Robin

My concerns about Costa Rica are not where to stay and what to do, but dumb things like are shorts on women as acceptable as in USA? Is American currency acceptable everywhere? Is it better to rent a vehicle or should we hire guides/drivers? Thanks for your help.

Rico

Those are not dumb questions at all. It shows that you have some concern for local customs. I wish other tourists would consider these things. Shorts are acceptable attire in beach areas but not everywhere. I can't remeber your other questions. This forum doesn't allow one to see the question that they are answering without going back and forth.

JoAnn

There are no stupid questions--only stupid answers! <BR>Having been to Costa Rica 3 times, I suggest no shorts in towns. Everywhere we went the women wore mostly skirts, some slacks. In tourist areas-on the Pacific beaches, or in the confines of the hotel grounds, shorts were worn. US dollars are accepted in the large cities, but we changed ours to the Colones. Kept a bunch of singles US D for tips, which were really appreciated. We rented a car for a week, driving from San Jose to Monteverde, then to Quepos & back to San Jose. Roads started out good, but got worse the further away from town and the further away from the Pan Am Hwy. Took a bus last year from SJ to Samara-and hit some horrendous roads. Lots of people do rent cars-definately get a 4x4 if you do rent one-and watch the other drivers. Yellow lines mean nothing, roads aren't straight, but hilly and curves and road signs are almost non existant! The tours available are very well planned and are not too expensive. Next time we go we plan on making SJ our home base and then going on 2 & 3 day tours to the various parts of the country. Costa Rica is wonderful, their people so kind and gentle and polite and helpful. We love it down there and wish we could go more often. Get Fodor's book on Costa Rica, go to the library and get a video or two on it to see what you don't want to miss. The other response by Rico is correct-we should make ourselves aware of the customs of other countries, and not be the Ugly American. Have fun.

Lisa

Its good to know that someone really respects cultural differences when travelling. (already said, I know, but worth repeating!) I went to Costa Rica last year AND I was a woman travelling alone. Flip through some guidebooks and you'll see its basically throughout the same in Central America--shorts are fine in touristy areas, but elsewhere pants or skirts are acceptable. The best advice is to observe what the locals are doing--and do that! <BR> <BR>If you have a friend with you--rent a car! You can cover alot more ground at your own time. Just make sure you can put a $1000 hold on your credit card (a small detail that hindered my renting of a vehicle) If you are staying in San Jose, your hotel can hook you up with tours--I went on a few nice ones <BR> <BR>Enjoy!

Nelson Lopez Elizondo

Dear friend, I'am a Costa Rican and I can tell you that our women dressing codes are not much different from the USA. Most of Women or Men dress shorts especially in hot towns. <BR> <BR>About renting a car, I can guaranty you it would be a great experience, but like any foreigner driven in the country it would be a hard one if you do not handle a little bit the language, and have a lot of patiatience with bad roads and crazy drivers blowing you the horn every time you drive slow. Also you have to be carefull with rent car and the insuranse deductible, because sometime hit appear in the car and they would like to charge you. I will suggest if you rent a car take a 4x4, also I will recomend you a company name Elegante Rent Car. <BR> <BR>About tour+guides, I'm one of them and I can tell you that we are very nice people, and really can show you a lot about our country. We usually offer our services with the ground transportation included, and we have many good references that you can check on. if your are interested in this please contact me at phone+ fax 506-2401187 or to our email address. <BR> <BR>