A few friends and I are going to CR in March and plan on renting a car. I've seen a lot on these threads about avoiding driving at night.
We are planning on going to: Poas Volcano Lodge (1 night), Arenal Volcano (2-3 nights) and Monteverde (2-3 nights) then back to SJO. I'd like to plan an activity in the morning/early afternoon and leave to move on to the next place after it, but since the drives will be 3-4 hours, I was wondering if it will be safe to be driving in the late afternoons and arriving in the evenings 6-8pm.


Also, is it crazy to drive from Monteverde to SJO the same day as we are flying out? I'm trying to maximize the time we have, and our flight doesn't leave until 3pm.

Thanks in advance!!

I don't drive in rural areas of Costa Rica at night. Too many hazards: pedestrians, animals, fog, potholes, unsafe drivers and, yes, the occasional risk of robbery. It's one thing to be up in Arenal and driving the few miles to Tabacon in the evening. That drive isn't so remote, but to have an hour or two after dark before you reach your destination for the night seems risky to me when you don't know the roads. I do know the roads, and still don't want to attempt it. The sun sets around 5:30 year round. I always plan to be at my destination by then.

Officially you need to check in at the airport three hours before your flight departs. You may or may not need all that time. Probably not, but I've had the whole airport tax/check-in/security process take over two hours. You'll also need to allow time to return your rental car.

I certainly wouldn't drive at night either. When we drove from Arenal to Monteverde and back to San Jose, there were parts of some bridges that had washed/eroded away. It was safe enough to drive on them, but at night, you would stand a good chance of having a tire slip off the edge. Do your driving when it's light out.

I have driven a lot in Costa Rica at night, and though I don't recommend it, if you are going in the dry season and are careful it's not so bad. Make sure you have a good vehicle, good tires, and the emergency number of the car rental agency.

You could probably drive a few miles to dinner and back after dark, but that's about it and that would only be if you know exactly where you are going.

If you are flying out of SJO at 3, you'll want to be at the airport completely ready to take off by 12:30 ish. You can drive to SJO the day you leave, just make sure you allow plenty of extra travel time and know specifically how the rental car return is to be handled. We've found that confirming our flight on-line the day before helps to streamline the process at the airport, but you still have to allow plenty of time in case there are long lines.