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Photo by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Best time to visit Costa Rica
Costa Rica · Latin America
All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.
The year in Costa Rica
Tap a month for its page
- JanJCosta Rica in January: avoid
- FebFCosta Rica in February: avoid
- MarMCosta Rica in March: avoid
- AprACosta Rica in April: avoid
- MayMCosta Rica in May: avoid
- JunJCosta Rica in June: avoid
- JulJCosta Rica in July: avoid
- AugACosta Rica in August: avoid
- SepSCosta Rica in September: avoid
- OctOCosta Rica in October: avoid
- NovNCosta Rica in November: avoid
- DecDCosta Rica in December: avoid
- Sweet spot
- Good
- OK
- Avoid
- Busy
No dry season: more than 6 rainy days in every month.
Plan this trip
Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too.
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Flights from
Flights
Your city is a guess from your time zone. Choose your city
Where are you flying from? Choose your city for its flights and fares.
Book with the airline
Where to stay
Book direct
Luxury
Things to do
Car hire
Rent direct
Travel insurance
Check whether your bank card or home insurance already covers this trip.
If the trip needs a visa, the travel agent or visa centre usually sells the cover it asks for.
Mobile data (eSIM)
Your own plan's EU roaming may already cover this.
Renting a pocket Wi-Fi is the other common way to stay connected.
These are sites people in book with. Each opens in a new tab, on the site's own pages.
Things to do in Costa Rica
- Arenal Volcano Active volcano
- Tamarindo The upscale option, with beautiful beaches complemented by boutique shopping and high…
- Manuel Antonio National Park National park
- Nicoya Peninsula Peninsula on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica
- Jacó The "city of surf" of Costa Rica…
- Monteverde and Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserves Forest reserve located in Costa Rica
- Tortuguero Caters to eco-tourists looking to explore the rainforest and spot some manatees…
Tours and tickets in Costa Rica
Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank
Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage (Costa Rica), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, and Wikidata; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.
Month by month
No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.
| Month | Max °C | Rain days | Humidity | Sun h/day | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 26° | 26d | 89% | 8.4h | avoid | monsoon: 26 rainy days, 661mm |
| Feb | 27° | 21d | 86% | 9.5h | avoid | monsoon: 21 rainy days, 355mm |
| Mar | 28° | 20d | 84% | 10.4h | avoid | monsoon: 20 rainy days, 336mm |
| Apr | 28° | 17d | 83% | 9.9h | avoid | monsoon: 17 rainy days, 281mm |
| May | 28° | 22d | 86% | 8.2h | avoid | monsoon: 22 rainy days, 354mm |
| Jun | 27° | 25d | 90% | 7.1h | avoid | monsoon: 25 rainy days, 428mm |
| Jul | 27° | 28d | 91% | 6.5h | avoid | monsoon: 28 rainy days, 550mm |
| Aug | 27° | 25d | 89% | 7.6h | avoid | monsoon: 25 rainy days, 385mm |
| Sep | 28° | 21d | 87% | 8.1h | avoid | monsoon: 21 rainy days, 307mm |
| Oct | 27° | 23d | 89% | 7.3h | avoid | monsoon: 23 rainy days, 547mm |
| Nov | 26° | 26d | 91% | 6.3h | avoid | monsoon: 26 rainy days, 646mm |
| Dec | 26° | 26d | 90% | 7.6h | avoid | monsoon: 26 rainy days, 646mm |
Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.
Weather read at La Fortuna, under Arenal: ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.
A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.
How busy it gets
Then and now
Costa Rica's October days now average 27.3°C, 0.7°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 2 of 12 months are clearly warmer, 2 clearly cooler.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–90 | 26.2° | 27.3° | 29.0° | 30.4° | 29.2° | 27.3° | 26.7° | 27.1° | 27.2° | 26.5° | 26.4° | 26.0° |
| 2017–26 | 25.7° | 26.5° | 27.8° | 28.4° | 28.4° | 27.3° | 26.7° | 27.3° | 27.9° | 27.3° | 26.2° | 25.7° |
| Change | -0.5° | -0.8° | -1.2° | -1.9° | -0.9° | -0.0° | -0.0° | +0.2° | +0.7° | +0.7° | -0.2° | -0.3° |
The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.
Getting there
How far Costa Rica is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.
- from Bogota
- from Miami
- from Mexico City
- from Lima
- from Chicago
- from New York
- from Toronto
- from Boston
Open in Rome2rio for every way from to Costa Rica, flying or not.
Before you go
| Cost of living | cheap — prices run about 59% of the United States' (World Bank, 2025) |
|---|---|
| Currency | Costa rican colón |
| Languages | Spanish |
| Plugs | Type A and B, 120 V |
| Driving | On the right |
| Calling code | +506 |
| Travel advice | No advice against travel — UK Foreign Office, updated 2026-05-19 Exercise a high degree of caution — Global Affairs Canada, updated 2026-10-01 Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution — US State Department, updated 2026-04-02 |
| Health | UK Foreign Office health advice |
Facts from Wikidata (CC0), the UK Foreign Office (Open Government Licence) and the World Bank, refreshed 2026-10-08. The advisory is written for British travellers; entry rules depend on your passport.Travel advice for American readers is the US State Department's (public domain), and for Canadian readers Global Affairs Canada's (Open Government Licence - Canada), each in its own words and written for its own citizens; entry rules depend on your passport.
Being there
On arrival
- Paying — The colón is the currency, but US dollars and major credit cards are widely accepted. ATMs are found across the country, though some close from 11pm to 5am and they take only a 4-digit PIN; change money only at banks and approved exchange offices.
- UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
- Tipping — Restaurant and hotel prices already include 13% VAT and a 10% tip; leave more only if the service was exceptional.
Getting around Costa Rica
La Fortuna is about 2.5 hours by road from San José (Route 1, through San Ramón) and about 2.5 hours from Liberia (through Cañas and Tilarán), by hire car, private transfer or shuttle. Public buses also go there but take longer, and may need one or two changes.
- Apps — Rides: DiDi, Uber. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: WhatsApp. Use official taxis, red (orange at the airport) with a yellow triangle, booked ahead rather than hailed, and make sure the driver uses the meter. Uber and DiDi also operate, though no law regulates them yet.
Although Costa Rica has established official street names in most cities for official purposes, most of the population is unaware of these names and if they are known, most streets will lack proper signage. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Costa Rica, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Help
- Emergency — 911 (any emergency).
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.
Your embassy — : how to reach your embassy or consulate abroad. A guess from your city, : a city is not a passport.
Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 8 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.
Sources (15)
- gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/costa-rica/getting-help
- gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/costa-rica/safety-and-security
- travel.gc.ca/destinations/costa-rica
- visitcostarica.com/planning-your-trip/tips
- visitcostarica.com/faqs
- ict.go.cr/flipbook/guias/flip-en/MINIGUIA_FORTUNA/files/basic-html/page41.html
- uber.com/global/en/r/cities/la-fortuna-alajuela-cr
- uber.com/global/en/r/costa-rica/cities
- web.didiglobal.com/cr/conductor/ciudades/san-carlos
- delfino.cr/2026/07/proyecto-para-regular-plataformas-tipo-uber-supera-282-mociones-y-vuelve-al-plenario
- cicom.ucr.ac.cr/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/CICOM_Informe_Apps-2025.pdf
- developers.google.com/maps/coverage
- apple.com/ios/feature-availability
- pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2286608
- rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/AnnualReport/PDFs/09PAYMENT290526C6588B796E664822A2BD0DEB6452CAD4.PDF
Costa Rica in pictures
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Bernard Gagnon, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Bernard Gagnon, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Satdeep Gill, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Satdeep Gill, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What Costa Rica is like
Costa Rica has bewilderingly diverse culture, climates, flora, and fauna, and landscapes range from rainforests, to dry tropical and temperate forests, to volcanoes, to Caribbean and Pacific beaches, to high mountains, and marshy lowlands. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth seeing
- Costa Rica is world famous for having an incredibly high level of biodiversity throughout its tropical forests (this covers what you may hear referred to as rain forests, cloud forests, and dry forests). More on Wikivoyage
- Worth doing
- The Pacific coast's main beaches are located in the Central Pacific region, the Nicoya Peninsula, and in Guanacaste. More on Wikivoyage
- Getting in
- Visitors from most developed countries can enter Costa Rica without a visa and can stay for 180 days. Check with Immigration for more details. More on Wikivoyage
- Staying safe
- Travel to Costa Rica is common, with 2.6 million people visiting annually. More on Wikivoyage
- Staying healthy
- Costa Rica has one of the highest levels of social care in the world. Its doctors are known worldwide as some of the best. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Costa Rica, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.
Around Costa Rica
Nearby
- Belize Belize · 905 km
- Cartagena Colombia · 994 km
- The Cayman Islands Cayman Islands · 1,049 km
- Medellín Colombia · 1,101 km
Kind of place
Costa Rica is in Costa Rica, Latin America. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.
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