Costa Rica Roadtrip - Part 2
The picture is taken at Catarata Uvita
What I Did and You Should(n't) on a 2-Week Self-Driving Trip through Costa Rica
September 2024
Me, my husband and my two best friends!
This is all the places we went to on our roadtrip:
Disclamer
For information about our flights, transportation, visa requirements, general costs, vegetarian food options and our general impressions of Costa Rica, check out my blog post: "Costa Rica Roadtrip - Part 1"
Just so you know - Most links you'll find here are actually just Google Maps locations to help you get around, or direct links to places we stayed on Airbnb. These aren't affiliate links - they're simply there to make your trip planning easier! I occasionally use affiliate links from sites like GetYourGuide and Amazon throughout this blog. These are all services and products I genuinely use and love. If you book or buy through these specific links, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. If you're planning to book with GetYourGuide or shop on Amazon anyway, using my links would help support this blog at no extra cost to you. Thank you!
Route Overview
Please follow this link to see the actual route: Costa Rica Roadtrip - Route (sorry, cannot afford iframes…)
Day 1, 2 and 3 - San José (A)
Recovery Time
Travel time: ca. 30 minutes from airport
Jet-lagged and exhausted in a new country? I've been there (like multiple times...). As someone who travels with depression, migraines, and a body that loves to remind me it needs extra care, I've learned that rushing straight into new adventures isn't always the best move (basically never...). Those first few days in a new place are crucial - your body and mind need time to adjust to everything: the time zone that's throwing off your sleep, the unfamiliar humidity making your hair go crazy, and even the new noises and new smells of the busy street just hit different than at home.
So that's what I do (or attempt to do at least): Build in buffer days. Whether at the start of your trip or scattered throughout, having unplanned days gives you the freedom to listen to what your body needs. Maybe that's sleeping until noon, maybe it's a slow walk to find the perfect local coffee spot, or maybe it's just sitting on your balcony watching the world go by. There's no wrong way to spend them. So we decided to only go for dinner on our first night in Costa Rica and ended up at the Costa Rica Beer Factory near the hotel. The food didn’t quite hit the mark for me -- so no need to check that place out. Okay wait, let's say for me it was far too fancy. I had a so called "zucchini-lasagna", which was basically rolled up zucchini in a tomato sauce - so I guess not a lasagne?!...It was really expensive for what it was as well. But maybe I just don’t enjoy healthy food but you would hahah, so follow the link if you're still interested.
View from our balcony of the AirBnB 👓
A City to See Once and Move On
San José serves primarily as Costa Rica's gateway city, housing the country's main international airport. While the capital offers a handful of attractions - including local markets with rather authentic souvenirs, a few museums (which we did not go into), and small statue-adorned gardens - it doesn't warrant an extended stay. On day 2, we went into the city and did a self-guided walking tour following the suggestions of the app "GPSmyCity" which I newly discovered (will test it more in the future to give a more detailed feedback on it). The food scene and market culture provide a pleasant introduction to Costa Rican life, but a single day is more than enough to experience the city's "highlights". Just use it as a brief stopover before venturing out to Costa Rica's more compelling destinations. If you are still interested though haha: The market from the picture further down is called Mercado Borbón. And a good market to have traditional (vegetarian) food in and go souvenir shopping at the same time is San José Central Market.
Accommodation
I wanna share where we stayed but in this case I do NOT recommend this place:
Airbnb: 26th floor cozy apartment near a gastronomic area (Prize: 191 euros for 4 people)
Airbnbs are private homes that their owners rent out while they are out of town for whatever reason haha (if that works exactly like the principle promises is not going to be part of this discussion). Normally, the ratings in the app or website are quite accurate. My husband and I always read through some of the top (and often through the worst) rated comments to see what other people liked and disliked, which is why landing in this questionable Airbnb caught us completely off guard. The kitchen chairs were not just broken but downright dangerous, while the TV and coffee machine were both out of commission. To top it off, the bed wasn't even properly assembled for sleeping - a pretty essential feature for, you know, a place to stay (even though some might disagree with me and would rather have a functioning coffee machine and enjoy a cuppa on the floor). Basic items listed in the property description, such as a toaster and shampoo, were missing. The noise from the nearby train line was unbearable—trains blaring their horns at 150 decibels (wasn’t measured, so could have been even worse haha) every half-hour, starting at 5 a.m. After digging deeper, we discovered these issues had been flagged in reviews months before our stay (which we completely missed during booking... oops!). The fact that nothing had been fixed in all that time made it clear: this host had no intention of addressing these problems. Making matters worse, the host ignored all our messages during our stay, leaving us no choice but to contact Airbnb directly. While they did offer a partial refund, they apparently took zero action against the host - so as you can tell by clicking on the link, the property is still up for grabs on their platform! When I recently checked back out of curiosity (you know cause I am writing a blog about it - you should check that out haha), I discovered that things had actually gotten even worse. A recent guest reported having no water or internet during their stay because the owner hadn't paid the bills. Never had such an experience before.
The fruit and vegetable markets are impressive to walk through and it's the perfect opportunity to buy some snacks to try. We bought some "Mamón Chino" which is basically a hairy-looking lychee. They sell it literally everywhere, so you cannot miss it.
Day 3 and 4 - Tortuguero (B)
Nesting sea turtles
Travel time: ca. 3 hours
Our next, or I guess first real, destination was Tortuguero, a narrow strip of land on the Caribbean coast that's accessible only by boat. This remote location was our only stop on the Caribbean side given the time a year we travelled and therefore the risk of "hurricane-weather". While Tortuguero does draw its fair share of visitors (despite its very small size), you still feel completely surrounded by untouched nature.
The way to our room in the hotel 🛌
The boat transportation was arranged by our hotel, and as far as I know, all the boats depart from the same random location in the middle of nowhere.
Getting to Tortuguero was definitely part of the adventure - the boat transfer cost 56 euros for four people, plus a 9 euro parking fee for your car which we paid at the dock at the time of our arrival (no reservation needed). The journey typically takes 1.5 to 2 hours (unless you're like us and get stuck, requiring a rescue from another boat!). The boat ride doubled as a wildlife tour through the area's waterways, where we spotted crocodiles, various lizards, birds, and other fascinating creatures. Even without the turtle nesting experience, which I'll tell you about later, promise, the journey through Tortuguero's canals is absolutely worth it for the natural scenery and peaceful atmosphere. This means you can actually skip booking a separate boat tour in Costa Rica since the transfer to this unique half-island essentially provides one.
Two return times to chose to get back by boat. Keep that rather weird ticket save in your gallery 🚤
After this rather long-ish boat tour we enjoyed dinner with a view of the surrounding nature at the restaurant El Patio, one of many restaurants at the seafront, all in walking distance - no matter which place you are staying at. The menu offered a great selection of both meat and vegetarian options, AND very good smoothies!
Turtles tour
One of the most special experiences on this trip (and I would say probably in my whole life) was witnessing sea turtles as they came ashore to lay their eggs along the beach that night in September in this particular narrow strip of land I was standing on. I was hoping badly to witness this incredible natural phenomenon even though we only stayed one night - so we had only one chance to see them. And there is absolutely no guarantee you will. BUT WE DID (which I kinda spoiled in the first sentence anyways)!!!!! We booked our tour through GetYourGuide, which cost €25 per person. This did not include the beach park fee at night, which was an additional 6 euros and needed to be paid in person before 4 PM on the day of the tour. Luckily, we arrived with the boat just before the cutoff time, as no one had actually mentioned this to us previously. ATTENTION this is not the same fee as for the Tortugero Nationalpark entry.
The turtle tour itself was an amazing experience. We were able to get very close to the animals, watched them lay eggs and vanish back into the ocean. The most special part for me was seeing this very slow, seemingly unable to crawl, turtle making its way over a rather big old tree trunk. I have no idea how it managed to get over there, but I'll never forget the squeaking sound it made as it happened. The guides made sure we did not disturb the turtles, which is also why I couldn't take any pictures to share with you (only red light can be used near them). However, the guide told us that in the weeks before our visit, there had been over a hundred people every single day to watch the turtles. Even though all individual tours have their own private segments of the beach, and there are two different starting times for the groups, it sounded to me as it's too many people to sustain the animal welfare and their surrounding nature. As we visited towards the end of September, we were going during the shoulder season at the end of the egg-laying period and participated in a rather small group. So while it was an unforgettable experience, I'm not entirely certain about the long-term sustainability of this activity, at least during the peak season.
We tried spotting animals ourselves but we definitely needed help haha 🔦
Accommodation
Booking.com: Hotel Tortuguero Beachfront (Prize: 226 euros for 4 people)
A very basic, very small but affordable option, central, offering breakfast, a pool, and beach access. Air Conditioning. Internet works in the rooms itself.
I do not have a picture of the turtles but of some other weird creatures on the beach trying to crack a coconut 🌴🥥
Day 4 and 7 - La Fortuna (C)
Hot springs, toucans and a rafting accident
Travel time: ca. 3:30h
OMG - we woke up and besides many animals, we spotted toucans and hummingbirds right outside our window! While having our morning coffee (or in my case, water), we watched the clouds move in front of the volcano, trying to spot as many creatures as possible. We even encountered our first and only snake, right over the breakfast buffet, as well as some fighting iguanas vying for the best sunbathing spot.
Coffee from our bedroom ☕️🦜🌋
Recommended Activities in La Fortuna:
We did a beginner rafting tour, since our friends had never tried it before, but due to the recent rather heavy rains, it was more of an intermediate course. It ended up being the perfect activity for the four of us. And puuuuhhh, we crashed hard (of course right at the beginning so I was scared for the remaining time haha). The photographer somehow managed to be right there to capture the glorious moment when more than half of us, including the tour guide, elegantly tumbled out of the raft and into the strong rapids. I felt (and probably looked) like a beached whale that needed to be lifted back into the boat, having swallowed plenty of water on the way. We all took some bruises, but thankfully nothing too serious.
The rafting activity booked on getyourguide was relatively expensive at 61 euros per person (and that was the absolute cheapest option we could find anywhere online). I've done it before in New Zealand and Bali, and they were significantly cheaper. However, the activity included a stop with very, very good fresh fruits, a good lunch with drinks and we luckily even spotted some animals such as monkeys and a sloth during the tour (even in the rainy conditions!!).
We opted not to go to the spas in La Fortuna, as they were quite expensive and in our opinion only made sense if you wanted to spend a whole day there. Luckily, our hotel had its own thermal pool, which we made good use of on the very rainy days.
I am not going to list every single National Park there is in Costa Rica, so that you won't get bored. But, in La Fortuna we went to the government-owned "Arenal Volcano National Park" which was only 15 euros per person. It was nice but not like crazy special. I do still think it would have been cool to do one of the famous hanging bridge parks such as "Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park" which we did not as I lost the democracy vote in the group (it would have been far more expensive). But all of the parks seem to be very similar, so you can go for either - or don't at all if you have been to 12 other ones in the country already.
A good stop for food between the "Arenal Volcano National Park" and our accommodation was this little restaurant on the street called Soda La Palma. I asked them to make me some vegetarian quesadillas and my friend had a very good looking casado. Since we didn’t have a kitchen in the hotel, we ended up eating out quite often, bummer, haha. The restaurants weren’t anything special, but there was really nothing to complain about either. All were priced similarly, typical for Costa Rica—though a bit expensive for my preference when traveling. These are the places we went to:
Indian takeaway: India Curry House
Italian one: Anch'io
Italian two: Italianissimo La Fortuna
Beers and brownies: Micro Brew (same building as Lava Lounge)
Beers and board games: La Fortuna Pub
Accommodation:
Booking.com: Miradas Arenal Hotel & Hotsprings (Prize: 474 euros for 4 people)
The Bungalows we stayed in were spacious, featuring large window fronts with views of the volcano, perfect for birdwatching right from the bed (or our own terrace). It included a coffee machine and a fridge. The bathroom was nice, and the property offered convenient parking spaces as well as air conditioning. Breakfast was good, and there’s a pool along with a hot spring to enjoy. The location was ideal—slightly out of town but close enough for easy access. There were a few odd house rules, like the requirement to bring your towels to reception before checking out, but overall, it was a pleasant place to stay in a beautiful setting. Internet worked.
Day 7 and 8 - Monteverde (D)
Cloud Forest
Travel time: ca. 3 hours
To be fair, we really only spent time relaxing at the lovely Airbnb we had booked. It had a hot tub with a view over the cloudy mountains, with a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean in the background. The guys cooked a lovely dinner in the well-equipped kitchen while I made some refreshing lemonade using lemons and limes we picked right from the garden. It was the perfect opportunity to simply enjoy being in the middle of nowhere, away from it all. The misty, cloud-covered mountains created such a serene, peaceful atmosphere. I could have spent hours just sitting in the hot tub, taking it all in. While we could have explored more of the local parks and trails, I'm glad we prioritised this relaxing downtime, especially because we drove quite a bit that day and were going to do the same again the following day.
Also, keep your eyes open whenever you're out an about - who knows what you can spot?
Freshly harvested from the garden - this is why I love AirBnBs 🍋
On the way there, we grabbed some food and drinks here: Monteverde Brewing Company.
Accommodation:
Airbnb: Flower’s Paradise in the heart of the CloudForest (Prize: 390 euros for 4 people)
This appartement is located just beyond town limits (but of course up a steep, muddy hill) and comes with a view-facing hot tub and a lovely garden full of fruit trees. Inside there a two separate, very spacious bedrooms, well-appointed bathrooms (the main includes ceiling to floor windows onto the terrace - so you cannot be shy), and a fully-equipped kitchen that made cooking that evening very enjoyable. While air conditioning worked well, we experienced unexpected indoor condensation from the humidity – so it literally rained inside our room (#indoorrainshower).....unfortunately my suitcase was somehow right underneath and everything got soaking wet. Glad they had a (washer and) dryer!!!! The property connects to the hosts' residence, so they greeted us personally on our arrival. Parking spaces available.
Day 8 and 10 - Jacó (E)
Just skip this place
Travel time: ca. 2:45h
Honestly, this was my least favourite place on the entire trip. It's a very small and not particularly pretty town, where there is basically nothing to do. Yes, the beach is nice, but it's not significantly different from other beaches we've seen. I would not recommend staying here, especially not for two days like we did. There's just not enough to justify spending that much time in this forgettable little town.
Recommended Activities:
So, we did think (PLEASE, I do this grammar mistake so many times, I guess it's easier than thinking of the past tense of the verb, so my brain is like naaaah, lets put "did" there so less brainpower needed.....but please let me know if you spot it anywhere in the comments!! #Englishteacherfail).....So we thought about doing some activities here, and my best friend really wanted to go horseback riding on the beach. But we've seen so many unhealthy, mistreated horses at other places and it felt rather difficult to find a reputable provider online, so we were close to just skipping it altogether. Luckily, we found a provider that had good reviews of multiple other tourists and the photos of the horses showed them in good condition. When we arrived at the meeting point, the horses were roaming freely, looked well-fed (and I guess were eating the grass at that right moment), and not scared of their guides. So we decided to actually ride on them and it was another very incredible experience. We were able to just ride along the beach by ourselves next to one horse-guide on his own horse, which was nice, even though he didn't communicate with us at all, like not a single word, which was a bit strange. But we still somehow let him know we wanted to ride a bit faster and made use of our horsepower. It was like in the movies....besides the fact that it was pissing it down with rain....again.....The riding experience booked on tripadvisor cost us 65 euros per person. But PLEASE, if you decide to go horseback riding, make sure to carefully check the stable and horses first. Look for horses that are well-fed, not showing any signs of injury or neglect, and are generally comfortable and unafraid. Avoid any places where the horses seem thin, have open wounds, or exhibit other indicators of poor treatment. And yes we saw all of that on our trip, and yes there were tourists riding on them.
Unfortunately, we didn’t find (see brain, here it's fine to use "did") any good vegetarian food on the first day (we were very hungry and impatient - maybe that was why), so we ended up at Pizza Hut—not a great recommendation. But on day 2 we went to the: REJN Asian Fusión Restaurant. As before, the food was good, the prices were too high, and while it wasn’t anything special, there was nothing to complain about either.
However, there’s a little brewery in town if you’re interested in tasting beer: EREMITA TAP ROOM JACÓ.
Accommodation:
Airbnb: Total Lux Super Close to Beach, Bedroom/loft11 (Prize: 263 euros for 4 people)
This place is best suited for families with kids or a single couple, as it only has one proper bedroom. The other bed is located on a "mezzanine" (as far as I can tell from my google search) above the kitchen without a door, which isn’t ideal for privacy, light- or/and noise-isolation. The bathroom was a letdown, with a shower that alternated between freezing cold and scalding hot, and a door that only closed with a forceful push—something you wouldn’t want to do at night, especially for the people (as in me) sleeping on this non-noise-isolated mezzanine. The kitchen was okay, and the property had a shared common area with a pool and air conditioning. Parking was available, internet worked. It’s nothing exceptional but manageable for a short two-night stay. And I kinda liked the mezzanine, I was like a little kid watching people from up there haha.
Sorry if you hate feet….
Day 10 and 12 - Uvita (F)
Manuel Antonio National Park and Whale Watching
Travel time: ca. 2h
On the way to Uvita, I would definitely recommend stopping at the Manuel Antonio National Park. I'd say it was my favourite of all the parks we visited. While it's a bit more developed with actual walking paths, you still get to see free-roaming animals like monkeys, crabs, and lizards (though we couldn't spot any sloths). The natural scenery is absolutely stunning, and you can even go swimming at the gorgeous beaches within the park. We arrived a bit too late, so we only had about 3 hours until closing, which was just enough time to comfortably walk around the area once. If you can, I'd recommend coming in the morning to have more time to explore. Just be sure to book your tickets online ahead of time, as they don't sell them at the entrance (we got in for free because the website was down, but we were persistent about going in, soooo). There's a cafe inside where you can get snacks, as you're not allowed to bring any food or plastic items into the park (they do have lockers you can use for a small fee by the entrance).
Definitely check out some of the natural water falls that you can swim in on the way as well! The picture is taken at Catarata Uvita.
Another experience that has to go in my top 10 highlights of the trip is the whale watching excursion which you can book one on getyourguide (our friend knew someone to book it with directly, but getyourguide is always my go to option). We timed it perfectly to catch a mother whale and her baby. Unfortunately, it wasn't the Instagram-worthy spectacle of whales breaching the water or coming right up to the boat for a one-on-one session. But it was still incredibly special to see the sheer size of these magnificent creatures and hear the "psch" sound of them blowing water out. For me, this was a particularly meaningful experience, as I've tried multiple times before to see whales in different countries around the world, only to be thwarted by bad weather or lack of sightings. We also got to see some dolphins, which was an added bonus. The tour departs from the little national park Marino Ballena National Park that leads to the sand bank that looks like a whale's tail from above - it's a beautiful beach to check out as well.
And when you're done, be sure to stop by the Whale Tail Brewery for some craft beers and karaoke nights!
Food-wise, Uvita has a vegetarian Five Guys imitation, which was quite nice: Five Maes. We also went to two little cafes/restaurants for some snacks (though you can have full meals there), by the beach at relatively okay prices: Que Tuanis Café and the other one was near our accommodation: Sibu Restaurant & Coffee Store. Our friend also recommended this place: Marino Ballena Club, as they apparently have the best smoothies in town. It also has multiple little food stands next to it.
Accommodation:
Airbnb: White House - Rainforest Paradise - Uvita (Prize: 346 euros for 4 people)
This is a slightly pricier option but well worth it, offering three bedrooms and two bathrooms, including a private one for the master bedroom. The house is spacious and airy, with large glass walls looking out onto the pool area. It has everything you need for a comfortable stay—air conditioning, a pool, a barbecue, and a well-equipped kitchen. The gated parking adds convenience, and the hosts are lovely. Location and internet were both good, and there’s a washer and dryer available. I’d absolutely recommend this place and would have loved to stay even longer.
Day 12 and 14 - Canaza (G) and Drake Bay (H)
Not necessary to go that far south along the coast
Travel time: 2:45h
Canaza and Drake Bay were definitely nice - hidden away, Macaws flying on top of you, empty beaches, though not the easiest places to get to and perhaps not worth the long journey down the coast if you have limited amount of time. There weren’t many restaurants and only some of those were open in Canaza, but we ended up at an Italian place, and it turned out to be a good choice, even though not very close to our accommodation: Pizza Mail.it. It weirdly had photos from Paris on the walls?! In Drake Bay we decided to have food here: La Choza. Also not many options but that looked the nicest.
As you can tell, the descriptions and stories get shorter, meaning there were definitely better places before on our trip.
On another note - it's not possible to just casually cross the border into Panama, which we had considered. In short, due to drug trafficking and other illegal activities, it's not permitted to go for the day. You also need to check with your rental car company if you're even insured to do so.
Accommodation:
Airbnb: Ocean view cabin near Corcovado (Prize: 167 euros for 4 people)
Our "jungle retreat" was properly rustic – none of your usual holiday comforts here. Mozzies and various creepy-crawlies make themselves rather at home, so pack serious repellent. The open-plan layout means zero doors between bedrooms and to the loo (there was a curtain at least for this "room"), which takes some getting used to. While they bang on about ocean views and beach access, best manage those expectations. We kipped under mosquito nets with just basic kitchen bits, and food scraps needed swift removal to dodge unwanted wildlife visits. The dodgy WiFi kept us properly off-grid, though there's decent parking. Despite these quirks, the wild location delivered something rather special – if you fancy proper jungle living rather than fighting it.
Day 14 and 15 - Pueblo Nuevo (I) and back to the airport (J)
Stop at the Cave on the Way Back
Travel time: ca. 4h
Travel time to airport from here: ca. 2h
In an effort to not drive for too long each day, especially considering my exhaustion levels, we found a lovely Airbnb perfectly situated between Drake Bay and San José. It was a bit more expensive, but a wonderful goodbye treat before heading home (or I guess onwards to Guatemala for the two of us). We did not leave the airbnb so I cannot advise on anything to do or see in the area haha. It was right next to a river (yes, you had to cross it and no, I don't mean via a bridge). It featured a small whirlpool, although it took hours to heat up. The kitchen was well-equipped as was the whole facility, and the theme was fun and unique, adding to the overall charm of the stay. We had a late-night private karaoke session, did some laundry, and walked around the house multiple times. It would probably be even better in the summer with an outdoor barbecue. The house was fun. Absolutely check it out!
Accommodation:
Airbnb: Epic 8th wonder of the world! Riverfront & Jacuzzi (Prize: 310 euros for 4 people)
I will quote Sams review here haha (work smarter, not harder): "The location is stunning and have never stayed anywhere quite like it! Unfortunately the mammoth outside is now missing as per the pictures, not sure where it went! Other than that an incredible place with great amenities!".
Living in a cave 🛖🐯
Replacement Recommodations
My sister (who went to Costa Rica a year before us) recommended going to one of the volcanoes such as the Irazu. So this could be a good option instead of Jacó or Drake Bay .
If visiting during the right time of year, you can also explore more on the Atlantic side of the country, such as going to Limón. We were there during hurricane season, so it was too much of a risk for us.
If you made it this far - WOW - thank you! That makes me very proud! 💕
I am not crying - you are crying 😭