Costa Rica Travel Guide

Entry requirements

Visitors from most developed countries can enter Costa Rica without a visa and can stay for 180 days. Check with Immigration for more details. However, people of any nationality holding valid U.S., Canada, Japan, South Korea or Schengen visas do not need a prior visa. The only conditions being that the visa must be valid for three months and should be stamped in your passport.

The local currency is the Costa Rican colón (plural: colones) CRC named after Christopher Columbus (whose name was Cristobal Colón in Spanish) sometimes shown locally as ₡ and sometimes shown using the more commonly available U.S. cent symbol '¢' or ₵. Banknotes come in denominations of ₡1,000-, ₡2,000-, ₡5,000-, ₡10,000-, ₡20,000 and ₡50,000. Coins come in denominations of ₡10-, ₡25-, ₡50-, ₡100 and ₡500 (solid yellow and yellow rings with silver center and featuring commemorative designs).

Cope

Although Costa Rica has established official street names in most cities for governmental purposes, most of the population is unaware of these names and if they are known, most streets will lack proper signs stating said names. Asking for directions from a local could result in a tedious and difficult conversation as said directions are given out based on a common or well known building, store, office or other landmark in order to find what you are looking for. As such, you would need to know important landmarks and their locations well enough to be able to get around more easily.

Spanish is the official language of Costa Rica, and is spoken by virtually all locals. There are also indigenous languages spoken by some of the indigenous ethnic groups, though speakers of these languages are usually able to speak Spanish as well.

Travel to Costa Rica is common, with 2.6 million people visiting annually, more than any other Latin American country. Costa Rica is generally regarded to be one of the less crime-ridden countries in Latin America and is the most politically stable, with no successful coups or wars since the current republic was established in 1948. However, stable does not equal rich, and high wealth inequality in urban areas has fueled crime.

Costa Rica has one of the highest levels of social care in the world. Its doctors are known worldwide as some of the best. Many people from the U.S., Canada, and Europe go there to be treated, not only because of quality but also cost. First class hospitals can be found in the capital. There are public and private hospital systems that provide excellent care. The public system has much longer waits, while the private system has shorter waits. If you have a very sick child requiring hospitalization, the child will be transferred to the only children's hospital in Costa Rica, in San José. This c…

The international calling code/country code for Costa Rica is +506. Sending a postcard to US, Europe or Asia is ₡385, ₡435, or ₡545, respectively. Other mail is becomes more expensive the more it weights.

In general, Ticos are very hospitable and laidback people, happy to assist visitors in any manner necessary. Being bien educado (well-mannered) is emphasised heavily in Costa Rica. You will typically be greeted with “buenos días”, “buenas” or other iterations upon entering stores and other establishments, and it is polite to reciprocate this gesture. Other niceties go a long way, such as saying “disculpe” (pardon me) when bumping into another person or prefacing a question. Avoid using straight-out “give me…” commands and instead be gentle when asking for something, saying “¿me podria dar…, po…

Travel is busiest in the week before Easter (Semana Santa), at mid year school holidays in July, and at the end of December.