Costa Rica travel guide
Before you go to Costa Rica
- Currency
- CRC ₡
- Emergency number
- 911 / 911
- Plug type
- A, B
- Tap water
- Tap water is potable and generally safe to drink in most of the country; use bottled water in some remote and Caribbean-coast areas.
- Tipping
- Restaurants add a 10% service charge plus 13% sales tax by law, so extra tipping is optional; rounding up or ~5-10% extra is appreciated for great service.
- Bargaining
- Not expected
- eSIM
- Available
- Card networks
- Visa, Mastercard, American Express (limited)
- ATM fees
- Roughly USD 3-6 equivalent per withdrawal plus your home-bank fee
Cities in Costa Rica
- Manuel Antonio Pacific-coast resort area (Puntarenas) wrapped around Manuel Antonio National Park, famed for white-sand beaches backed by rainforest full…
- Tamarindo Guanacaste's most popular Pacific surf-and-beach town — a lively strip of restaurants, surf schools and bars fronting a golden-sand bay…
- San José Costa Rica's capital in the Central Valley (~1,170 m), a cultural hub of museums, theatres and markets and the main gateway for Central…
- La Fortuna Small adventure town at the foot of Arenal Volcano (Alajuela), the hub for hot springs, waterfalls, hanging bridges and rainforest…
- Monteverde Misty cloud-forest mountain town in the Cordillera de Tilarán (Puntarenas), world-famous for canopy zip-lines, hanging bridges and…
- Tortuguero Car-free Caribbean sandbar village between the Tortuguero canals and the sea, one of the western hemisphere's most important green-turtle…
- Puerto Viejo de Talamanca Laid-back Afro-Caribbean surf-and-jungle town (Limón) famed for the Salsa Brava reef break, reggae nightlife, cacao farms and palm-fringed…