Costa Rica's Roads: Are They Really That Bad?
The answer is yes and no. Let's start with driving in San Jose. San Jose is the capitol of the country and by far its largest city. The entire metropolitan area (or GAM) consists of not just San Jose, but also Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago. Half the population of the entire country lives in this area. As you can imagine driving in San Jose is far different than what you might be used to. The city is a web of unmarked one way streets. Traffic signals are in Spanish (duh!). There are traffic lights, but they are not in sync and change very rapidly. Running red lights is a sport here in San Jose (everybody does it). It is virtually impossible to give someone directions because none of the streets are marked and often you have to go around your elbow to get to your $%^#@! because of all the one way streets. Do I sound like I am complaining? Listen, the truth is I love my city, San Jose. The weather is perfect, there are more restaurants and great places to go dancing and have a good time than you can count and so many beautiful ladies everywhere, BUT the one complaint I do have is the traffic. During rush hours I sometimes want to end it all right there. It drives me crazy. And if there has been an accident here is how it works in Costa Rica. The cars cannot be moved one inch until the guy from INS (the national insurance company) shows up to assess damage. These guys drive mopeds and it usually takes them about two hours to show up at the scene. Meanwhile the cars just sit there holding up traffic to infinity (and beyond). Yes I am complaining. Now that I have had my rant about San Jose's traffic, let's switch gears to the more tranquil country driving..........
Mountain roads. Here is where you can experience some of Costa Rica's most breathtaking scenery. Generally these roads are paved (of course there are exceptions). One of the most incredible is the road that goes from San Jose to San Isidro and crosses Cerro de la Muerte. This is one of Costa Rica's highest peaks at an elevation of 3,491 meters (over 11,000 feet). The road goes right over the top and if it is clear you can see forever. Often, however, you are shrouded in dense fog and this road can be quite dangerous as it is also a major truck route. The road leads on after San Isidro (which by the way is a charming little town) to Dominical on the Pacific Coast. The road from Dominical down the Southern Pacific Coast is one of the best in the country. There are many other spectacular mountains roads. These roads can be very narrow with many hairpin turns so you really have to keep your whits about you, which is hard considering all the incredible scenery that your passengers will be oohing and aaahing about. Rule number one is to always keep your wheels in the road because Costa Rica roads generally have no shoulders and if you run off the road more than likely you either go over a cliff (worse) or bottom out to your axles (better). And if you hit a fog bank don't panic, just try to keep your eyes on where the edge of the road is so you don't run off it and over a cliff (remember stay in the road!).
Coastal Roads. These roads can often be pot hole infested and many are not even paved. Guanacaste roads are famously bad despite the tremendous development that is going on there. During the green season, when we get afternoon showers almost every day, these roads are much worse. The municipalities are in charge with maintaining them and during the green season (May to November) it is a losing battle so they pretty much just let them go. While driving down one of these infamously bad roads, like the road from Quepos to Dominical (remember you can also get there via San Isidro on a much better road), you just have to keep reminding yourself that you are in paradise. If it gets too bad you can stop at one of the multitude of little bars that seem to pop up about every five kilometers. One thing we will never run out of in Costa Rica is Imperial and the bars that serve it.
A few pointers about driving the roads. First the conversion from kilometers to miles is very easy, just multiply by .60 and you are close enough (that's right Scarlet, 100 kilometers is about 60 miles). Bridges are almost always one lane and one side or the other (have never figured out if there is any rhyme or reason as to which side gets the yield) must yield to the other side. The yield sign is an inverted triangle with the words Ceda. Also, when driving through a small town be on the lookout for unpainted and unmarked speed bumps. And always be on the lookout for pot holes that can flatten a tire in a heartbeat. If you do have trouble on the road, like needing a tire plugged, almost every little town will have a mechanic (called a Taller) and you can generally stop and get your problem fixed for next to nothing. One of the worst roads in the country is the dirt road that leads to Monteverde, a little mountain town about 8,000 feet up. The locals have historically kept this road horrible either to discourage tourism (that hasn't worked because it is one of the most visited locations in the country for tourists) or to add to the mystique and adventure of going to Monteverde (when you arrive you can buy a t-shirt that reads, "I survived the road to Monteverde."). Anyway, once I drove there and when I arrived I noticed the strong smell of gasoline. Upon arriving at the hotel I took a look under the car and noticed gas pouring out from a hole where a rock had punctured the tank. The hotel made me park about a mile away so as not to blow the place up. The next day I was able to get the tank permanently repaired for about 15,000 colones (about $30). And I have had no problems to this day with that repair job.
All that said, our current president (Oscar Arias) is trying to put his campaign rhetoric into action by fixing the roads around the country. There is more roadwork going on now than I have ever seen. They are even working on the road from Quepos to Dominical, which once paved will make property values in that area skyrocket since this in my opinion is our most beautiful stretch of coastline, but a bit remote considering that this road is only 40 kilometers long, but during the green season can take up to 2.5 hours to traverse. The roads in Guanacaste are getting major improvements as well. I just hope the roads never get too good. After all this is Costa Rica and we are proud of our crappy roads. Happy driving!
Listen, if you ever need assistance with driving Costa Rica's roads you can always contact me. Go to my Travel Website for more information or call me directly at the toll free number: 1-866-424-6439.
Pura Vida!
Mountain roads. Here is where you can experience some of Costa Rica's most breathtaking scenery. Generally these roads are paved (of course there are exceptions). One of the most incredible is the road that goes from San Jose to San Isidro and crosses Cerro de la Muerte. This is one of Costa Rica's highest peaks at an elevation of 3,491 meters (over 11,000 feet). The road goes right over the top and if it is clear you can see forever. Often, however, you are shrouded in dense fog and this road can be quite dangerous as it is also a major truck route. The road leads on after San Isidro (which by the way is a charming little town) to Dominical on the Pacific Coast. The road from Dominical down the Southern Pacific Coast is one of the best in the country. There are many other spectacular mountains roads. These roads can be very narrow with many hairpin turns so you really have to keep your whits about you, which is hard considering all the incredible scenery that your passengers will be oohing and aaahing about. Rule number one is to always keep your wheels in the road because Costa Rica roads generally have no shoulders and if you run off the road more than likely you either go over a cliff (worse) or bottom out to your axles (better). And if you hit a fog bank don't panic, just try to keep your eyes on where the edge of the road is so you don't run off it and over a cliff (remember stay in the road!).
Coastal Roads. These roads can often be pot hole infested and many are not even paved. Guanacaste roads are famously bad despite the tremendous development that is going on there. During the green season, when we get afternoon showers almost every day, these roads are much worse. The municipalities are in charge with maintaining them and during the green season (May to November) it is a losing battle so they pretty much just let them go. While driving down one of these infamously bad roads, like the road from Quepos to Dominical (remember you can also get there via San Isidro on a much better road), you just have to keep reminding yourself that you are in paradise. If it gets too bad you can stop at one of the multitude of little bars that seem to pop up about every five kilometers. One thing we will never run out of in Costa Rica is Imperial and the bars that serve it.
A few pointers about driving the roads. First the conversion from kilometers to miles is very easy, just multiply by .60 and you are close enough (that's right Scarlet, 100 kilometers is about 60 miles). Bridges are almost always one lane and one side or the other (have never figured out if there is any rhyme or reason as to which side gets the yield) must yield to the other side. The yield sign is an inverted triangle with the words Ceda. Also, when driving through a small town be on the lookout for unpainted and unmarked speed bumps. And always be on the lookout for pot holes that can flatten a tire in a heartbeat. If you do have trouble on the road, like needing a tire plugged, almost every little town will have a mechanic (called a Taller) and you can generally stop and get your problem fixed for next to nothing. One of the worst roads in the country is the dirt road that leads to Monteverde, a little mountain town about 8,000 feet up. The locals have historically kept this road horrible either to discourage tourism (that hasn't worked because it is one of the most visited locations in the country for tourists) or to add to the mystique and adventure of going to Monteverde (when you arrive you can buy a t-shirt that reads, "I survived the road to Monteverde."). Anyway, once I drove there and when I arrived I noticed the strong smell of gasoline. Upon arriving at the hotel I took a look under the car and noticed gas pouring out from a hole where a rock had punctured the tank. The hotel made me park about a mile away so as not to blow the place up. The next day I was able to get the tank permanently repaired for about 15,000 colones (about $30). And I have had no problems to this day with that repair job.
All that said, our current president (Oscar Arias) is trying to put his campaign rhetoric into action by fixing the roads around the country. There is more roadwork going on now than I have ever seen. They are even working on the road from Quepos to Dominical, which once paved will make property values in that area skyrocket since this in my opinion is our most beautiful stretch of coastline, but a bit remote considering that this road is only 40 kilometers long, but during the green season can take up to 2.5 hours to traverse. The roads in Guanacaste are getting major improvements as well. I just hope the roads never get too good. After all this is Costa Rica and we are proud of our crappy roads. Happy driving!
Listen, if you ever need assistance with driving Costa Rica's roads you can always contact me. Go to my Travel Website for more information or call me directly at the toll free number: 1-866-424-6439.
Pura Vida!
posted by That "Costa Rica Guy" at
7:25 AM
1 Comments:
We are planning on travel to beautiful CR in May of 2011. Are the roads still as bad as when this blog was written? My wife has terrible fears while a passenger in a car and I fear that she will have such a terrible time because of the roads that it will ruin her trip all together and I do not want that to happen. Any advice you can give will help. Yes, we are planning on visiting Monteverde.
By
ansimation, At
June 27, 2010 at 11:36 PM
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