re: Costa Rica help

I found driving in Costa Rica to be part of the charm and fun of the place. We drove overland on the Nicoya peninsula to Montezuma on roads that are described in the guidebook as "sometimes impassable" during the rainy season. We had a 4WD vehicle (definitely rent 4WD), and it wasn't anything worse, to me, than being on some remote backroads in the US (albeit, we get way off the beaten path when in the US at times).

When we were driving in, we kept getting further and further from everything and more and more remote as we climbed mountains in the jungle with occasional views of the ocean. Then we descended a mountain and hit the beaches and saw like large resorts and such. I was having a hard time picturing the amount of people in the area coming through the roads we'd just used.

We figured out later that most traffic comes to the area via ferry from the San Juan area mainland. Since we were coming from the north, we just drove overland, though.

We took a driver one day up to do like a "rainforest" adventure (tubing, horseback, zipline, mud bath). That was great, because it was fun to have a local to talk to about things as he drove. You're right that it isn't that expensive either to "rent" a driver/guide for the entire trip. A lot of people go that route. One thing I will say, is that I (and my wife) both get really car sick if we sit in the back seat. I almost always drive on trips as a result. Winding Costa Rican mountain roads and sitting in the back of a large passenger van is no bueno for my car sickness. LOL