As my time in Costa Rica is coming to an end, I just wanted to make a post about how to travel to Costa Rica with ease. I am mostly writing this for my sister who is coming to visit me next week (!!!!!), but it can apply to anyone who is considering coming to Costa Rica. I highly recommend it! Costa Rica is such a beautiful country with incredible people and culture.
Customs on & in the Airport: The airport I flew into was Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO). This was a little confusing for me because 1) I had never gone through customs alone before and 2) I was really nervous, period! Let's see if I can remember this because I did this almost three months ago and don't totally remember. On the plane, the flight attendants give you the customs card to fill out. One thing I recommend is that if you are unsure what to write on the card, ASK for help. You don't want to fill it out incorrectly! Don't be afraid to ask someone for help, whether it be a flight attendant or the person beside you. Also, make sure you mark your purpose of the visit as TOURISM. Once I got off the plane, I walked down this long hallway and mostly just followed the people who were on the plane with me. One thing I recommend is that if the person besides you on the plane speaks English, try to talk with them before you land so you have someone to follow. First, you'll go to baggage claim and get your bags (sorry, I can't remember if you get your luggage before or after the customs booths). Anyways, you'll continue to walk and then you will get to a bunch of windows/booths where the customs agents are. SPEAK ENGLISH to them so there is no confusion! Unless you are fluent in Spanish. Just hand them your passport (save your customs card for the next stop, I think), and they will either react one of two ways. 1) ask little questions and stamp your passport for the visa, or 2) ask a bunch of questions and be really detailed. Don't be afraid though or seem nervous because that will only make them more suspicious. Just remain calm, be honest, and you'll get through! After that, just continue to follow everyone and then you will get to another area where you will have to scan your bags through another customs/security area. When you get there, just hand your customs card to the person by the machine and put all your bags into the machine to scan them. After that, you will exit and there will be a lot of people waiting outside the windows for people to get out of the airport. There will also be taxi drivers asking where you need to go. Don't be overwhelmed! (Amanda, this is where I will be waiting for you).
Exchanging Money in Costa Rica: DO NOT EXCHANGE ALL OF YOUR MONEY IN THE AIRPORT!!! DO NOT!!! It is the biggest ripoff EVER. The cheapest and most efficient way to exchange money is to take money out from an ATM. Usually ATMs here have the best conversion rates and they also generally have low fees for international exchanges. Just be smart about which ATM you use! If you're going to be here longer than a week, I recommend going to the nearest bank to exchange your money. Some good ones that I have gone to are Bank of Costa Rica and Banco Popular. They usually have good exchange rates too, and sometimes the bank tellers speak English. BRING YOUR PASSPORT if you are going to exchange money at a bank! You cannot exchange money if you don't bring your actual passport. A copy will NOT WORK!
Transportation in Costa Rica: Transportation in San José is pretty safe and efficient. You can either take the public buses (I recommend to take those only when you know for sure where you are wanting to go. however, they are extremely cheap!) or you can take taxis. The legit country taxis are red with a yellow triangle on the side. There are also "pirate taxis" which are normally just red cars or other cars with drivers who say they will take you someplace for a certain amount of money. Don't take the pirate taxis, obviously! There is a great abundance of legal taxis here and you can almost find one on every street during the day. They are normally really cheap too. One word of advice: if a taxi driver says "I can take you to this place for a certain amount of money" I don't recommend to do that because 1) they can easily rip you off or 2) oftentimes if they know you're a foreigner, they will say that to make you think you are getting a good deal, when in reality it's a lot higher than what a local would normally pay. Before you get into any taxi, ask them if they have a "maria" which is basically just like the machine that counts how far you are going and how much money it is costing.
Advice for Women: One thing that is really common in Costa Rica is women getting attention from the men. It's a part of their culture and there is no way to stop it. The best thing to do is just to ignore it and keep walking. If you show them any sort of attention (even if you're telling them to stop), it gives them the idea that you are interested because you are showing them attention. It's really popular for girls to get honked at, whistled at, or other things along those lines. In my three months here, it's happened, but no one has ever touched me or followed me or anything like that. As long as you completely ignore them and don't even look at them, they mostly won't do anything. Don't be nervous or afraid of this; it happens to almost every woman whether you're old or young, alone or in a huge group. It's just a part of the culture. Just don't be out at night alone (obviously).
Food/Drinks: The food is INCREDIBLE in Costa Rica. There are lot of American restaurants here, but why would you want to eat at those?! They have a bunch of small family-owned restaurants EVERYWHERE. Those are called "sodas" which normally just have a few different types of plates and foods that you can order. If you want traditional Costa Rican food, a lot of the sodas have it there. One thing you MUST TRY while in Costa Rica is gallo pinto. It's a rice and beans dish with assorted spices, and normally served with eggs or other sides. It is my absolute favorite! SO GOOD. That is one thing you HAVE to try if you come to Costa Rica. If you are staying in the city of San José, the water is safe to drink. I was really paranoid about that when I first got here, but I have been drinking tap water for the last three months and never got sick from it. If you're really paranoid, you obviously can buy bottled water, but the water is safe to drink. I am not sure about outside of the city; I never drank the water when we went on our excursions to the beach and rainforest. I always just got bottled water. Just be careful if you are staying anywhere outside of San José. I have had friend who've gotten sick from food/drink outside of the city, but obviously you just need to use your best judgment. Food everywhere is not bad - on all my excursions I ate at restaurants and just ordered bottled water and I never got sick. Just be wise!
Where to Visit?: Some places I highly recommend in Costa Rica for vacations/visits are as follows. These are places I have personally visited, or have friends who have visited these places.
Beaches: Jacó (the closest beach to San José; it's only a 1.5hour bus ride), Tamarindo (very touristy), Montezuma, Puerto Viejo, Manuel Antonio (very touristy)
Rainforest: Monteverde. I HIGHLY recommend to go ziplining in Monteverde if you have the chance!
Volcanoes: Poas, Irazu, and Arenal. Arenal has a lot of hot spring resorts that are really nice (but probably expensive).
Travel companies: There are two main travel companies that I have worked with for planning day trips/weekend trips/excursions throughout Costa Rica (and even one trip to Panama from San José). The company names are Tico Viajero and Tico Tours. Here are their websites if you want to check out their deals: www.ticoviajero.com/ and www.ticotoursandadventures.com/. They've been really helpful to me and their prices haven't been bad for tours and excursions.
Hopefully that covers the basics. Like I said, if you have the chance to go anywhere on vacation, choose Costa Rica. It's absolutely beautiful and you won't regret it! :-)
Customs on & in the Airport: The airport I flew into was Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO). This was a little confusing for me because 1) I had never gone through customs alone before and 2) I was really nervous, period! Let's see if I can remember this because I did this almost three months ago and don't totally remember. On the plane, the flight attendants give you the customs card to fill out. One thing I recommend is that if you are unsure what to write on the card, ASK for help. You don't want to fill it out incorrectly! Don't be afraid to ask someone for help, whether it be a flight attendant or the person beside you. Also, make sure you mark your purpose of the visit as TOURISM. Once I got off the plane, I walked down this long hallway and mostly just followed the people who were on the plane with me. One thing I recommend is that if the person besides you on the plane speaks English, try to talk with them before you land so you have someone to follow. First, you'll go to baggage claim and get your bags (sorry, I can't remember if you get your luggage before or after the customs booths). Anyways, you'll continue to walk and then you will get to a bunch of windows/booths where the customs agents are. SPEAK ENGLISH to them so there is no confusion! Unless you are fluent in Spanish. Just hand them your passport (save your customs card for the next stop, I think), and they will either react one of two ways. 1) ask little questions and stamp your passport for the visa, or 2) ask a bunch of questions and be really detailed. Don't be afraid though or seem nervous because that will only make them more suspicious. Just remain calm, be honest, and you'll get through! After that, just continue to follow everyone and then you will get to another area where you will have to scan your bags through another customs/security area. When you get there, just hand your customs card to the person by the machine and put all your bags into the machine to scan them. After that, you will exit and there will be a lot of people waiting outside the windows for people to get out of the airport. There will also be taxi drivers asking where you need to go. Don't be overwhelmed! (Amanda, this is where I will be waiting for you).
Exchanging Money in Costa Rica: DO NOT EXCHANGE ALL OF YOUR MONEY IN THE AIRPORT!!! DO NOT!!! It is the biggest ripoff EVER. The cheapest and most efficient way to exchange money is to take money out from an ATM. Usually ATMs here have the best conversion rates and they also generally have low fees for international exchanges. Just be smart about which ATM you use! If you're going to be here longer than a week, I recommend going to the nearest bank to exchange your money. Some good ones that I have gone to are Bank of Costa Rica and Banco Popular. They usually have good exchange rates too, and sometimes the bank tellers speak English. BRING YOUR PASSPORT if you are going to exchange money at a bank! You cannot exchange money if you don't bring your actual passport. A copy will NOT WORK!
Transportation in Costa Rica: Transportation in San José is pretty safe and efficient. You can either take the public buses (I recommend to take those only when you know for sure where you are wanting to go. however, they are extremely cheap!) or you can take taxis. The legit country taxis are red with a yellow triangle on the side. There are also "pirate taxis" which are normally just red cars or other cars with drivers who say they will take you someplace for a certain amount of money. Don't take the pirate taxis, obviously! There is a great abundance of legal taxis here and you can almost find one on every street during the day. They are normally really cheap too. One word of advice: if a taxi driver says "I can take you to this place for a certain amount of money" I don't recommend to do that because 1) they can easily rip you off or 2) oftentimes if they know you're a foreigner, they will say that to make you think you are getting a good deal, when in reality it's a lot higher than what a local would normally pay. Before you get into any taxi, ask them if they have a "maria" which is basically just like the machine that counts how far you are going and how much money it is costing.
Advice for Women: One thing that is really common in Costa Rica is women getting attention from the men. It's a part of their culture and there is no way to stop it. The best thing to do is just to ignore it and keep walking. If you show them any sort of attention (even if you're telling them to stop), it gives them the idea that you are interested because you are showing them attention. It's really popular for girls to get honked at, whistled at, or other things along those lines. In my three months here, it's happened, but no one has ever touched me or followed me or anything like that. As long as you completely ignore them and don't even look at them, they mostly won't do anything. Don't be nervous or afraid of this; it happens to almost every woman whether you're old or young, alone or in a huge group. It's just a part of the culture. Just don't be out at night alone (obviously).
Food/Drinks: The food is INCREDIBLE in Costa Rica. There are lot of American restaurants here, but why would you want to eat at those?! They have a bunch of small family-owned restaurants EVERYWHERE. Those are called "sodas" which normally just have a few different types of plates and foods that you can order. If you want traditional Costa Rican food, a lot of the sodas have it there. One thing you MUST TRY while in Costa Rica is gallo pinto. It's a rice and beans dish with assorted spices, and normally served with eggs or other sides. It is my absolute favorite! SO GOOD. That is one thing you HAVE to try if you come to Costa Rica. If you are staying in the city of San José, the water is safe to drink. I was really paranoid about that when I first got here, but I have been drinking tap water for the last three months and never got sick from it. If you're really paranoid, you obviously can buy bottled water, but the water is safe to drink. I am not sure about outside of the city; I never drank the water when we went on our excursions to the beach and rainforest. I always just got bottled water. Just be careful if you are staying anywhere outside of San José. I have had friend who've gotten sick from food/drink outside of the city, but obviously you just need to use your best judgment. Food everywhere is not bad - on all my excursions I ate at restaurants and just ordered bottled water and I never got sick. Just be wise!
Where to Visit?: Some places I highly recommend in Costa Rica for vacations/visits are as follows. These are places I have personally visited, or have friends who have visited these places.
Beaches: Jacó (the closest beach to San José; it's only a 1.5hour bus ride), Tamarindo (very touristy), Montezuma, Puerto Viejo, Manuel Antonio (very touristy)
Rainforest: Monteverde. I HIGHLY recommend to go ziplining in Monteverde if you have the chance!
Volcanoes: Poas, Irazu, and Arenal. Arenal has a lot of hot spring resorts that are really nice (but probably expensive).
Travel companies: There are two main travel companies that I have worked with for planning day trips/weekend trips/excursions throughout Costa Rica (and even one trip to Panama from San José). The company names are Tico Viajero and Tico Tours. Here are their websites if you want to check out their deals: www.ticoviajero.com/ and www.ticotoursandadventures.com/. They've been really helpful to me and their prices haven't been bad for tours and excursions.
Hopefully that covers the basics. Like I said, if you have the chance to go anywhere on vacation, choose Costa Rica. It's absolutely beautiful and you won't regret it! :-)