Costa Rica
Costa Rica is a small and lush country with 12 major life zones, over 10,000 kinds of flowering plants, 850 bird species, 3,000 butterfly species, 209 mammal species, active volcanoes, rainforests, cloud forests, lowland jungles, dramatic Pacific coastline, beautiful weather and tranquil beaches. Thirty percent of the land is protected by national and private reserves and more than five percent of the world’s biodiversity can be found in Costa Rica.
Where Should I Go?
San Jose
The cosmopolitan capital city sits high in the Central Valley at about 4,000 feet elevation and is blessed with wonderful weather and is usually the gateway to Costa Rica for International travelers and the transportation hub for Costa Rica exploration.
Liberia
founded in the mid 18th century, the “White City” is the capital of the sunny Guanacaste province with a colonial atmosphere known as the cultural capital of northern Costa Rica and a great starting point for exploring Costa Rica’s beaches, volcanoes, cloud forests and parks.
Arenal Volcano
The most active volcano in the western hemisphere has a perfect cone shape and is covered with lush cloud forest and rainforest teeming with plants and animals.
Sarapiqui
This lush agricultural county is famous for its rich biodiversity, adventure activities and ecotourism.
Quepos
The gateway town to Manuel Antonio National Park is where the lush rainforest meets the turquoise sea.
Manuel Antonio National Park
Located on the Pacific coast about three hours from San Jose, the most popular park in Costa Rica is a rainforest by the sea recognized as one of the most biologically diverse places on Earth.
Jaco
This wild coastal party town is the place to go for surfing and nightlife.
Puntarenas
Costa Rica’s main port city and capital city of Puntarenas province is located on the Pacific Coast home to about 100,000 people and is a wonderful sun and beach destination with many national parks within driving distance.
When Should I Go?
Costa Rica is in the northern hemisphere but its seasons are that of the southern hemisphere, opposite of the US. It’s a tropical climate with a dry season and a green season; temperatures don’t vary much throughout the year with the main influence being the variation in altitude.
Dry season: late December – April, this is the tourism high season, very little rain with temperatures in the 80’s, March, April and May can get very hot.
Green season: May – November, the low season for tourism experiences some rain but still has an average of 5 hours of sunshine per day, flora is lush and green and rain usually falls in the form of warm tropical afternoon showers.
San Jose has “eternal spring” with some of the best weather in the world, average temperatures throughout the year are between 60F and 80F.
Coast – generally warmer than inland and more humid with temperatures between 70F and 90F, the northern beaches are usually dry and sunny, rain and humidity are greater in the Central Pacific and southern beaches and the land is lush and green.
July is typically the wettest month with the majority of rain falling in late afternoon and evening
