Costa Rica (Guanacaste & Arenal), Costa Rica

Pura vida: sloths, zip-lines, hot springs under a volcano, and beginner-friendly surf. Dry December to April.

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Best time to visit

Month	High	Low	Rain	Season
Jan	21°	15°	158 mm	prime
Feb	22°	14°	97 mm	prime
Mar	23°	15°	64 mm	prime
Apr	23°	16°	72 mm	prime
May	22°	16°	268 mm
Jun	21°	16°	326 mm
Jul	21°	16°	301 mm
Aug	21°	16°	277 mm
Sep	21°	16°	301 mm
Oct	21°	16°	363 mm
Nov	20°	16°	340 mm
Dec	20°	15°	254 mm	prime

30-year averages (1995–2024) from ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo. Rain is the monthly total.

Serves travellers at Backpacker→Ultra-luxury level. Typically around $130 a day on the ground.

Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.

A rental car, ideally with clearance. Tourist shuttles link the main towns but the beaches, trailheads and volcano roads sit off that network, and short distances take twice as long as the map suggests.
getting around · editorial
Liberia is the closer airport for the Guanacaste coast; San José is the other way in. Arenal is around three hours from either, paved most of the way with a rough final stretch.
getting there · editorial
Wildlife runs on dawn, not on your schedule; sloths, howlers and quetzals are a morning proposition. Many beach roads are unpaved and ford streams, which a low-clearance car will not survive.
know before · editorial
Cards are widely accepted and both colones and US dollars circulate. Keep small cash for roadside stalls, village shops and the places the road gets bad.
money · editorial
September and October are the wettest weeks on the Pacific side, when the rain stops being an afternoon event and dirt access roads wash out.
when not to go · editorial
La Fortuna under Arenal for hot springs and waterfalls, Monteverde for cloud forest and cold nights, Tamarindo and Nosara on the Guanacaste coast for surf, Santa Teresa further south and harder to reach.
where to stay · editorial

Arenal Volcano
The perfect cone. It appears only when the cloud allows it, and the cloud often does not.
La Fortuna waterfall
Five hundred steps down, and the same five hundred back up.
Monteverde
The cloud forest, with the suspension bridges up at canopy height.
Rio Celeste
The turquoise water that is born where two rivers meet.
Tamarindo beach
The surf beach of Guanacaste, facing the sunset.
Playa Conchal
Sand made of ground shell, and the water is blue because of it.

Have a casado for lunch at a roadside soda
Eat a casado for lunch at a roadside place
Rice, beans, salad, plantain and meat. Every day, and it never gets old.
Drink coffee straight from a farm in the region
The bean goes from here to the world. It is worth drinking where it grows.

Get into the Tabacón hot springs after dark, with Arenal invisible alongside
Sit in a natural hot spring with the volcano beside you
Hot water from the volcano itself. It does not have to be a resort.
Find a sloth yourself, with no guide pointing
You will stare at ten wrong trees first.

Raft the Pacuare on a day when the river is high
Class III and IV rapids, a whole day inside the canyon.