Rental Cars

This is a good way to see the country and have control over your schedule. Costa Rica is a beautiful country, and we can help you reserve rental cars, although it's easy to get around the Osa without a rental car: using taxis is less expensive and helps the local economy, not to mention you get to know great Costa Rican taxi drivers and practice your Spanish.

Roads are often bad, so it's best to not be in a hurry. Even though San Jose is only about 200 miles from Puerto Jimenez, it takes from seven to ten hours to make the drive, depending upon road conditions, time of day, weather conditions and ingenuity of the driver. People underestimate the driving time to Puerto Jimenez. We recommend you not drive at night. Driving at night is dangerous as the roads are often horrendous with gaping ravines, washouts, missing bridges, etc, particularly during the rainy season. Finding your way out of San Jose itself can also be challenging: you may want to hire a taxi drive to guide you out of the city, particularly if you are heading toward Cartago.

Four-wheel drive vehicles are recommended, particularly once you are on the Osa. There are a variety of rental car companies in San Jose, but only Solid Rental Car Company has an office on the Osa. Hence, with Solid you can drive one way and fly the other, or if you drive down and decide you don't want to drive back, you can drop the car at no charge. Expect to pay $465 - $850 a week for a Suzuki Sidekick; Toyota Four-Runner, Hi-Lux, Rav-4, Land Cruiser, or Mitsubishi Galloper. We recommend you not rent a Daihatsu Terio as these vehicles roll easily.

Click here for driving directions to Iguana Lodge.