Renting a car in Costa Rica wasn’t originally part of my plan. I was going to fly in, and then take buses and other forms of local transportation around the country. Then, as I began to plot out a rough route around the country, a bus made less and less sense, the more rigid said route became.
Do I prefer taking a bus, or even better, a train? Yes, absolutely. But sometimes, you just bite off a bit more than a bus can chew.
What else wasn’t part of the plan? Writing this post. I never gave much thought to a guide about renting a car in Costa Rica until a coworker of mine started asking me questions about it in preparation for his upcoming trip.
As we spoke, he was surprised to learn that I was even able to even rent a car in Costa Rica. Naturally, after filling him in, I started thinking about everyone else who might be in need of the same information. So here’s some advice should you ever find yourself in need!
Costa Rica Travel Restrictions 2023
Something something something, COVID.
As of April 1, 2022, all previous COVID entry requirements have been removed.
Costa Rica does not require quarantine, a health pass, travel insurance, QR code, or a negative COVID-19 test to enter. There are no COVID-19 sanitary requirements to enter Costa Rica.
Entering Costa Rica is exactly how it used to be before the pandemic.
Should you rent a car in Costa Rica?
Well, to start, one might ask, why would you even want to rent a car in Costa Rica?
This 100% depends on what you’ll be doing. Are you going to a beach with no plans of wandering anywhere beyond walking distance? Well, if that’s the case, you should be able to manage with just a single bus or a private car service.
Some areas are also more foot-friendly than others. Staying in Tamarindo? You probably won’t need a car if you aren’t planning on leaving town. La Fortuna/Arenal? Things here are far more spread out and walking will quickly become impractical.
Take my trip for example, I went to several locations that did not offer bus service. Then, there were others that while they had busses, there was no other form of transportation after you got off.
Sorry, (not sorry) Uber
Uber may exist in Costa Rica, but it’s illegal, and the police like to set up checkpoints looking for Uber drivers giving rides. If you watched my rope swing stories on Instagram, this turned out to be exactly what the police were doing.
Willing to risk it? Many locals still do, just expect to be waiting for a while. I talked to someone about it and waits of over an hour are common.
Where to rent a car in Costa Rica?
The easiest place for renting a car in Costa Rica would be at the airport, with reservations prior to arrival.
Several options exist to search and reserve. They include the standards like Expedia and Kayak, or more car-centric search engines such as Rental Cars or Discover Cars.
After comparing all four sites, I made my reservation through Discover Cars because it showed me the best rates.
Reservations are the way to go.
You never know what cars will be on hand when you arrive at a rental counter.
When I was stranded in Split, Croatia, due to my flight to Pula being canceled, there were only two cars available in the entire airport. It was a small airport, but at 1 AM, and with no other flights for twenty-four hours, you see how this could have been more than a minor inconvenience.
Unfortunately, this also occasionally applies to cars you’ve reserved.
I reserved something like the main picture above… just without the bananas.
What type of car should you rent in Costa Rica?
Get. Something. Big.
Unless you’re looking to be spending your entire time in a city, then you would be best served with something on the larger side, with good clearance, and four-wheel drive if available.
While not the worst I’ve been on, many of the country roads you may find yourself driving are unpaved.
To get to the fun stuff, I found myself sliding down multiple, unpaved mountainsides with rocks bouncing off my undercarriage left and right.
These were steep enough that I never would have made it back up them in a regular car. Luckily, I was heading in the right direction because a regular compact car is exactly what I had.
My tiny car almost became a problem at other times too. Ever drive through a stream? I had to drive through two.
Yes, I technically could have gone back the way I came and taken a large loop around, but that would have added an extra four or five hours. Other cars did it, so I thought I could make it.
I made it through the first one, but about forty-five minutes later I hit another. This one was a little bigger, and while I made it across this one as well, I stalled upon reaching the other side.
This can be very bad for a car but I checked the oil several times over the rest of my trip, and luckily, dodged a bullet.
Why did I have a little car?
Reservations are still important.
The company I rented from, Europcar, didn’t have the SUV I reserved on hand. Ever watch Seinfeld?
They knew how to take the reservation, they just didn’t know how to keep the reservation, which is really the most important part.
Real talk though, reservations are still extremely important, but think of them more like putting yourself in line.
When rental companies take reservations, they often intentionally overbook to keep their numbers on point.
They also don’t know for certain when a particular car will come back. I ended up keeping my car for an extra two days. If someone was waiting for it, they’d have gotten something else.
This is on the company to fix. You might get a free upgrade, or if you’re like me, a significant downgrade with some money back, as there were no upgrades on hand.
Car Rental Insurance in Costa Rica.
Renting a car in Costa Rica has a bad reputation, largely due to the insurance.
Third-party insurance, either SLI (Supplemental Liability Insurance) or TPL (Third Party Liability) insurance (not both) is mandatory by Costa Rican law. You cannot rent a car without having one, and unfortunately, some companies will try taking advantage of the situation and try selling you both, because as we all know, people suck.
Using your travel credit card?
Don’t count on the included rental car insurance, as these are usually limited plans that do not meet Costa Rica’s requirements.
Odds are the rental company won’t let you go with your credit card insurance only. Remember, they want/need to sell you a policy, but in the event they do, you don’t want to learn the hard way that your plan doesn’t include full coverage.
In general, you should read the fine print any time you hope to rent a car and use your card’s included insurance. Every credit card is different and there’s little worse than getting in an accident only to find out that your card doesn’t cover you.
Common scams.
One thing they like trying is claiming that you don’t have the proper insurance. They then may proceed to try charging more for what you have already purchased through a third-party site like Expedia or Orbitz.
To combat this, make sure that you read ALL of the fine print and know exactly what you’re getting in advance. If you’re using one of the smaller companies, you may want to have both hard and digital copies.
It’s technically not on you to prove you have the insurance, but a scam or not, arguing this point in a location with no other options may make this a non-starter.
Just know that if you already bought the necessary insurance with your reservation, and they try to argue the point, they’re probably trying to scam you.
Europcar gave me no problems, but they’re also on the larger side as far as rental car companies are concerned. Costa Rica has north of fifty different rental car agencies. They can’t all be as big as Europcar and Avis.
I know the lower “too good to be true” rates (usually are) of the smaller agencies may make them more appealing, but sticking with well-known, larger companies will give you a better chance of avoiding this headache.
The mystery dent.
Another big scam is the mystery dent. Before you drive off the lot, take a video of the entire car as well as pictures of any damage you find. This allows you to protect yourself if they try to charge you for old damage.
I’ve had this happen to me once before. They clammed up fast when I started to pull up the video.
Do your homework.
According to the Costa Rica Car Rental Association – ACAR, most online travel booking sites rarely include the mandatory insurance in their price quote.
“For pricing to appear competitive, often fees, taxes and surcharges are buried in small print or dismissed in a vague statement.” –ACAR
When the association that is trying to protect consumers has to warn you, you know that something is up. You don’t want to think you scored a great deal only to get there and have them slap you with an unexpected $40 per day insurance policy.
The best thing to do is to look into the company you’re planning on using. Rental companies like Budget have horrible reputations in Costa Rica. Know who you’re dealing with in advance.
How much does it cost to rent a car in Costa Rica?
As is the case with most car rentals, the cost goes down the more days you’re renting it for.
Want to rent for only one day? Expect to pay around $75. Looking at a week? Think $25-$40 per day, for a car. A large SUV will be back up to around $60-75 per day. *Price estimates based on AVIS, at the time of writing.*
Additional fees include one-way booking, so hopefully, you weren’t planning on leaving from a different airport. This varies by company, but when I had my car rental disaster in Croatia, the one-way rental fee was $180.
Then there are all sorts of little supplemental insurance you can add on like tire and glass. In my opinion, these should just be part of the insurance as is, but then how else would they be able to double charge you? (I usually skip these add-ons.)
Age requirements for renting a car in Costa Rica.
The age limit for renting varies by company. There are some smaller companies that will rent to someone as young as 18, but most enforce an age limit of 21-25 years old to rent. It’s also common for them to charge an additional daily fee (usually around $10) if you’re under 25 years old.
Do you need an International Driver’s License?
You do not need an international driver’s license to drive or rent a car in Costa Rica. They will, however, want to see your driver’s license from your home country, as well as your passport, and a major credit card.
The minimum age to drive in Costa Rica is 18 years old.
Roadside Assistance
If roadside assistance is offered, and you’ll be heading off-road at all, I would get it. It’s generally cheap, and if needed, will more than pay for itself.
On my last night in Costa Rica, I managed to lock my keys in the car. Unfortunately, I completely forgot that I had roadside assistance, so I ended up paying a company to come and unlock my car to the tune of $56. My RSA only cost me $26.
Tips for renting a car in Costa Rica.
Don’t let them bully you. This is important. Competition is fierce for renting a car in Costa Rica. Don’t be afraid to take your business elsewhere. Sometimes the threat of leaving can be good enough.
You should also understand that you’re not renting a car in America or Europe.
A Karen got into it with the rental agency because she was outraged over the idea of leaving a high-security deposit for her rental.
She got so bad that they called the police on her. I, in my infinite wisdom, pointed out that it’s standard procedure for them to place a credit card hold as a security deposit. Of course, this drew her immediate focus right onto me, because I “don’t know her financial situation.”
Final tip? If you can’t afford to leave a security deposit for your rental car, which doesn’t even come out of your pocket, then maybe you shouldn’t be renting a car.
[…] Travel-shark […]