Costa Rica is definitely one of our favorite destinations because of its diversity. The different beaches with different vibes, nature parks, volcanoes, mountains, waterfalls, but also nice restaurants, boutiques and bars. Costa Rica has it all. The variety of all this makes it one of our favorite travel destinations. And we have a lot of good experiences with Costa Rica.
Below we will discuss the following parts of our journey through Costa Rica, along with our experiences and opinions:
- Destinations
- Activities
- Safety
- Accommodations
- Restaurants
- Locals
- Infrastructure
- Nature and wildlife
- Climate and weather
We also answer what we liked best and least about Costa Rica. After this we tell you whether we would like to stay for a longer period of time, would like to start something here and whether we would like to come back.
Experiences
Destinations
La Fortuna we liked a lot. We thought it was super cool to do all the different activities, some of which were also just for free. For example, we went to the free hot springs twice, but we also took a wonderful dive at el salto. We also really liked the main street in La Fortuna with all the restaurants, and we've had some nice meals there.
We also loved Tortuguero , because you completely withdrew into nature. The small village in the middle of a national park was really fantastic. All the tours we did there were really interesting and fun to do. Perhaps the most cool thing was to fly from a mini airport with a small plane from Tortuguero to San Jose.
Puerto viejo we found super chill. There was a real Caribbean vibe here with super nice beaches. In addition, you had the 2 beautiful nature parks where you could enjoy yourself for a day. We really liked the variety of it.
Tamarindo was really a place for us to spend a few days on the beach. We have completely relaxed after all the travelling. Also, we were very excited about the food in Tamarindo. It was a bit on the expensive side, but it was delicious and there was plenty of choice. There was no shortage of other tourists either, it was pleasantly busy.
Compared to Tamarindo Uvita a lot quieter and we also loved that. We really liked the Uvita waterfall, too the huge waterfall in Dominical we thought was really magical. In addition, it had a beautiful beach, for which you unfortunately had to pay €9. We thought this was a bit pricey, but it is a nature park.
We really liked the somewhat unknown Sarchi. This is mainly because we enjoyed sitting among the locals and retreat from the tourists for a while. There were so many impressive activities to do in the area. This made it one of our favorite spots in all of Costa Rica.
Personally, we did not find Santa Teresa very special. It was mega cumbersome and quite pricey to get there by bus. We also found everything very expensive here. It felt very overrated to us. Because everyone is so enthusiastic about it, we were a bit disappointed. The beach was beautiful and you could eat a good meal, but the prices weren't about anything to be honest.
Activities
There is so much to do in Costa Rica. There are many tours, but you can also do a lot of fun things yourself. We personally found flying in the small plane with Sansa fly really cool. This was of course not a tour, but a regular flight. It was a bit exciting, but we really enjoyed the beautiful views.
Bajos del Toro was definitely one of our favorites. Only the road from Sarchi to Bajos del Toro was breathtaking by itself. You drive so high through the mountains with incredibly beautiful views. And part of it you even go through the clouds. When you finally get to the falls itself, it's even more beautiful than you can imagine. It is not a very well-known area in Costa Rica, but we really didn't want to miss this one.
In addition, Tortuguero was our other favorite. From the moment you step on the boat it is already an experience. It is actually an activity in itself. The night walk and canoe tour were really cool to experience. Despite the rain, we enjoyed it immensely and were able to spot many animals. We encountered many birds, sloths, spider monkeys and caimans.
The nature parks in Puerto Viejo were also fantastic. Cahuita was our favorite of the two because of the beautiful beaches and all the cool animals. We saw monkeys, raccoons, sloths and birds. Only the crocodiles we were unable to spot.
The Nauyaca waterfall in Dominical was very impressive. Including the two kilometres hike there. If there hadn't been so many tourists, it would have been much nicer to see. You may have better luck if you go very early.
Also the Poas volcano we also found very beautiful and impressive to see. The bright blue water while standing between the clouds gives a very nice picture.
The Uvita waterfalls were especially fun to enjoy for an afternoon. Marlo found sliding down the waterfall very exciting but above all fun. It was a little too exciting for me. Jumping off the platform was also really fun. Marlo was also able to practice surfing in Uvita. Especially as a beginner, the waves are great to practice.
Safety
We have never felt unsafe anywhere in Costa Rica. Only San Jose we found a bit shady, especially in the evening. We have never stayed here for longer than 1 night. Also in Puerto viejo we felt very chill and safe during the day. In the evening it became a bit less nice because you were sometimes overloaded with men who wanted to sell you drugs. Sometimes they really did this to your face, and didn't really keep a proper distance. We also heard some nasty stories about that as a girl you might want to be careful in Puerto Viejo in the evening. Other than that, we didn't get much of it ourselves. But better to be safe than sorry!
Experiences with accommodations in Costa Rica
We found most hotels in Costa Rica quite pricey for what you get. Most hotels and rooms were not really nice. Many could use a renovation. We often opted for a hotel/hostel with a kitchen so that we could make our own food. By making our own breakfast and sometimes lunch, we could save quite a bit of money.
We always booked through booking.com and sometimes through aribnb. We compared the prices here a bit, with sometimes one and sometimes the other being cheaper. Two stars of hotels were Tucan Hotel in Uvita and The Dreamcatcher House in Sarchi. Both were super nice, clean and the hosts were great.
Restaurants
We have never had any problems with food in Costa Rica. No food poisoning or anything like that. It was also quite easy not to eat pork and beef. There was a lot of choice in terms of different cuisines and dishes. There was, however, a big difference in price. We really had to be careful that we didn't suddenly pay the top price for a tasty dish. We have eaten for €10, but also for €50. However, there was so much choice that we never had to search long for good restaurants like in Panama.
Locals
We have experienced the locals in Costa Rica as very nice. However, we have seen few, because you are often mainly among the tourists. But in Sarchi, for example, we were surrounded by only locals. These often helped you even if you didn't speak Spanish very well. Even though they often couldn't speak English very well themselves, we managed to figure it out together.
Infrastructure
Costa Rica has really bad roads with huge craters. So please be careful when you rent a scooter or car. The roads were really the worst we have ever seen.
We found the local bus to be the best transport in Costa Rica. Everything is accessible by bus. We have therefore only used it. In addition to being accessible, it is also very cheap. An easy way to save money in such an expensive country. 😉 Unfortunately, Uber could only be used in and around San Jose. But other than that, we also thought this was really great to move around.
A Costarican SIM card for internet was really a drama. We had a SIM card at Kolbi that you had to charge as a kind of call credit. If you used it like that, it was gone in no time. You could also buy packages where you got unlimited for a number of days on certain apps or only using the internet, for example. These didn't always work. In the end, too much money was wasted on this. What's a better option? You can read it here!
The wifi was also not the best everywhere. In many places the wifi was extremely slow, or the wifi router was placed too far away from the room. And sometimes there were just too many guests for what the WiFi could handle.
Experiences with nature and wildlife in Costa Rica
I think we spotted most of the animals in Costa Rica during our trip. We spotted a lot of sloths, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, caimans, a toucan, and many more beautiful birds. We have seen most of the animals in Tortuguero. Despite all the tourists, the animals and especially the monkeys are very shy and withdrawn. Very different from the monkeys in Asia! We found this very pleasant ourselves, firstly because they are not so bold to take everything off you. But also because it is of course better for the monkeys to live on their own and not to become dependent on people.
Nature, as we may have said 10 times before, is so wildly diverse in Costa Rica. There are beautiful beaches with palm trees, cool volcanoes and beautiful waterfalls. There are also many beautiful forests and nature parks. For us this is one of the most beautiful countries in terms of nature.
Climate and weather
We have almost only had good weather. Only in the middle of Costa Rica, around Sarchi and La Fortuna, we had some rain now and then. The temperature there was also slightly lower, and it was slightly more humid. The Caribbean side of Costa Rica is warm, but with a lovely fresh breeze. The Pacific side, on the other hand, was really hot and dry. We ourselves were in Costa Rica in the dry season, in February and March.
What were the best and what were the least fun experiences with Costa Rica?
We both agree on the least fun part. We thought Santa Teresa was very overrated, and therefore disappointing. This is because of everything we have already mentioned above. Too expensive, inconvenient to get there and we didn't find the people very friendly either.
We find it very difficult to say the best because we found everything else very cool in Costa Rica. Marlo found Sarchi and especially Bajos del Toro and the Poas volcano the most cool part of our trip through Costa Rica. For me (Tessa) this was Tortuguero. I really loved cruising through the national park. There were so many animals to spot and you really felt kind of united with nature and the animals. A bit like visiting them in the jungle. I also found the night tour very exciting but at the same time so cool. During both tours you also spot completely different animals and this made it so much fun.
Conclusion
We really have had the most fun experiences in Costa Rica, and it is definitely one of our favorites because of it. There is so much to see and do. And we were able to admire the most beautiful natural phenomena. We would therefore recommend it to everyone. Thanks to the beaches, nature parks, volcanoes, waterfalls and tourist spots, you can enjoy yourself everywhere. The only thing we were a bit disappointed with were the prices. Costa Rica is just really pricey, and you don't necessarily get anything extra for the extra costs in terms of food and hotels.
Do we want to go back again and was it worth it?
It was 100% worth it to us and we would definitely want to go back. We would rather go back with a little more budget. Then you can just travel around a little easier than we have done now. Our budget was about €100 a day for the two of us, but as you can read in our cost blog , we spent a lot more. Next time we would prefer to travel to Costa Rica with a higher daily budget
Would we like to stay here for a longer period of time?
We think it is a great travel/holiday destination, but not necessarily for longer than the 3 months you are allowed to be there. We think it's just too expensive for that, and something is missing in terms of larger cities with more shops, if we stay here for a longer period of time. For the land, climate and nature, we would definitely like to stay longer and have more cool experiences in Costa Rica.
Would we like to start something here?
Despite Costa Rica coming very close to a yes, we have come to the conclusion that we wouldn't want it. So we think it is just too expensive. In addition, we believe that there is still room for improvement in modernity and maintenance of the infrastructure. There is also a lack of coffee shops and nice workplaces to be able to work well.
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