Is Costa Rica Expensive? Actual Costs To Visit In 2024

Costa Rica is a beautiful country to visit, especially if you’re in the mood for pretty beaches and jungle adventures. It has become the place to visit in Latin America over the past 10 years, and for good reason. Of course, with that popularity comes an increase in prices. Costa Rica has become quite pricey compared to its neighboring countries, but it’s still cheap compared to popular tourist destinations in North America and even Western Europe. 

After visiting the country several times and traveling by a lot of different means, we think we have a good idea of the actual costs of travel in Costa Rica. Heck, we even have good friends who moved down there and are loving it, as well as other friends who owned and ran a hotel in Costa Rica for years. This is first-hand information.

So, how much money do you need to travel to Costa Rica, and is budget travel in the country even possible? Let’s dive into the budget breakdown for a Costa Rica holiday. 

Is It Expensive To Visit Costa Rica? 

Costa Rica is kind of an expensive country to visit. It’s more expensive than other Central American countries, but it’s still generally affordable compared to the United States and Western Europe. If you’re coming from a country with a high cost of living, I doubt you’ll find Costa Rica very expensive. 

Also, there are tons of ways you can save money while traveling Costa Rica. Skip the guided tours and explore as much as you can on your own, and try to avoid restaurants that cater specifically to English-speaking tourists. Most tours and restaurants that aim to attract as many English-speaking visitors as possible have special prices for tourists and charge them three times as much as they do locals. If there’s at least one fluent Spanish speaker in your group, it should be easy to avoid the inflated tourist prices when visiting Costa Rica. 

On top of that, it will be significantly cheaper to visit the country in the off-season. Plan a trip between May and November, and you can save a lot of money on flights, accommodation, activities, and even food. As long as you don’t mind that it’s the rainy season (but still warm), you can still have a ton of fun in Costa Rica. 

Common Questions About Visiting Costa Rica