The Best Time to Visit Costa Rica
You have 365 days — 12 months — to select from from when selecting when to take a look at Costa Rica. How does anyone choose? When some tourists may possibly have additional overall flexibility, several depend on what their work or college vacation time enables. The ideal time to pay a visit to Costa Rica, while, depends on what you hope to do there, temperature permitting.
This tutorial will give you and strategy of what you can hope for different times of yr, which includes insights on weather conditions and crowds, and the execs and negatives of each period.
Dry Season (December to April)
There are only two seasons in Costa Rica: dry and soaked. The dry year starts in December and finishes in April, characterized by a good deal of sunshine and only the occasional afternoon rainstorm. Taking into consideration the splendid weather ailments, it is no shock that peak tourism comes about throughout this period.
Execs of going to through the dry period
The greatest perk of traveling to Costa Rica in the course of the dry period is that there is not as much rain, which can surely place a damper on your journey if you’re not prepared for it. Contemplating that the beach locations in Costa Rica are these kinds of a major attraction, the dry year is best for all those who want to expend as substantially time as probable on the coasts.
Rainfall is least expensive in most of the country throughout the months of February and March, with the mildest temperatures in December and January. Considering that a lot of Costa Rica encounters large temperatures with extraordinary concentrations of humidity, a lot of travelers goal to visit when the warmth is considerably less excessive.
Also, when the climate is dry in Costa Rica, some animals are much easier to spot. For case in point, the elusive and lovely quetzal birds are considerably a lot more lively in the course of dry year, as are humpback whales off the Osa Peninsula in December and January.
Drawbacks of traveling to in the course of the dry period
The most important con of viewing Costa Rica during the dry season is that it’s the peak for tourism. With crowds it provides, you also get larger prices on flights and accommodations, so this isn’t a good time for finances vacationers to pay a visit to.
The busiest months are March, additional especially throughout spring split, and December. It is not shocking that these two months also see enormous spikes in lodge space rates and flight selling prices. There is also a very good likelihood that vehicle rental expenses will raise considerably all through this time, and there will be fewer cars readily available, that means you may possibly conclusion up with a much more high-priced product than you hoped for.
Another detail to consider if you are useless-set on traveling to Costa Rica in the course of this time is that there can even now be the occasional storm, so you really should continue to put together for rain. Specially if you stop by the interior rainforests, there is rainfall all year spherical — it’s just a lot more prolonged throughout the rainy period.
Moist Time (May well to November)
I frequented Costa Rica in July, in the center of the soaked time. It rained frequently, ordinarily in the afternoons, and the weather was fairly humid. Nonetheless, I however loved usually sunny mornings, awesome evenings, and fairly more compact crowds.
Listed here are my pros and downsides of checking out Costa Rica through the wet year:
Execs of viewing for the duration of the wet time
The most important pro of traveling to throughout the soaked time for me was less expensive flights and lodging. The ideal promotions are usually through the months of May well, September, and October. (Maintain in intellect that Oct implies the most rainfall of the complete calendar year in most of the place.)
An additional enormous as well as for traveling to in the soaked season involving July and September is that it’s turtle-nesting period on the Caribbean side. I went to Tortuguero towards the close of July and received to see a large green sea turtle lay her eggs and then make her journey from the shore to the sea. It was an unforgettable practical experience and undoubtedly value working with the rain.
Drawbacks of checking out all through the damp time
Of course, the largest con of viewing Costa Rica throughout the moist time is the heavy rainfall. Lots of tours organizations are pretty flexible about altering the working day of your tour if you wake up to a rainstorm, but not all of them. On just one tour I took to the Arenal Volcano in La Fortuna, there was a downpour midway as a result of, and the fog was so thick that there was zero visibility of the volcano and bordering place. In simple fact, I only got a glimpse of the volcano as soon as all through my 4 times there, since it rained the whole time.
Yet another potential con if you visit in June, July, or August is that some extremely touristy regions like Manuel Antonio may possibly be just as packed with website visitors as they are during large period. Thinking of that this is summertime getaway for a lot of, it makes feeling. However, it could possibly make it pointless to take a look at for the duration of this time if escaping the crowds is what you are just after.
Exceptions to the Seasons
The Caribbean coast has a various dry period
As Costa Rica sits on a continental divide (which you can in fact straddle in Monteverde), there are some months of the calendar year when the weather is thoroughly unique on the Caribbean coast than it is on the Pacific coast or even the inside of the region.
That suggests that whilst most of Costa Rica experiences its heaviest rains in September and October, the Caribbean coast is at its driest. If you are tremendous fired up about turtle nesting and hatching seasons, test to go to in September, which sees an overlap concerning the two. That suggests that at night time you can see turtles nesting, and in the early morning several hours you can see the little one turtles hatching and producing their way to the sea.
Closing Verdict: The Absolute Ideal Time to Go to Costa Rica
Following time I stop by Costa Rica, I will probably goal to take a look at in April, Could, or September. April and Might are comparatively small in tourism figures and have some of the most effective temperature of the calendar year. September is coffee harvesting time and sees an overlap in inexperienced sea turtle nesting and hatching, which is cause plenty of to stop by all through that time.
Your response to this problem may be unique, based mostly on what you are hoping to get out of your journey to Costa Rica. If you are all about becoming exterior as considerably as attainable, you could possibly have to offer with crowds and pay a visit to through the dry year. If you never mind the rain and probably missing out on some points of interest mainly because of it, soaked time might be value it to have some brilliant spots to your self.
Pin me for later:
Whichever time you decide on to go to Costa Rica, you are sure to have an remarkable time. Verify out my Costa Rica packing record for ideas on how to get ready for the temperature for any season, so you can pack like a pro.
What time of the calendar year sounds the finest to you?
Click on to go through a lot more posts about
Costa
