The Single Most Important Costa Rica Tip You Need to Know

Land in Costa Rica, but take care with shortcuts to your destination.

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osta Rica’s tourism industry sat up and took notice following the issuing of a February travel alert by the U.S. Embassy. You should too.

The warning describes incidents of vehicles being ambushed at night when attempting to take a shortcut between San José’s Juan Santamaría International Airport and the capital’s far western suburbs, the location of several hotels. With a few precautions, the problem is completely surmountable and need not cause you problems. While we’re at it, a few other tips will serve you well on arrival and departure here.

Although Costa Rica’s major airport (airport code SJO) is designated as “San José,” it lies 11 miles northwest of the capital, just outside Alajuela, the country’s second-largest city.

The incidents in question have taken place on a shortcut road designated Highway 111. It loops around the east end of the airport and hugs the south side of the runway. Assailants wait near a DHL warehouse there. The metro area’s roads and highways, this one included, are usually clogged with traffic—you’ll come to curse that fact if you rent a vehicle here. But perpetrators pelt the occasional lone car with rocks, causing drivers to stop, at which point they rob passengers of their possessions and even the vehicle itself. The warning recommends drivers not stop and continue to drive to a safe location.

A few (we think) ill-informed or alarmist bloggers suggest not flying into San José at all and using Costa Rica’s second international airport just outside the smaller northwest city of Liberia instead. That is not a realistic recommendation. Guanacaste International Airport (airport code LIR) is a good four hours away. It is convenient and your best option if your time in Costa Rica focuses on its north Pacific beaches. Nothing in the travel alert suggests visitors should avoid San José, however. The capital sits smack dab in the center of the country and SJO airport will serve you well for most sightseeing needs in Costa Rica.

So, better yet? See our map and avoid the problematic shortcut road.

Carretera 1 (Highway 1) is the tolled multilane roadway connecting San José to the airport. It forms part of the Interamerican Highway that could take you from Alaska to Panama if you so desire. It’s heavily trafficked and safe. It leads southeast, directly into San José or northwest to the North Pacific coast, a few hours away. Just short of San José, the highway intersects the Circunvalación, the ring road around the capital. Heading south, you encounter the tolled Highway 27, the safest route to the western suburbs of Escazú and Santa Ana and continuing to the Central Pacific coast.

Alas, this brings up Costa Rica’s well-known resistance to using street names and highway numbers. (Choose your adjective to describe the phenomenon: Charming? Exasperating? Stubborn?) Costa Rica numbers its highways, but few people use them. Signs and the GPS in your rental vehicle designate highway numbers; the guy you ask on the street for directions may not even know.

Several big international flights arrive in San José in the evening and turn around back out very early in the morning, often with pre-dawn check-in times. Your drive in your rental vehicle to and from the airport could be in the dark. This close to the equator, the sun rises around 5:30 a.m. and sets about 5:30 p.m. with little variation throughout the year.

No question, we might be recommending a more heavily congested route to get back to the airport on your return day. Traffic is San José’s eternal bugaboo. Always budget plenty of time. The airport recommends an arrival time of three hours in advance of departure. Plenty of travelers ignore that recommendation; it depends on your aversion to risk. We describe the airport as “capricious.” You might breeze through check-in and security in a few minutes, si Dios lo quiere (“God willing”), to use that most Costa Rican of expressions. Or you may encounter lines that stretch out the door. Give yourself that three hours.

For most travelers, San José is the classic first-night, last-night destination. Costa Rica’s famed rainforests and beaches have your name written on them, after all. Most visitors land and head out to the hinterlands, not returning until they fly back home. (I am a writer for Fodor’s Essential Costa Rica guidebook and update the San José chapter. I’m resigned to the fact that it might be the least-read of the book’s seven travel chapters.)

Of course, it doesn’t need to be that way. The capital has three must-see sights along with the best dining and nightlife in the country. The surrounding Central Valley offers coffee plantations, animal reserves, and the hot and steaming, but oh-so-cool, Poás Volcano.

In general, the U.S. State Department classifies Costa Rica as a Level 2 “Exercise increased caution” destination. (Level 1 means “Exercise normal precautions”; Levels 3 and 4 mean “Reconsider travel” and “Do not travel,” respectively.) It shares that designation with several Western European countries, including France, Spain, and Germany. In Costa Rica’s case, the increased caution advises travelers to be aware of crime. Both Canada and the United Kingdom make similar recommendations about travel to Costa Rica.

The standard travel precautions about keeping money and valuables out of sight and parking vehicles in secure guarded lots really will serve you well, and most visitors have problem-free trips to Costa Rica.

On the topic of airport security here, there’s that moment you know well if you travel in this part of the world. You step out into a mass of humanity, and you’ll swear everyone—family, friends, and neighbors—turns out to greet arriving passengers. It’s disorienting your first time. Take a moment to compose yourself and gather up your things before you walk outside. All your bags will be x-rayed upon arrival in customs. Take them off the belt, put your things away, button up your jacket, take a deep breath, and say, “I’ve got this.”