◆ Country guide · Central America

Costa Rica, two coasts and the volcanoes between

People

51,100

km²

UNESCO sites

Live destination map

Top 10 guideComing soon

Two coasts about four hours apart, a spine of volcanoes down the middle, and more than a quarter of the territory inside a protected area. Costa Rica is the country that made the national park the reason for the trip rather than a day out from it.

Costa Rica at a glance

Best months

Dec–Apr Pacific

Ideal length

10–14 days

Budget / day

$70–150

Language

Spanish

Getting around

A hired car

When to visit Costa Rica

Two coasts, two calendars. Read this before you pick dates.

Full month guide →

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Best: January to March, when the Pacific coast and the valley are dry together Peak: Christmas and Semana Santa, plus July, when the veranillo meets the northern summer Good: May, June, August and November, wet in the afternoons and cheaper for it Mixed: September and October, the wettest on the Pacific and the finest on the Caribbean

Quick answer · where to go in Costa Rica

Pick the airport first. San José opens the Central Valley, Arenal, Monteverde and the central Pacific. Liberia opens Guanacaste and the Nicoya beaches. The standard ten days runs La Fortuna for the volcano and hot springs, Monteverde for cloud forest, then Manuel Antonio or Uvita for the coast. Fourteen adds the Osa Peninsula and Corcovado, or the Caribbean at Tortuguero and Puerto Viejo. Do not try both coasts in a week: the mountain roads are slow.

1 Costa Rica city guide

The Top 10 for the city most Costa Rica trips open with.

San José

Costa Rica · 10 picks

Fun fact

One number worth knowing

Costa Rica has had no standing army since 1 December 1948, when José Figueres Ferrer took a mallet to a wall of the Bellavista barracks in San José. The barracks became the National Museum in 1950, and the bullet marks from the 1948 civil war are still in its turrets.

Stereotypes, sorted out

The clichés you have heard, what is actually true, and how to fit in.

"It is one big rainforest."

The realityIt holds at least a dozen life zones that behave nothing alike. Guanacaste is tropical dry forest, brown for half the year. Monteverde is cloud forest, cool enough for a fleece. Corcovado is lowland rainforest. Cerro Chirripó climbs to 3,820 metres and freezes at night. Pick between them.

"It is small, so you can see it all in a week."

The realityIt is smaller than West Virginia and slower to cross than that suggests. The mountains sit in the middle, the roads over them are single carriageway, and a 150 kilometre transfer is routinely four hours. A week is two places, well seen.

"The green season is a washout."

The realityIt rains hard, usually in the afternoon, and mornings are often clear. Waterfalls run, the forest is loud, wildlife is easier to find and rates drop. September and October are hard going on the Pacific and the two best months on the Caribbean. The rest of the green season is a good trade.

"It is a cheap Central American backpacker country."

The realityIt is the most expensive country in the region. Park entry, guides, private transfers and coastal hotels all price at what international visitors will pay. The country is affordable if you eat in sodas and take public buses, and it is not if you book the itinerary a brochure sells.

"You will see sloths and toucans everywhere."

The realityYou will see a great deal if someone shows you, and much less if nobody does. A sloth is a grey mass 20 metres up a tree, and the guides at Manuel Antonio, Corcovado and Monteverde carry the scope that turns it into an animal. Hiring one for a first walk changes what the whole trip looks like.

Pura vida, all the timeMexico with more treesEco-friendly everywhereEverybody speaks EnglishCaribbean-blue beachesDangerous like its neighbours

Cultural notes worth knowing

The soda is the institution to learn. A soda is a small family restaurant serving a casado at lunch for a fraction of a tourist menu, and it is where the food is best. Look for a plastic-chair place full of people at noon.
Ticos are indirect, and a flat "no" is rare. A vague "quizás" or a long explanation often is the no. Pressing for a firmer answer reads as rude.
Addresses are given from a landmark, not a street number. Directions come as "200 metres north of the church, house with the green gate", and 100 metres means one block whether or not it measures one.
Greet people before you ask for anything. A "buenas" as you walk into a shop or approach a counter is expected, and going straight to the question lands badly.
The Caribbean coast stands apart. Limón province is Afro-Caribbean, English Creole is spoken alongside Spanish, the food is coconut-based, and the rhythm is slower again. Treat it as its own destination.
Do not photograph indigenous people or their homes without asking. The Bribri, Cabécar, Boruca and other territories receive visitors on their own terms, and the good visits are the ones booked through the community.
Sunday is family day and Semana Santa is close to total. Buses thin out, offices shut, and in Holy Week the coast fills with Costa Ricans. Book that week early or avoid it.

Famous Costa Rican faces

The names behind Costa Rican science, sport, politics, writing and music. Pick a field.

Óscar Arias Sánchez

President twice over, and the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for the Central American peace plan

Keylor Navas

Goalkeeper, three Champions League titles at Real Madrid, and the reason 2014 happened

Christiana Figueres

Ran the UN climate convention from 2010 to 2016 and steered the Paris Agreement through

Laura Chinchilla

The first woman elected president of Costa Rica, in office from 2010 to 2014

Carmen Naranjo

Novelist, poet and essayist, and a winner of the Aquileo J. Echeverría national prize

Juan Santamaría

Drummer boy of the 1856 war against William Walker, and the name on the main airport

Juan Rafael Mora Porras

The president who raised the army that fought that campaign, on the 1,000 colón note

Bryan Ruiz

Captain of the side that reached the 2014 World Cup quarter-final unbeaten in the group

Joel Campbell

Forward, an Arsenal signing at 19, and a fixture of three World Cup squads

Debi Nova

Singer and songwriter, a Latin Grammy nominee, and a collaborator across Latin pop

Maribel Guardia

Actress and singer, and one of the most familiar Costa Rican faces on Mexican television

Yolanda Oreamuno

Novelist, and La ruta de su evasión in 1950 opened modern Costa Rican fiction

Franklin Chang Díaz

NASA astronaut on seven shuttle flights, and the physicist behind the VASIMR plasma rocket

Chavela Vargas

Born near Heredia, and the voice that remade the Mexican ranchera

Claudia Poll

200 metres freestyle gold at Atlanta 1996, still the country’s only Olympic title

José Figueres Ferrer

Led the 1948 revolution, then abolished the army and gave women the vote

Sylvia Poll

200 metres freestyle silver at Seoul 1988, the country’s first Olympic medal

Paulo Wanchope

Striker in the Premier League and La Liga, and 45 goals in 73 caps for Costa Rica

Nery Brenes

Sprinter over 400 metres, and world indoor champion in 2012

Clodomiro Picado Twight

Snake-venom researcher whose antivenom work gave the national institute its name

Sandra Cauffman

Electrical engineer, 37 years at NASA, first Costa Rican woman to lead a Mars mission team

Editus

Instrumental trio, and three Grammy wins alongside Rubén Blades

Malpaís

The band that put calypso, tambito and jazz into a Costa Rican songbook of its own

Carlos Luis Fallas

Wrote Mamita Yunai in 1941, the banana-plantation novel and the country’s best-known book

Joaquín Gutiérrez

Wrote Cocorí in 1947, translated into ten languages and staged in as many countries

Francisco Amighetti

Painter and engraver of over 500 works, the defining Costa Rican artist of his century

Must-try Costa Rican food

Rice and beans at the centre, and a coast on either side of it. Pick a category.

Gallo pinto

Rice and beans fried with onion and coriander, for breakfast. Nicaragua claims it too.

Olla de carne

Beef simmered with yuca, chayote, plantain and corn. A Sunday soup and plate in one.

Tamal

Corn masa and pork steamed in banana leaf, made by the hundred at Christmas.

Chifrijo

Rice, beans, chicharrón and pico de gallo with chips. A 1990s San José bar invention.

Chicharrones

Pork belly fried in its own fat, sold by weight at roadside stalls with cassava and lime.

Ceviche

Sea bass cured in lime with onion, coriander and pepper, with soda crackers. No chilli.

Rice and beans

Limón’s version, cooked in coconut milk with thyme and a whole panameño chilli.

Arroz con leche

Rice pudding with cinnamon and lemon peel, served cold in a plastic cup at markets.

Cajeta

Milk fudge boiled with sugar and cut into squares, often in coconut or lemon.

Casado

Rice, black beans, salad, fried plantain and a protein. The soda lunch, and great value.

Sopa negra

Black bean soup with a poached egg dropped in and a hard tortilla on the side.

Arroz con pollo

Achiote-tinted chicken rice with vegetables, at every birthday and school fundraiser.

Picadillo

A hash of diced chayote, arracache or green papaya with a little meat, eaten in tortillas.

Patacones

Green plantain fried, smashed, fried again and salted, with black bean dip.

Gallos

A tortilla folded around picadillo, beef or cheese. The milder Costa Rican taco.

Pejibaye

Peach palm fruit boiled for hours and eaten with mayonnaise. Starchy, orange, local.

Rondón

Caribbean coconut-milk stew of fish, tubers and plantain. Order it ahead.

Pati

Limón’s folded pastry of spiced beef, sold from baskets along the coast road.

Pan bon

Dark Caribbean sweet bread with fruit and cheese, baked for Easter, eaten all year.

Tres leches

Sponge soaked in three milks until it barely holds. Every bakery counter leads with it.

Café chorreado

Coffee dripped through a cloth sock on a wooden chorreador. The home method.

Agua dulce

Raw cane sugar dissolved in hot water or milk. The farm breakfast drink.

Resbaladera

Rice and barley blended cold with milk, cinnamon and vanilla. Guanacaste’s horchata.

Know before you go

The essentials for planning a Costa Rica trip.

Airports

SJO San José · LIR Liberia

Juan Santamaría, outside Alajuela, opens the Central Valley, Arenal, Monteverde and the central Pacific. Liberia opens Guanacaste and Nicoya. The wrong one adds a long transfer each way.

Currency

Costa Rican colón (CRC)

Dollars are widely accepted and change comes back in colones, usually at a worse rate than a card. Cards work almost everywhere; carry cash for small sodas, buses and rural stops.

Language

Spanish

English is common in tourism, and thinner the moment you leave it. On the Caribbean coast you will also hear Limonese Creole, and Bribri and Cabécar in the Talamanca territories.

Visa

Visa-free for many passports

Many nationalities enter visa-free for a stay the border officer sets, and everyone needs onward travel booked. Rules differ by passport, so check the immigration service site.

Power

120V · 60Hz · types A & B

The same flat two-pin and three-pin sockets North America uses. European and UK devices need an adapter, and anything not dual voltage needs a converter as well.

Emergency

911

One number for police, fire and ambulance, with English-speaking operators. The Red Cross runs most of the ambulance service.

Getting around

Rental car, shared shuttle or a small plane

A car gives you the country and costs more than the headline rate once mandatory insurance is added. Shared shuttles link the tourist towns. Sansa flies to Osa and Tortuguero.

Driving

Slow roads, real clearance

Distances are measured in hours. Mountain roads are single carriageway and often unpaved, so a saloon will not reach Monteverde, Santa Teresa or much of Nicoya. Avoid night driving outside the valley.

National parks

Book online, and check the closed day

SINAC sells timed entry for busy parks such as Manuel Antonio and Poás, and they sell out in season. Manuel Antonio closes one day a week. Corcovado requires a certified guide.

Tipping

Already on the bill

Sit-down restaurants add a 10 percent service charge by law, on top of 13 percent sales tax. Anything further is optional. Guides and drivers are the two people worth tipping directly.

Water

Drinkable in most of the country

Tap water is safe in San José and in the main tourist towns. In remote coastal and rural spots, ask locally or filter.

Health

Mosquitoes, not altitude

Dengue is present in the lowlands year-round and peaks in the green season, so repellent matters most. Yellow fever proof is needed only if you arrive from an endemic country.

Safety

Petty theft and the surf

Opportunist theft from parked cars and beaches is the common problem: leave nothing visible, anywhere. Rip currents are the real hazard on the Pacific, and most beaches have no lifeguard.

Wildlife

Do not feed it

Feeding monkeys and coatis is illegal and it is what turns them aggressive around picnic areas. Keep a distance from crocodiles at river mouths and estuaries, which is where people get it wrong.

Pura vida

Greeting, answer and shrug

It works as hello, goodbye, thank you and "it is fine". Using it is normal, and it is how the country talks about itself.

Costa Rica travel FAQ

When is the best time to visit Costa Rica?+

December to April is the dry season on the Pacific side and in the Central Valley, and it is the reliable answer for a first trip. May to November is the green season: it rains most afternoons, the forest looks completely different, and rates fall. The Caribbean coast runs on its own calendar and is at its best in September and October, which are the two wettest months almost everywhere else. July usually brings a dry spell known as the veranillo.

Should I fly into San José or Liberia?+

It depends on where you are going, and getting it wrong costs a day at each end. Juan Santamaría, outside Alajuela and usually called San José, is the right choice for Arenal, Monteverde, the central Pacific and the Caribbean. Daniel Oduber Quirós at Liberia is the right choice for Guanacaste and most of the Nicoya Peninsula. A common pattern is to fly into one and out of the other so you never drive the same road twice.

How many days do you need in Costa Rica?+

Ten days is the honest minimum for the classic route: three nights around Arenal, two in Monteverde, three on the central Pacific and the travel between them. Fourteen lets you add either the Osa Peninsula or the Caribbean coast without rushing. A week means picking two places and staying in them, which is a better holiday than a loop driven at speed.

Do I need a four-wheel drive?+

For the Central Valley, Arenal and the main Pacific highway, no. For Monteverde, Santa Teresa, much of Nicoya, the Osa Peninsula and almost any lodge reached by a track, yes, and clearance matters more than the four-wheel drive itself. Rivers cross some roads in the green season. Rental quotes look low because mandatory liability insurance is added at the counter, so compare the total.

Is Costa Rica expensive?+

It is the most expensive country in Central America and it surprises people who expect otherwise. Imported goods, park fees, guided tours and coastal hotels are where the money goes. The counterweight is the soda, the neighbourhood lunch place, where a casado costs a fraction of a restaurant plate, and the public bus network, which reaches almost everywhere for very little.

Is Costa Rica safe?+

Yes, with the usual caveats and one local one. Opportunist theft is the common crime: nothing left in a parked car, nothing left on a beach towel, and no valuables on show in San José at night. The real danger is water. Rip currents drown swimmers every year on unpatrolled Pacific beaches, and crocodiles live in river mouths that look like calm swimming spots.

Costa Rica on Wimup Videos

Films to watch before you book.

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San José Travel Guide

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