Taxi Service
Use the Orange taxi service to get from the airport to your hotel. They are considered the official airport taxi service and have the best rates for getting downtown or to your hotel. From what I have gathered they do speak at least a little English because of the types of clients they get.
Renting a Car
There are a number of car rental places, from Dollar to Avis if you are confident with your driving skills and don't get phased by honking. I decided against it because even though almost all the roads are one way, it seems mandatory to honk while you drive. Also from what I understand they have a really high rate of car accidents, the roads can be a little rough and if you travel to the country-side, the roads can be adjacent to a steep 100ft drop.
Starting My First Day
The ride from the airport to the hotel wasn't too long. I spoke English to the taxi driver and asked for good places to visit. He suggested, Poas and Montezuma volcanoes and Jaco beach.
While driving through the city you will see a number of American fast-food places, from Burger King to Papa John's. And if you remember Church's Chicken, then you're in luck.
As I said before, the roads are all one way so sometimes a drive can be round about.
When walking through the city, you can choose to obey the traffic lights, but the cars will not stop for you and they will start honking at pedestrians even if the car is one intersection away.
IMPORTANT: don't bring anything expensive or with large logos, dress very non-discript and keep any watches or jewelry you have at home. I spoke to one girl I met there and she was robbed at knife-point, but she attests that she wasn't in the best areas (South side) of Costa Rica. If you can blend in and move through the city without being noticed then do that.
There are a few areas just around Calle Central and Avenida 1 which are purely walking areas. A lot of shops and a lot of shoe stores!
Your first stop should be at the grocery store to pick up some water. The closest one in this area is on one of those pedestrian only areas between Avenida 1 and Avenida 2 on the East side, half way down the block. When you are there pick up bottles of water and if you have a smaller bottle with you, forego the sports cap because on the 1 liter bottle you will save some cash.
They also have a lot of snacks in there and you can get a good stash of food for relatively nothing.
Note: You will see these things that look like freezies, but they are jelly. They are nothing like jello in their texture, they have more of a gritty taste and a strange consistency. It it worth trying because they are so cheap, but there is a good chance they may not be for you.
Honestly, though a nice city it is a little dirty. You will see a lot of garbage in various areas though the more touristy places have a small army of street cleaners that go around making sure that it doesn't get overrun with filth.
Because of the large amounts of rain you will notice that there are small moats besides the sidewalks to help move the water off of the street. So if you have mobility issues or small kids you will have to walk over the small platforms on the corners where you can step off the sidewalk and onto the road.
Like any city there are homeless here, they are for the most part harmless. As long you as you stay in the North part of the city you will be fine. During the day the homeless are usually asleep and only come out at night to ask tourists who are visiting for the healthy sex industry there for money. For the most part you can just say, "Nada" or "No hablo espanol" and they will go away.
Food
My first day there I decided to try out some of my Spanish as local restaurants that I know - like McDonald's. When walking through Costa Rica you will see a lot of signs for "Pollos" that is chicken, there is a lot of chicken in Costa Rica and every place in the city will serve some kind of ice cream - the local purveyor is known as Pops.
Even KFC sells soft serve
One of the great things about the hotel I stayed in was the complimentary breakfast. But you have to enjoy rice and beans because they are probably Costa Rica's national dish.
Nightlife
At night you will see a lot of foot traffic as the city stays up pretty late. If you happen to be there while a football match is playing don't be surprised to see people all along the street, looking into bars and restaurants, trying to catch a glimpse of the game.
If you are looking for more mature entertainment there is a whole number of places you can indulge in debauchery as prostitution is legal and affordable, but like most of the world, DO NOT involve yourself with minors and be careful of the trannies.
All of this will be covered later.
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