Renting a car is clearly the best way for visiting birders to travel around Costa Rica. Potential visitors should compare rates. In most cases you are more likely to get better rates by making rental arrangements in your countries of origin. You can ask that the car be delivered to the airport but this will entail a hefty surcharge, and car rental agencies will provide transportation from the airport to their offices.
Before you leave the rental agency, check the water, brake fluid, oil, air-conditioner, hoses, lights, belts, tires and tire pressure, the condition of the spare and the jack, and make notes and sketches of any existing damage to the vehicle and bring these to the attention of the agency
Many guidebooks talk about the infamous potholes in the surfaced roads in Costa Rica. In our experience, this concern is overdone. Of course, there are occasional bad potholes. It is a matter of driving prudently.
Costa Ricans drive regular vehicles all over the country. However, visiting birders probably should choose high clearance vehicles. The trip to Monteverde, for example, especially if you come to it from the Tilaran area, would be gruesome in a low-slung car. Four-wheel drive is not necessary in the dry season, unless you are going into the more difficult places, but if you do want to visit places in the less-developed parts of the country, the roads on the Caribbean side can be rutted and muddy.
Distances within the country are relatively short, but you should be aware that the roads are not built for high speeds. The real problem with the roads of Costa Rica is not the potholes but the fact that even the better roads are narrow, with minimal shoulders, and in the mountains are rarely straight for more than a few hundred yards. These characteristics, plus the fact that virtually all freight traffic is carried in large trucks, means slow driving, especially uphill. Be prepared to accept the sometimes slow traffic movement. Costa Ricans are proverbially polite, but getting behind the wheel of a car or truck seems to change the personality of some of them. A night ride over the main highway that crosses the country, with heavy trucks passing on blind curves, is an experience you will never forget.
Another problem is the terrible level of Costa Rican signage. Driving through San Jose, in particular, can be a nightmare. If you do not speak Spanish, you would be well advised to have the English-speaking staff of your accommodations write out, in detail and with a sketch map, the exact route you will be taking to your next destination. Ask them to write out an explanation in Spanish also, so that you can show it to people when, as will inevitably happen, you find yourself confused. Finally, speeding laws, and seat belt laws, are reputedly enforced by heavy fines, though in our experience, traffic police are few and far between.
If you have trouble with your car, call the rental agency first. They will tell you what to do. You can also call 911. Rental agencies usually will not reimburse you for repairs made without the prior authorization of the main office.
If you are in an accident, do not move your vehicle until you are authorized to do so by an official. Sketch the positions of the vehicles and write down descriptions of the damage suffered. Do not make any statements about the accident, except to the official or to a representative of the National Insurance Institute. You can contact the Institute by dialing 800-800-8000. If an inspector cannot come to the accident site, you will be given a three-digit code number. You will then have three working days to fill out an accident report and turn it in at the nearest INS office. (There are more than of dozen of these offices scattered around the country). Do not allow your car to be towed to a repair shop that is not authorized by the Institute. Ask witnesses to write down their names and their cedula (identification numbers). Do not leave your veh