Rental car options for one month

[ROBERT MASTERSON]

Jason, We are coming down for a month or 5 weeks in mid January 2015 and want to drive all over CR and would like to have the same 4×4, if practical, the entire time. I have read in the Forum that there may be some reliable long term car rental companies near SJ as well as the major companies. Would you suggest the good long term companies and the best most cost effective major companies. Anyone else with input will be appreciated. Thanks, Bob

[JASON HOLLAND]

Hi Bob,

Great to hear from you. A lot of the rental car companies will offer price breaks for long-term rentals. Unfortunately, your visit will coincide with tourist high season, so those deals will be harder to come by. Still I would shop around with familiar names like Alamo and local brands like Vamos and Adobe and see what they can offer you. As far as price goes, I haven’t seen any major difference between most rental companies.

I’ve had the best luck for long term rentals with a company called Wild Rider, located in downtown San Jose: http://www.wild-rider.com

Jason

[ROBERT MASTERSON]

Jason, Thanks. You mentioned that our visit will coincide with the high tourist season. We were aware of that but do not know the significance of that. Please contrast the impacts of that on prices, availability, crowds to see tourist things as well as evaluating potential living conditions, etc. We may not have much flexibility to reschedule or wait. However, what would be the earliest/best time to come to avoid the worst of the high season impacts and avoid the muddy road conditions etc associated with the wet season?

[JASON HOLLAND]

The tourist high season has the most impact on the popular beach areas like Tamarindo, Jaco, Manuel Antonio, and other “resort” type places on the Pacific. So how much of an impact the tourist crowds have on your visit depends on where you go. The Central Vally, for example, is pretty much unaffected by tourist season.

Basically, tourist season results in higher prices for lodging (most places have a rainy season and high season rate, which is about 20% higher in most cases) and if you’re in more popular areas like those I listed above you will have increased traffic, sometimes crowded beaches… the towns will be bustling.

As far as muddy road conditions, those are only a concern in certain areas of the country.

Let me know what places you plan to visit specifically and I can give you some information pertaining to those areas.

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