Costa Rica... in a nutshell

Costa Rica is the most expensive country in Central America, which means it’s dear, but still affordable for holidaymakers from Europe. Like any other country, the cost of living doesn’t have to be expensive if you’re happy to bypass certain luxuries. However, excursions will be on the high end of the scale if you’re a traveller on a budget - and totally worth it.
 

Visas

Being from the EU / Schengen states, we didn’t need a Visa to visit Costa Rica. Citizens from Japan, the US and Canada do not require a Visa either.

The countries that require a Visa to travel to Costa Rica can be found on this list. 

 

However, we were asked for proof of departure from Costa Rica before getting on our flight there from Mexico. We had planned to do the journey from Costa Rica to Panama -our next destination - by bus, but there is no way to purchase a ticket online in Costa Rica. We were unfortunately informed of this “rule” half an hour before our flight to Costa Rica.

We ended up having to find WiFi in the airport to buy a plane journey from Costa Rica to Panama, which was obviously very expensive compared to a bus, but it was the only option we had if we didn’t want to miss our flight to Costa Rica.  If you do plan to continue your travels from Costa Rica overland, it is a good idea to email the bus company you wish to travel with in advance so that they can send you some sort of confirmation email. Or, you can create some sort of document or email for the airport staff, as they will not allow you to board the plane without this. Once we were in Costa Rica immigration we weren’t asked to show any proof of departure, although this may be because we had already provided it in Mexico airport.

 

Accommodation

We were in triple rooms for most of the trip, as we had a friend travelling with us, which made rooms a little cheaper. The prices below are in USD, per night, per person in a triple room.  

$10 (a night) in Tortuguero with a private bathroom. (Princesa Resort - basic cabins that have great tours that we definitely recommend)
$16 (a night) in La Fortuna (Arenal) with a private bathroom and breakfast included. (La Choza Inn - one of the nicest places we stayed in with great tours)
$10 (a night) in Monteverde bunk beds (no fan required, as temperatures are cooler here).
$23 (a night) in Malpais for a modern, two bedroom apartment. (This was the cheapest accommodation we could find, as the area is quite expensive)

$10 (a night) in San Jose for a triple room with a shared bathroom and breakfast included.

 

Food and Drink

Breakfast is often included in hotel, although “set breakfasts” in cafes and restaurants tend to cost around 1800 Costa Rican Colones (CRC) or €3 - cheaper than the lunch options. This is likely to include a pancake or an egg with bread and fresh orange juice.

Lunch in Costa Rica typically consists of fried plantain, kidney beans and chicken (with beef or pork steak options also available). This “set meal” is known as a “Casado” and costs between 2500 - 3000CRC or €4 / $5. It’s very filling, and is usually of a good quality. The best places to get these lower prices are “Sodas” which are small, often family run restaurants. A “Soda” is the cheapest option you will find all over Costa Rica.

It wasn’t difficult for us to find places that served burgers (both chicken and beef varieties), Mexican faijtas and more “international” food at reasonable prices. “Cantonese” rice dishes are also quite common, which is basically seafood fried rice; this abundant dish was probably the best thing I ate in Costa Rica - definitely worth trying.

Drinks in Costa Rica were expensive, with bottles of beer costing around €2 or 3USD in restaurants. It is definitely a good idea to buy multipacks from the supermarket if you’re on a budget!

 

Excursions

This is where most of the money goes on a trip to Costa Rica, but it's defintely money well spent, as the excursions were some of the best we have done on our RTW trip so far.

Boat ride through jungle, jungle walk, nocturnal turtle watch in Tortuguero island (2 day package) 55USD each (arranged through our hotel)

Cerro Chato in Fortuna 4 hour hike with lunch, waterfalls, and hot springs + another hike the following day, jeep, bus boat to Monteverde (2 day) 85 USD each
Nocturnal forest walk in Monteverde 25USD each
Canopy Zip Lining afternoon including Tarzan Swing in Monteverde 45USD each

 

I would recommend every single one of these tours, as they were well organised and great fun. For more information, feel free to drop me an email: mika.kohli@gmail.com

 

Transport

Buses are the main way to get around Costa Rica, as there is no railway connecting the cities to one another. However, getting from one place to another often involves a number of changes and even a boat!

 

Some routes can not be done by bus, and private shuttles need to be hired. In these cases it’s always a good idea to try and negotiate with guides arranging tours and excursions (they will often deduct their commission from the price of the shuttle if you book a tour with them), or even booking an excursion that ends in a different place as we did in Fortuna to finally get to Monteverde. Here are the routes we did with costs in USD per person.  

San Jose to Tortuguero Island / bus bus boat : $8 (click on link for more information)
Tortuguero to La Fortuna / private shuttle $50
La Fortuna to Monteverde / part of our 2 day package, see "Excursions"
Monteverde to Playa Malpais / Bus - ferry - bus - taxi $18

 

Money makes the world go round

US dollars can be used to pay for hotels, even though the official currency is Costa Rican Colones (CRC). Sometimes this may work in your favour if you happen to have USD. Hotels and Travel Agencies (excursions) usually quote costs in USD, as larger amounts tend to be dealt with using dollars, even though both currencies can be used.
 

So how much?!
Visas: €0 (European citizens. See link at top of page to see if a Visa is necessary for your country).
Accommodation: €12 a night (per person) see more detailed breakdown and accommodation section above.

Excursions: €160 in total per person (see excursions and activities above).
Food and drink: €18 a day (including the occasional beer).
Transport: €75 per person in total for 10 days of local transport and routes above.