Hey emmyceru!

Thanks so much for your interest in DIY Costa Rica! Unfortunately, I haven’t used MyDayTrip.com, so I cannot comment on their operation or service. 🙁 Regarding general transfer services in Costa Rica, though, and stops made along routes, these are certainly possible if you acquire a private transfer service. Shared shuttle services don’t typically allow stops to be made along set routes, except for scheduled bathroom breaks.

I’d be curious to learn how MyDayTrip.com coordinates their transportation services, being that they’re not based in Costa Rica. In theory, it’s great that they aim to offer transportation services with stops made along routes to take in attractions, but several attractions require reservation and only accept visitors at set times, so I’m not sure how MyDayTrip.com handles this, if they’re not familiar with Costa Rica’s unique operations.

In Costa Rica, if you hire a private transfer service, you’re essentially hiring the driver and the van for yourself (and your travel group), and you’re free to make stops along routes because the transfer services aren’t shared with other travelers. Most private transfer services will include up to one hour of free stop time, then they’ll charge you a flat fee per extra hour of stop time, to cover the driver’s time. In addition, if any of the attractions visited “along the way” happen to fall along side roads or along routes not normally taken between start and end destinations, additional fees may apply. For example, if you request to visit the Macaw Sanctuary Natuwa during a transfer service between Monteverde and Jaco, since the sanctuary sits off the main highway traveled between these two destinations, you may need to pay more for the private transfer service to include the side trip to Natuwa. For visits to Proyecto Asis between Jaco and La Fortuna, these are possible, but Proyecto Asis only accepts visitors at set times (and with prior reservation), so you’d need to coordinate your departure time from Jaco carefully (with the private transfer service provider) to ensure you arrive at Proyecto Asis at the time when they welcome guests. For Centro de Rescate Las Pumas, we don’t recommend visiting this center. I know other people and bloggers do, but following our two most recent visits to the place, we don’t feel comfortable recommending it to others.

Pura vida! 🙂