Mango Valley Hotel - Grecia, Costa Rica

Driving in Costa Rica

Coatis on a road in Costa Rica

I’m not going to write about the pros of driving in Costa Rica. There are plenty, otherwise you won’t be considering driving here.

Below I’ve covered the most important and unusual things to keep in mind that will hopefully help you become safer and more confident behind the wheel.

1) If it’s your first trip to Latin/Central America, it’s advisable to avoid driving to your hotel when you first arrive, especially after a late flight or during the rain season. Let the hotel meet and greet you. There are many hotels that would do that for free.

It’s a good idea to choose a hotel away from San Jose, so that you can start your trip the next day without the torture of driving through the capital (you can be stuck in traffic for hours). For example, if you are headed for Poas Volcano/Arenal/Monte Verde/Central Pacific beaches you can stay in Grecia, Sarchi, Alajuela or Atenas.

2) If you have to drive through San Jose, keep your bags (especially your hand and belly bags) away from open windows or they might be snatched when you stop at an intersection. You should always lock the doors and roll up windows leaving the car. Again, let me reiterate: avoid San Jose if you can.

3) If your credit card limit is low, find out what the hold is before booking your rental car. Some companies put a hold of over $1000.

4) Do NOT drive at night. Some roads are very narrow and are poorly marked. There are more drunk drivers on the road at night. In the rain season there is a possibility of a land-slide, fallen rock or tree. Don’t take your chances!

5) Don’t speed. It’s dangerous and a head-ache if you get caught.

6) When driving through a town center, be very careful at the intersections. If you think you have the right of way, make sure you see the “stop” sign or “yield” for other directions. Sometimes all that’s left of the “stop” sign is the post where it used to be. Sometimes even the post is gone. I suggest you stop at each intersection or at least slow down. Surely, you might get honked at, but you’ll avoid an accident.

7) Don’t worry if you’re stopped by police. Be nice and patient. If you don’t speak Spanish, show them your passport (or a copy) and the papers for your car. Typically they’ll let you go right away. If you showed them the papers and they still won’t let you go, call your rental company or your hotel. They should be able to help you out. If nothing works, call 911. This is the only emergency number that guarantees you that the person on the other end is speaking English. If you’re fluent in Spanish, call Transit Police at 2222-9245 (near San Jose), 2643-1654 (around Jaco). You might also try calling Tourism board at 800-868-7476 or 800-887-4766 (dial as you see on the screen). They should be able to help or at least give you more numbers to call for help.

8) Do not try to bribe policemen. It’s a criminal offence here. If they give you a ticket, your rental company will charge you this amount. Then they will pay the ticket themselves. Please re-check this info with your rental company.

9) If you get into an accident, do not move your car, no matter what. Moving your car after an accident in Costa Rica might invalidate your insurance coverage. It might also be interpreted as admission of fault. Don’t worry creating a traffic jam. People here are used to that and they understand that you can’t move your car until the Transit Police arrives. Call transit police or 911 right away. It might be quite a while till they arrive.

10) ”Costa Ricans are very humble people, but they turn into maniacs the moment they get behind the wheel.” I’m sure you’ve heard this line before. Is it true? Well, yes and no. Their driving skills are very good. It’s the failure to follow simple traffic rules and “pura vida” attitude that makes the number of traffic accidents disproportionately high. There is also a huge problem of drunk drivers that’s finally starting to attract the attention of the government. The penalties are steep,with prison terms for injuring or killing someone when driving under the influence. The problem is that there is not enough transit staff to enforce the law.

If you drive defensively, anticipate things, don’t drive at night or during the national holidays, and avoid San Jose, you will be just fine. The convenience of driving and exploring on your own far outweighs any potential problems.

11) Road conditions. In general, all big roads and highways in Costa Rica are in decent shape.
That doesn’t mean that you don’t bump into a pothole time from time. The roads are being constantly repaired, but it’s a mountainous country and it’s hard to keep up with pouring rain. Another thing: many roads are still dirt roads. If you’re driving to some Southern parts of Costa Rica during rain season, call the hotel beforehand to make sure that the road to that “dream eco-lodge” is passable.

12) And now, a short quiz. You’re stuck behind a slow-moving truck on a narrow one-lane in each direction mountain road and the truck in front of you is starting to flash the left turn light. It’s obvious that unless the driver is suicidal, he’s not turning left to the precipice. So, what’s going on?

It can be one of 2 things. There can be something or someone on the road (and the truck is preparing to switch the lane), but most likely he’s telling you, “go on, pass me”. I’m not joking, it happens all the time! Well, it’s a nice gesture on his part, but please be very careful. Take your time. Make sure there are no cars in the opposite lane and if you think it’s dangerous to pass, it probably is!! Don’t rush. You’re on vacation and as long as you get to wherever you’re going in one piece, you’ve achieved your goal. Why risk your life to get somewhere 5-10 minutes earlier?

13) Another gesture you’ll see a lot: a driver of a car in front of you sticks his hand out of the window and starts waiving. That also means “pass me”, or “it’s now safe to pass”. Do not rely solely on that driver, use your own judgment. I saw people waiving when there was a truck approaching.

14) Honking is a common language of the road here. If you see a friend, honk. If you’re upset with another driver, honk. Truck drivers honk ALL other truck drivers. Same goes for bus drivers. Important thing: when someone passes you, they honk (a couple of short quiet honks typically), saying, “I’m passing you, be careful”. I suggest you quickly develop the same habit. Sometimes people turn left without checking or turning on the turn light. So, do honk when you’re passing another car, it makes it safer for everyone.

15) Headlights. Sometimes drivers flash headlights for greeting friends (or other truck or bus drivers). Flashing headlights is also used to notify other drivers that there is police ahead (same as in any other country I’ve been to). I find it confusing to distinguish which one is which, so I always slow down whenever I see someone flashing.

If you notice that each and every car/truck is signaling you with the lights, it can also mean that there is a real danger ahead. For example, I took a bus to Panama once and we almost hit a fallen high-voltage electrical cable. I was in the front row, so I got really scared, I saw people starting to pray as if that was the end. Luckily the bus driver slowed down when he saw that everyone was signaling and was able to stop completely before the bus touched the cable.

If you’re going into a tunnel, do turn your lights on right away: there are no lights inside the tunnel whatsoever.

16) Another interesting fact: you can park on either side of the street. I see people parked in reverse direction all the time.

>>Costa Rica Travel: articles and advice

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