Costa Rica Travel Tips for 2021

Traveling Solo in Costa Rica

If you know me, you know I’m good for taking a random trip somewhere. So I decided in May I wanted to go to Costa Rica on Memorial Day weekend. It was originally supposed to be a group trip to The Bahamas but I wasn’t feeling it, told the group why and planned my own personal trip instead. And I’m so glad I did. It was everything I needed and more!

For anyone else looking to enter the country while travel restrictions due to covid are slowly lifting, I have all the tips and tricks that I learned while there to help you out and enjoy your time in Costa Rica with minimal interruptions but preferably none at all like I had for 15 days.

One part of getting ready for my trip was thorough research and understanding everything from entry requirements, what to look for when renting a car, how the police work and where all the hidden gems and must see places were. A few days before I left, I found everything I needed to know and put it to the test during my solo stay and here’s how it went.

Entrance Requirements

The Hand at Sky Adventures Park in La Fortuna Costa Rica

Now this may go without saying for some, but there are always travel newbies and I respect that some people may not know and are babies in the travel game. You will need a valid passport to travel to Costa Rica. Your driver’s license will not cut it here, sorry lol!

You can enter Costa Rica by land and border as a tourist from what they describe as “groups one and two in the general guidelines for stays by residents who do not require a visa.” If you are flying from the United States like I was, I’ll save you the time of figuring out what that means and let you know, we are good. We don’t require a visa if we stay less than 90 days and can visit by air.

But, if your curiosity won’t allow you to trust what I say, or like me you just want to know to be on the safe side, this link will confirm if you need a visa for entry. Your airline should also assist with a link before check-in letting you know to make sure you don’t need a visa. As of June 2021, they also do not require a covid test or quarantine for entry.

What is required to enter the country is a declaration that you are healthy and specific travel insurance coverage. From the official Visit Costa Rica website you can use this link to get your health pass BUT, only do it within 72 hours of departure to the country or they won’t accept it. You have to show a QR code upon arrival to customs so keep it handy, maybe even screen shot it, in case you don’t have service to pull it back up when you get there. Because your U.S. phone carrier will not work in CR.

For your travel insurance, you will have to show that your are covered for your entire stay in Costa Rica, that you have at least $50,000 in coverage to cover any medical expenses AND it must include covid coverage in case you contract it. You are also required to show that you have at least $20,000 in lodging coverage in case you have to quarantine due to covid.

This $50k requirement is only $20k if you buy your insurance from a Costa Rican insurance company versus one from the US. The link to approved companies in CR is on the Visit Costa Rica website as well.

So this isn’t one of those trips where you can get out of buying travel insurance and take your chances, you must purchase it and you have to upload proof which will be checked by Costa Rican authorities when you apply for the health pass mentioned above.

Although it is not required, I highly recommend as a precaution you take the time to print out all your documents. Again, in case you don’t have service as you move around the country because it will happen. Also if you lose your phone by chance you’ll have a backup of everything. I would say to print out all your travel insurance documents and make a copy of your passport. I’ve never had to use any of this thankfully, but anything can happen and you don’t want to be stuck.

Exit Requirements

Covid Test Screenshot for appointment in Costa Rica

When you come back to the U.S., you will need a covid test to get on the plane. You have to show it to your airline before getting your ticket. Many suggest you take the test within three days of your return. I’d say that’s safe for sure but I took mine a few hours before my flight. The San Jose airport has onsite testing that has results in one hour. They recommend getting there at least four hours before your flight. And I agree, four hours or more is best for any mishaps.

Mine was six hours before. The website for covid tests in the San Jose airport is https://covid.morphotr.com. You must have an appt to get tested, they do not allow walk ups. I would suggest booking your appt one day or more before your flight. More depending on if its a busy season or not. I went in rainy season with less tourists so there was barely anyone getting tested but it still took time to be offseason.

Phone Service

When you land you will see your phone service change and probably get a text from your carrier about what your new service looks like. Mine was unlimited texts, free data at 2G speeds and 0.25 cent per minute phone calls with Sprint/T-Mobile. It’s a GREAT idea to check with your provider to make sure you will be able to use your service in Costa Rica and if you need to do some free or low cost upgrades in order to have decent phone service.

I’ve been in countries thinking I was good and gotten phone bills that were astronomical the next month due to roaming. Don’t make this mistake! You can also buy a Costa Rican SIM card either at the airport or out in the city at a telephone store. Kolbi, Claro, Movistar, etc. are providers you will see as you travel around the country pop up in the top left corner (iOS users) of your phone. Only unlocked phones work with a Costa Rican SIM card as well.

I personally didn’t buy a SIM card. I’ve traveled enough and been without service in so many countries that I’m comfortable knowing what to do to prepare. I always map out my destination beforehand so I know where I’m going. I do this on the wifi to avoid unwanted data usage. I have my itinerary planned, what I need to know and head onward. You can usually find a local restaurant (called soda in CR) with wifi if you need it desperately in most cases.

No U.S. cell service in Costa Rica

Water

Good news, the water is drinkable! If it is not, they will make it clear not to drink from that specific spout but Costa Rican water will not make you sick like other countries.

Currency

The Costa Rican currency is the colón. You can simply use Google, type in “colones to dollars” and it will give you the correct amount. You can also download an offline currency converter app for times you don’t have phone service. You will find out fast that the US dollar seems neck and neck with the Costa Rican colones. You aren’t going to save money here like when you travel to Mexico or Bali where everything is dirt cheap.

Costs are very similar here and the only difference is it just takes more colones to equal the same amount in dollars when you make purchases. So prepare like you are going to Vegas and you’ll be good to go. You only find cheaper goods/services in much smaller, local areas. If it’s a tourist area, it’s going to be expensive.

U.S. dollars and all major credit cards are accepted here. If you pay for something in dollars, expect colones in return. I’d use dollars for bigger items and chain stores but colones for local restaurants (sodas). I also don’t advise exchanging at the airport. The rate is higher. Go to a local bank or an ATM once you leave unless you feel like you absolutely must get the money there for some reason.

Tipping

You do not need to tip here. If you do, an extra 2,000 colones or less will suffice (about $3). The VAT and tip (usually called a “service tax”) is included in the bill at restaurants and hotels.

Tips are included in the bill in Costa Rica

Transportation

Driving in Costa Rica is just like the United States. You drive on the same side of the road and same side of the car. They don’t have as many red lights, especially outside of the main cities like San Jose so you have to pay attention to the signs like yield and stop much more. You’ll also see two way roads more outside of the city and single lane bridges so yield to whoever is already on the bridge. They also pass each other alot.

This is not to be taken offensively like we do in the U.S. It’s normal and courteous to allow someone to pass you. You won’t (or rarely) see them trying to speed up so you can’t get over like us rude Americans do. They just let you pass. Road rage isn’t a thing so leave it at home.

I personally prefer to rent a car in every country I travel to. I’d say 95% of the countries I’ve visited I’ve driven myself. Two places I couldn’t imagine driving but probably could’ve had I tried was Egypt and India. Definitely some of the worst driving I’ve seen and I’ve seen some bad driving around the world. It’s bumper cars in real life!

I’ve heard Uber in Costa Rica is pretty cheap, I don’t know personally. If you aren’t going far or staying in one area that should work just fine. You can also hire a driver to take you around. I usually have my car rental reserved online before I arrive but now that I see it really makes no difference in certain countries, I don’t bother anymore. You will find that they suck you in with super cheap rental prices before you depart and when you get there the reservation means nothing.

They won’t have the car you reserved online if its really busy (this applies in many countries) so you’ll get whatever is left when you get there and it’ll probably be totally different. They also will hit you over the head with insurances so know this if you don’t retain anything else in this blog post. Insurance is required in Costa Rica! You can not use your own or talk them out of it by signing a waiver. It’s the law.

Where you can save a little money is if your credit card company covers you. I have the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card and I always use it to knock off the LDW/CDW (collision damage waiver). But I’m also very confident in my driving. You have to choose what’s best for you and your comfort zone. And although I was able to use my card, I actually ended up choosing the car rentals full coverage instead.

For 15 days it cost me about $1100 but I had peace of mind that if anything happened it wouldn’t cost me a dime. They have some really bad potholes in the main areas, roads themselves are terrible in others and if you leave anything in sight someone could break in and steal it. Being alone, it was worth the cost for me personally. The car made it back without a scratch!

You can learn more about credit card car rental benefits, what’s covered and what’s not plus more in this article by The Points Guy. Once I got put on game it made renting out of the country much cheaper. Also, print your credit card benefits out, again, in case you don’t have service because you will need to prove you have coverage.

If you are driving around Costa Rica like I did, you NEED a 4x4 vehicle. There will be some areas you just can’t get to without it! From extremely steep hills to gravel roads that cars can’t handle, opt for the 4x4, trust me here! I saw cars stuck on hills probably trying to avoid the extra cost. This also could’ve been because they were lost which has happened to me.

Getting Gas

Getting Gas In Costa Rica

When it comes to gas, you will not be driving around looking for the cheapest price like we do in America. Gas is one price in Costa Rica and it’s the same everywhere. Just pull up to the pump, tell them “regular” and “full.” You should be in a car that takes regular gas and need a full tank if you are driving across the country.

You also don’t pump your own gas. It’s full service and an attendant’s job to do it for you. I never tipped for gas and they didn’t seem like they expected it. I wasn’t sure if it was like restaurants and included in the price or not but I think you can if you want to.

GPS

Depending on Google or Apple maps can be iffy in many countries outside the United States. I’ve gone the long way and gotten lost from both. The best app to use is Waze. It tells you the best route and I’ve yet to get lost. I will pull up Waze and Google or Apple maps at the same time and there will be two different routes sometimes. Waze is a community app with live updates so other drivers can report things they see like where police are, potholes, etc., and it just makes the drive more seamless.

Google and Apple maps are trying to start this as well but Waze is still better. If for some reason Waze isn’t working due to signal issues, Google maps is my backup then Apple. Google maps works offline so you can at least see the route you’re taking even if it can’t tell you due to lack of internet. Another map I’ve used offline that works well is Galileo Offline Maps Pro and it’s worth the cost.

There are no addresses in Costa Rica and it is divided into Provinces so you can for instance type in “Playa Hermosa” and there will be more than one. You have to know which province you are going to in order to pick the right destination on your map or you will drive the wrong way.

If you ask someone for directions, they will tell you about how many kilometers away it is and to make a left. As long as you have the name of where you are going and the right province, the map will do the rest. I had to ask for directions at one point because I didn’t have a working map and most times the people could speak English or at least give me a good idea of where to go.

You also want to keep cash for tolls. The map will usually tell you which route requires tolls and give you a non toll option but it may be a lot longer. I had a moment that I didn’t have enough cash, tried to use my credit card but it wouldn’t work (although it had been working the entire time, I think it was user error meaning the booth attendant) and they ended up just letting me go through the toll for free because I was holding up the line. They don’t have to do this so keep cash on you.

The Police

One thing that terrifies me, alone or not but especially alone, is getting pulled over and being taken to jail in a foreign country. So I was especially nervous about it in Costa Rica because I’d read a few horror stories about it. I was careful to drive the speed limit the first few days, even though people were flying past me! But by day four or five, I was pretty comfortable knowing when to speed but still, be careful. The police I saw came out of nowhere.

There is a driving restriction in Costa Rica due to covid so license plates with certain numbers can only drive on certain days. As a tourist, unlike locals, you can drive everyday. My rental car company gave me a paper to show the police should I have gotten pulled over.

While I didn’t have an encounter with police in Costa Rica, I have had them in other countries I’ve driven in. Never been taken to jail or had to bribe any of them thankfully. But the locals told me that they can tell when you are a tourist and will want money to get you out of a ticket.

What I’ve learned from driving in other countries is to always keep a little cash separate from your main stash. This is because you can pull this small stash out as they are standing there and say that’s all you have. If you pull the main wad of cash out and try to pull money from it, they will probably want it all because they see you have it.

Food

Traditional Costa Rican meal, gallo pinto.

Being vegan/vegetarian and pescatarian a hand full of times a year…ok so maybe I should keep it simple and say I’m pescatarian but I don’t want to lol…I found easy food options in every place I went for my vegetarian diet. Other’s say it’s harder but I didn’t have problem.

Smaller cafes and local restaurants are called a “soda” so when you see this don’t think of the soft drink. They usually have menus in English as well but Google translate can help you figure out what your are reading if they don’t. It can be time consuming to type it all in though. There are also apps that can translate the menu if you hold your phone’s camera up to it. Just Google “translation apps” and go with the one you like best.

If you are going to be traveling across Costa Rica in a car like I did then it’s best to have some food/snacks with you. When you get your rental, there’s a Walmart not too far from the airport where you can stock up on both.

I was there for two weeks and the food came in handy especially when it came to saving money eating out because Costa Rica is not cheap. Stay in places that have refrigerators at the least for your cold items but preferably a microwave and even an oven depending on what you buy. If the store has cheap styrofoam ice chest you can get that too.

One thing for sure when it comes to Costa Rican food, do not leave without trying their signature dish, gallo pinto. I asked the chef to make mine vegan and OMG, it was amazing!!

Lodging

When is comes to where you stay I say it’s all about your preferences. I’m a fan of Airbnb all over the world so I of course use them first when I look for places to sleep. I stay in homes that are unique once-in-a-lifetime experiences and I’ll also stay in a hostel. I did both while in Costa Rica. I also stayed in unique boutique hotels. I’m least likely to stay at a chain hotel or resorts when I travel unless I really want a regular bed/room, to wash clothes or use a gym.

The main “trick” to getting the dates you want is you do have to look for these places ahead of time. The most popular ones book out far. Sometimes there will be a random open day for the time you are there but usually you have to book ahead. God is always on my side and I get the random dates when I need them. Thank you Lord!!

So even if you don’t have your entire trip mapped out like I tend to do nowadays, I know to look for unique homes in the places I want to visit ahead of time and let that sort of help with the design of my trip overall. You can find cheap lodging and luxury stays in Costa Rica. Where you stay is truly just overall preference of comfort and experience I believe.

The Arenal Eco Glam room in Costa Rica

Nature/Weather

So one thing you should not do is come to Costa Rica if you are terrified of bugs and think you won’t see one. This is a lush environment and there are plenty here. Things will crawl into your room, mostly harmless, or fly right into your face. Nothing I came across was deadly, but you will see plenty of insects and animals that live in their natural habitat.

Homes in Costa Rica are very open because of the humidity so that they can stay cool. You may stay somewhere with cracks and crevices that may make you paranoid about what can get in. If you are this type of person, a higher star hotel may be best for you so that you can have the comforts of home.

You will also notice in the places that “breath” a little more, the beds feel “wet.” This is normal. There is a lot of moisture in the atmosphere so most beds you sleep in will feel this way unless again, you stay in a place that’s built more like your home.

You will see that it rains most days, especially in rainy season. But the rain is usually over quickly. The weather app may say 100% chance of rain every day all day but it’ll tend to be a good sunny day and a quick shower later in the afternoon or evening instead. I got to do every activity I wanted to do with plenty of sun while there even thought the weather predicted I wouldn’t.

Outdoor Activities

I’m the adventurous type so I went waterfall rappelling, white water rafting and surfing while I was in CR in addition to hiking to see sites and to waterfalls. The best clothing to bring if you want to do more than lay on a beach is clothing that breathes. It’s hot in Costa Rica so you want the sweat to wick away from your skin. Athletic wear will usually do but if it says “moisture wicking” you should opt for it. It just helps to keep you cooler.

A good pair of water shoes that you can walk in but also get wet and a pair of hiking boots are ideal if you want to do activities. Sandals are good for the beach but places that require some work to get to would be more comfortably done in the appropriate footwear, trust me.

You will want to bring your own sunblock. Costa Ricans don’t use sunblock so it's expensive to have it sent over because there is no demand for it and they charge much more than we would pay in the US. You also want a good repellant. One with deet is best because the mosquitos are brutal.

Visiting El Salto rope swing in Costa Rica

These are my top travel tips from my experience in Costa Rica the first two weeks of June 2021 that I think are important to know. Be on the lookout for my Costa Rica itinerary where I break down everything I did while I was there later this month! Please feel free to ask any questions you may have below because I’m sure I left something out and would be happy to help!

You can also find more of my trips on Instagram @intheairwithblair.

Thanks for reading,

~xoxo, Candace