If you are an iPhone user like we are, forget Apple Maps; it's worthless in Costa Rica. Many suggest Waze. We used it a bit but found that Google Maps worked just fine for almost everywhere we went. It had a couple of issues in San Jose but we did not spend much time there. Google maps would appear on our rental car Car Play/Android Auto screen but Waze would not.

Whatever time your navigation system tells you the trip will take (except for shorter trips), plan on a bit more time. Main roads in Costa Rica are two-lane roads with one lane in each direction and traffic is unpredictable. Actually, you can predict that it will always be bad and you will often be stuck behind a line of vehicles following big trucks or busses for long stretches.