Transportation in Costa Rica
 

My boyfriend and I are traveling to Costa Rica in April for 8 days visiting Puerto Viejo, Manuel Antonio, and Monteverde. Should I prebook all of my transportation. Some say this is unnecessary and transportation will be easy to find and more reasonable if we just get it when we arrive. I don't like the idea of not having something planned but if it's not necessary I won't book ahead of time.

If you want a private driver I would definitely book ahead. We were very happy we left the driving to someone else so we could sit back and relax and not worry about watching the road. We used Wilson Rojas and highly recomment him. He also serves as a tour guide and will stop for meals, etc. if you want him to. We used him between SJO and Monteverde and again from Arenal back to Santa Ana. Search for private drivers on here and you will see recommendations for him as well as others.

We always book our drivers through our hotels when we reserve them. I wouldn't be comfortable just leaving it unplanned.

Have done it a bunch of ways depends on how adventurous
you are and budget. Personally perfer car rental from $200/wk
all in servicecarrental.com or mapache.com for economy freedom flexibility. Well reviewd reputable drivers oddyseytourscr.com Al/Diego good if budget is good. Book shuttles direct with reputable folks interbusonline.com graylinecostarica.com your
top 2.

Per thread below beware fake web site scams trolls on the boards some posing as helpful "experts" when in fact they are agents/drivers with commercial for profit motives. CC Paypal
only for me.

Cheapest thebusschedule.com hop on cheap ok not great if budget small theft risk put nothing in the overheads and get trip cover always wise.

Happy Planning!

The places mentioned are on the tourist map so finding a transport will not be a problem. However the prices will be the same as if booked ahead.

Two thoughts......first, when in April? If around Easter, you may run into problems with shared shuttles being booked up.

Second, how exactly are you planning to get between areas? Private driver, shuttle, bus? Just because, with only 8 days (and presumably 2 of those nights will have to be overnights in San Jose) that leaves you only 2 nights per location, and the times driving between them can be significant. For instance, from PV to Monteverde, you're looking at 8-9 hours. So that's almost a full day of travel right there. Plus if using a shuttle, it'd more time, as you'd have to go by when their shuttles leave.

I'd look into travel times and shuttle times a little closer and make sure you're not spending a good portion of your trip in tansfer, whether pre-arranged or not.

I'm also a fan of Wilson. He also offers advice on guides, excursions, hotels and restaurants, and from our experience, was spot on. His email is [email protected]

I would definitely plan a driver ahead of time.. you could easily get a private van/driver or you could book a shared van, around $45 a person depending on where it's taking you. Interbus and Grayline are both great options