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Here is my thoughts on the new toll road from San Jose to Ortina…..
One word WONDERFUL.
I have a home between Parrita and Quepos in Palo Seco and travel from San Jose to Parrita often. The new road saves me at least 45 minutes and maybe more. I say that because this was my first time on it and I was unsure about where to enter the road on the way down and where to get off on the way back to San Jose…so, now that I am confident of these issues, I would drive a little faster and probably shave off a few more minutes.
I would suggest that if you are flying in to San Jose and need a rental car, use Dollar Car Rental(airport location)…It is very easy to get onto the toll road and exit the toll road from/to their rental office.
I just did a quick turnaround type trip…in on a Thursday and back to the states on a Saturday….I could have driven as fast as I wanted traffic wise and no delays at toll booths. Cost is somewhere between 500-650 colones each toll booth….seems to be more booths on the way to San Jose than leaving San Jose….
Good Luck,
TSGlad to hear about you experience. Is there an entry/exit west of the airport? I will be heading down to Dominical in a couple of weeks.
JSWhen did the toll road open, I thought it was projected for later this year?
Is it now open all the way from Caldera to Escazu now?
Also do you know if the entrance/exit near Atenas is open now too?
Thanks[quote=”olbaloney”]Glad to hear about you experience. Is there an entry/exit west of the airport? I will be heading down to Dominical in a couple of weeks.
JS[/quote]Sorry, can’t comment…I only know one way and that is from the Dollar Rent a car by the airport…its only three or four miles from the airport and is easy to find.
[quote=”Johnhw2″]When did the toll road open, I thought it was projected for later this year?
Is it now open all the way from Caldera to Escazu now?
Also do you know if the entrance/exit near Atenas is open now too?
Thanks[/quote]I can speak to this: It is open from Escazu to Ortina which is where I got off to head to the Quepos area.
I know that you can exit Atenas as I did pay attention to the exit in that area…I would imagine the entrace is open also…
[quote=”tomstew1″][quote=”Johnhw2″]When did the toll road open, I thought it was projected for later this year?
Is it now open all the way from Caldera to Escazu now?
Also do you know if the entrance/exit near Atenas is open now too?
Thanks[/quote]I can speak to this: It is open from Escazu to Ortina which is where I got off to head to the Quepos area.
I know that you can exit Atenas as I did pay attention to the exit in that area…I would imagine the entrace is open also…[/quote]
TS, I was glad to hear about your positive experience. I have been hearing that the new toll road isn’t so great after all unless you catch it at just the right time. Some say the traffic has been bad and the squeezing down to 2 lanes adds to it. I want to take it from SJ airport to the coast and then south to Dominical.
~BillTry and avoid the weekends. Even with some of the best roads in the world (New York), getting to the beach Friday-Sunday in season is pure hell!:wink:
And we have 4 lanes each way!!
TS, I was glad to hear about your positive experience. I have been hearing that the new toll road isn’t so great after all unless you catch it at just the right time. Some say the traffic has been bad and the squeezing down to 2 lanes adds to it. I want to take it from SJ airport to the coast and then south to Dominical.
~Bill[/quote]Bill:
I did read about backups at toll booths and some other compalints, but I didn’t experience any of that really….Alot of people just like to bitch and moan about anything…you know how that is….
I went down on a Thursday around 3pm and came back to SJ on a Saturday around 1pm…No worries…the road has plenty of pass lanes for slower traffic…The only problem I had was gringos in front of me trying to get directions for the toll booth operators…It will save you 45-50 minutes off that trip….plus I heard the road from Quepos to Dominical is now paved….that will save you some time also….
The only difficult part for me was determining where to get on and off….I usually rent vehicles from Dollar (airport location) and those guys were very helpful and although I wasn’t confident about their directions when I left the Dollar lot, I did follow their instructions to the letter and they were perfect. I didn’t have ANY confidence on the directions on the way back because he said the following “Go until the road ends and turn left”….go straight for about 5 miles and there is a hill with a Bridgestone Tire plant at the top of the hill with a big sign…exit at the top of the hill and we (dollar rental) are about 300 mtr on your right….well I did just what he said and again he was spot on…..
If you rent a car, rent it from them because it is damned easy to get onto and off of the road from their location….
[quote=”*Lotus”]Try and avoid the weekends. Even with some of the best roads in the world (New York), getting to the beach Friday-Sunday in season is pure hell!:wink:
And we have 4 lanes each way!![/quote]
Thx Lotus. 4 lanes all the way to the coast?
[quote=”tomstew1″]TS, I was glad to hear about your positive experience. I have been hearing that the new toll road isn’t so great after all unless you catch it at just the right time. Some say the traffic has been bad and the squeezing down to 2 lanes adds to it. I want to take it from SJ airport to the coast and then south to Dominical.
~Bill[/quote]Bill:
I did read about backups at toll booths and some other compalints, but I didn’t experience any of that really….Alot of people just like to bitch and moan about anything…you know how that is….
I went down on a Thursday around 3pm and came back to SJ on a Saturday around 1pm…No worries…the road has plenty of pass lanes for slower traffic…The only problem I had was gringos in front of me trying to get directions for the toll booth operators…It will save you 45-50 minutes off that trip….plus I heard the road from Quepos to Dominical is now paved….that will save you some time also….
The only difficult part for me was determining where to get on and off….I usually rent vehicles from Dollar (airport location) and those guys were very helpful and although I wasn’t confident about their directions when I left the Dollar lot, I did follow their instructions to the letter and they were perfect. I didn’t have ANY confidence on the directions on the way back because he said the following “Go until the road ends and turn left”….go straight for about 5 miles and there is a hill with a Bridgestone Tire plant at the top of the hill with a big sign…exit at the top of the hill and we (dollar rental) are about 300 mtr on your right….well I did just what he said and again he was spot on…..
If you rent a car, rent it from them because it is damned easy to get onto and off of the road from their location….[/quote]
Thx again TS, great advice. I already have have a rental reserved with National but no matter since I forgot to say I’ll be staring out in downtown SJ. Im attending the 2 day ARCR seminar 1st then up and down the coast to meet with a realtor (already set up) I assume I can still work my way over to the new highway from SJ.
With all respect to the above posters and your preferences..isn’t there an extra percentage tagged on by renting cars at the airport?
I always have the agency drop off the car at my hotel for my first night at no extra charge and avoid the extra cost. I think they charge an extra 20% at the airport for car rentals …unless something has changed recently.
Hopefully Scott will offer us an updated map of the new hwy with directions for off ramps…at no cost of course..hehehe[quote=”ronny”]With all respect to the above posters and your preferences..isn’t there an extra percentage tagged on by renting cars at the airport?
I always have the agency drop off the car at my hotel for my first night at no extra charge and avoid the extra cost. I think they charge an extra 20% at the airport for car rentals …unless something has changed recently.
Hopefully Scott will offer us an updated map of the new hwy with directions for off ramps…at no cost of course..hehehe[/quote]Well I’ve heard that before but last time I rented at the airport and this time I p/u in downtown SJ and didn’t seem to be much of a difference.
~B[quote=”bloucas”][quote=”ronny”]With all respect to the above posters and your preferences..isn’t there an extra percentage tagged on by renting cars at the airport?
I always have the agency drop off the car at my hotel for my first night at no extra charge and avoid the extra cost. I think they charge an extra 20% at the airport for car rentals …unless something has changed recently.
Hopefully Scott will offer us an updated map of the new hwy with directions for off ramps…at no cost of course..hehehe[/quote]Well I’ve heard that before but last time I rented at the airport and this time I p/u in downtown SJ and didn’t seem to be much of a difference.
~B[/quote]It is true there is a fee for an airport rental, even for those just off the airport propery. I believe it is about 13% more than if the car is delivered to your hotel. I got a quote both ways my last trip which confirmed this. Some rental car firms quote a lower rate if you take a cab to their nearby facility to pick it up but I am told that is a gray area and does not always result in avoiding the airport pickup premium.
I travelled from Santa Ana to Jaco in exactly 70 minutes earlier today… S-W-E-E-T!
This is a done deal, this is not a “planned” highway – like the famous new “international airport”, it’s here now!
There will be times of congestion but compared to the old days, this is a bloody, intergalactic, supersonic superhighway!
From a personal standpoint, I would prefer not to live in Jaco – it’s just too toasty or me – but, anybody who thinks this will not have a DRAMATIC and very positive affect on real estate values in this area is really not thinking straight.
Scott Oliver
Founder – WeLoveCostaRica.com
Author of ‘How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa.’Scott:
We just got back from Costa Rica yesterday and had the opportunity to travel on the new (is it called the Pista del Sol?) highway from two different points. All I can say is “WOW”!!! We went from Puriscal (via the back way thru San Pablo) and then on down to Jaco. The whole trip was about 50 minutes. Had lunch at the Taco Bar in Jaco and then blasted back on the highway and got off at the Atenas exit, and then to San Ramon via Palmares (which seemed to us like the fastest way back to San Ramon) and that trip was just at an hour. Very little traffic.
I really agree with you..this highway is a BIG game changer. Reminds me of when the little coastal towns of SoCal were finally connected to LAX by freeways. The new highway experience helped us decide on property in San Ramon, which we bought on Wednesday. We feel that San Ramon is now “close enough” to the beaches for us, but will “stay” San Ramon because it isn’t TOO close to the new highway.
Honestly, being on the highway was sort of an “altered experience”….it was so fundamentally different from all of our other travels in Costa Rica. Whew…..
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