outdoors,  travel

San Jose to Quepos, Costa Rica: Advantages of Renting a Car

October 12, 2022 /

Welcome to the first of many posts sharing my 2oth anniversary trip to Costa Rica with my husband! I figured I would write these post kind of like a journal sharing some travel tips along the way. We were able to use Delta Sky miles for this trip (just paying fees and taxes) and spent 2 nights in a Hilton Hotel in San Jose (using hotel points which included free breakfast and free happy hour). Saving money in these ways, we were able to spend a little more than our usual for 2 nights at Tulemar Resort which was still not crazy expensive (about $230 for our room which had jungle view, 2 queen size bed, a little dining area and amenities). As you will see in upcoming posts, I loved the resort and plan to return as a family since it was really perfect!

We opted to rent a car through Enterprise using some points once again and after making a few calls realized it was not as inexpensive as we thought (car rentals are advertised for around $25 to 30) because car rental place require you to purchase some “insurance” which was around $150). However it allowed us to explore and make stops as we desired and gave us a lot of flexibility.

We ate at a local Soda which is a small restaurant near the car rental place before heading out of town. Past Jaco (you do not want to stay there since it is party central there with all kinds of crazy wild nightlife and not family friendly), there were some beautiful views of the beach so we stopped and took some pictures. We had never been to a beach where the “jungle” stops and the beach starts so we were enthralled.

There were some women selling fish on the side of the road and while that might sound cool, our night jungle guide told us how it might not even be that day’s catch so you may want to abstain!

When we were a little more inland (the route does take you along the coastline for a while), we came across a strange creature called a jaguarundi crossing the road. It is like a small jaguar. We also passed palm plantations where they harvest palm oil. You do not want to walk in a palm plantation because snakes are prevalent in them.

We went through a few small towns before arriving at the town where the resort is located. My husband had a fun time with his choice of a stick shift car as there were some really crazy steep hills to get to the resort.

The resort looked just like advertised and is gated with a reception area. There are different sizes bungalows throughout the property among the trees and plants. It is like a jungle: we saw several types of monkeys, birds, a sloth and baby and lizard as wells as agouti. You will see more about these animals and the property next week on our next journal entry!

Our patio and hammock

A bientôt!

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