Costa Rica - carjacking, fake police and surf tips
 

I just got back from a trip to Costa Rica that I’d been waiting for years to take. Some tips: We thought we’d try to sneak in on the tail end of the rainy season. Don’t try it. We got rain 8 days out of ten, washed out roads and bridges, beaches littered with debris, and surf polluted with sewage.

Driving: Don’t do it. I read in Fodor’s how the scam there is to flatten your tire or get you in a rear-end collision then offer help only to rob you. I thought this was a little alarmist but it turns out to be standard operating procedure. The rental car company even hands out a sheet with the contract paperwork that warns you about the problem. The Payless agent told us to drive straight out of there and get out of the city ASAP and warned us to beware of the tire trick as soon we left the lot. We left San Jose right away without a problem. When driving through San Jose a few days later however we got lost and I stopped to ask directions. A car pulled up behind me with two guys in it stopped then followed me when I pulled away. After a few fake turns and a quick U-turn it was clear we were being followed. We were a real target in an obvious rental car with a surfboard on the roof, and my beautiful blonde girlfriend reading the map in the passenger seat. After trying to lose the other car over about two miles we got stopped in a turnabout and the car pulled up next to us out of nowhere. The driver leaned halfway out his window and with a large knife and in plain view, in broad daylight, stopped in traffic, he popped the back tire. I drove off on the flat expecting the driver would give up after awhile – he didn’t. We ended up in a car chase through San Jose in some bad neighborhoods looking for a safe, crowded place to stop. Driving on a flat (and, eventually partly on the rims) I took fake turns, last second turns, jukes and swerves and other evasive maneuvers but the driver of the other car was not going to stop. He would occasionally disappear off a side street only to reappear on my tail a few blocks away. It was clear these guys were not going to just try to take our wallets. They were after the car, the girl, and whatever else they could get. I’m not a pushover…I’m 6’1”, 180 pounds and in pretty good shape but there was nothing I was going to be able to do against two guys who had a large knife and had already shown themselves to be brazen enough to use it in broad daylight. We finally found a Peugeot dealership that was open and drove onto the lot. The other car finally gave up. We were pretty shaken and the guys at the dealership were great. They changed out the tire and called the rental agency to get a replacement for the spare. Neither the guys at the dealership or the rental agency thought it was worth the time to put in a police report. Before we left the lot one of the salesmen gave us a final admonishment – do not drive at night under any circumstances and in no case should you ever stop for the police at night. Just keep driving. The roads are dangerous as it is with cars and motorcycles with no lights, mothers with babies in their arms walking in traffic while semis blow past them inches away. Yet apparently the Costa Rican police never patrol the highways at night so there are people who pose as police, get you to stop, then rob you or worse. Later that night as we were trying to make it to Quepos (we had no other option at this point) we came across a car pulled over on the right shoulder with headlights on facing into oncoming traffic with blue flashing lights. We kept driving.

Forget driving. Fly to San Jose then take a local flight to your next destination. You can rent a car in safer, more tourist friendly or rural areas, then take inexpensive taxi rides. Fly into Liberia if you can.

Epilogue: I talked to my sister-in-law last night and told her the story. She recounted how two of her girlfriends recently went to CR and fell for the slashed tire trick. They were let go with nothing but the clothes they wore but only after one of them was forced to perform oral sex on one of the men. Nice place.

Surf tips: What you may not know (and I found out the hard way) is that Sansa Air limits boards to 6’9” and under. For my 8 footer they wanted me to buy three additional seats for the board. Nature Air was more nebulous and I got on one flight with no trouble because it wasn’t full. But later in the trip had to get my board to the Tamarindo airport the day before I was scheduled to fly out of San Jose and try to get it on any available flight. If you bring a board make sure you can travel all the way to your destination without leaving it behind or sending it in advance and trying to catch up with it. At one point it was looking like it made more sense to sell it my board to a local shop instead of laying out $270 to get my board a few seats and meet my flight out of San Jose. Better yet, rent a board there. If I ever went back there I’d pay to upgrade to a full size SUV like a FourRunner so you can fit the board all the way in the car and lock it up. I spent hours taking boards and soft racks (yes, racks get stolen, too) off the car and putting them back on. Water quality – we smelled sewage in the storm drains emptying onto the beaches at Manuel Antonio and Tamarindo. Where I live in San Diego as a general rule you usually don’t surf for 2-3 days after a rain because of E.Coli contamination and the threat of getting Hepatitis and other diseases. This is in a first-world country with adequate plumbing and where sewage treatment is standard. It isn’t worth it to spend 3-4 days vomiting in your hotel room to get some surf as one of the guests at our Tamarindo hotel did. When we were a fairly safe distance away from populated areas it was common to find the surf full of logs, debris and full sized trees floating around. Ten days there lugging my board around to blown out polluted surf spots and I never took it out of the bag. See my tip above….don’t try to sneak in at the end of the rainy season.

Manuel Antonio – skip it. We were there in the off season and I can only imagine how crowded and grid-locked it is during the busy season. Book yourself into one of the lodges on Drake’s Bay near Corcovado Nat’l Park. You’ll see better and more wildlife in an un-crowded, less developed area. You can fly into Palmar Sur and take a boat down river from Sierpe during which you’ll see crocodiles and other wildlife rather than sitting in traffic in Quepos or Manuel Antonio trying to get into the park.

Arenal – great! Stay at the Arenal Observatory Lodge where you can sit on your balcony at night and watch the fireworks show that’s the Arenal Volcano.

San Jose Hotel – we flew in on a red-eye from Los Angeles and we were cooked from traveling and evacuating our homes from the recent San Diego wildfires earlier that day. (Don’t try this – pack for your trip and at the same time pack and move your things out of the house in case it burns down while you’re gone.) I’m so glad that I’d planned for some post-travel decompression at a great hotel just outside of San Jose called the Hotel Finca Rosa Blanca. Check the Fodor’s guide for more info but it was worth every cent to kick back for a night instead of immediately leaping into the white knuckle, full-participation driving that’s ahead of you.

Costa Rica is beautiful and the wildlife was great. Going when we did and encountering what we went through however, I felt like I was in a surreal video game adventure that I might have just done in San Diego. My trip to CR might be compared to a dirty nasty triathlon that I could have done within 40 miles from my house: wait for El Nino rain storms to hit Southern California then cross the border into Tijuana at night and drive through the slums at high speed in a Korean mini SUV powered by a Vespa engine as raindrops the size of Thompson seedless grapes batter the windshield. Next, surf the estuary of the Tijuana river. Don’t forget your tetanus shot and Hepatitis vaccination and absolutely do not get any water in your mouth or in any open cuts. Then drive to the San Diego Zoo and see some monkeys and colorful birds. Be sure not to leave any valuables in the car.

Adios.

Well, that sounds really awful. Glad you made it home safely. I always try to discourage people from going in October; it's the rainiest time of year for a lot of CR. I asked one of our guides in the Osa about October, and he said, "Who in their right mind would go to CR in October?!" He said even he leaves in October because there's so much rain. I'm glad that at least Arenal was good for you. Seems like the police would try to crack down on the driving scams, especially since that affects tourism.

We went the first time in March, my daughter went the second time in Feb .. both times to surf camps in the Hermosa area (near Jaco) and frankly we had the time of our lives and not a drop of rain of course (dry season). Heading in Jan this time, ya to Hermosa, but first going to check out the south Nicoya Penisula at Mal Pais ... so looking forward to that. Sorry you had such a bad time ... I learned from you about rental cars and night driving ... which I was contemplating only because I am not sure I could make a flight out after landing in San Jose. The hotel in Mal Pais suggested sending a driver and think I will take her up on that.

Yes, I hear that my experience may have been unusual but I don't think I'd ever go there again with a girlfriend or kids...especially after the robbery/rape story from my sister-in-law. Maybe on a guys surf trip. Driving definitely isn't worth it.

Most of the information I was getting was that the rainy season ended around the 1st week in November and I could see that all the hotels went into high season rates during the 1st 2 weeks of Nov.

Have a fun, dry, and safe trip!

Hi surfersmom, we hired private drivers through our hotels and had good luck with that. Have a great trip.

I want to echo the basis of this post. We just got back from CR, had a great time, but would never drive there again. It did give us freedom, but it was shaky at best. Someone damaged a side panel on the car, Elegante Payless was cool and did not charge us for it. The roads were narrow as all get out, random potholes and bumps, poor signs...I think you are just better off using taxis and day drivers.

On the crime issue, my son is a student in Heredia and several of his mates have been held up, one girl sustained a minor stab wound when she tried to fight off a robber. I think the crime is increasing in the major population area of San Jose/Alajuela/Heredia. It is sad.

Wow. I'm seriously rethinking our plans to rent a car.

I agree that renting a car is not a good idea, at least from SJO.

When I rented a 4x4 SUV I got "complete coverage". Unfortunately I didn't read the small print, "complete coverage" doesn't include tires or radio antennas. The SUV I rented had two nearly worn tires (which is my fault admittedly for not noticing). I got a flat and had to pay $150 for a new tire. In my opinion, this was a scam so the company never has to buy tires for their fleet.

Crime is also very common away from SJO. I personally witnessed someone being robbed in Manuel Antonio. Last year there also was a gang rape at Manuel Antonio and the perpetrators were not prosecuted.

Good post, thank you. What are your thoughts on safety and driving around Nosara and Mal Pais, and in and out of Liberia. From everything I have read, a car is pretty much a necessity in those areas and not AS dangerous or sketchy as in some of the bigger areas like San Jose or Manuel Antonia. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Hello Mcwinery, That is so terrible about the near carjacking. I could feel the terror when reading your report. Thanks for very much for sharing that with us.
I must say I was a little concerned about this and then reading MRand possible near miss. And now your encounter and the other other you had about the 2 women that you told us about definitely makes me wonder.
We are to leave in a week and have a SUV rented for 11 days and think its too late to change plans now. Just contemplating what preventive measures that we can take to avoid this happening.
Thanks again for sharing your terrible ordeal with us.

crlover I would just go over what is very often repeated here at fodors and other places - namely don't leave stuff in your car, stay out of San Jose, if you do get a flat or something drive to you get to a safe place. Tens of thousands of people rent cars in CR every year, and while I feel bad for the OP, it's something that is rare so I wouldn't get too stressed about it. Enjoy your trip.

Hello Tully, thanks for the reassurance BUT(haha) it sounds as if that type of crime is on the increase as Shillmac decided to forgo going it alone. Also, I dont know if I could foregive myself if something like what happened to that woman happened to my wife.
I not saying we arent going but I do want to take ever precaution that i can.

I ve read most cautions that I can.
Dont drive at night. If you do drive at night, dont stop for the police. Dont leave any valuables in the car. Stay with your car if at all possible.
Any suggestions on renting a mid-size car vs. an SUV. I was debating on changing to a mid-size before this happened. We were going to go to Monteverde when I rented the SUV but arent going there now. Do I really need it now. We are going to Flamingo area, Arenal, Poas, Savergre, and flying to BdC) WE would save on gas and also thought if i had a trunk would at least keep the luggage out of sight when driving so not to be a dead giveaway that we are tourists. Any thoughts on that would be helpful.

Also, we have plans to be pickup by our hotel(Hotel Bonita) at the airport as we wont be arriving till 10 pm. Then dropped back off at the rental car(Thrifty) the next morning. My thought was to pay a little extra and have them wait and follow us to the hotel and then drive on our own.
Am I being pananoid or just trying to do all that possible to insure a safe trip.

Any other suggestions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Bill

Note: we leave for our trip this coming Wed.(Nov. 14 and depart Dec.1)

Makes me appreciate even more those nice drivers I paid and tipped. The road conditions alone were enough to make me not want to drive while were there but this- yikes!

I've been thinking about this post all day, and it's really starting to bother me.

Mcwinery, did you report this to NO ONE? Don't you think you should, that it should be documented in some way so that the authorities are at least aware of this very serious threat to their country's largest source of revenue? If tourism is threatened then I would think that would prompt some action.

I hope that you and the woman who was raped have documented these crimes. This isn't the kind of thing people should just "let go" and not be bothered with, it doesn't help anyone. I'm just amazed that it wasn't worth the time to report.

I don't know, maybe I'm alone in my thinking.

In Costa Rica they won't prosecute if you don't remain in the country to testify. This is one reason why crimes against tourists are common.

Thank you for posting such important information. Most people only write trip reports when they have completely wonderful vacations. I think lessons learned from less than ideal experiences are really helpful. I was considering Manuel Antonio for a future trip -- but now am reconsidering. Thanks for your input.

crlover, we all know this stuff can happen. It's been going on for awhile. Yes, I decided to NOT rent and drive myself around alone (used to do it all the time), but wouldn't hesitate when with my husband to rent and go wherever. My daughter and I drove all over San Jose on a Sunday afternoon a few months ago. The next day we drove up to Colbert's Restaurant near La Paz for a nice dinner. We never gave it a thought.

Reading the report does give me pause, but I'm not going to TOTALLY change everything I do.

We try very hard not to look too touristy. Driving around with a surfboard is pretty obvious. I'm not criticizing, just saying that, of course, that attracts attention. So does flashy jewelry (or any jewelry at all).

Although I know it doesn't make much difference, but Costa Ricans are troubled by these issues as well--most of them believe the perps are out-of-country folk who are living in CR illegally.

It is a dilemma that, if it grows worse, we will all have to think about more carefully. But I hate to see everyone getting all paranoid about their vacations and reconsidering all of their plans. There is an occasional story, and mcwinery's is very unpleasant. Generally, as Tully stated, thousands get along just fine--on a daily basis.

Tully and Shillmac .. it seems that you 2 are the ones that know the Mal Pais area well, so a few questions.
To begin, I agree that it is best the hotel send a driver and have had 1 offer from Mal Pais Surf Camp for $135 to pick me up in San Jose (and my 22 yr old daughter). We will head to Hermosa (near Jaco) later where she will stay with a surf camp when I head home. We want to see all the beaches in Mal Pais and she will surf and we will eat out and take pics.
1/ Stay at Mal Pais Surf Camp or Tropico Latino?
2/ Any good spot to rent a board for less than the $20 we were quoted?
3/ Do you recommend getting a car once in Mal Pais to tour around or just cab it?
4/ Good spots to eat or see?

Oh dear, not me surfersmom, haven't been there! Sorry - though I am very strongly considering hitting Mal Pais in May. I've found this site helpful in getting my bearings: http://www.nicoyapeninsula.com/malpais/ Tropico Latino gets uneven reviews, shillmac can tell you more as she's been there.

And shillmac, I agree. While I see being aware as a good thing, it's a bummer that people are reconsidering - thousands rent without incident but this creates such a stir. I hope those reconsidering see MRand's sensible post.

surfersmom: In 6/06 we stayed at the Tropico Latino & they arranged transportation for us through Montezuma Expeditions. We were unable to take the shuttle transfer from SJO because it departs at 9am & we arrived later than that. They charged us $55 per person. For our return we were able to take the shuttle at 8:15am &
arrived back at the airport at 2:30 for $35pp. The van had racks on top for luggage & my husband's surfboard traveled as well. We were very happy with their services. We also rented a car for a few days in Mal Pais from Budget. We had fun shopping & eating in Montezuma & also hiked through the Cabo Blanco Park. We had terrific meals at Luz De Vida Resort (next to Tropico Latino)& also at Brisas Del Mar. Hope this helps.