Costa Rica

Route Costa Rica

Travel Infos

We drove about 1,180 miles (1900km) during the three weeks we were in Costa Rica. In the following section, there are a few tips for people taking an individual trip through Costa Rica in their own vehicle.

Visa

We received a three-month visa.

Health insurance

For our entire trip, we took out family travel insurance from STA-Travel, which had the best cost-quality ratio compared to other providers. It is especially important to ensure that there are no high deductibles.

Vehicle

Vehicle importation was simple. Due to a defective copier, we had to change to a different customs office, which took a long while. The obligatory insurance costs $36 for three months; the rest is free of charge. The vehicle may also remain in the country for three months.

Driving

The condition of the main roads is very good; some side streets are not asphalted. Minor routes have no bridges and no sound subsurface, so that an all-terrain vehicle is recommendable. Destinations off the main routes are often impossible to reach in a normal car, but main destinations are unproblematic. The locals’ driving style ist risky and fast, and there are a lot of slow trucks on the same roads.

Eating and drinking

Es gibt große Supermärkte mit ausreichendem Angebot and hohen Preisen.  Man findet sehr viele nordamerikanische Restaurantketten and ein dem Massentourismus angepasstes Angebot. Abseits des Trubels kann man sich gut and günstig auf Märkten and an Ständen versorgen.

Safety

A lot of vehicles are broken into, especially by organized gangs which take advantage of any opportunity. We met vacationers, for example, whose trunk was broken into and emptied out during the two minutes they had bought drinks. Be sure to pack everything out of sight and lock your vehicle. Unfortunately, there are often only big signs, and broken glass on the ground, but no guarded parking areas. Thefts on the beach and in vacation apartments are the order of the day according to the locals. Serious crimes, on the other hand, are seldom.

Climate

We were in Costa Rica in January and found the climate very pleasant. It was warm and dry, especially on the coasts. In the inland, it can get quite cool, depending on the altitude. In the cloud forests, it is cold, damp, and unpleasant, so you should think of warm clothes for these areas. In the night, it always cools off to a pleasant temperature, so you are able to sleep well.

Traveling with children

For traveling with children in Costa Rica, there is nothing special to report; the people are neither especially friendly, nor unfriendly to children. As in the other countries in Central America, we never had to pay an extra entry fee for our two children. Playgrounds can always be found, and anything you need for children is available in supermarkets and toy stores.

List of Campsites

Here is a map with all of our overnight stays in Central America.

Here is a list of each place with GPS coordinates, cost, and commentaries.

Here is the accompanying gpx-file for downloading.

We often spent the night free of cost on the beach. Whenever we were unsure, we asked the locals. There are some camp-sites, and they are usually not too expensive. Weh ad no problems finding good places for the night.

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