Costa Rica — Pura Vida Paradise

Costa Rica a very beautiful country with pretty and charming people. Swim, Surf, Scuba-dive, Zip line, White-water-raft, Rappel, Costa Rica offers you all of this and more. The capital city of San José is bustling, crowded and snarled with traffic during rush hour.

Costa Rica – Places To Visit

1. West coast (Pacific coast) – Playas Flamingo, Brasilito and Tamarindo, .
2. Central – Town of La Fortuna, Arenal.
3. East coast (Caribbean coast) Playa Negra and Cocles.
4. Sloth Sanctuary – Limon (East Coast)

Goes without saying, try to visit all the National Parks and beaches of Sea Turtle Nesting.

You can rent a car online and collect it upon arrival right at the airport In San José. Rental rates online are extremely inexpensive, we booked an SUV for USD 2/- per day. However, the insurance worked out to be USD 46/- per day which we were only informed about when we picked up the vehicle.

From the safety warnings given to us by our car rental company, we were wary right from the start. We stayed in a gated boutique-hotel inside of a gated community, which made us even more wary. We stayed there only for a night so, had no bad experiences or tips to offer other than not to leave anything valuable inside your vehicle, especially visible.

We drove from San José to Playa Flamingo on the West Coast (171 miles/275 kms, 4 hrs via rt.21). Within an hour we were high in the mountains enveloped in clouds. The drive is good, single lane, keep to the speed limit, drive alert and smart.

Capital city, San José – Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaria is the airport {make sure your departure airport tax is included in your airfare. If not, you pay USD 29/- per person (children included)} before check-in.

Currency – Colón/USD (preferred)

Climate – April is the hottest month in San Jose with an average temperature of 76°F/25°C and the coldest is January at 71°F/22°C. The most daily sunshine hours are 7 in June with September being the wettest month.

 TIPS:

1. Have a GPS.
2. Do not be afraid, trust your instincts with regard to people, situations and occurrences.
3. Restaurant-bought food, water, alcohol is costly. Buy what you can at the local grocery store.
4. The local Rum is CENTENARIO, buy the 7-year aged, awesome! USD14/- for 1.135 lt.
5. ENJOY!