Costa Rica has been on my list to visit for years. When my younger sister told me she didn’t have plans for her senior year spring break, I knew we had to do something special. We could venture to somewhere in the states, such as Florida or Arizona, but since it was her senior year, we really wanted to travel internationally. As I was researching countries American’s were allowed to travel to during COVID-19, Costa Rica kept coming up as an option.
Let me say, Costa Rica did not disappoint. I truly had no idea what it would be like to visit, but everything we did went above and beyond my expectations. Even with the research and all of the YouTube videos I watched about the country before leaving, seeing the country first hand is such a different experience and everything was so much more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.
I will say, a lot of the travel guides I found online were for 2 week trips. Since this was my sister’s spring break, we only had about 10 days, and planning an itinerary for that amount of time was a bit difficult. We wanted to see a lot of the country but couldn’t figure out how to narrow down where and where not to go. This is where this guide comes in! As I write this on the flight out, I have a much better idea of where you should and shouldn’t visit when coming to Costa Rica.
If you are looking to visit Costa Rica, here are my best recommendations for a 10 day trip!
What To Know Before:
- Money: In Costa Rica, they use colones, the Costa Rican dollar. However, they also accept the US Dollar virtually everywhere as well (and credit/debit cards). We brought about $400 USD, and I would recommend bringing a decent amount of cash. You can easily pay in USD and get colones back, so it was easy getting Costa Rican currency. You can order it ahead of time from your bank, but we did just fine exchanging it at restaurants and hotels.
- Language: In Costa Rica the locals speak Spanish and English. I double-majored in Spanish in college, so I enjoyed speaking with the locals (Ticos) in Spanish throughout the week. If you don’t speak Spanish, don’t worry, as most places usually have someone who speaks English, or at least enough to communicate with you! I would look up some basic sentences/phrases to know just in case!
- Safety: Costa Rica is one of the safest countries in Central America (if not the safest). I never once felt unsafe while in this country, and I would just practice common sense/regular safety travel tips when here (don’t walk alone at night, trust your instinct, etc.), but you really should be fine. Crime is very low in all of the spots we visited, and even when walking at night I did not feel unsafe. The country doesn’t even have a military.
- Cost: The general cost of being in Costa Rica is cheaper than the US, but not by that much. A typical lunch with a drink (water, juice or coffee) was between $10-$12. For something like that in the US you would pay $15-$20, so it definitely is cheaper, but not as cheap as some of the other countries I’ve been to.
- Accommodation Costs: I traveled with two other people, so we were able to split the cost of accommodations by 3 every night, which was really cost-friendly. You can find some really nice affordable places to stay in Costa Rica. The places we stayed ranged between $53 a night - $149 a night.
- Food: The food is Costa Rica is really good. The fruit is SO fresh (noticeably so, the bananas and mangos tasted SO much better than fruit I can buy in the US). Platos tipicos is a traditional Costa Rican dish (typical plate), consisting of a meat (I usually got bistec, or beef), gallo pinto (rice and beans), and fried plantains (plus whatever else that restaurant includes, sometimes vegetables or papas, AKA French fries). Platos tipicos is soooo delicious, so make sure to get some! There are also usually Westernized options for food, like cafes, pizza, Asian, etc. If you are picky, I think you’ll be okay here. The traditional Costa Rican breakfast is gallo pinto, eggs, and fried plantains (I could literally eat gallo pinto every day of my life, so definitely make sure you get some).
- Soda’s are where you can get plato tipicos and gallo pinto (soda means café), so make sure to find a local soda. Soda prices are also a bit cheaper than the westernized restaurants you may find.
- Cost of Activities: Costa Rica has some of the most beautiful landscapes and outdoor activities, however, they do come with a cost. Most hikes or waterfalls you will visit will have “parking attendants”, people who will watch your cars in exchange for an entry fee. I actually really liked this because it really would suck to get your car broken into in a foreign country, so I had no problem paying these locals! Sometimes there’s an admission to hikes as well because they offer restrooms, information, etc.
Getting There:
- Booking Our Flights
It is relatively affordable to fly to Costa Rica from the US, which makes sense as to why a majority of Costa Rican tourists come from the US. The flight is also fairly quick, it’s a 3.5 hour journey from Atlanta.
We were able to book our flights entirely with credit card points which was awesome. One of my goals for 2020 was to learn everything I could about the credit card points world, and in the last year, I have learned so much. Earning points really does depend on which credit card you have. When I was living in NYC, I decided to get the American Express Gold Card, which gives 4x points on restaurants and grocery stores, and 3x points on flights booked directly with the airline or with Amex Travel. As someone in my early 20’s, these categories are where I spend most of my money. It’s been a game-changer to earn 4x points every time I go out to brunch or whenever I grab drinks with friends, so I highly recommend this card for that reason. As I start to travel more (as a travel producer most of my travels are covered by work), I will probably upgrade to the Amex Platinum for their many travel benefits (4x points on flights, lounge access, free Global Entry or TSA Precheck, and more) so I’ll keep you guys updated if I end up going with that card. If you don’t have a card that earns you points you can use to travel, you need to get on it! You’re already spending money anyway, so why not put it toward earning something in return!
Renting Car:
- We researched rental car prices on RentalCars.com. After looking at several rental car websites, the lowest prices were on here (even for the same rental car companies). I can’t recommend using them enough! Rental cars in Costa Rica are pretty affordable (our rental for 10 days was $178, about $20 a day), but they will try to charge you for car insurance. I have up to $50,000 car insurance coverage with my American Express Gold Card (just make sure you book the car with the Amex Card and you must decline coverage at the car rental desk), so we didn’t have to purchase that.
- Rental car companies in Costa Rica are notorious for trying to charge you for damages to their rental cars that you may have not done, so make sure to walk around the car before you leave the parking lot and film all the spots/point out any damage so you don’t get blamed for it.
Where to Stay:
- As younger travelers, we opted for saving money over luxury. There are plenty of luxury options as well as affordable options in Costa Rica which is really nice. We stayed in a yoga retreat, a hostel, an Airbnb, and a hotel, so we really did every type of option you can have in Costa Rica. I would budget to spend $100 - 120 a night on accommodations, but it can absolutely be done cheaper.
Where to Go:
Dominical:
- Domincial is the epitome of Pura Vida. This chill surf town had the best vibes- SO good that we seriously considered canceling all our other plans and staying here the whole week. It’s seriously that amazing.
- Danyasa Yoga Retreat is where we stayed, and oh my gosh, this is truly what made Dominical as amazing as it was. First off, the facilities here are gorgeous. Each room is its own repurposed storage container with an outdoor bathroom/shower and a cute little sitting area. Each room has its own A/C Unit so we were never too hot during our stay, and our room was always the perfect temperature. The beds were super comfy, and they even had a 3-bed option so the three of us all had their own bed.
- Breakfast every morning was included, and WOW was it delicious. I could’ve had this every single day and never would get sick of it. They do a wonderful job and also provide local Costa Rican coffee and milk/almond milk (love a good dairy-free option).
- Everyone here is so friendly and welcoming. I honestly missed meeting new people and travelers from all over the world, and everyone at Danyasa was so kind and friendly.
- Danyasa is in the perfect location, it’s a 3-minute walk to the beach and a 2-minute walk to all of the shops and restaurants in Dominical. Not to mention the world-class yoga classes in their outdoor studio, this was an incredible experience and I highly recommend it.
Where to Eat in Dominical
- Dominical is a pretty small town, so you will be able to explore all of the restaurants within your stay. Some of our favorites:
Phat Noodle
Mono Congo
Sushi Dominical
What To Do
go to the beach
take a surf class
do yoga
lounge by the pool
go to Nauyaca Waterfall (such a cool hike, definitely a bit challenging but SO worth it)
go to National Park
Monteverde:
We headed to Monteverde for a day trip. From what I read online, you really only need 1-2 days in Monteverde, so we did an overnight and went to the Monteverde Cloud Forest in the morning before heading out to La Fortuna.
What To Do
- Monteverde Cloud Forest - Cloud Forests are what Monteverde is known for. A cloud forest is a type of rainforest but the altitude is usually much higher, somewhere in the range of 3,000 to 8,000 feet. The name cloud forest is given as it looks like you are in a cloud!
- When we first go to Monteverde, we headed straight for the Monteverde Coffee Farm. They offer daily tours and you can see how they grow the coffee beans/roast the beans, but we got a late start so we went about an hour before they closed. We honestly just wanted to see the farm and buy some beans, but they were so nice in there that they let us try some of the coffee (a tour group that had just finished left and they still had a few pots of coffee). They so kindly gave us a little taste test of each coffee and explained all of them, and we ended up buying 7 bags of coffee. The people at Monteverde Coffee Farm are SO nice, I highly recommend stopping by.
- We honestly weren’t sure about going to Monteverde because we didn’t know how we felt going somewhere for only a day, but we decided why not (Dominical to La Fortuna is 5 hours so stopping here broke up the drive). Monteverde Cloud Forest was a cool experience. It’s definitely a nice hike surrounded by some beautiful views of the mountains and you can even see the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans from the top. During our hike in the Cloud Forest, we really didn’t see many animals, and that was something we were really looking forward to. If I were to do it again, I don’t know I would’ve gone to Monteverde. Luckily it really wasn’t out of the way so we’re glad we went anyways. If you do go, don’t forget to bring your student ID, as students get 50% off admission.
Where to Stay:
-We stayed at Selina Monteverde – I stayed at a Selina property previously in Colombia with Allison on my Cartagena trip. I really like the Selina properties, they are a nice hostel chain that has locations all around the world. I like that they have the option for a private room, so we got a private 4 person room. This hostel was only a 5-minute drive from the Monteverde Cloud Forest which was super convenient since that was really the only reason we drove up to Monteverde.
Where to Eat:
- Chocolate Café
- Since we were only there for dinner and breakfast, we ate at our hostel Selina Monteverde (breakfast was included with our stay). We wish we would’ve explored some of the amazing food nearby!
La Fortuna:
- La Fortuna is one of the most touristy spots in Costa Rica, rightfully so! The town is surrounded by a volcano, El Arenal, which last erupted in 1968 and has been dormant for 10 years. The volcano provides the most beautiful views, and the town of La Fortuna is so cute with tons of local restaurants and shops.
Where to Stay:
- We got an Airbnb for $53 in downtown La Fortuna. This was a super basic apartment but it was perfect for us. It really provided everything we needed and it allowed us to walk wherever we wanted. I would definitely stay there again.
Where to Eat
Rainforest Café (different than the U.S. chain lol - this is a local spot)
La Tierra Mia
Abrigos Café
Red Frog Café
Chipotle’s Tex Mex
La Ventanita - this was our favorite spot but it’s outside of La Fortuna so you’ll have to drive! There are the most beautiful views of the volcano here! The owner of La Ventanita gave us some really good recs on what to see, and he recommended we go to the top of the hill the restaurant is located on to check out the views.
What To Do:
- Hot Springs: Since there is a volcano in the middle of the town, hot springs are one of the most popular things to do in La Fortuna! This is a great place to go if you’re hoping to relax and lounge by the pool! Plus, the scenery is absolutely gorgeous.
Hot Springs we went to:
Los Lagos Hot Springs - affordable option ($20 day pass)
Baldi ($40 day pass, definitely a nicer facility but both are great)
Free Hot Springs - we loved this! There is a free hot spring that a lot of the locals go to, you can just pull it up on Google Maps, prepare to pay the “parking attendants” $2-$5 for watching your car!
Arenal 1968 Hike - nice hike near the volcano and it talks about the 1968 eruption! We hiked at this park (the admission fee was $15) and it was a great activity – we were feeling lazy from all the eating and lounging at the hot springs. The views at the end of the volcano are pretty cool, and we saw some coati’s on the way to the hike. There were lots of birds and geckos on the hike.
La Mansion Inn – incredible views of Lake Arenal – we are so glad we stopped here! Brady found out about it from Reddit! We were driving past and it was on our list, but we didn’t think we had time for it (I had a work call at 4 pm and we stopped there at 3pm). The hotel had wifi I could use so we ordered food and drinks and were able to use their pool and towels, free of charge! The was the nicest sunset we got to watch in all of Costa Rica, so I highly recommend stopping by.
Other Places We Went in Costa Rica / Places We Wanted to Go To:
Jaco – we stopped in Jaco on the way from Dominical to Monteverde for lunch. It helped break up the drive, and my sister also got her COVID test here. We got lunch at El Pelicano and this maybe was one of the best meals we had the entire trip. Get the Tuna Burger (medium rare), thank us later.
Santa Teresa: We met a bunch of people who LOVED Santa Teresa, it’s a beach town with a free-spirit crowd. We met people who said this was their absolute favorite place and would stay there the whole time if they could!
Tamarindo - This looks like another amazing beach location!
All in all, you can’t go wrong with anywhere you decide to go. Costa Rica is one of the most bio-diverse countries in the world, so there is so much to check out! One week was absolutely not enough time and I will definitely be back! Let me know if you have any questions below, enjoy the pura vida! :)