Costa Rica Travel Tips

Here I will put some Costa Rica Travel Tips so you can conquer the subtleties of Costa Rica travel that the guidebooks won't tell you. Some of them will be a bit wacky, meanwhile others will be more useful to the population at large. You'll see what I mean...

Costa Rica Travel Tip #1: Tabacón's other hot springs

If you are in the La Fortuna area and want to visit a hot springs resort, you may want to go to Tabacón. If you want to skip the resort altogether, though, you can take a relaxing dip in the soothing warm waters of the Tabacón River without paying the steep $45 entrance fee. Right across the street from the Tabacón resort, which is private property, lies public property through which the Tabacón River also runs. This is by no means the best way to experience the Tabacón River, but locals frequent this stretch of the river to get in a free hot springs bath. You may very well be too embarrassed to make your way down the ditch to the river in order to save a few bucks—and I still do recommend entering the resort if you can afford it—but I am sure that this thrifty (or stingy) approach is right up some people's alley. I like to think that we live in a free world. Costa Rica should be no exception.

Costa Rica Travel Tip #2: ¡Con María, porfa!

Taxi drivers should always have their meter on, locally called a maría. Just like meters in other parts of the world, they increase the price per unit of time and/or distance. Because of this, some taxi drivers like to take tourists "on a ride," taking them the longest route possible to run up the meter. It always helps to know the general direction you're going to avoid this. Also, you should make sure the taxi driver knows the location of your destination before he takes a wild stab at pinpointing it. He won't want to give you a discount after he takes you up and down the scenic route. I don't mean to scare you, though. Most taxi drivers are fair and simply want to do their job. Most of them automatically put the meter on unless 1) they don't have one because they are a pirata (illegal pirate taxi), or 2) it is late at night and a taxi refuses to charge daylight prices. If you encounter a pirata in a big city, I would advise against getting in. There are plenty of the official red taxis with the yellow identification plaque on the side doors. So, just wait to flag one down in the street, or better yet, have your hotel call you one. In rural areas, however, many times authorized taxis are simply not an option. Nonetheless, I don't recommend that inexperienced foreigners use these unauthorized rides. It's even unlikely that you, as a tourist, will be in an area without adequate cab service. As for taxi drivers who refuse to use the maría late at night, often there is little you can do for lack of bargaining power. Sometimes I've walked home late at night because I didn't want to give in to taxi drivers who were trying to gouge me on price, but I don't recommend sacrificing your own safety to simply save a few bucks (or to spite a taxi driver).

Costa Rica Travel Tip #3: Ocupar is not to occupy

This is a little lesson in Costa Rican Spanish for the traveler who wants to understand the local yocals. Costa Ricans will often ask you if you need a towel, need a taxi, need directions, or need another beer. To this last one I usually respond "sí" (hell-yes in Spanish). When Costa Ricans ask you these questions, they will likely use the word 'ocupar' for the verb 'to need.' Ocupar as 'to occupy' is much less common in Costa Rica than ocupar as 'to need.' So, when someone asks you "Ocupa el baño," they're asking you if you need to use the bathroom, not whether you're currently occupying it. You may be able to crack that code better than I did at first, but foreigners, whether native Spanish speaker or not, have had quite a few problems with this funny Costa Rican verb.