Costa Rica: What to do

Fresh off the plane you are greeted with the freshest air you can breathe. You instantly feel that humidity starting to coat your skin. Vegetation as far as the eye can see...

Welcome to Costa Rica!

The Costa Rican (San Jose) airport is quite nice and going through customs was very quick and easy. When you get outside the airport you will see a lot of people with signs and a lot of “friendly“ people wanting to help you with your luggage to load into the back of a rental service vehicle. Be careful who you let handle your luggage because they might try to steal it. Fortunately when we arrived we were helped by an actually helpful, kind individual who we got to know waiting for our transportation to arrive.

If you are planning on renting a car there, make sure you have planned out your rental service well in advance of your stay in costa rica, because even if you lack the slightest paperwork, they will try to hustle you for insurance. I should know because we paid more for insurance than we paid for the car!

On your first night in, unless you are staying near or in San Jose, I would advise that you spend it in a hotel. This way you can recover from you journey before you have to travel some more. This could also be a good opportunity to go see anything in or around San Jose, and a really good way to get used to the driving. Trust me you’re gonna want to pracitce!

Ok, so if you’ve been researching anything on the driving in Costa Rica, you’ve probably heard that the roads are covered in potholes, and crazy drivers. This is in fact true, however, it’s not as bad as you may think.

Most main roads in Costa Rica are as nice as some roads here in the U.S.. But there are potholes.. on SOME roads. Don‘t sweat that roads will be horrible dirt roads that you can’t drive on. Just make sure you rent a car with 4 wheel drive and you will be fine.

In my experience, crazy drivers are not a huge problem in Costa Rica. Occasionally you’ll come across the random sketchy biker or two, but just be sure to give the bikers a lot of space... a lot of space! Trust me, you’ll wanna give the majority of them at least 20 feet because sometimes they’ll be signaling right and then turn left. Most of them arent legally allowed to drive, so keep that in mind.

Once you get yourself situated, whether it be on the muggy Caribbean side, or the drier, Pacific side, depending on how much time you have in Costa Rica, give yourself a day or two just to relax and enjoy the place where you reside.

Depending on where you are, make a plan of things you want to do or see, and when you want to do or see them. I was there for 6 weeks so i didn’t have to cram in everything at once. But if you are only there for a week or two, be sure you have your trip planned out carefully.

Keep in mind if you’re traveling in the wet season (May to Mid-November) which is when we were there, you may have a beach day or two ruined by a rainstorm. But this rarely ever happened to us and when it did we found ways to still enjoy the amazing tropical rain.

•There are venomous animals all throughout Costa Rica, so DO NOT TOUCH the wildlife!

•Costa Rica in general is pretty safe, but have common sense. Keep doors locked and valuables hidden, and don’t travel around a lot at night time, especially by yourself!

•Creepy crawlies are not a huge problem where we were living. (Playa Bejuco on the Pacific side) I saw the occasional cockroach or spider, but the only thing i ever saw inside our house was little geckos that ate the mosquitos.

•Mosquitos are mostly active around dawn and dusk so weat bug spray at those times. For the most part we never had any issues with them.

•BRING SUNSCREEN! Pack lots and lots of sunscreen. Did i say pack sunscreen? You are travelling to a Central American country so just remember that the sun is more direct here, given that you are closer to the equator.

•The speed limit is very slow there so a place may seem close to drive to, but it will take you a lot longer to get there than you anticipate.

•The sun sets around 6:00ish, at least during the wet season, so just remember that you will want to wake up earlier and get home sooner than you think. Try to avoid traveling at night, unless you are with a group.

•Keep in mind that there are two main seasons. The wet seasons and the dry season. If you are looking to see the country when it’s green, come during the wet season. This is also when it is less crowded. If you want to avoid a lot of rain and get a whole lotta sun then go to Costa Rica during the dry season. Just remember it will be a lot more crowded this time of year.

•Also there are iguanas everywhere, so get used to that. They will never bother you, but you may hear their fat little bodies scurrying atop your house sometimes.

•Theres a lot of street dogs everywhere so remember that you should not feed them because they WILL follow you.

•There are crocodiles, so yeah, don’t swim in or get too close to the rivers.

If you’ve read up on the Costa Ricans (aka Ticos) then you’ve probably heard they are the most welcoming and nicest people you’ll ever meet. After all, Pura Vida right?

In all honesty, the ticos dont want to have anything to do with Americans. We did meet a few cool Ticos, that we really liked. One in particular, our community security guard, was our favorite. He always had the biggest smile on his face everyday. In general though they will probably try to avoid you.

We mostly became friends with a lot of expats in the country. One couple we met, took us around showing us everything they thought was cool, and the husband even took me out and taught me how to fish and surf! The owners of the house we were staying in owned a cafe and we ate there a loootttt. So if you’re looking to make friends, then it would probably be easier to befriend the americans.

Just make sure you maximize your time in Costa Rica and use it wisely, becaue before you know it, it will be over.

Pura Vida!