im a bit nervous. a nicoya web sight said to never leave a car unattended at a hotel, especially with belongings in it. am i being thick? can i never leave a rented car alone to enjoy costa rica, while my beongings are in the hotel room? if it's that bad on the s. tip of nicoya, how can anyone relax?

Hi Nuance. I hope I'm understanding your message - we never worried about our car in the hotel lots. We never kept any of our stuff in it, though. Most hotels have a safe in the room that we kept our passports in. I never worried about our stuff in the hotel room either. From what I've heard, just don't leave the car unattended with anything of value in it. They're easy to open, and the locals all know which cars are rentals. That said, I NEVER felt in danger or nervous anywhere in Costa Rica.

yes, you understood me. i was visiting nicoyapeninsula.com and it had a warning to not leave your car unattended...EVER! i began to doubt visiting ST/malpais and CR for that matter. thanks for the response. any other advice?

Just as you would be advised not to leave valuables in your car in NYC or Boston, or even Acadia National Park in Maine. We never had a problem or met anyone that had a problem. Just use common sense. Costa Rica is wonderful. We had copies of our passport and money stowed in different places, so if one was missing, all wouldn't be gone. We never had a problem at all. Don't get lulled into a sence of complacency. I think that could happen easily.

i understand. i live in new orleans. they made it out to seem like you couldn't live your car, even without valueables. thanks for the reassurance.