I have a few questions about renting a car in Costa Rica.
I will be there on a two week trip in June2004. I plan on flying into San Jose and picking up a car right away. We will be driving from SJ to Arenal/Monteverde and a few places on Nicoya peninsula (Tamarindo, Samara, Tambor). Has anyone picked up and dropped off in different locations? What rental company can you recommend? I'm just having trouble figuring out the logistics. Should I leave the car in Tamarindo and fly to Tambor? Any suggestions?

I used Toyota rent a car and found them to be good. The agents spoke english and they have a shuttle that will pick you up at the airport. The only problem is exiting the area from their office. A major intersection with no traffic lights and psycho drivers.

I rented a car in CR several years ago. The warning I got from the rental company was that if the car was stolen in San Jose, that I owned it. Anywhere else the insurance covered the loss, however not in San Jose. If I was to go to San Jose then only leave the car in a secured parking area. At the time there was a major problem with car thefts. So I can't tell you for sure whether this is still the same.
I hope they have fixed the potholes in CR, for you.

I wasnt told from Toyota RAC about the san jose thing. Thats probably because I didnt ask. Any way you dont want to drive in San Jose anyway. Use the taxi if you stay there. I recomend staying outside of the city, Xandari seems real popular. Crime is definetly a problem in the city. Any way, most of us go to CR for the scenery and wildlife, so limit your stay in the city. Also driving to Tamarindo is a 5 hour drive. Be advised, out of Tamarindo, the majority of roads in that part of the country is dirt/ gravel and pretty torn up. Its fun at first, but a few hours of that can drive you nuts.

i know that most rent-a-car agencies charge a heavy fee to pick up vehicles if they don't have an office in the location you want to turn it in. if you want to avoid the drive back to san jose from a beach area, i suggest using an agency that offers pick ups and drop off at different locations free of charge. i believe alamo has offices in tamarindo, but i'm not sure about tambor.

i do not think there are available regular flights from tamarindo to tambor, unless you planned on flying charter. the drive isn't too bad, and if you plan on visiting samara as well, starting in tamarindo, going to samara and then continuing down to tambor actually works pretty good logistically speaking. and if you make it as far as tambor, you might as well drive back to san jose. the ferry across the nicoya gulf is scenic, going by beautiful islands (can get crowded and sometimes the wait on either side is long)

pura vida, and enjoy your visit!

Thank you for all your replies! I need to do a little more research I think before I make a decision on who to use and what to do!

Driving is a great way to see CR. If you are concerned about theft figure out what kind of vehicle you will be renting,then go to your local dealership and ask which fuse to pull to disable the engine, if they can't get it started,they probably won't tow it away.Also you could be resonsible for any mechanical damage, so you make sure you keep an eye on fluid levels.
Greg