Costa Rica

The hype around Costa Rica is, for once, warranted. It is a small country. You could drive coast to coast in a few hours on a good day. But the ecological range is extraordinary: cloud forest, active volcanoes, Pacific surf breaks, Caribbean mangroves, and enough wildlife to keep a serious naturalist busy for weeks. The clients we send there almost always come back talking about the sloths. Or the howler monkeys at 5am. Usually both.

What we have found, booking Costa Rica for years, is that the itinerary structure matters enormously. Stay in one resort and you will enjoy yourself but miss the point of the country. It is specifically designed, geographically and logistically, for movement. The distances are manageable, the roads are better than you would expect, and each region has something the last one did not. A week at a single beach town is a perfectly good holiday. It is just not what Costa Rica is actually for.

The itineraries we build connect the regions in a way that makes sense on the ground: cloud forest first, then volcano country, then the coast. Or some variation of that circuit depending on the season, how long you have, and what you are most hoping to see. If wildlife is the priority we will factor in Tortuguero for turtle nesting season, or push south to Corcovado for jaguar territory. If it is a honeymoon, Manuel Antonio with a couple of nights at a good clifftop lodge usually does it.

How to structure a Costa Rica trip

Costa Rica is one of the few places in Central America where we actively recommend a fly-drive. The roads are maintained well enough, the distances are short enough, and frankly the freedom of your own vehicle is worth it. Pulling over when you spot something interesting, taking the scenic route around the volcano, stopping at a roadside soda for gallo pinto. You will want a 4WD if you are heading to any of the more remote parks.

For clients who would rather not drive, small group departures with a local naturalist guide are a genuinely good alternative. The difference between spotting a resplendent quetzal on your own and having a guide point out which branch it is sitting on, and then explain what it is eating and why, is considerable.

A two-week itinerary that we come back to again and again typically runs through San Jose for a night, up to Monteverde for the cloud forest and canopy walks, across to Arenal for the volcano and hot springs, out to the Caribbean coast at Tortuguero if timing allows for turtles, then down to Manuel Antonio for beaches and easy wildlife, and finally Nicoya for a slower finish. That is the circuit. Three weeks gives you room to breathe, add Corcovado, or fly across to Panama.

Combining Costa Rica with other destinations

Costa Rica sits at the top of South America and travels particularly well with the destinations below it. The combinations we sell most often:

Costa Rica and Ecuador & the Galapagos. The obvious pairing for anyone whose main reason to go to Costa Rica is the wildlife. Spend ten days working through the cloud forests and national parks, then fly to the Galapagos for a liveaboard or island-based stay with giant tortoises and blue-footed boobies. Two very different wildlife experiences: one lush and jungle-dense, one stark and utterly strange. Both are at their best with a proper guide. See our Ecuador & Galapagos holidays.

Costa Rica and Peru. Works well for travellers who want to mix wildlife with serious culture. Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley on one end, a few nights in the Amazon basin on the other, Costa Rica to start. The clients who do this trip tend to be the ones who come back already asking about next time. See our Peru holidays.

Costa Rica and Brazil. Needs a bit more time, realistically four weeks if you want to do it properly. But if the Pantanal is on the list, one of the best places on earth for jaguar sightings, then Costa Rica makes a logical first leg. Add Rio and the Iguazu Falls and you have a trip that most people describe as the best they have ever taken. See our Brazil holidays.

For a longer South American circuit, our Argentina holidays fit naturally alongside any of the above. Patagonia in particular for anyone who wants serious wilderness at the end of a long trip.

When to go to Costa Rica

The dry season runs December to April and that is when most UK clients travel. January and February are the most popular months: reliable sunshine across the Pacific coast, good wildlife viewing, and the country at its most accessible. Book early for those months as availability goes fast.

The green season from May to November gets underestimated. Yes, it rains, usually in the afternoons rather than all day. But the upsides are real: the country is strikingly lush, prices are lower, crowds are thinner, and the Caribbean coast comes into its own for sea turtle nesting between July and October at Tortuguero. A decent number of our returning clients now specifically ask for the green season.

A few specific windows worth knowing. Whale watching off the Osa Peninsula is best from June to August. December and January suit Nicoya best. If seeing a resplendent quetzal is the priority, and for some clients it genuinely is, Monteverde between February and July gives the best odds.

Wildlife in Costa Rica

The species clients ask about most before they go: three-toed sloths, which you will see at Manuel Antonio and Monteverde hanging in the canopy with their characteristic indifference to everything; resplendent quetzals in Monteverde and the Talamanca highlands from February to July; leatherback and green sea turtles nesting at Tortuguero; and scarlet macaws down around Carara and Corcovado. Howler monkeys you will hear long before you see them. Usually at dawn, and louder than anyone anticipates.

Jaguars and Baird's tapirs are in Corcovado but require time, luck, and a good local guide. The Osa Peninsula generally is a step up in wildness from the rest of the country. Less visited, less polished, more demanding, and for the right client, the best thing we send them to.