Uber issues at SJO (Costa Rica) Airport
 

Arrived at SJO last week, late in the evening and summoned an Uber. In the past, they used to meet lower level by the restaurant but this time, I got a message to meet upstairs by second crosswalk. Anyone else has experienced this?

When I got upsgtairs, I asked someone where was the second crosswalk and did not realize he was police. He said, it is over there and Uber is illegal in Costa Rica. Again, has anyone else heard of this?

Uber needs to do a better job of getting proper permits and working through the Costa Rican red tape.

I finally found my Uber ride. The lady was close to the first crosswalk and was clueless. Thankfully, the ride was just fine!

Was the message from Uber (i.e. pickup instructions) or from the driver themselves?

Technically, Uber is illegal in Costa Rica. It has not gone through the proper procedures to get permits to operate. Uber does operate, but you're going to run into problems at visible places like the airport. But really, only the official orange airport taxis are allowed down on the lower level. Private cars and even the standard red taxis can't wait down there either.