We spent a week along the coast near Dominical, Costa Rica. We gathered some travel tips for visiting the area.
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Rental Car: the roads from San Jose to Dominical are just fine for a car. If you plan to stay close to the coast and spend most of your time at the beaches then a car would work. You could even access the smaller waterfalls. If you plan to stay in the mountains or visit any establishments in the mountains a 4×4 is a must. We visited several places that required a 4×4. Our Airbnb was about 15 minutes up the side of the mountain and we never would have made it there in a car. Places like Nauyaca and Bar Jolly Roger required a 4×4. We also had to drive through a few streams to access places like Playa Ventanas and exploring north of Uvita around the bamboo forest.
Directions: download Waze before you go. Waze was the preferred app for navigation. Google was not accurate when we visited.
Tide Charts: download an app for the local tide charts if you plan any beach activities like surfing, walking on the Whale’s Tail or checking out the caves at Playa Ventanas. When we visited there was about a two hour window every day that was preferable for beginner surfers at Dominical Beach. If you want to walk on the Whale’s Tail you want to visit during low tide when the sand bar is exposed. If you want to walk through the caves at Playa Ventanas you would also want to visit during low tide.
Clothing: if you are planning some outdoor adventures during your visit make sure to pack multi purpose clothing. What I mean is, wear clothes comfortable for hiking, but can get wet and dry fast. I will be the first to say I completely over packed. I lived in swim suits and hiking friendly cover ups.
Currency: check the colon exchange rate, it changes daily. Most places do accept the US dollar, however many places will not calculate exact exchange rate when giving change and this will likely be unfavorable for you. If you prefer to exchange your dollars for colons the best exchange rate will be at the bank. The airport may be convenient but will likely offer a less favorable rate. If you plan to exchange your money at a bank be sure to bring your passport.
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Great tips for CR visitors. I visited two years ago and agree on all of them. wish someone would have introduced me to waze before, I used google and it was really not good 🙈
Even though we read about the waze recommendations before our trip we were still surprised with how poorly google maps was 😂 so sorry you had to rely on google during your trip!