Costa Rica

Before you book

Costa Rica has two international airports, and the one you choose changes your travel day. The house sits roughly 2 – 2.5 hours from San José and almost 4 hours from Liberia. If you are hiring a driver, the longer trip from Liberia also costs more. Weigh that against the flight price before you book.

2 – 2.5 hours to the house. Walmart and hotels close to the terminal.

Close to 4 hours to the house, and a higher fare if a driver is bringing you.

You will not be permitted into Costa Rica if your passport expires within six months of your arrival date.

Check the expiry date before you pay for anything.

Getting around: drivers & rentals

Decide early whether you want to be driven or drive yourself. Both work; a driver is simpler on arrival day, a rental gives you the day trips.

Our airport driver. He runs a fleet of vans with 10-passenger seating, and we can arrange for him to meet you at the airport. We paid $150 USD one way in February 2022 — expect that to move with gas prices, passenger count, and whether you want a Walmart stop on the way out of San José.

We have had good experiences with Budget in San José and Enterprise in Liberia. We have also rented from Zuma in Jacó, which will meet you at the San José airport with your car and drive you back at the end of the trip — or, for shorter rentals, collect you from the house.

Check whether your credit card includes rental insurance. It can save a lot against the coverage the rental desk sells.

Landing: shop before you drive

If you arrive while Walmart is still open, do your grocery run before heading to the house. There is a Walmart a short drive from each airport. A driver will take you if you tell them when you book; if you have a rental, it is an easy stop.

There is a small grocery store near the house, but Walmart has far more variety and better prices. Bring grocery bags or plan to buy them at the till.

Arriving after dark

In summer 2021 we landed in San José in the evening and did not want to drive the highway at night. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott — right beside Walmart, about ten minutes from the airport, with a hotel shuttle from the terminal. It made the next morning's drive a pleasure instead of a chore.

Morning flight home? Sleep near the airport

There is essentially one highway between the house and the airport, and depending on where a closure happens, detours often are not an option. If your return flight is in the morning, book a hotel or Airbnb close to the airport the night before — an accident on the highway can hold you up for hours and cost you the flight.

What to pack

Toiletries are expensive in Costa Rica — sunscreen especially. Bring what you know you will use.

Apps to install

Set these up before you fly, while you still have your home data connection.

Money, language & names

Shop prices are quoted in either US dollars or Colones.

When paying by credit card, ask for the charge in Colones rather than USD so you are not paying the exchange rate twice.

Cash, and what it is for

We brought a small amount of USD in lots of small bills, purely for tipping — baggage handlers, shuttle drivers, and so on. Meals, tours and groceries we put on a credit card. Private drivers we paid in USD cash.

Speaking with locals

Many people working in tourist areas speak some English, and if they do not, they will usually go find someone who does. We used Google Translate constantly — especially to write a message in Spanish before sending it to a driver on WhatsApp.

The drive to Villa Felicidad

San José to Costa del Sol is roughly 2.5 hours; from Liberia it is closer to 3.5. Three stops are worth knowing about on the way in.

Gate access

The house is in a gated community, so you need a QR code to get in. We will arrange this the week before you leave.

The kitchen

Fully equipped. Look through the cupboards — including the ones at the bar — before you assume something is missing. Appliances, BBQ tools and serving dishes are all in there.

Drinking water

We do not drink the tap water. It is fine for showering and brushing your teeth, but we drink bottled in case the filter system is down. There is a countertop dispenser for the large bottles, and usually a few in the garage — though we cannot promise they are full.

Playa Bejuco, our beach

From the gate, keep walking or riding straight down the road and the beach opens up directly ahead of you. There are no chair or umbrella rentals and no vendors, so bring your own chairs, drinks and snacks if you plan to stay a while — there are beach chairs in the garage for exactly this.

Town Centre

Located in Esterillos Este, 800 m from the gate, Town Centre is the one-stop place for everything you may need: the Good Market grocery store, a gelato shop, souvenir shop, liquor store, cigar store, urgent care clinic, pharmacy, and a range of restaurants.

Esterillos Este & Oeste

Just past Town Centre you drive through Esterillos Este and Esterillos Oeste. These are small communities, but there is a lot tucked into them.

Things to do

Where to eat

Jacó & Playa Herradura

Thirty minutes past Town Centre and the Esterillos, Jacó is a beach resort town with restaurants, shops, tourist activities and, of course, a beach. Just outside it is Playa Herradura, a popular surf town — go there if you want to watch surfing, and there are many beachside restaurants around.

In town

The Jacó sign. On the way home you pass it at the top of the hill; most people stop for a picture.

Jacó walk. Restaurants, cafés and gift shops, plus a few good photo ops like the fountain walk.

A little past the Jacó sign there is a big stand of almond trees where people stop to see the macaws — there are usually a lot of them.

Eat and drink

Worth knowing

I would not make a special trip to Jacó for the beach, but the shops and the range of restaurants make it fun — a good rainy-day destination. It is also the closest place for ATV tours and ziplining.

José's Crocodile Tour

A two-hour tour with plenty of crocodile and bird sightings. We paid $40 USD per person for the tour alone; another $25 or so per person would have added transport to and from the house. Afterwards we ate at Vista Mar, a seafood restaurant across from the ocean — rice with shrimp came to about $13 CDN, the food was excellent, and there is an underground tunnel from the restaurant through to the beach.

South: Parrita & Rainmaker

Turn right at the highway instead of left, and the country opens up in the other direction — fishing villages, a rainforest, and the mangrove.

Quepos

Another fishing village, bigger than Parrita and set up for tourists. This is where to go if you are interested in deep sea fishing — we had an excellent day hiring Rudy on Moon Walker to take the five of us out, and caught tuna, mahi mahi and sailfish. In town there are plenty of restaurants and a street of souvenir shops.

Manuel Antonio National Park

Through the guide's telescope. We took a tour the first time and it was great — all kinds of creatures, but above all sloths and monkeys. The guide provides a telescope to look and shoot through.

The beach is fabulous. Pack a swimsuit and towel. On our second visit we walked the trails ourselves — there are many signs and viewing points along the way.

They tried to steal our backpacks while we were on the beach, so we ended up strapping them together to make them harder to drag away. You cannot bring your own food into the park, but you can buy food there and eat it in the designated area.

Two more, nearby

El Avión. After our day in the park we stopped for a snack at El Avión, just up the street from Manuel Antonio — a plane that has been turned into a restaurant.

Odds & ends

The small things that are easier to know in advance than to discover.