Travel Guide Costa Rica
Written on Jul 28 2021
updated on Apr 15 2023Years ago I challenged myself to travel abroad. A few of my criteria going into this were to get a visa stamp on my passport, be at a beach with clear water, and ride a moped to all of my destinations.
After not enough research I decided upon Central America, but more specifically Costa Rica. A co-worker of mine had recently gone and return since things opened up from the covid vaccine, that combined with other anecdotal tales of success -- I was sold.
Once I had finally arrived I had realized that I had missed on the clear water. I was on the Pacific-side coast and the water was murkey like any other east coast beach I have been used to. This was a bit of a let-down, but I was having so much fun -- I could care less. That along with the fact that the water was bath-water warm my entire trip. Having to go to another beach in the Carribean doesn't seem like the worst punishment either.
This one will depend a lot on what sort of activities you want to participate in while you are in CR. I chose to stay in the capitol to start. Unfortunately, there existed a curfew for the pandemic during my time there -- so the city was not that active.
Since this was my first trip to Costa Rica I decided to stay in the capital city of San José. The hotel that I stayed at was the Hotel Barcélo near Uruca. This hotel was very nice and offered everything a traveler would need. However, it was not as warm in late july in the city, so the pool was not really that intriguing. They had a fantastic work-out room and a hot tub in there. The one issue I ran into was the walk-ability to the rest of the city from this location. Once I looked how to get to a restaurant across the interstate, and it suggested I just walk along the interstate to get there. With the crazy traffic and rain, I opted to not go this route. There were plenty of nice views close to the city within driving distance too. This view was only 20 minutes away from my hotel:
The fog made for a beautiful view
This was the view from my roomI also stayed at the Oceano Boutique hotel in Jaco. This was a very fancy hotel right on one of the main streets. They had complimentary breakfast every morning and a fantastic outdoor pool. I highly recommend this location if you don't mind a little walk to the beach.
The flights were mainly a non-issue. I will just say prepare to do a lot of waiting and standing in line. I knew there would be some sort of rigamarole to get into another country, but it isn't really spelled out in any way. One thing you needed to get into Costa Rica was your pasa de salud. This ensured you had your travel insurance that was up to code with the covid protocols of costa rica. Once I arrived from MIA to SJO I had to go through customs and present this same document to immigration.
On the way back it was more of the same, except since MIA was my first stop I had to go through customs there. This ment retrieving my checked bag, and then re-checking it with the airline. This process was not as bad as it sounds, and was only a short line.
Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) is in a prime location for travel to San José or Jaco.
One great thing about Costa Rica is the ability to use your US state drivers license while there. I found out there is something called an international drivers license, but it is not required there. Now that that was settled, it was time to hit the road!
It may have been a different country, but the rental car companies were still up to their old tricks. The price of the rental car was so low that I opted to rent a car for all 7 days I was in the country. I have had some bad experiences with damaging rental cars, plus the fact that I was about to drive in another country for the first time -- I opted for the premium insurance. This _skyrocketed_ the cost of the rental car, and ended up costing more than the flight or either of my hotel stays. I would suggest not renting a car for your entire stay, if at all. The rental car was very handy when exploring the various national forests of the region, but this was also a bit dicey in the rainy season. (Think steep dirt roads in rain.) Next time I visit I plan to just rent some sort of ATV in Jacó and pretend to be participating in the sequal of Mad Max.
Los Quetzales is a national park of Costa Rica that is a reasonable drive from San José. There is a short hike near the entrance that feels like an attraction at disney land.
Hit the end of the roadA nice area between San José and Jaco is Atenas. There are great places to stay or to just stop for something to eat and be treated to an additional astounding view.
Jacó was my favorite place in Costa Rica. The ocean water was warm like bathwater in the start of August, and had plenty of surfable waves.
Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip:
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Overall there was not much necessary to travel to Costa Rica. If anything it felt very much like being in the States.
The local currency of Costa Rica is the colón, named after Chrisopher Colombus, or Cristóbal Colón en espanol. As always I suggest getting some currency before your trip at your local bank. Once you are there most nice places will accept the US Dollar, but you will need the local currency for road tolls mainly.
This is a very real thing! I have never seen so much heavy rain for so long in my life. I spent almost two days in my hotel waiting for the rain to stop, and meanwhile one of the main roads flooded. The upside is that is is cheaper to visit during the rainy season if you are willing to take some breathers from your activies! The rainy season can also be known as the green season or "winter" to locals. This is from May through November.