Poás is the volcano where you can stand on the rim of an active crater and look down at …
Costa Rica Fun Facts That Are Actually True
Most “fun facts about Costa Rica” lists recycle the same lines, and a surprising number of them are wrong. The …
Arenal Volcano National Park: Fees, Trails and Tips
Most first-timers picture hiking up Arenal to peer into a smoking crater. That hike does not exist. Arenal Volcano National …
Volunteering in Costa Rica: What It Costs and How to Choose
The biggest surprise for most would-be volunteers isn’t the work. It’s the bill. Many Costa Rica volunteer packages cost more …
Macaws in Costa Rica: Where to See Scarlet and Great Green
Most visitors picture one macaw: red, yellow and blue, screeching across a beach. Costa Rica has two, and they live …
4 Days in Costa Rica: Arenal and Monteverde Road Trip
Four days sounds too short for Costa Rica, and for a coast-to-coast tour it is. For Arenal Volcano and the …
Mosquitoes in Costa Rica: Dengue, Chikungunya and How to Not Get Bitten
Most travelers prepare for the wrong mosquito. They picture a bed net at midnight and worry about malaria. The insect …
Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica: A Practical Caribbean Guide
Most trip planners treat Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast as the rainy side and send travelers to the Pacific instead. On …
La Fortuna, Costa Rica: How to Plan Your Arenal Base
Many first-time visitors picture La Fortuna as a village at the foot of an erupting volcano. Arenal has not erupted …
Costa Rica Cafes: Find Local Coffee Shops Worth Visiting
The TicoTravel cafe finder below lets you search Costa Rica cafes by town and check what matters before you drive …
Manuel Antonio National Park: Tickets, Hours and Trails
Manuel Antonio National Park is Costa Rica’s most popular national park, and it trips up more visitors than any other. …
Costa Rica Visa Runs: What the 180-Day Rule Really Means
You don’t have to wait 90 days between visits, whatever the forums say. How the 180-day rule and border runs really work — and the bill that could change them.
Costa Rica Hot Springs: Every Option Compared and Priced
Nearly every hot spring here is a resort with a gate and a price list. An honest comparison of what you get for the money, plus the one free river near Arenal.
Uber in Costa Rica: Where It Works and Where It Doesn’t
Uber is neither banned nor normal in Costa Rica. Here’s where the app actually works, what happens at the airports, and when you still need a car.
Costa Rica Beach Safety: Rip Currents and Where to Swim
Rip currents kill more visitors than anything else in Costa Rica. How to read one from the sand, which beaches are safe to swim, and what to do if you’re pulled out.
Pura Vida Meaning: Costa Rica’s Unofficial Motto Explained
Pure life, sure — but Ticos use it as hello, thanks, no worries and never mind. Where the phrase came from, and how to use it without sounding like a tourist.
How to Get to Tortuguero: Boat, Plane and Turtle Season
No road goes there. You arrive by boat or small plane, and the route you pick changes the cost and the day. Every option compared, plus turtle season timing.
Can Tourists Use SINPE Móvil in Costa Rica?
Costa Rica runs on payments by phone. Most tourists can’t use it — here’s who actually qualifies, and what to reach for instead.
Costa Rica Farmers Markets: Where to Go and What to Buy
The ferias are where Ticos buy produce, at prices no supermarket touches. Where to find the good ones, what’s worth buying, and how to shop without standing out.
Where to See Sloths in Costa Rica With Kids: Best Spots
Sloths are easier to find than you’d think, if you know where to stand and when to go. Six spots that work with kids, and whether you need a guide.
How Do Pharmacies Work in Costa Rica? Full Guide
A Costa Rican farmacia does far more than fill prescriptions — pharmacists diagnose, inject and advise. What’s sold over the counter, and the Spanish worth knowing.
How to Get a Costa Rican Driver’s License as a Foreigner
Your home license stops being valid the day your tourist stay ends. Here’s how homologation works, what it costs, and how long the paperwork really takes.
Veranillo de San Juan: Costa Rica’s Little Summer
Rainy season breaks for a week or two around June 24, and most visitors have never heard of it. What the veranillo is, and how to plan around it.
Ziplining in Costa Rica: Best Canopy Tours and Prices
Costa Rica invented the canopy tour, and the options range from gentle to genuinely frightening. Operators, prices, the Superman line, and age and weight limits.