Costa Rica - What to Bring and Travel Information


Clothes

Linen, Cotton, Poly-cotton blends, and quick-dry fabrics (sport shirts/shorts) are ideal. These will dry easier in the humid and hot conditions and are the ideal choice for adventure/ water activities. Jeans and long pants are pretty useless unless you’re in San Jose where temperatures tend to be cooler.

Shoes

Water sandals are essential (Chacos, Tevas, or similar). Tennis Shoes and Hiking shoes will work but can get a little clunky and will certainly get wet. The right sandals can get you through your entire trip in Costa Rica.

Skin

Protect your skin. Bring your favorite sunscreen and use it! Bugs are also an issue, we prefer Skin so Soft by Avon, but there are many choices out there. Keep the bug protection on at all times, you’ll be glad you did.

Luggage

Travel light, it’s easier to move around from destination to destination and hotel to hotel. Since you’ll probably be very active, remember: “less is more”. There are also weight/luggage restrictions on the local flights within Costa Rica.

Attitude


An open-minded and willing to try anything attitude will ensure you an amazing experience in this very special country. All of the adventure activities are geared to cater to the inexperienced as well as the more seasoned adventure traveler so don’t be intimidated and if it looks fun try it.



Costa Rica - What to Know - Travel Information for Costa Rica

Electricity:
Standard current is 110 volts, 60 Hertz

Tipping:
A 10% "service charge" is generally added to all restaurants bills so act accordingly. Taxi drivers generally do not receive a tip.

Water:
Yes, you can drink the water! Pure and suitable for drinking throughout most of the country.
Money / Traveler's Checks:
US Dollars are readily accepted throughout the country. Traveler's checks are not widely accepted and can become more trouble than they're worth. ATM's are everywhere and your best exchange rate is at the local banks in Costa Rica. (If your ATM is MasterCard/Check Card you'll want to get your cash in San Jose as it's difficult in more remote towns to find an ATM w/MasterCard accessibility).

Credit Cards:
MC/ Visa, American Express are widely accepted.


Costa Rica Climate and Weather - Travel Information

Costa Rica's climate makes is an unmistakably a tropical country that is located between 8° and 11° North latitude, and is reasonably close to the equator. For the majority of the country the temperatures averages between 71°Fahrenheit (21.7° Celsius) and 81°Fahrenheit (27° Celsius), but if you travel above feet (2000 meters) you will find cooler temperatures. The coolest times of the year are from November to January, and while the warmest months are from March to May. San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica is situated about 3840 feet above sea level and the average temperature is about 69°Fahrenheit (20.6°Celsius).

Basically Costa Rica has clearly two seasons that are referred too: the rainy and dry seasons. The dry is from January to May and the rainy from May to December. As the countryside various greatly it has an influence on the weather and this alters the dry and rainy seasonality. This in turn shows in the rainfall that different parts of the country receive a varied amount of rain that is from over 18 feet (6 meters) of rain to 4 feet (1.5 meters). The majority of rainfall for any given region (approx 70% of rain) occurs on less than 15 days out of the entire year. This will be often be a day of inundation deluge. Hacienda Cedral, Costa Rica may hold the world record of rain, being for 359 straight days.


As Costa Rica is bordered by the Caribbean Sea on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other, this does alter the dry and rainy season also. The Caribbean side rainy season is from April until December, but can be carried into January.

The wettest months are July and November, but a dry season is about August and sometimes September. But with the Hurricane seasonality occurring in the Caribbean Sea, storms occur between September and February where rain occurs for several days. The average rainy season day begins clear with sunshine and by the afternoon rain and clouds take over this time of day. The drier months of February or March have sunny days and hardly any rain.

For the Pacific Ocean the rainy season does not alter much, but is mainly from May to November, with mainly sunny mornings but the clouds with rain appear in the afternoon. The winds come from the north-easterly direction that are of a moderate intensity, and therefore the storms that enter from the Pacific are in September to October.

To the north of Costa Rica is where the more intense dry season is where rain might not be for several months. The rainforest trees of this region are more deciduous so they can conserve water, and winds can be blustery that reach up to a speed of 56 miles/hr (90 kilometers/hr) in the lowlands, although they average more around 13 miles/ph (20 kilometers/hr).

The central valley and where San Jose is located experience a more mild, and pleasant dry season and a more consistent temperature for the most part; with a decreased rainfall that other parts of the country. Southern Costa Rica receives a higher rainfall than its northern counterpart and therefore has a shorter dry season, but a longer and increased rainfall in the afternoons of the wet season.