Blessed with beaches, lush rain forests and cloud forests, mountains and meadows Costa Rica offers plenty of options to enjoy. There are a lot to explore and one of the best ways to travel around is to rent a car. Here goes some tips for Renting a Car in Costa Rica:

Reason behind renting a car or not:

If you rent a car, you can enjoy traveling freely and can stop anywhere you want and whenever you want. By renting a car you can make your own agenda and have more freedom and can enjoy exploring all the sights and sounds of the country. You can go to the small towns off the main road, take scenic detours, and don’t have to be confined to shuttle times or bus schedules.. You can also go off the beaten path and discover the hidden beaches and enjoy a variety of activities. During your vacation in Costa Rica when you will get outside of San Jose or the main cities, you will find public buses rarer and the buses don’t run all day and have few routes and get super full. If you have kids, riding bus will not be a good idea for them. You will find the taxis are expensive and don’t always go everywhere you want to go. So it is better to rent cars for enjoying memorable vacation in Costa Rica.

Things to remember while renting a car:

Drivers in this country are not as careful as some other countries so if you are going to drive for the first time, you might get scared. You will find the drivers don’t signal and love to pass even when it is not allowed and many places don’t also have the accurate road signs. You might find many roads are not in the best conditions and you should be prepared for some bumpy rides. If you travel without any GPS or high quality maps, you can easily get lost and will find difficulties to get back on track. You will also have to consider traffic laws, driving time and the price of gasoline. Renting a car is usually not recommended for first-time visitors to Costa Rica but who are adventurous enough and have traveled the country before, the may consider renting a car.

How to Rent:

Before renting, you can compare brands and models as well as rental agencies and costs. When you will find the best option to take, you can contact with the rental agencies and by giving some information like pick up/ drop off dates and times, pick up/ drop off locations and about the detail of the car you want to rent, you can easily rent a car easily.

What to Rent:

You will find plenty of options to choose from and find out your desired car. You will have to choose the car considering the place you are going to drive. The type of car will also differ depending on the location you are going to travel. If you prefer going to the mountains, rural roads or certain coastal areas, you will want a four-wheel drive vehicle. You will have to take a 4WD car to drive through many of the places along the Caribbean coast. You can also choose from both compact and full-size SUV and get gas mileage as you need. Full-size SUV are preferable on very poor roads or when traveling in large groups. Compact cars are smallest, most economical option.

If you travel with a big group, you can also rent van that also have the same areas as a compact or full-size car. Vans tend to get low gas mileage and like full-size SUVs.

You will find all the rented cars with some basic features including power steering, air conditioning, dual airbags, power windows/locks, and a CD player or radio. In every category there are manual and automatic options. These cars also have safety kit (jumper cables, rope, road triangles, a flat tire kit and a fire extinguisher) for flat tires and accidents. Before renting a car check whether it has GPS or not and it is recommended to use the GPS device provided by the car rental company rather than downloading something from the internet. You can also use Waze application as a supplement of GPS. As some of the areas of Costa Rica lack internet access, this Waze application will help you to map your route while still at your hotel and will help you later. From most of the car rental offices, you can also purchase or rent road maps.

More info: http://www.malpaisbeach.com/malpais-and-santa-teresa-car-rentals/