hgraham

My husband and I are going to Costa Rica for the first time in December and after reading all your postings, have decided to hire a private driver to take us to the Arenal Observatory Lodge from Alajuela. I emailed Oscar and he is available. Since it will be just the two of us, we are having a hard time spending the extra money for a driver vs. using Interbus so we are splurging and using him only on our first day, and using Interbus for our transfers from Arenal to Manuel Antonio, then back to San Jose. What I'm wondering is since we are going to the expense of having a driver, we probably shouldn't just drive straight there, right? Should we have places in mind we want to go between San Jose and the Observatory Lodge? Is there a more scenic route we should ask him to take? Should we just let him take us where he thinks we should go since he knows more than us? Should we ask him to take us to a coffee farm (or plantation?) That sounds interesting to me. We're looking forward to meeting Costa Ricans and practicing our pitiful Spanish. Any suggestions you have would be appreciated.

lvk

Hi there,

We hired Oscar in August and are very glad we did. We used him for about 6 of our 9 days there. I can understand your concern about the cost (we were 5 people, so it made economic sense for us).

Depending on the time you leave Alajuela, you absolutely should stop somewhere along the way to Arenal. We had a similar itinerary to yours. We had an overnight flight and landed at 8 am. He picked us up at the airport and our first stop was a coffee stand operated by the Doka plantation. We then proceeded to the LaPaz Waterfall Gardens where did the tour and lunch. We went on to Arenal where he pointed out lots of interesting sites along the way. He stopped in LaFortuna and gave us a chance to book our tours with the tour company offices, saving us $$ over booking with the hotel. He also pointed out some good restaurants in La Fortuna.

He had given us a choice of the LaPaz stop or a stop in Sarchi for shopping for Costa Rican crafts. I'm sure if you are interested in a coffee plantation tour, he will take you there as well. There's also a big souvenir shop near Alajuela that he recommends where the selection is greater and the pricers lower.

Just tell him what you would be interested in and he will cater to you. He always says "You're the boss". He and my husband called each other "El Jefe".

Have a great trip!

Jenniferjen

Hi there, if you have the whole day to get to Arenal from Alajuela than you certainly have time to do other things, although it's my recollection that you're somewhat limited by the times the tours run at the nearby coffee plantations so you should find out when they run and figure it in to what time you want to get to the lodge.
Since we had to spend our first night in Costa Rica overnight in Alajuela and go to Arenal the following day, my boyfriend and I found that it was most economical for us to hire a driver in the morning to travel around the Alajeula area (we chose to go see Poas) and then take a 1pm interbus shuttle to the Observatory Lodge. In the morning we had time to see Poas and make a couple short stops at some little roadside stands and also have lunch before catching our 1pm Interbus shuttle to the Lodge, and even with the other passengers' stops (the Lodge was the last stop) we still had time to explore the grounds and rest a bit before dinner.
We didn't go to the coffee plantations because we really wanted to see Poas.
One warning about the trip to the Lodge though: the driveway, when we were there, was extremely long and rutted. It was REALLY bumpy and took about 20 minutes just to get up the driveway and I was glad that I took someone else's advice to wear a sports bra for that part of the drive!! Have a great time - you will LOVE Costa Rica.

Percy

Let me just add something also
But first "hi Ivk"

I hired Oscar for the full 9 days when I was there last November.

He was worth every penny I spend on him.

On your way to Arenal if you leave early in the morning you can stop and visit these places:
Grecia...lovely place
Sarchi...you will love those painted ox carts

Zarcero...see the lovely church and the Topiary in front of the church, don't miss this.(terrific fudge in this town!!)

Then it is on to La Fortuna(town) and then to Arenal.
Ask him to drive you halfway around the Arenal Lake.

If he is driving you back ,then he will take you back a different way like From Arenal to La Fortuna to San Isidro...to San Ramon (nice place)...to Palmares...to Atenas( best climate in the world!) ...and then back to Alajuela

Like Ivk said you are the boss,and he (Oscar)knows all the little out of the way places,along the route.

Many times when we were driving around going someplace, Oscar would say,"I just want to show you something here."

So off we would go.
I had him everyday for the 9 days.
I sat in the front seat with him all the time.
By the 4th day we were like brother.

He just sent me an e-mail 2 weeks ago.

You cannot go wrong hiring Oscar.

Oh yes, if you do hire him....please say that Percy says hello.

Thanks

percy

hgraham

Thank you for all the great suggestions! When Percy says "leave early", how early is that? Oscar wants us to let him know what time we want to leave. (I don't know where he lives or how far he would have to drive to get to us) Our flight gets in late the night before (10:30 p.m.) plus there's a time change for us (we're coming from Seattle) so I'm not sure how early we'll be raring to go! Oscar's charge is $140 for the transfer but I don't know how many hours that includes. If he has to get up early, surely he wouldn't want to get to Observatory Lodge very late in the day if he still has to drive back to San Jose area? Also, what would we tip him for the day? I'm assuming we'd pay for his lunch and maybe dinner, too? If we stopped at places like Sarchi, does he just wait in his car and watch over our luggage? Maybe we don't want to go there anyway - we wouldn't mind seeing what's for sale, but don't want to cart a bunch of souvenirs around the rest of our trip!

trevorjoyce

Hi, we also had Oscar drive us. When we stopped he either waited by the van, entrance or with other drivers. We bought him lunch along the way and most lunches were very reasonable since these drivers know Tico spots that are not out to get American money. When he drove us from SJ to the Arenal area, we had a day of touring on the way. We stayed in Arenal 2 days and he stayed in that area rather than going home. He made and paid for those arrangements himself. He showed us a lot along the way (coffee farm, Poas volcano, La Paz for hike and lunch, Iguanas etc) I had told him we wanted to sightsee, so I trusted him to choose the route. We had a great trip overall! Joyce

trevorjoyce

One more thing! My son wrote trip reports that may interest you. Put trevorjoyce into the search box and scroll down to Trevor's CR trip report. He did it in 3 parts, Joyce

Percy

hgraham:

First let me say "Hi Joyce"
Yes I read allthe 3 report and saw the pictures you posted... very nice.

hgraham:
On the day I left with Oscar for Arenal we left at 7:45 AM

We stopped off at many of the places I mention going there,and coimg back we returned via a different route.

In every town Oscar knew exactly the best spots to see.

Have fun ,you willbe well looked after

Percy

hgraham

TrevorJoyce: I read all your son's trip reports. Fun reading! Thanks.
Percy: I sounds like you had Oscar drive you to Arenal then back to Alajuela all on the same day? And you had time to stop at all those places, so even if we relaxed in the morning over breakfast then had Oscar pick us up at 9:00 or so we should be okay.

Percy

hgrahma
I am having some problems.

Posted a reply to your question but when I clicked on "post my reply"
It does not come up.hmmm
let us see if this does.
Percy

Percy

ttt

I am still having problems !?
percy

shillmac

Hi Percy,
Fodor's has been a technical mess this past week. Good luck!

Percy

hgrahma:

Hi shillmac

Okay I will try again to answer hgrahma.
On the day we left for Arenalwe left about 7:45 AM.
We took in many places along the way and Oscar knew where to drive to in each town to see some highlites.

Oscar knew the fellow(small family) who operates the ox painting little factory in Sarchi.
It was amazing watching this fellow paint these designs free hand.
If it was me I would have had to paint by numbers!

We had time to stop off at every town on the way and spent about 3-5 hours around the Arenal Tabacon Hot Springs area.
We drove around Arenal lake almost to Tilaran because the tip of the Volcano was clouded so Oscar said , lets us drive further down and then perhaps when we return the could will be gone.

Sure enough, when we came back ..no clouds.
You will love the Hot Springs.

On the way back we came in via San Ramon ,Plamares and Atenas.

But I went to Grecia about 3 times during my stay ,because it is such a nice place..then on to Naranjo , Palmares...Esparza..San Mateo.

We really toured around the Central Valley.
On the day we went to Arenal we arrived back home ( Vista del VAlle) about 7:15PM,it was very dark most of the way coming back.

Yet Oscar would turn here and then turn there and so on and before you knew it we were home !!

I said to him,"How in the world would I have known all those short cuts in the dark '!!
he just smiled at me as if to say,"you would not have known"!!

Then back at Vista del Valle,guess who served us a lovely dinner?;...Oscar of course, as he sort of works out of Vista del VAlle.
No Oscar did not cook the dinner , he only served it.

So hgraham you will have lots of time if you leave at 9 AM or even 10AM if all you want to do is to go to Arenal and Tabacon and relax there.

Okay I am now going to click on "post my reply" and cross my fingers !!!

Percy

Percy

hooray it worked

shillmac must have fixed it !!!!
percy

shillmac

Claro que si!

rogfam

We'll be in Costa Rica in Feb. and are interested in hiring a driver. How do I contact Oscar?

trevorjoyce

We used Oscar's e-mail: [email protected]. However, he (like many other folks in CR rely on internet cafe's, so it sometimes takes him a little while to answer. Here is his cell phone as well: 373-2736. Let us know if it works out! Joyce

rogfam

Thanks! Any other names you might suggest?

rogfam

Just emailed Oscar and the email was bounced back.

Percy

I just got an e-mail from Oscar so he is arounnd !! It is a little slow right now but with the Dry Season around the corner things are picking up.

Call him on his cell phone, remember there is no area code in Costa Rica ,it is 506 everywhere.

Percy