Hire a Private Driver and Van for the Day in La Fortuna

Here is something most people do not realize until they are standing in their hotel lobby in La Fortuna with a full day of plans and no easy way to get around: the tours are the easy part. You book the La Fortuna Waterfall, a chocolate tour, the hanging bridges, maybe a canopy zip-line, and they are all worth it. The headache is everything in between, the driving, the parking, the timing, and the how-do-we-get-from-here-to-there moments. That is exactly the gap we fill, and honestly it has turned into one of our favorite ways to show people around.

Hire the van and the driver for the whole day

The idea is simple. You hire our minibus and your own driver for the day, usually somewhere between 8 and 10 hours, and we are yours that entire time. We pick you up at your hotel, take you to the tours you already booked, wait for you while you are zip-lining or climbing down to a waterfall, and get you to lunch and back without you ever touching a steering wheel or opening a map. No rental car, no shared shuttle schedule, no taxis to flag down in the rain.

And because it is private, the day runs on your clock. Want to start at 7 to beat the crowds at the waterfall? Done. Want a slow morning and a late lunch? Also fine. Kids need a nap back at the hotel in the middle of the day? We will take you and come back. It is your day, we just drive it.

What comes with it

• A private minibus and your own driver for 8 to 10 hours
• Hotel pickup and drop-off right in La Fortuna
• Fresh local fruit to snack on between stops
• A cooler with cold beers, water, and Coca-Cola and other sodas
• A flexible plan that follows your tours and your pace, not a fixed route
• A local who actually knows the area and the good places to stop

A real day, start to finish

Most people who do this have already reserved a few activities and just want them stitched into one smooth day. Here is what a typical one looks like.

• Morning: hotel pickup, then a canopy zip-line tour while the air is still cool
• Late morning: the La Fortuna Waterfall, the famous catarata, with its 500 steps down to a turquoise pool
• Lunch: we stop at a local soda for a real casado, or wherever you are in the mood for
• Afternoon: a chocolate and cacao tour, or the hanging bridges with Arenal Volcano views
• Golden hour: sloth spotting along the way, since they are easiest to find late in the day
• Evening: drop you at the hot springs, or straight back to your hotel, your call

You do not have to do all of that. Some groups pack it in, others keep it relaxed with two stops and a long lunch. The point is that the van and the driver stay with you the whole time, so you are never waiting on anyone or watching the clock.

Why do it this way instead of renting a car

We get this question a lot. A rental car looks cheaper on paper, but then you are paying for insurance, parking, and gas, plus the stress of driving unfamiliar mountain roads, often in the rain and sometimes at night. Shared shuttles are fine point to point, but they run on their own schedule and will not wait two hours while you do a tour. Hiring the driver and van for the day gives you the freedom of a car with none of the driving, and for a family or a group of friends splitting the cost it usually just makes more sense.

Pro tip from a local: book your activities for the same side of town when you can. Mornings are best for the waterfall and zip-line before the heat and the crowds, and late afternoon is prime time for sloths. We will help you order the day so nothing feels rushed.

Frequently asked questions