Rental car vs. Interbus
 

My husband and I will be visiting CR in March for 11 days. Our itinerary will be San Jose, Arenal, Manuel Antonio, and San Jose.

We had originally planned to rent an SUV but are now considering Interbus. Is this a safe and reliable organization to travel with? How far in advance should we schedule our reservations for Interbus. What are your experiences with rental car vs. Interbus?

Thank you in advance!

I was happy with my experiences with Interbus. The drivers were good. One driver waited an hour for us because the desk clerk gave us the wrong departure time. Another went out of our way to drive us to our B&B despite the formal drop off being several blocks away.

I was also happy with not having to worry about directions, theft from the vehicle during bathroom breaks.

We booked several weeks ahead through their internet site for one trip, the others several days ahead through hotel staff.

Unless you are the most panicked driver in the world, I would go with the freedom of your own SUV. We drove from San Jose to Arenal, Arenal to Manuel Antonio, and MA to San Jose.

We found it enjoyable to stop when and where we wanted.

The rental company we used was Tricolor. It is commented in many posts and receives good reviews. The SUVs were very clean.

Go for it!

Also, Skytek ziplines are a must.

Hey queue,

We're planning the same roadtrip from San Jose to Arenal to MA and back to San Jose. How are the roads? Are they paved or dirt? How long did it take you to travel from/to each destination? Anyone else have any insight on these roads/travel conditions?
Thanks!!!

It really depends on whether you want flexibility with a car or less stress with Interbus.

Costa Rica has the worst roads in all of Central America. Having said that, I loved having a rental car on my last trip there because of the flexibility. Do be careful of the most recent scam in which your tires are slashed and a local comes to "help" you change the tire. While you're not looking, someone else comes and steals your bags. We just checked the tires before we got into the car each time and never had a problem.

I've also taken Interbus and it is quite reliable. Unless you're there during peak season, there's no need to book too far in advance (a couple of days will do).

The roads are not nearly as bad (generally speaking) as you may think. Most are quite good. A few are terrible. The route you are taking has very decent roads. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised! :)

I ordinarily like having the freedom of my own wheels, but decided to use Interbus during our trip last August. The drivers were punctual, courteous, helpful, and very safe. One major advantage of hiring Interbus or a driver is their familiarity with the roads. On our way back to San Jose from the Papagayo Gulf, traffic came to a standstill at one point. The driver turned around and took another route and got us to San Jose not too far beyond our scheduled arrival time. No way I would have figured that one out! I made all the arrangements through their website, interbusonline.com.

Thank you all for your input! This is such a great site for gathering knowledge. This will be our first trip to Central America, so we've decided to go with Interbus.

We're not too panicky as drivers, but we work hard all year so that we may thoroughly enjoy our vacations. It seems that with renting a car, there are some small risks and small stressors that we would rather not think about during this trip! Perhaps we'll be more adventurous on subsequent trips to CR!

Consider using a driver. We did San Jose, Arenal, MA, and back to San Jose and used Oscar Mora(well known) and it was so much easier. He took us everywhere, no u-turns, never lost, wonderful van and just generally took care of us. Made our trip very easy. He was all ours and we loved him!

We recently returned from a wonderful trip to Costa Rica. Our itinerary was similar to yours - San Jose, Arenal, Monte Verde, Manuel Antonio and San Jose. It was made all the more enjoyable by the fact that we hired a driver. Oscar Mora, well known and highly recommended, was at our disposal day and night. He was always pleasant and willing to stop anytime, anywhere, a knowledgeable guide, and a good driver. We all agreed that knowing Oscar was one of the high points of the trip.

Where do you get information on private drivers such as Oscar Mora and their rates?