At a glance
The country, before you go.
Population
5.2 million
May 2026 estimate. 86% urban; median age 35.7 years. Spread across two coasts and a mountainous interior.
Currency
Costa Rican Colón (CRC)
About 1 CRC = 0.003 AUD (May 2026). US dollars widely accepted throughout the country, especially in tourist zones.
Climate range
14–32°C year-round
Tropical on coasts; temperate in Central Valley highlands. Dry/best season Dec–Apr (sunny, green, ideal). Wet/rainy season May–Nov (lush, cheaper, afternoon downpours).
Main economy
Tourism · ecotourism · tech
Tourism is 5.8–12.5% of GDP and the nation's identity. Ecotourism a core pillar. Medical devices and medtech exports significant. Agriculture: coffee, bananas, pineapples. 99% renewable electricity.
Signature festivals
Día de los Boyeros · Independence
Día de los Boyeros (ox-cart parade) 2nd Sunday in March. Independence Day September 15. Fiestas de Palmares in January (two-week festival). Fiesta de los Diablitos late December.
Cultural foods
Gallo pinto · casado · olla
Gallo pinto: rice + beans, breakfast staple. Casado: plate with rice, beans, meat, salad (lunch standard). Olla de carne: beef stew. Ceviche, plantains, fresh tropical fruit (mango, papaya, pineapple, tamarind).
Figures verified May 2026.
The country
Costa Rica works best as a loop — Pacific and Arenal combined, or Caribbean base camp into wilderness. The country is small enough to drive, wet enough to stay green year-round, and wild enough that you don't need to go far to feel remote. The real divide is dry season versus green season, and which coast speaks to you.
This page is a starting point. Pick a region below, or tell us when you can go and what kind of rainforest calls to you — we'll route it properly.
Places to visit
Six regions. Each one a different rainforest story.
Swipe through. The Pacific coast has beaches and volcanoes. The cloud forest is moss and howler monkeys. The Caribbean is canals and turtles. Osa Peninsula is the wildest corner of them all.
Arenal & La Fortuna
The volcano and the hot springs.
Arenal is perfect geometry — a cone you can see from a hundred kilometres away. La Fortuna town is the base for the national park, the hanging bridges, the rainforest trails, and thermal pools heated by the volcano itself.
Talk about this →Monteverde Cloud Forest
Suspension bridges and moss.
Five thousand feet up, the rainforest is perpetually mist-wrapped. Hanging bridges sway between canopy towers. Resplendent quetzals. Howler monkeys at dawn. Ziplines if you want them. Trails if you don't.
Talk about this →Manuel Antonio
Pacific beach meets national park.
The only place where you can go from beach to jungle in five minutes. Capuchins in the palm trees, sloths moving at one kilometre per hour, and sand that stays warm until sunset. Three beaches in the park itself.
Talk about this →Nicoya Peninsula
Surf towns and wellness retreats.
Santa Teresa and Nosara are the coastal anchors — sunrise waves, sunset yoga, restaurants that have zero intention of opening before lunch. The peninsula runs on pura vida time. Expensive for Costa Rica, worth it.
Talk about this →Osa Peninsula & Corcovado
The wildest corner.
Corcovado National Park is 500 square kilometres of rainforest where jaguars still hunt and scarlet macaws fly in pairs. Puerto Jiménez is the only town. Roads are rough. Lodges are expensive. It's the price of true wilderness.
Talk about this →Tortuguero
Caribbean canals and turtle nesting.
No roads to Tortuguero — you arrive by boat down jungle canals. July to October, green and olive ridley sea turtles nest on the beach at night. The lodge is your compass in a place where roads don't exist.
Talk about this →When to go
Four seasons. Very different experiences.
Dry season
December to April.
Peak season. Sunny beaches, reliable weather, passable roads everywhere. Arenal is clearest in early January. Manuel Antonio crowds peak in February. Turtle nesting is low. We book lodges early — these months fill by August.
Green season
June to October.
The rainforest explodes. Afternoon rains, morning sun. Cheaper rates, far fewer tourists. Scarlet macaws are most visible. Surf swells arrive. Turtle nesting is highest July–October. Roads turn to mud — 4WD or local boats necessary.
Shoulder
May and November.
Windows between seasons. May is dry-turning-green. November is green-turning-dry. Fewer crowds, decent weather. Roads still solid. Best value for the experience. We often favour these months for clients who can be flexible.
Hurricane season
September and October.
Peak rain, strongest turtle nesting, lowest prices. Caribbean coast gets heavier rainfall than Pacific. Most lodges stay open. Plan for indoor days and embrace them — the rainforest at full volume is alive and powerful.
Culture & customs
What we tell travellers before they go.
Four things you'll meet the first week. None of them are obstacles — they're Costa Rica. We brief every traveller on these before they land so the first morning casado doesn't feel like a puzzle.
Pura vida.
The national greeting, philosophy, and religion all at once. Pura vida = pure life = hello/goodbye/thanks/welcome/don't worry. Said with the hand half-raised, usually with a smile. It's not performative — it's the country's operating system.
Tipping.
Service charge (servicio) is usually added to restaurant bills — 10% is automatic. Tip extra only if service stands out. Cash tips disappear into pockets; card tips to the kitchen are never guaranteed.
Tico time.
Relaxed, unhurried. Roads are slow. Meetings start late. Boats leave when everyone arrives, not when scheduled. Costa Ricans embrace this. Visitors who fight it spend the trip frustrated.
Genuine eco-credentials.
99% of Costa Rica's electricity comes from renewables — hydro, wind, geothermal. The country means conservation. We pick lodges that walk the talk: real carbon offsets, staff paid decently, local food sourced locally.
Food
Three things to know before you eat.
Casado
The national lunch plate. Rice, black beans, plantain, a vegetable, and meat or fish. It's hearty, it's cheap, it's everywhere. Eaten at noon, rarely for dinner. The best ones come from small comedores (lunch counters) where locals eat.
Gallo pinto
Breakfast rice and beans fried together with onions. Served with eggs, fresh fruit, and coffee. The national morning. It appears on every breakfast table in the country from the Caribbean coast to the Osa Peninsula.
Caribbean coast cuisine
Distinct from the rest of the country — coconut rice, fresh seafood, jerk spices (lighter than Jamaica's). Rondon is the classic stew. The Limón province flavour is Jamaican-influenced and worth a detour.
Plan with us
Three ways our team helps with Costa Rica.
Take the quick six-question quiz so we know how you travel — then pick whether we plan the whole trip, brief you on a call, or hand you the tools to do it yourself.
🇨🇷 Tell us how you travel
Six quick questions. Then we'll know how to shape Costa Rica for you.
“When I close my eyes and imagine my perfect travel moment, I am…”
Helava Class
We plan, we book, we handle the suppliers
AUD $97 + AUD $55 per person
Our team designs your Costa Rica trip with you in a planning session, then books every part of it. Office-hours support with a 24-hour reply window throughout your trip — because we made the bookings, we can call the supplier and fix things on your behalf.
Start the brief →Helava Standards
60-minute planning session, then yours to book
AUD $97
A live session with our team on Costa Rica — routes, timings, properties to chase. You leave with the plan and book the parts you want via our affiliate links. Complex trips may need extra sessions, each at AUD $97.
Book a session →Do it yourself
DIY — sample itinerary
Free
Answer the Discovery questions on Costa Rica — we email you AI-generated sample itinerary suggestions plus affiliate links so you can book the trip yourself.
Get your sample itinerary →The country, in nine frames
What Costa Rica actually looks like.
Tap any photo. Nine frames across six regions and four seasons. None of these are the brochure shot — they're the moment before the brochure shot, or the moment after.
Ready when you are
Costa Rica is the country travellers most often
rush through instead of soak into.
We listen first. Then we route you to the coasts that fit, pick lodges with real conservation credentials, and time your visit to catch the wildlife windows that matter — scarlet macaws, howler monkeys, turtle nesting, the green season surge.
Design my Costa Rica trip →