Tdiddy12

Hey Fodorites,
I would like some help with transportation on our Nov. 2015 trip. Our basic trip is as follows:
Flying into Liberia and spending 3 nights in La Fortuna, already booked at Hotel Cerro Azul. Jeep-Boat-Horse to Monteverde and spending three night there.
My question is how do we get to La Fortuna. There seems to mixed advice on renting a car and I haven't been able to find a lot of info on shuttles and what we did find was expensive. We've thought about shuttling to La Fortuna and then going back on night 7 from Monteverde, Jeep-boat-jeep, thinking that it would be easier to get back to Liberia from La Fortuna than from Monteverde.
The second week will be at a timeshare in Playa Hermosa.
Any information or thoughts on our plans would be greatly appreciated. If anyone has a shuttle referral we would appreciate it.
Tdiddy

volcanogirl

We always travel in and out of San Jose, but we have used Desafio's Jeep Boat Jeep service to go between Arenal and Monteverde, and it was fantastic and pretty affordable. You get some great views, and I think we paid about $30 per person. The road to Monteverde is long and bumpy, and I was glad we didn't drive it ourselves. We enjoyed traveling across the lake.

Tdiddy12

Thanks Volcano Girl,
How do you get to Arenal from San Jose? Do you leave your car in Arenal when you take the Jeep Boat Jeep?
thanks,

volcanogirl

T, we usually don't rent a car, although a lot of people do. We booked a private driver through our hotel when we reserved it. We kind of like to sit back and enjoy the ride. And the views!

Tdiddy12

Can you give us a ball park of what you had to pay? So if I understand you book a driver through the hotel in La Fortuna?

volcanogirl

Yes, Carlos with Destinos Encantados is really good. We booked him through the Lost Iguana, or you can check with your hotel for costs. I can't remember off the top of my head what we've paid. Two hundred something for a one way trip. I'd contact Carlos and your hotel and that will give you a good idea of the costs. It depends on which hotel you go to, the price of gas, etc. so we've paid a little differently each time, but I do think Carlos is very fair.

http://destinos-encantados.com/

elbos

The price of a private transfer from Liberia to Arenal should be well under $200.

Here are a few popular private transfer services to help your research:

www.morphovans.com - small business, very personal service
www.airporttransfercostarica.com/ - a little bigger
www.anywherecostarica.com - very large, lots of options

Most hotels also have a trusted driver or car service that you can use.

CindyW

We rented a car (small SUV) in Liberia, drove to Arenal, Monterverde, Manuel Antonio, then back to a beach near Liberia. We enjoyed the freedom of driving, though it's true that the road to Monteverde is VERY bumpy.