Costa Rica Self-Drive Vacations

You don't have to drive to explore Costa Rica, but it helps you get to special places most don't know about. While it's simple enough to get transfers between busy places like Arenal, Monteverde and Manuel Antonio, we prefer to avoid these to show you a Costa Rica with more personality, and fewer visitors. Vehicles are good, roads are mostly decent and distances not huge. Seatbelts on for these, our exceptional self-drive vacations to Costa Rica.

9 Trips

9 Trips

  • cano island view from above costa rica
    lady holding cacao in costa rica
    walking boots and coconut wild beach
    natures edge cabins in uvita on the pacific
    sloth cahuita national park
    local children playing football in manzanillo
    beach beet sign caribbean costa rica
    toucans feeding in tree pacific costa rica
    worker in coffee highlands costa rica
    crossing bridge on osa peninsula
    self-drive travel costa rica
    guide with hermit crab corcovado national park
    lady in hammock costa rica beach
    squirrel monkey corcovado national park
    Free Cloud Forest Stay

    Caribbean to Pacific: Costa Rica Hidden Highlights

    • Pura Vida hosting!
    • Wildlife wonders
    • Tropical rainforest lodges
    From 
    $4,430pp
  • costa rica beach house
    jungle beach house osa peninsula
    osa peninsula beach boy grandfather walking
    costa rica osa casa atrevida monkeys
    costa rica fish dinner
    costa rica osa peninsula casa atrevida hotel
    costa rica scarlet macaws osa peninsula
    costa rica casa atrevida dolphin
    golfo dulce kayak
    pueto jimenez punta preciosa

    Costa Rica Family: Osa Jungle Beach House

    • Special places to stay
    • Freedom to explore
    • Wildlife, people & adventure
    From 
    $2,150pp
  • Costa Rica Caribbean beach shack
    Hummingbird in Bajos del Toro
    Hammock in Costa Rica
    Caribbean lodge Costa Rica
    Cahuita beach Costa Rica
    Tortuguero aerial photo
    Tortuguero monkey
    Driving a 4x4 in Costa Rica

    Costa Rica Family: Caribbean Escape

    • Lovely lodges
    • Caribbean colors
    • Up-close wildlife encounters
    From 
    $2,785pp
  • Costa Rican Caribbean beach
    Caribbean coast
    landscapes and activities
    Hummingbird in Bajos del Toro
    Costa Rican Caribbean snorkeling
    Cahuita National Park
    Shrimp lunch
    Costa Rica Otter
    Luxury lodge
    Manzanillo smoothie

    Costa Rica: Caribbean Escape

    • Wonderful wildlife
    • Premium lodges
    • Local flavors
    From 
    $4,000pp
  • Costa Rica Salad
    lounging in hammock on costa rica beach
    Costa Rica monkey
    Tenorio volcano
    Volcano view
    costa rica hotel
    turtle hatching
    Arenal la fortuna
    Night walk
    Rio Celeste
    Cr Sunset

    Costa Rica: Pacific Escape

    • Pacific sunsets
    • Volcano & Beaches
    • Waterfall & jungle hikes
    From 
    $2,750pp
  • great green macaws manzanillo
    squirrel monkey osa peninsula
    tapir in corcovado national park
    resplendent quetzal san gerardo de dota
    three-toed sloth cahuita
    olive ridley turtles ostional
    villas pina pool caribbean hotel costa rica
    corcovado national park osa peninsula
    driving costa rica
    smiling man tenorio

    Wildlife Wonders of Costa Rica

    • World famous wildlife
    • Every ecosystem
    • Thoughtfully paced & timed
    From 
    $8,120pp

Costa Rica Road Trips

Costa rica tenorio driving road c canva

Freedom to Explore

The freedom to explore lends a spirit of discovery to your trip. It lets you detour to a waterfall hidden down a side road, stop at a roadside shack to talk to locals or visit a wild beach your host has just told you all about.

Costa rica toucan slow sign istock

Driving in Costa Rica

There's no great difficulty driving in Costa Rica - take it steady and it's very safe. You have local support, an eSim to keep you connected and GPS technology that makes navigation nice and easy.

Costa rica turrialba c nortico cacao 3

Pura Vida!

Our driving vacations are not really about the driving though. They are about macaws and monkeys, coffee and cacao, about meeting the people of Costa Rica and experiencing nature at its most pristine.