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Costa Rica Tips and Trick a Travel Blog

Credit Card Bonuses to Earn Points

I opened a Chase Ink card and earned 100,000 points after spending $6,000 in three months. I also got an additional 20,000 points because my wife referred me, well she got them, but transferred them to me. Then, I opened an American Airlines card and received 80,000 points with my first purchase. Spending $6,200 on bills also earned me another 200,000 points. So, how much are those points worth? Typically, they’re worth around $3,600. But let’s see what I got…

How to get to Costa Rica on Miles and Points

We flew American Airlines first class for 20,000 points each way per person, totaling 80,000 points. Then, we booked five nights at the Andaz Papagayo using 115,000 points and a Hyatt suite upgrade certificate. The room had a cash value of $1,600 per night, or $8,000 for the entire stay—meaning I got nearly 7 cents per point. The AA flight would’ve cost about $500 each way, so the 80,000 points were worth about $2,000—roughly 2.5 cents per point. Not bad at all. You can get direct flights into LIR from multiple hub cities with American, Southwest, United, Alaska, or Delta. I would recommend flying in and out of Liberia (LIR), not San Jose (SJO). It’s a small airport, easy to get in and out of, and it’s not in a big city. Crime is more likely in a city, plus LIR is closer to Andaz.

What did we do in Costa Rica? Did we skimp on anything? Absolutely not! Our budget, $1,000. You’ll have to check out next week’s post to see the breakdown. We’re starting to get the hang of things. Over the years, we’ve picked up a few tips that have made a big difference.

Car Rental Tips for Costa Rica

For starters, car rental agencies in Costa Rica can be tricky. They’ll often try to push you into buying insurance, claiming it’s a government requirement and that even credit card coverage won’t be enough. Here’s the catch: if you press them on it, they’ll tell you that you need a special letter from your credit card company with very specific details—like your name, card number, and coverage amount, and potentially more (contact your rental agency prior to departing the US). The first time we went, we got totally caught off guard and paid. The second time, I had the letter, but they said it wasn’t the right one. After a 30-minute call with the credit card company to get the proper letter, I avoided paying an extra $36 a day. I did pay about $10 a day for what’s supposedly government insurance, but they gave me the option to decline.

For this trip, I used Sixt and made sure to send the credit card letter two weeks in advance to avoid any last-minute issues. It worked perfectly—no problems at all, and it was by far the smoothest car rental experience I’ve had in Costa Rica. The Sixt rep, Brian, explained that I didn’t technically need the government insurance, but it was a good idea to have it just in case I hit someone. He mentioned that if an accident happened, the government would cover the damages for the other party. How it works with your personal insurance and the credit card coverage is a bit unclear, but honestly, I wasn’t worried about it. If anything happened, the government and my credit card would sort it out, and worst-case scenario, my personal insurance could kick in.

What apps work best in Costa Rica

Do not use Google or Apple Maps in Costa Rica—this caused our biggest blunder. Use Waze instead, and while you’re downloading apps, make sure to get WhatsApp for phone calls. You’re going to want to download Google Offline Maps, but DO NOT use their suggested routes. When you have the internet set up and route in Waze, disconnect from the internet. The route should be in your cache. Having Google Maps as a backup is nice, even though cell service can be spotty in the mountains.

Now you may be wondering why Waze and not Google/Apple? That’s a great question! It’s one I wish I had asked on my second trip… My wife, daughter, and I had just had a great day zip-lining in the rainforest. We had booked a Zip Lining/Beach ATV Tour through Beach ATV Tours. It was great. We finished at 4 PM, and the tour guide said we had to make it back to the zip-lining place before 5 PM. It was 3 km away. I thought, “No problem, maps say 15 minutes,” so we left promptly at 4:05 PM. They don’t have a lot of roads or routes, and traffic was getting heavy 2 km from the bridge. I thought, “Weird.” At 4:10, 4:15, 4:20… 4:30. Uh, this is a problem. I asked someone going the other way, and it turned out it was a funeral procession. They were carrying the casket down the only road to the bridge. At this point, I knew I wouldn’t make it; it was 4:45, and we were 1.75 km from the bridge.

Off-Road Adventure

The ATV guide had given me very specific instructions if we didn’t make it to the bridge – head back to his shop and take some main roads back to our hotel. I couldn’t find a place to turn around, it was gridlock, and people started driving on the wrong side of the road, so both lanes were now blocked. I saw a few turn-offs coming up, so I gave my phone to my wife and told her to route us back. I meant back to the ATV place, but she thought I meant the hotel. I was just so happy to be out of that hour-long traffic jam that I didn’t notice how long we were on the road. I use the word “road” loosely—it was a wide dirt track. It was sketchy, bumpy, and steep! I like that kind of stuff, so I was all about it, until we came to a river! I looked at the map—my wife had taken us on this very long path, one way in, one way out. It would have taken 3+ hours to turn around and get back to the shop, then get back to the hotel. Mind you, this should have only taken 1.5 hours if the bridge was open. Google Maps said if we went forward, it would only be 2 hours. I sat at the river for 15 minutes thinking about the rental car agent telling me if I crossed a river and damaged the car, I’d be charged the full price of the car, and insurance wouldn’t cover anything.

Then, when I was about to make up my mind, I saw another car coming! I figured I would ask them, but then I smelled them, then through a thick haze, I saw them— a group of teen stoners smoking out their mom’s SUV. I decided to just give them a nod and watch them cross the river. I don’t even think they slowed down.

I thought, well, that answers that, hold my (figurative) beer. I tossed it in 4×4, locked the diff, and off we went. No problem at all— a bit deeper than I thought, but it was below the doors. I made it to the other side, thrilled that I didn’t ruin the car! Then I heard this awful scraping sound. It sounded like plastic on stone. I thought, oh no, I’m screwed!

So, I get out, crawl under the car, and the entire front skid plate is folded under the car, and the license plate is pointing straight up. This is going downhill fast! I tucked it back under the car and took off. It was another 30 minutes back to the main road—bumpy but uneventful. I tipped a gas station employee $20, and he zip-tied the plastic, fixed the license plate, and washed the car with the window squeegee. The average daily wage is around $25-$30, so he was super happy. The car no longer looked like it went through the Baja 500, so I was too. Luckily, as I found out later, the bottom of the car was damaged (always take before/after pictures of rental cars, including underneath) when I got it. Sure, I made it worse, but the point is it was already broken, so I didn’t get charged.
Moral of the story: use Waze.

Soda’s, Eat like a local in Costa Rica

The next tip is food. Tourist spots are expensive and not always the best quality. You want local Tico (Costa Rican) food. Look for restaurants with “Soda” in the name. A Soda is a small restaurant that is well frequented by families, locals, and in-the-know visitors who want a great meal with a respite from tourist prices. I got chicken, rice, and beans for $3-4, and it was good. If you go to the hotel for dinner, expect to spend $100+ for 2 people.

Tipping in Costa Rica

The last tip, before we get to the story, is on tipping. The locals don’t make a lot, so tip them. No tipping isn’t as big a deal as in the US, but you should at least leave a few dollars—maybe five for your waiter, and definitely tip people in the tourist industry. It’s the only way they can afford to live, as the average wage is $800 a month and the average monthly rent on a home is approximately $1,000. The currency is the Colón, but everywhere accepts USD. You may get change back in either, but I’ve found the people in Costa Rica to be honest, and no one has tried to take advantage of the exchange. I usually just charge everything to my credit card and then tip in cash.

Costa Rica Activities and Pricing Guide

On our first trip, we went scuba diving with Rocket Frog, right after Costa Rica reopened after COVID. We ended up catching COVID from someone on the boat. The dive wasn’t great. We dove at Papagayo Bay, and I wouldn’t recommend it the conditions were not great. I’ve heard it’s better at the Cocos Islands, but that’s not a short trip. We had 20–30-foot visibility and choppy water. Rocket Frog is a safe dive operator and if you’re going to dive, I would recommend them.

After the zip lining tour, we went on the ATV “beach” tour. The name is a bit misleading, as it’s illegal to drive on beaches in Costa Rica. The company has a waiver to drive on one beach; the rest of the tour is on the road, with stops at the beach. That said, it was still a lot of fun, and I’d do it again. Just don’t expect it to be a beach ride the whole time—it’s more beach-adjacent with beach stops. I really enjoyed the stops; the guide was full of knowledge. He showed us the new houses being constructed, picked fruit for us to eat, and showed us lots of beautiful scenery.

This was a few years ago, but I think it cost around $400 for everything.

After the ATV tour, the following day, we booked a full-day tour with a driver for $1,000 + $100 tip. This tour was worth it as a one-time experience, but I wouldn’t pay that much again unless I didn’t have a rental car. We were picked up from Andaz at 8:30 AM. We drove to Llanos De Cortez, where it was only a 10-minute walk to the waterfall. We grabbed a few pictures and left. Then, we went to Rio Celeste, the star of the show that everyone should visit at least once. Afterward, our guide took us for a local lunch, then we continued our journey to a sloth sanctuary. This was awesome. They take your phone and get great photos for you. After that, we had some snacks and returned to the hotel around 5:30.

Drive to Upala, Fog over the mountains in costa rica

Sloth in tree, location upala costa rica

Dream Los Mareas

We’ve only stayed at the Andaz Papagayo and the Dream Los Mareas. Dream is an all-inclusive resort, but it’s not what I’m looking for in a hotel. The food is okay, but the property needs a refresh. During our 3-night stay, the fire alarm went off all night on two of the nights. I didn’t have a good experience there. The drive from LIR to the hotel is quite breathtaking.

The bathtub on the balcony was pretty cool. The manager also gave us 25,000 points as compensation for our complaints, so it wasn’t a total loss. The best thing about the property is the sunset.

That’s a Rundown of our previous trips to Costa Rica as well as some accompanying prices. As you can see it CAN be expensive, or it can be inexpensive. For our latest trip we are going for as cheap as possible, check back next week to see what we managed to do for $1,000

Here are the contacts for the people I’ve done business with before and would do business with again.

Alonso Rivera – WhatsApp +506 6303 3920 / Tour guide near Rio Celeste.

Jungle Life Costa Rica – Rainforest Tours – WhatsApp +506 8697 3605 / Provincia de Alajuela, Bijagua de Upala, Costa Rica

Sloth’s Paradise – WhatsApp +506 5006 4642 / QXMF+878 El Salto de, Provincia de Alajuela, Bijagua de Upala, 21304, Costa Rica

Tree Chocolate – WhatsApp +506 8629 5537 / Santa Rosa de upala, Provincia de Alajuela, Upala, 21301, Costa Rica

ATV Beach Tours – WhatsApp +506 8581 9857 / Brasilito Beach Front, Guanacaste Province, Brasilito, 50308, Costa Rica

Rocket Frog Divers – 315-222-8801 / Guanacaste Playas Del, Coco, 50503, Costa Rica

Asociacion de Guias Locales de Ostional (Facebook) – WhatsApp + 506 6252 7412 or +506 2682 0428 / Turtle Hatching when in season

Native’s Way Costa Rica – 1-800-605-2806 Tour agency, they will book a full package. This was the $1,000 all day tour we did. Expensive but easy.

Ruben Soza Artist – FB or IG

Sixt Liberia Airport – +506 4000 7496 Talk to Brian