Costa Rica

Government advisories

• ☐ United States: level 2/4 — Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
• ☐ United Kingdom: level 1/4
• ☐ Canada: level 2/4 — Exercise a high degree of caution

Health notices

• ☐ Global Dengue (level 1)
• ☐ Chikungunya in Costa Rica (level 2)
• ☐ Global Measles (level 1)
• ☐ Tap water: generally safe to drink

Entry requirements

☐ The visa policy of Costa Rica requires that any foreign national wishing to enter Costa Rica to obtain a visa from one of the Costa Rican diplomatic missions, unless they hold a passport issued by one of the 95 eligible visa exempt countries or if they fulfill the requirements for a substitute visa. Costa Rican visas are documents issued by the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería, which is part of the Ministry of Interior and Police, with the stated goal of regulating and facilitating m

Practical

• ☐ Plug type A/B, 120V — bring an adapter if yours differs
• ☐ Drives on the right
• ☐ Emergency (police): 911
• ☐ Emergency (ambulance): 911
• ☐ Emergency (fire): 911
• ☐ SIM: SIM cards and frequencies: Bring an unlocked quad or multi band cell phone that works on the proper frequencies and get a SIM card, which can be bought on almost any corner. Costaricans refer to mobile phones as celulares (cell phones).
• ☐ Money: The local currency is the Costa Rican colón (plural: colones) CRC named after Christopher Columbus (whose name was Cristobal Colón in Spanish) sometimes shown locally as ₡ and sometimes shown using the more commonly available U.S. cent symbol '¢' or ₵. Banknotes come in denominations of ₡1,000-, ₡2,000-, ₡5,000-, ₡10,000-, ₡20,000 and ₡50,000. Coins come in denominations of ₡10-, ₡25-, ₡50-, ₡100
• ☐ Tipping: Tipping is not customary in Costa Rica. Some higher-end establishments add an additional 10% service charge to the bill at the end, but otherwise, you are not expected to pay anything on top of the amount stated on the bill.

Before you go

General trip-prep, not specific to Costa Rica — the same short list applies anywhere.

• ☐ Register with your embassy's traveler program if one exists
• ☐ Check your passport's validity and blank-page requirements on your destination's official entry-rules page
• ☐ Photograph/screenshot your passport, visa, and travel insurance documents
• ☐ Download offline maps for your destination
• ☐ Confirm your bank/card issuer knows you're traveling
• ☐ Check whether your phone plan needs a travel add-on or a local SIM