001. Costa Rica: travel guide.
¡Hola, soy Meli! I am Costa Rican and I love travelling, so here are the most important things I think you would need to considerate to visit Costa Rica from a local. This is my first blog ever, I hope you like it.
Since you are here and I am here, we will start this guide learning Costa Rican Spanish:
Pura vida: the most used phrase in Costa Rica, it means “pure life”, it is our lifestyle, to live happy no matter what and enjoy life. It has also lots of uses as: hello, how are you, I am good, thanks, you’re welcome, bye.
Ticos and ticas: we are popularly known as “ticos and ticas” to refer to Costa Rican people, the formal term is “costarricense”.
Tuanis: means good, okay, fine. all good.
Mae: (say: MA-EH) means dude, it is informal, casual and friendly. Men and women use this word.
Suave: a translation for this word is “soft, smooth”. But in Costa Rica means to slow down, chill bruh, wait.
Buenas: the way to say hi, good morning, etc. when entering a place. You could also say the whole thing: buenos días, buenas tardes, buenas noches. But buenas applies to all times of the day/night.
Don and doña: it is a respectful way to call older people, like “Don Juan or doña Juana”, kinda Mr and Mrs.
Chao: to say goodbye. We also use: “adiós” and “hasta luego”.
Where to fly to?
San José, Costa Rica
Liberia, Costa Rica
Domestic flights around the country.
In Costa Rica we have to international airports, I recommend you to have a look to both of them and choose depending on where are you coming from and where would you visit in Costa Rica.
SJO: Juan Santa María Airport (nearest to the capital of Costa Rica, San José Province). Be careful, to do not book to San Jose, California; it happens a lot.
LIR: Daniel Oduber Airport (Located in Liberia, Guanacaste Province, near to the north pacific beaches)
We also have, local flights to touristic destinations, the company is called “Sansa” and they operate our domestic flights.
How is the transportation in Costa Rica:
Public buses
Taxi and Uber
Domestic flights
Private shuttle buses
Rent a car
Being honest with you, the public transportation is not as efficient as we would want to. We have buses, it is cheaper, but normally they take a long time to pass, there are few per day, they are always full of people, sometimes they don’t have air conditioner, they have lots of stops along the way, etc. Depending on where are you going, it might take you the whole day travelling by bus.
Renting a car would be a good option if is your budget, it would be easier to move around, also you can pay shuttle private buses or book a domestic flight, to move faster. In some places we have Uber, mainly in the cities. In little towns you might find taxis (red taxis are official, we have some called “piratas” those are an informal service) and at a couple of beaches you could also find Tuk-Tuks.
Where to go?
Mountains & nature:
Monterverde
La Fortuna, San Carlos
Río Celeste (one day trip)
Corcovado National Park
Beaches:
Sámara, Guanacaste
Nosara, Guanacaste
Tamarindo, Guanacaste
Santa Teresa, Puntarenas
Puerto Viejo, limón
Volcanoes:
Arenal
Poás Volcano
Rincón de la Vieja
The capital & cities:
San José is the capital of Costa Rica, there you can visit nice markets, restaurants, museums, shopping centres. Normally in each province you will find a main city where you are able to get anything you need: food, medicines, banks, etc.
Our nature & animals:
You will get to see lots of beautiful animals, please do not feed them. For your own safety and for their health. It is forbidden to feed wild animals like (animals, wild cats, sloths, etc.)
You might see some little insects, it is not needed to kill them. Call the reception, the guide of the tour, etc. if you need help.
Follow the instructions of the guides, the trails or the what is indicated in each place. For example, some places have big tides so it is dangerous to swim, some places might have a sign warning about crocs, etc.
Costa Rican food:
Most important: water in Costa Rica is potable, you can refill your bottle with tap water.
Our diet is based in rice, beans, corn products, meat, vegetables and tropical fruits.
Our traditional breakfast its calles “Gallo pinto”, it is vegetarian unless you ask them to add meat. It is a mixed of rice, beans and some seasonings. On the side you might get tortilla or bread, eggs, avocado, natilla, plantain, etc.
Our traditional lunch is called “casado”: rice, beans, meat (pork, fish, beef, chicken) of your preference, salad, plantain, etc.
Where to eat:
SODAS: a soda is a local small restaurant that every town has, normally is run by a family. So the food is really authentic, they have affordable prices and great support the locals. Normally you will see sign of drink with the name like: “Soda doña Ana”.
Fresh fruits and juices: you can get them from the people who are on the side of the streets preparing fresh juices or selling fresh fruit. They are very hard worker people who are everyday out there selling it. (you might need cash for this one)
Our weather:
We have two seasons per year, dry season (like summer) and rainy season (green and beautiful winter). It depends where you go, the weather could be different and the temperature. Make sure you check that before visiting a place to bring the right clothes.
Costa Rica is expensive:
If you think Costa Rica is cheap because Latin American countries are cheap, you will have a big surprise. You definitely need to plan your trip and have a good budget to enjoy everything Costa Rica has to offer, it is worthy the money.
Now, it depends where you go… most of the touristic places are pricey. And it is expensive for us the locals as well. So please, do not spread the word saying that our country is cheap because business owners/rental will get even more expensive and impossible for Costa Ricans to survive.
Our currency is “colones” but most of places also accept USD (sometimes notes up to $50 in cash).
Most of the places accept card payments, but it is good to bring some cash always. We have ATM’s everywhere, but they stop working at 22h for safety.
What to bring?
Do not forget sunscreen, hats, shorts, sandals, boots or trainers for hiking or walking, repellent, sunglasses, rain coat, summer clothes but waterproof bags, bottle of water, lipstick, fancy pack for your belongings.
If you go to a hike, carry snacks and drinks with you because we do not have restaurants in the mountains. And do not feed wild animals around. Gracias.
Internet, wifi and signal:
No worries you will have free-wifi almost everywhere. Restaurants normally provide it.
You can also bring a SIM card for travelling or get one in Costa Rica.
Signal in Costa Rica is great, unless you are very far in the country side, jungle, mountain.
Let me know if there is more information you would like to read here, muchas gracias for reading, I hope it is helpful for your next holidays in Costa Rica. Pura vida :)
