Costa Rica Drunk Driving Law: Limits, Tests and Penalties

Costa Rica’s drunk driving law is stricter than most of what you know from home. For regular drivers, a fine starts at a blood alcohol level of 0.50 g/L (0.05%). Above 0.75 g/L you’re no longer dealing with a ticket: it’s a criminal offense that can carry prison time. New and professional drivers face even lower thresholds. Police run breath-test checkpoints, especially on weekends and holidays. If you’re over the limit, your rental car’s insurance will very likely stop covering you.

This guide explains what the rules mean for a tourist in a rental car. It covers the limits in units that actually make sense, what happens at a checkpoint, how fines differ from criminal charges, what happens to the car, and how to get back to your hotel without driving.

What is the legal alcohol limit for driving in Costa Rica?

Costa Rica sets two tiers. A lower band is an administrative offense, meaning a fine plus points. A higher band is a crime. The numbers depend on whether you’re a “regular” driver or a new or professional one. Professional drivers include taxi, bus and freight drivers.

The biggest source of confusion online is units. Costa Rican law gives limits both as grams of alcohol per liter of blood (g/L) and as milligrams per liter of exhaled air (mg/L), which is what the breathalyzer reads. US and Canadian drivers think in % BAC. Here is the same set of thresholds in all three units:

These thresholds match how Ley 9078 and article 261 bis of the Código Penal have been applied for years. Laws do get amended, though, so check the current text in the official legal database, SCIJ (pgrweb.go.cr), before relying on an exact figure.

How does this compare with home?

Most US states, and Canada’s federal criminal limit, use 0.08% BAC. In Costa Rica you’re in fine territory at just over 0.05%, and you cross the criminal line at about 0.075%, slightly below the 0.08% many Americans treat as “legal.” Canadians from provinces with 0.05% administrative suspensions will find the lower tier familiar. Even so, the criminal line kicks in sooner than the Canadian criminal limit.

Does the “new driver” limit apply to tourists?

Honestly, it’s unclear. Costa Rica treats drivers in their first years of licensing as novice drivers; this is commonly cited as three years. How an officer reads a foreign license issued recently isn’t well documented. A traffic officer may not be able to verify how long you’ve held a US or Canadian license, and you don’t want to be the test case. If your license is less than three years old, assume the 0.20 g/L limit applies to you. That’s roughly one drink for many people.

For the rules on driving here with your home license in the first place, see Can I Drive in Costa Rica With My Foreign License?

How many drinks puts you over the limit?

Nobody can give you a reliable drink count. Body weight, sex, food, time and how strong the bartender pours all change the result. Rough orientation helps, though, as long as you treat it as a warning and not a target.

• One standard drink is roughly a 350 ml can of Imperial or Pilsen, a glass of wine, or a single shot of guaro (Cacique). Beach-bar cocktails often hold two or more shots.
• For many average-sized adults, two drinks in an hour can be enough to approach or pass 0.50 g/L. For smaller people, it can take less.
• Sunset happy hour plus dinner wine can easily put a regular driver in the fine band. Add a guaro sour or two and you can reach criminal territory.
• The morning after is a real risk. Your liver clears alcohol slowly, and coffee and a shower do nothing. A late night in Tamarindo followed by a 7 a.m. drive to the airport can still produce a positive test.

Where and when does Costa Rica run alcohol checkpoints?

The Policía de Tránsito sets up operativos (checkpoints). Some check documents, some check for alcohol, and many do both. Expect alcohol checks most often in these situations:

• Friday and Saturday nights, particularly on exits from nightlife areas.
• Holidays and long weekends: Semana Santa, Independence Day (September 15), Christmas and New Year’s week. They also cluster around the big fiestas, such as Zapote in late December and Palmares in January.
• Main highways near the Central Valley like Route 1 (General Cañas), Route 27 and Route 32, plus roads leading out of beach towns with a party scene. In practice that means places like Jacó, Tamarindo and Playas del Coco.

Checkpoints are often set up after dark with cones and a patrol car. Officers wave every car, or every few cars, onto the shoulder. They’re legal, routine, and not a reason to panic. Our police checkpoint guide covers what documents you need to carry.

What happens at a Costa Rican breathalyzer test?

The process varies a bit by officer and equipment, but this is the usual sequence:

1. You’re waved over. Pull onto the shoulder, turn off the engine, turn on the interior light at night, and keep your hands visible.
2. Documents. The officer asks for your license, your passport (an original or a copy with the entry stamp, per current rules), and the car’s papers. The rental company leaves those in the glovebox.
3. Screening test. If they’re checking for alcohol, you’ll blow into a handheld screening device. If it’s clean, you’re usually on your way in a couple of minutes.
4. Evidential test. If the screening shows alcohol, expect a second, formal test on an evidential device. That result is the number that counts legally, and it’s recorded on paper.
5. Outcome. Below the limit, you leave. In the administrative band, you get a ticket (a boleta). At the criminal level, officers can detain you and the case goes to the prosecutor’s office.

Can you refuse a breathalyzer in Costa Rica?

We won’t give you a confident answer here, because how refusal is handled is something we haven’t been able to verify against the current law text. What we can say: refusing does not make the problem go away. It can create its own legal consequences, and officers have other ways to document impairment. If you’re sober, blowing is the fastest way out. If you aren’t, refusing is unlikely to be the clever move it seems.

Fine or crime? The penalties for drunk driving in Costa Rica

The administrative range: a big fine and points

Driving in the lower band, 0.50–0.75 g/L for regular drivers, is in the highest fine category under Ley 9078. As of 2026, that category is in the low hundreds of thousands of colones, roughly ₡300,000 or more (around $600+). There are also costs added on top and points recorded against the license. COSEVI updates fine amounts every year, so check the current table at csv.go.cr. Our Costa Rica traffic fines guide breaks down the other categories.

Officers can also take the car off the road, even in the administrative band. You can’t just pay a ticket and drive off still impaired.

The criminal range: arrest and court

Above 0.75 g/L for regular drivers (0.50 g/L for new and professional drivers), it’s a crime under article 261 bis of the Código Penal. The penalty range commonly cited is one to three years in prison, plus a disqualification from driving. Verify the current wording on SCIJ. In practice, here is what a tourist should expect:

• Detention at the scene and a trip to a police station.
• Fast-track court. Many drunk-driving cases go through Costa Rica’s flagrancia (caught-in-the-act) courts, which can move within hours or days.
• Possible outcomes range from a conditional resolution to a conviction. First-time offenders who didn’t hurt anyone don’t always go to prison, but you’ll need a lawyer to get there.
• A wrecked vacation. Court dates and legal procedures can complicate your departure plans. Don’t assume you can just fly home on schedule.

If you cause a crash while drunk

This is a completely different level of trouble. Injuring or killing someone while over the limit leads to charges far more serious than the drunk-driving offense alone, with much harsher penalties. On top of that, you’ll likely have no insurance (see below). If you’ve been in any crash, read what to do after a car accident in Costa Rica.

What happens to your rental car?

When a driver is over the limit, police can remove the vehicle and send it to a government impound lot (depósito). They may also remove the plates. For a rental, the knock-on effects land on you:

• Towing and impound fees are typically billed to the renter, and the rental company may add an admin fee for retrieving the car.
• Loss-of-use charges. Many rental contracts let the company charge you for each day the car sits in impound and can’t be rented.
• No replacement car. Don’t expect the agency to send another car while the first is held for a drunk-driving incident.
• Getting the car out can take days and paperwork. The rental company usually handles it, on their timeline, not yours.

Why your rental insurance won’t cover drunk driving

Every Costa Rican rental includes mandatory third-party liability (TPL), and most renters add a collision damage waiver (CDW). Both are explained in our TPL vs CDW guide. Read the exclusions and you’ll find the same clause almost everywhere: coverage doesn’t apply if the driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Many travel insurance policies also exclude injuries suffered while intoxicated. So one bad decision can leave you paying for the rental car, the other driver’s car, and your own hospital bill, all at once.

What to do if you’re stopped or arrested for drunk driving

1. Stay calm and polite. Arguing never improves a breath test result.
2. Never offer money. Bribing an officer is a crime in Costa Rica and turns a traffic problem into a much worse criminal one. If someone hints at a “fine you can pay here,” say no. Legitimate fines are paid through official channels, never in cash on the roadside.
3. Ask for an interpreter (“Necesito un intérprete, por favor”) if you don’t understand what’s happening. Don’t sign documents you can’t read without asking what they are. Signing a traffic ticket generally confirms receipt and doesn’t mean you admit guilt, but ask.
4. Contact your embassy. US citizens can reach American Citizen Services at the US Embassy in San José, which publishes a list of local English-speaking lawyers. Canadians should contact the Embassy of Canada in San José.
5. Get a Costa Rican lawyer before any court hearing, especially in a flagrancia case where things move fast.
6. Call the rental company using the number on your contract or key tag. They need to know where their car is, and they’ll handle the impound side.
7. If anyone is hurt, call 911 immediately and stay at the scene. Leaving makes everything worse.

How to get back to your hotel without driving

The good news: in most tourist areas, not driving after drinks is easy and cheap compared with any of the outcomes above.

• Official taxis are red with a yellow triangle on the door. Ask them to use the meter (la maría). In beach towns, drivers often quote a fixed price instead, so agree on it before you get in.
• Uber and DiDi work well in the Central Valley, around Liberia and in bigger towns like Jacó and Tamarindo. In smaller places like Nosara, Santa Teresa or Puerto Viejo, availability at night is patchy.
• Tuk-tuks and local shuttles run in several beach towns, Santa Teresa among them. Your hotel front desk usually has a trusted driver’s WhatsApp number.
• Walk or stay close. When you plan your trip, choose lodging within walking distance of where you’ll eat and drink. Our road trip planner helps you plan the driving days so evenings stay car-free.
• Designate a driver who truly drinks zero. Remember that rural roads at night are dangerous even when sober: no shoulders, no lights, people and animals on the road. Our complete driving guide explains why we tell everyone to be parked by dark.

Bottom line

Costa Rica’s limits are lower than in most of the US and Canada. Fines start at 0.50 g/L (0.05%), the criminal line is 0.75 g/L, and new and professional drivers face even lower thresholds. Checkpoints are common on weekends and holidays. Failing a test can mean a fine worth hundreds of dollars or a criminal case in fast-track court. It also means an impounded rental car and insurance that won’t pay a cent.

The smart tourist approach is zero alcohol when you’re driving. Use taxis, Uber, DiDi or your own two feet after happy hour. Your vacation, your deposit and everyone on the road will be better for it.