For more than 60 years we have been collaborating with only the most reputable car rental companies to provide the best rates on rental cars … “Why Adobe?” you may ask. This website compares all companies so you can see the price difference and choose the best option for you. Get answers to your questions about Costa Rica . Whether you are visiting for a few days or staying for a month or more, you can count on Enterprise to rent the perfect vehicle for your transportation needs. Map of Mapache Rent-A-Car’s head office in San Sebastian, San Jose Had we rented the car for longer, it would have been even cheaper. Once you have decided on a car, the site will automatically choose the minimum mandatory insurance, which is the SLI, and you can upgrade from there, and the prices will be updated. When booking your car with Service, you will be happy to know that prices are transparent. We are sharing our top tips with you because we wished we had known these things before driving out of the parking lot for the first time! There are a few things we learned about driving in Costa Rica specifically. (I never would have believed this until we walked into the car rental shop and were quoted nearly 3 times as much for the same vehicle as it was listed online!). Based on ratings and reviews from real users on KAYAK, the best car rental companies in Costa Rica are Enterprise (7.2, 70 reviews), Alamo (6.5, 416 reviews), and Dollar (6.4, 56 reviews). So that freedom paired with the little bit of savings was totally worthwhile for us! If you’re looking for a great place to stay in Costa Rica, we have loads of info on how to book Airbnbs, red flags to watch out for when booking, and our favorite Airbnbs in our Airbnb article. If you’re like me, having your own vehicle will allow you freedom to stop when you need. As it turns out, it would require a lengthy ride on a local bus. Many of the countryside roads are narrow and winding, so be very cautious when coming around curves. Take photos on your cell phone of any scrapes and dents, no matter how small. We’re so glad we made the decision to rent a car in Costa Rica, and we’re going to share why! Costa Rica Car Rental. Overall a good company, with cars in good conditions, even if not the newest ones, and you will receive personalized service by the owner of the MrMagnum Car Rentals. Its purpose is to provide transportation solutions to both tourists and companies in any of the rental modalities they require, whether in the short, medium or long term, with daily, weekly, monthly, mini-renting and renting schemes, which allow clients to satisfy practically any type of need associated with a rental vehicle. The rates with Vamos are some of the best in the country, and they don’t obscure any cost, which can bring peace of mind to travelers worried about hidden costs in their final receipt. There were several places we visited that we would not have made it to without it. You can not decline this mandatory insurance policy if you book with Adobe. But with all the driving that we did, we were so happy we had 4-wheel drive. And what started out as a comfortable ride ended up being super cramped and stuffy, with people packed into the aisles. But when we decided to rent for 2 weeks, it broke down to just $20 per day. True, there might be days where the car sits and you don’t use it, but it is still quite a good deal. Stock up on snacks, crank some tunes and sing aloud, or listen to a podcast with your travel buddy. Getting there without our rental car would have been quite difficult, so we were really happy we had our own ride! Well, it turns out renting a car in Costa Rica is very cheap, and driving in Costa Rica is actually quite easy, and dare I say… fun! Bonus! Avis Rent a Car is one of the world’s largest car rental companies with a presence in over 50 countries, renowned for the quality of its vehicles and high standards of customer service. Google Maps is amazing! For my second trip to Costa Rica, my husband and I opted for an FJ Cruiser with a tent on top of it from Nomad America. The very cheapest way to get around Costa Rica is to take local buses. Read the policy’s fine print to check for yourself. Go ahead and fill in the blank. Also, be very careful if you decide to pass a truck. For a smaller, more personal experience with another local company to rent a car within Costa Rica, Service Car Rental is one that has constantly received very good reviews among the customers who have rented with them. If you’re staying in or around San Jose and are going only a short distance or on a route where you know the road is well-paved and relatively flat, you could probably get away without it. Privacy Policy. Once you confirm, we'll send the Packing List so you can get ready for Costa Rica! Taking Direct Shuttles: $518 for the same 15-day route but with private shuttle, and it would have been very tricky to get to Rancho Mastatal. Also, they require you to get their insurance policy, while going through RentalCars.com allowed us to book a car without it. We work with the best car rental companies in Costa Rica, bringing you discount car rental rates and a wide variety of car rental classes including economy, compact, midsize, full … And we booked our vehicle using RentalCars.com to find the cheapest rate. Here are some important rules to remember while driving with your car rental in Costa Rica: Driving in Costa Rica is on the right. And due to the park hours and the bus schedule, we’d need to spend the night in a tiny town nearby, and then schedule a taxi ride to the park entrance the next morning. We always paid in cash, but I'm sure some gas stations near bigger cities could take credit card. This includes jumper cables, rope, a flat tire kit, road triangles, and a fire extinguisher. A very good option for car rentals, and a local, but well-established company, which might bring you some extra peace of mind, and the rates are definitely hard to overlook. He tried explaining that RentalCars.com must reserve a bunch of cars and Alamo earns money whether they are rented or not, which allows the booking platform to offer better deals. You’ll see a white bar that pops up at the bottom of the screen. Our heads hurt. We have lots more resources on travel in Costa Rica and destinations throughout the country. lastminute.com.au offers car rentals in Costa Rica to meet every traveller's needs. Remember, HAPPYCAR can help you with more than just cheap car hire in Costa Rica. Located … In San José (International Airport, Paseo Colón, Best Western Irazú Hotel, Wyndham Herradura Hotel), in Guanacaste (Liberia, Peñas Blancas, Playa Tamarindo, Playa Nosara, Playa Sámara, Mal Pais), in Central and South Pacific (Jacó Beach, Quepos, Dominical, Puerto Jiménez, and Paso Canoas), in La Fortuna de San Carlos (Arenal Volcano) and in the South Caribbean (Puerto Viejo de Limón). This is how we personally declined the mandatory car rental insurance in 2018: We showed up to the Alamo counter and showed them proof of our travel insurance and credit card coverage of rental cars. Some of them are global corporations that you might recognize like Alamo, Enterprise, Eurocar, and Hertz. Suprisingly, driving in Costa Rica is easy and the rental car prices are cheap. Had we rented a smaller car, we definitely would have come away with some dents and scratches. Alamo has offices around Costa Rica. Note: In this section, we are sharing our experience and opinion about rental car insurance. Our experience with Vamos Rent-A-Car was great from beginning to end. Some reviewers have complained about Toyota Rent a Car charging extra fees that weren’t disclosed at the moment of booking. Whether you are looking for cheap cars or cars fit for the stars - lastminute.com.au has the car rentals for you. Usually these places can be difficult to get to if you don’t have your own vehicle. Plus, you won't need to worry whether there will be availability if you book it ahead of time! Amazing Things to Do in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica, Fun Things to do in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, Epic Things To Do in La Fortuna & Arenal, Costa Rica. Start your journey by searching our website now! This says good things about Vamos and might bring you peace of mind if you decide to rent with them. There just something about road trips that are so much fun! Two Wandering Soles are participants in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Just for a day…. Rent a car one-way today! And when we looked around the parking lots in these places, it seemed like nearly every other car had 4-wheel drive too. Read our community guidelines. In this case, taking a shuttle or bus would be a good option for you. It’s super simple, just follow these steps: Sign into Google Maps (it’s connected with your Gmail account). And that didn’t even include arranging transportation away. Rental Cars cannot be taken across the international borders to Panama or Nicaragua. Most of them were pretty cheap (from 360 – 720 colones, which is $0.64 - $1.28), but you’ll want to have some coins on you to pay with. We also needed to approve a $1,500 hold on our credit card that was returned to us when we turned in our vehicle. Despite the bad rap that Costa Rica seems to have in regards to renting a car, this charming country has many good small, local companies which seem to serve customers well, and this is also the case with MrMagnum, a company that those who have decided to try, have received an overall good experience. The speed bumps are not always marked with yellow paint like you’d expect, so sometimes they blend in with the road. From these three, you can decide not to take CDW, as only the first two ones are mandatory, and you can add any other service, which will automatically update the balance of your car rental. Before making the decision to rent a car, we calculated the cost and compared it to taking the bus or shuttles. SUV is the most booked rental car type in Costa Rica Which car rental companies have the lowest priced rental cars in Costa Rica? That’s why some people say they get tricked with hidden fees once they are in Costa Rica. That same car was a measly $12 USD a day (and there were even ones on there for as little as $7!). When it comes to reputable Costa Rica car rental companies, Adobe Rent a Car is the leader. We would highly recommend getting 4-wheel-drive in Costa Rica. So we stood there, in the Alamo store, and made our reservation online. (It's kind of like how Kayak compares the price of flights.). For our route, I would 100% recommend 4-wheel drive, as I would not have felt comfortable without it. You might want to download both maps before your trip! We'll find you the best price on one-way car hire in Costa Rica - and provide you with details of any One-Way Fees the car hire company charges. Note: We were not paid by RentalCars.com to write this article (they likely don’t even know it exists!). Until then, find out how we recommend traveling around Costa Rica! Two Wandering Soles Copyright © 2021. Check your inbox for a confirmation email from us. Rental cars also typically include a safety kit for accidents and flat tires. We thought the man could just give us the same deal as we had gotten online, but when we showed up the next day, he apologized saying that you can only get that deal by booking online. If you don’t know what company to rent a car from in Costa Rica, you should definitely check Adobe, as their rates are often very good, with all the fees clearly specified, and they have many locations in major cities, touristic places, and airports in Costa Rica, making Adobe Rent a Car a solid option. The biodiversity in this country in amazing, letting you go from beautiful beaches to surf, to rainforests, to volcanoes. It seems that Costa Rica has a surprising amount of good local car rental companies, and this is also the case of Poas Rent a Car, a company with almost forty years of experience, and a surprising amount of positive reviews. We found that it would be right around the same price – if not slightly cheaper – to rent a car rather than taking the shuttles. It can cost an additional $10-$25 per day you rent the car. It is present in San Jose, Liberia, Guapiles, and Penas Blancas and has several branches to give you the proper attention from the first moments you arrive at these cities. We were rewarded with epic views and hidden little restaurants that we never would have been able to explore otherwise. We value you, and NEVER spam. So the only option that seemed even remotely feasible was renting a car. High school sweethearts from Minnesota, USA. Driving over the legal alcohol limit (0.75mg per liter of blood) can also incur a prison sentence. More on this below! Vamos has a good fleet of cars, with the standard models for most companies in Costa Rica, with vehicles in good conditions, as well as their signature free baby seat and an icebox, which even if not the most important, they add up to the overall experience. You might still want to make sure to understand the policies of renting a car in the country and ask the right questions, to make sure your experience is as good as possible. Oxygen Jungle Villas, Hotel, Review, Jungle Villa, Ocean View, Foodie, Waterfall, Infinity Pool, Melbourne, Budget travel, Things to Do, Free Things to do, Cheap travel, Melbourne free trams, Free Walking tour, Street Art, 10 Amazing Things to Do in Arenal, Costa Rica, Search for Cheap Rental Cars in Costa Rica. Also, take advantage of the accessible prices, promotions such as free kilometers valid with your online reservation and additional services such as baby seats, insurance against risks, and GPS, among others. Public transit is great but having a car offers a next level of freedom that you don’t normally get with buses and trains. Accidents do happen and you don’t want to have to fork over thousands of dollars for any damage you may incur. It is almost always cheaper to book online rather than walking into a store. Save with Economy Costa Rica Rent a Car and guarantee your reservation. We hope it helps you to decide on your next car rental booking. Low Cost Car Rental In Costa Rica Their fleet is good, with cars not more than 24 months old and good mileage. If you're looking for cheap car rentals in Salt Lake City or cheap car rentals in Kauai, use HAPPYCAR! One-lane bridges are very common all throughout Costa Rica. In addition to the actual car rental, be sure to add in the cost of gas, which was roughly 680 CRC per liter ($4.53 USD per gallon) while we were there. Next Read: 10 Amazing Things to Do in Arenal, Costa Rica. Our experience was with Alamo. We recommend to call your car rental provider to confirm the amount of this insurance. In total, our rental car, gas and drop-off fee came to exactly $540.43 for 15 days. All our hostels, hotels and Airbnbs (Click here for $55 off your first stay on Airbnb) were equipped with parking spots. It’s important to download the map before your trip so you have access to roads, restaurants, and attractions even if you don’t have cell phone service. Get up close and personal. We didn’t know what to expect, but thought that was a little steep, so we went back to our hotel and checked online. The company focuses in delivering a complete service at a reasonable price, with no hidden fees and total protection, zero deductible insurance available. Costa Rica sometimes runs out of rental cars – totally, everywhere, every agency – in high season. As expected, their fleet is only Toyota vehicles, which is not a limitation whatsoever, as this maker has a wide range of cars available, from small cars to large SUVs and vans to safely explore Costa Rica. In our experience we had a $1500 hold with RentalCars.com and Alamo, but we have read other places the hold could be up to $5000. Alamo offers you the best cars to rent during your holidays in Costa Rica. We did meet a couple who was driving a small car without 4-wheel drive and they said it was fine for where they were driving. Not only can you pin all the points of interest along your route, but it will also show your current GPS location even when you’re not in cell signal. It was so convenient that we decided to rent for a few more days. Costa Rica car rental bookings at the best prices in the market. When we requested a rental car for 2 weeks, the cost broke down to just $20 per day. and take the scenery in the way it’s meant to be enjoyed. Pull over! One of our highlights during our time in Costa Rica was spending some time at Rancho Mastatal, a sustainable community in the mountains.