuna lunch stop. National Car Rental met us there – one adult was driven to the depot to collect the car with both licenses. The depot is just a five minute drive from the restaurant, and the exchange was seamless. My partner was helped with the sat nav set up – National Car Rental, provide a SIM for data and ensured the car was fully checked and explained in his presence. After 30 minutes the car was driven from the depot and back to the restaurant to pick up me, the kids and our luggage.
We hired a 4×4 for comfort and in case we needed the additional power as we headed into the cloud forests. I’d say we switched to the 4×4 mode twice during our entire drive – as we opted for the safer routes, it wasn’t necessary and many families we spoke to along the route were getting by just fine without it. I think it is possible to weigh up the cost implications on this one – if you have the budget, it certainly does give peace of mind.
Self driving Costa Rica, region by region
It’s worth knowing that our first stop, Tortuguero is boat-access only, so if your route includes it, you won’t be driving that leg at all – it’s tour-led and, from our experience, that’s the best way to see the area.
The restaurant stop to La Fortuna: this section of the trip provided the perfect way to get used to the car and driving on the right-hand side of the road. Large laned, excellently paved and maintained roads led the entire way. Everything is also well signposted so you have the opportunity to take it slowly and really get used to the car and the conditions. This was a two hour ride with some lovely scenery.
La Fortuna to Monteverde was perhaps the trickiest stretch of the whole trip. The roads leaving La Fortuna were fine – well maintained and signposted – but after our cafe pit stop, the roads changed quickly. In parts they are very poorly maintained, with some of the biggest potholes we’ve driven over, anywhere. Steady and careful wins here, and it’s worth building in more time than the distance alone suggests. As you reach the cloud forests, you’ll notice the change, the roads do become very winding and of course you start to gain height – we found need to switch to 4×4 here in parts. This stretch took us approximately four-hours to complete, including a short stop for refreshments.
We stopped twice along this part of the route. The first was at Café Y Macadamia, a lovely rest stop that looks out over the Arenal Lake, and has the best cold coffee and cookies I’ve ever had. We indulged in the Macadamia iced latte accompanied by the Macadamia cookie, and a few other cake options that we just couldn’t say no to. Everything was insanely good – the cookie in particular was fabulous; fudgy and gooey in equal measure.
We’d also planned a second stop at the La Piedra del Indio Waterfalls, a run of four waterfalls that looked beautiful in photos. We arrived early afternoon, but the tour there needs a minimum of two hours, and with the road ahead already known to be difficult, we didn’t want to leave the rest of the drive too late in the day. We skipped it, and we were genuinely gutted to. If your timings allow more flexibility than ours did, it’s worth building this in properly rather than treating it as a maybe.
The Monteverde to Sámara stretch starts out similarly – poorly maintained roads with potholes, and very winding. As you leave the cloud forest, this does ease up. By the time we hit our midway stop, the roads we far better and more manageable.
The stop at Mi Finca along this route wasn’t a necessity, we definitely could’ve carried on, but it was worth it for the red macaw spotting you can do in the cafe’s surrounding trees. These bright birds are clear to spot and gathered in groups whilst we were there, making lots of noise – the cold drink was welcomed and after a short stay we were back on the road.
Something to note for the Monteverde stretch; the winding, undulating roads on the way in and out gave our youngest a bit of motion sickness – worth planning for if that’s a concern for your family, and maybe not the leg to schedule straight after a big breakfast.
Our final drive took us from Sámara to Liberia for the flight home, and again this was a straightforward drive: well-paved, well-signposted main roads, nothing to worry about.
National Car Rental Drop Off
Dropping the car took us minutes – literally! The drop off depot is opposite Liberia Airport and you pull into one of four or five lanes, each individually manned and ready to speed through the sign off procedure. They check the car there and then, you sign, unload the luggage and you’re straight into a transfer minibus heading for the airport. We honestly couldn’t rate National Car Rental higher, our experience was fab!
A few practical notes
- Build in more time than Google Maps suggests for the La Fortuna-Monteverde stretch specifically – the road quality, not the distance, is what slows you down.
- If motion sickness is a concern for anyone in your group, the Monteverde-Sámara drive is the one to prepare for.
- We did the entire trip on our initial full tank of fuel. However, petrol stations were very easy to spot along all our main routes – I don’t think we’d have needed to plan around fuel.
Was self-driving the right call?
Completely. It gave us control over pace, meant we could stop wherever caught our eye (the coffee at Macadamia Y Café wouldn’t have happened otherwise), and never felt like a stressful add-on to the trip. If you’re comfortable driving abroad, I’d recommend it over relying on tours for every leg.
Keep Planning Your Trip
- Pura Vida! 12 Nights in Costa Rica, from Caribbean Coast to Pacific Coast by Car
- Tortuguero National Park: Sloths, Turtles, and a Rainforest That Never Goes Quiet
- Self-Driving Costa Rica: What You Need to Know
- La Fortuna, Costa Rica: Frogs After Dark, ATVs Through the Jungle, a Volcano Hike and Hot Springs to Finish
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