The Gringos Guide To Driving Through Mexico & Central America: Expanded Costa Rica Section 2011

"Drive Me Loco is the authoity on travel by car to Costa Rica, there is romance in the road less-graveled."

~ Washington Post

"I laughed a lot while reading the guide and the updated info on this site gets better and better"

~ Jayne Tuggle

The Gingo's Guide To Driving Through Mexico and Central America is an eBook combining 35 years of experience offering the reader expert recommendations from real life (yes, I've done it several times) information on driving your vehicle through Mexico and Central America.

We detail, in an easy-to-read format, all the information necessary for a trip by vehicle through Mexico and Central America. We chronicle a trip by car through Mexico, Baja, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. We also include information on Belize, El Salvador, and Panama and South America. Gringo's Guide will get you to where you want to go in Mexico and Central America with an expanded Costa Rica section---the jewel of Central America.

If you are even thinking about taking this trip you got to read this guide!"

The Drive

The drive through Mexico and Central America is a wonderful experience, however, it's not an adventure for everyone. What type of person would like this sort of trip? First and foremost, you go to like to drive---if the open road turns you on then this is a great trip for you. Even through you could rush the trip, ideally it is better to have an open agenda tat isn't too pressured by time. You don't need tons of money but you should have a nice money reserve for emergencies and potential car issues.

Places and conditions change, thus be prepared to make variations or detours altered from the original directions; though generally speaking things in Central America change slowly---except for Costa Rica where it seems different every time I go back, which has been every six months for the last decade.

There is no one correct way of doing anything and therefore if you find a way or route that you feel is easier or less complicated, please send your comments to us at DriveMeLoco so that your information may be included in the next publication and so that the loco community gets updated---we are stronger together.

Which Route?

There are three main routes through Mexico, one is along the Atlantic Coast (actually the Gulf of Mexico), the second is through Central Mexico and Mexico City, and the third is by the way of the Pacific Coast. From Texas the four main entry points are El Paso, Piedras Negras, Laredo and Brownsville. There are several east-west, north-south links as you journey south through Mexico.

The Pacific Coast route is the hands down favorite among travelers. The roads are better overall, drivers don't have to circumnavigate Mexico City, and there are plenty of beautiful sites along the way. Those travelers that have driven all three route agree that the Pacific Coast route is by far the best. The route detailed in the city-by-city portion of this guide is the Pacific Coast route of Mexico, until Chiapas where I recommend diverting to the interior to see the jewels left by the Mayan civilization.

If Central America is your goal, then the central route bogs you down too much in Mexico City and the surrounding areas. The Atlantic route is just plain hard on vehicles and the scenic delightful places are fewer. Head for the Pacific Coast and then south through Mexico.

Lots more free info is available at our official website: drivemeloco.com

Enjoy the journey!. NOTA: El libro no está en español, sino en inglés.

It all started in the mid 80's, I had just graduated from high school and I was working a summer job and my Dad calls me and says, "What ya doing for the summer?"

I told him I'd be working all summer to save for a surf trip and he said why wait, let's go now. I replied, "what about my job?" and he said, " just quit!"

I quit that day; we packed the boards on the car and my first proper surf trip was born, a three month journey to the tip of Baja surfing uncrowded epic southern swell along the way. I never thought that the best advise I'd ever get from my Dad was to quit a job and go surfing.

A few years later a friend calls me up and says lets go surf Costa Rica and I found myself quiting yet another job and surfing my brains out in Costa Rica. Several years later I would travel from California to Panama by car and surf along the way, the Gringo's Guide and website drivemeloco.com were the creative expressions of that journey.

Asia and Australia we next on my travel list, I lived in Bali on and off for a few years and finally made my way to Australia, surfing from the East to the West and scoring some epic wave in New Zealand on my way back . . . home?

If you haven't traveled much and would love a wonderful experience please go to Bali!

Next I moved to Europe, living in Spain mainly and surfing Portugal, France, and the UK with frequency. I also ventured to the Azores Islands, Morocco, and the Canaries Islands during my three year Euro fest, surf travel was becoming my life, or least a big portion of it.

I moved back to the US and started going south again, traveling to Mainland Mexico every six months for the past decade and surfing from Puerto Escondido to Mazatlan, sprinkling in a few trips to Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina, and Ecuador.

Want to take a unique surf trip? Go surf the Galapagos Islands, it is magical!

Next I had Africa on my sites and stumbled upon Jbay in 2004, hands down one of the best waves on the planet. I've been back to South Africa five times since 2004, surfing from Cape Town to Durban and somehow avoiding all the great white sharks along the Transski coast.

There are many other places I have surfed on this planet, Japan, Thailand, India, Cuba, China . . .just to name a few.

Follow your dreams.