re: Renting a car in Costa Rica

I have rented from Vamos and had a great experience. We flew into Liberia instead of San Jose, but the car company is the same in either place. We had no issues with the roads except for the really bumpy road to the Arenal Observatory Lodge, where we stayed. You will mostly be driving on either 4 lane or 2 lane nicely paved roads. Just pay close attention to the road signs and you will be fine. The insurance is a little weird. There is a basic CDW one that everyone must get and there's another one that provides additional coverage. If you know your credit card provides it, you can possible get a letter from them and avoid this fee or you can pay a deposit on your credit card that they basically hold (it's the old kind of machine, that makes the imprint) and tear up when you return the car in good condition. Just do some reading on the insurance and figure out which one is the right one for you. It was easier driving in Costa Rica (except for the one road and I hear it can also be bad going to Monteverde) than both Belize and Mexico. There is so much to see and do around Arenal/LaFortuna. We did zip lines, hiking, nature trail (Bogarin Trail...almost always see sloths!), rappelling down a waterfall, hot springs...Loved it. There is still much we didn't do. It was one of my favorite vacations. We did the beach at Tamaraindo instead of Manuel Antonio since we flew into Liberia.