In my last post, I detailed pretty much every single thing we did during our week in Costa Rica. While Costa Rica is the 28th country I’ve visited, and I felt like I had a decent idea of what to expect, every country is different and has its own quirks and characteristics to be aware of.
So, for this post, I wanted to share some important things you’ll want to know before you visit. Here are five things to know before visiting Costa Rica!
1. Costa Rica Uses Colones — But You Can Also Use Credit Cards
As its currency, Costa Rica uses the Costa Rican Colón. It was named after Christopher Columbus, AKA Cristóbal Colón. Not sure why we changed his name into an English version, but he was a bad guy anyway, so who cares. Regardless, he’s the namesake of Costa Rica’s currency.
Every time you use a new currency, there’s a learning curve as you figure out how to convert it into a unit of measurement you’re familiar with. Some are easy — like euros and pounds are usually close enough to U.S. dollars that it’s not too difficult to figure out how much your coffee costs. Some are trickier, but still fairly manageable; for example, 100 Swedish Krona (SEK) is about $10 USD.
Costa Rican Colones (CRC), on the other hand, were very tricky. If we tried to use that same $10 USD example to convert into currency for Costa Rica, you’d get 5,409 CRC. Which meant, if we saw cappuccino on a menu for 1,080 CRC, we weren’t really sure how much that was in USD without getting out our phones.
A few days into our trip, Matt finally came up with an easy way to convert the majority of the prices we saw into USD: start with a 4-digit price in CRC, multiply it by 2, and then put a decimal after the first number in the result. That will be your USD price. Here are some examples:
Fresh fruit smoothie: 2000 CRC
2000 x 2 = 4000
Rough cost: $4.00
True cost: $3.70
Hamburger with fries: 3950 CRC
3950 x 2 = 7900
Rough cost: $7.90
True cost: $7.30
Taking the bus around Manuel Antonio: 0410 CRC
0410 x 2 = 0820
Rough cost: $0.82
True cost: $0.76
If anything, it helps you overestimate a bit, which is better than the opposite!
And while we’re on the topic of currency, I wanted to mention that you can use a credit card (especially a good one with no foreign transaction fees) for many purchases in Costa Rica — at least the place we went. However, it’s always good to have some cash on hand, so I suggest taking some out of an ATM on arrival at the airport.
2. Nature is in Charge
While Costa Rica is a tropical paradise, make sure you understand that you’re not going to find all of the amenities you may be used to in the U.S. or other travel destinations. Air conditioning is a luxury, and so is being able to flush toilet paper down the toilet. In most places, you’ll have to dispose of your toilet paper in a small waste bin next to the toilet.
Also, bugs and other creatures are everywhere. I didn’t find Costa Rica to be quite as buggy as I was expecting, but we did encounter massive roaches outside our Airbnb. And at least one made its way into the house at one point.
Besides that, there were tons of tiny geckos flitting back and forth on the walls and ceilings of our place. Luckily, I was used to that from visiting the Galapagos Islands last year, but I wasn’t very happy about it at the time! But don’t worry — they won’t hurt you. And one morning during this trip, I awoke to a dead frog at the end of our bed. Despite all that, I 100% recommend where we stayed and would stay there again in a heartbeat — it’s just the nature of Costa Rica (no pun intended), and you’re probably going to experience the same thing regardless of where you’re staying.
One last thing: Please make sure you’re prepared to be hot, sticky, and uncomfortable, especially if you visit between April and July. Again, you might not have air conditioning. Or, the power might go out in your rural little neighborhood like it did for us, twice on the last night. So even if you have A/C, it won’t work if there’s no power. 🙃
3. You Can Drink the Water!
Despite some of the things that may seem like “inconveniences” to people from more developed countries, one thing about Costa Rica that is a true blessing is the fact that you can drink the tap water in the majority of places.
This is different from the other Latin American countries I’ve visited. In Ecuador, we could drink the tap water in Quito, which was really convenient since we based ourselves there for two months. But when we visited the Galapagos Islands — which was more similar to Costa Rica as far as climate, temperature, nature, and activities — the tap water is not safe for drinking.
Unfortunately, Matt swallowed some while brushing his teeth, and he was sick for several days. Considering how hot it was there, the active lifestyle we were living, and how scarce the resources are on some of those islands, finding enough water to stay hydrated was not easy.
When we went to Mexico City a few months later, it was once again unsafe to drink the tap water. Being in the city, it was a bit easier to find bottled water, and we could fill up a giant 5-gallon tank at any local convenience store. But it was still, generally, an inconvenience.
So when we got to Costa Rica and found out we could drink tap water, it was the best news ever. We could fill up our water bottles as much as we wanted, and we even used the ice trays in our Airbnb to make plenty of ice for hot, sticky days exploring the neighborhood and the beaches. (Be sure to bring your reusable water bottles! Costa Rica is really big on sustainability.)
As an added bonus, it means you can eat raw fruits and vegetables without concern! Which is great because there is a lot of delicious fruit to be found in Costa Rica.
4. Uber is Technically Illegal in Costa Rica
When you arrive in Costa Rica and step outside the San José airport for the first time, you don’t find yourself in a gleaming arrivals hall, full of excited family and friends waiting to pick up their loved ones from the airport. You walk from baggage claim directly outside — where you’re promptly greeted by about 1,000 taxi drivers shouting at you, asking if you need a ride.
Official taxis in Costa Rica, which are regulated and will generally be a safe option, are red with a yellow triangle on the side. They have meters, and you’ll want to be sure you have taken out enough cash (and have small enough bills) to pay them. You can definitely take an official taxi if you want.
But you can also take an Uber, though it’s illegal, so you’ll have to be a little bit sneaky about how you do it. Here’s how to take an Uber from the San José (SJO) airport.
When you get outside of the airport, keep walking to the right on the sidewalk, past all the taxi drivers. Once you get to a crosswalk, cross the street into the parking garage and find either the escalator or the ramp up to the next level. You’ll find yourself at departures, rather than arrivals, and at least at the time of night we were there (10 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.), it was a lot less busy. Meaning you’re less likely to piss off a taxi driver or start a fight, or get in trouble with airport police if they see you getting into an Uber.
We actually went through this process at San José airport twice: since we were meeting our friend Morgan in Costa Rica, and her flight got extremely delayed, Matt took an Uber and went on to the hotel while I waited at the airport for Morgan. Then, we took another Uber together when she arrived. I talked some with the driver on our way. He said that, since Uber is illegal, one passenger always needs to sit in the front seat so it looks like we’re friends traveling together.
Once we got to Manuel Antonio and Quepos, it wasn’t a big deal to take Ubers and it was often cheaper than taking a red cab. (Plus, it was easier than having to dig out cash.) However, there weren’t many Ubers available there. So it was a lot more hit and miss.
5. Pura Vida is a Way of Life
Matt doing the “pura vida” hand signal 🤙
I feel like I knew that Costa Rica’s motto was “pura vida,” but I didn’t really grasp what it means to the Ticos. (“Ticos” are what Costa Ricans call themselves.)
“Pura Vida” is more than just a slogan. First of all, you’re likely to hear it multiple times a day while you’re there. Whether it’s a greeting, a statement of encouragement, or even a response to someone saying “gracias,” pura vida is at the forefront of Costa Rican vocabulary.
Beyond that, pura vida is truly a lifestyle, and for the Ticos, it guides them in their daily living and their attitudes toward life. “Pura vida” translates to “pure life,” or “simple life.” In Costa Rica, this means living life to the fullest, appreciating what’s in front of you, and staying optimistic through it all.
When you’re in Costa Rica, surrounded by nature and some of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet, it’s hard not to feel yourself adopting the pura vida lifestyle.
Pura vida!
What else do you want to know about visiting Costa Rica? Let me know in the comments!
-Cathy
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Originally Published on July 5, 2023.
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