Best Time to Travel – Low Season?

Twenty years ago only insiders traveled to Costa Rica in July, but the secret is out so we’ve started recommending planing ahead and making advance reservations.

July and August have nothing like the crowds during the peak season weeks of Christmas/New Years and Easter but it’s lively along the popular routes.

 

Reservations

July has grown immensely in popularity in the past few years and now rivals December, January and March as the most popular month to visit Costa Rica.

Advanced reservations are recommended for northwest Guanacaste, Nicoya and central beach and volcano destinations although if you arrive early in the day and are flexible about where you end up staying you probably will be able to get a room as a walk-in at any except the most popular hotels.

Costs & Availability for Travel in July

The instant trip cost calculator is a quick easy way to get an idea of how much you’ll spend on a trip to Costa Rica in July.

With increasing popularity “low season” discounts for July are pretty much a thing of the past.

One thing that can still be a great deal in July is airfare. Especially if your travel dates are flexible and you can fly on weekdays last minute sales (2-12 weeks in advance) have been fairly common for the past few years.

July Weather in Costa Rica

Bright sunny mornings heat up the ocean and rain forest canopy loading the air near the surface with water and causing it to rise. As the moisture laden air climbs it expands and cools condensing out droplets that form clouds and eventually rain.

This pattern dominates the Costa Rican wet season from May through November and July is no exception. Still, it’s a great time to visit with hot sunny mornings to enjoy the beach and afternoon and evening rains cooling it off so you can enjoy a meal al fresco.

Although it is the middle of the rainy season Costa Rica typically experiences a short mid-year mini-dry season in July and the beginning of August. Rainfall decreases significantly for three or four weeks especially in the northern Pacific.  Ticos call this the veranillo or little summer and you can read about how it occurs here.

As noted above out of all the rainy season months July is usually a bit drier than the rest, but occasionally it’s very wet. 2007 was a record breaker with rainfalls nearly double the average in some regions of the north and northeast that washed out dozens of bridges. Five vacationers died in flash flooding while rappelling a waterfall in the mountains and another was struck by lightning and died while swimming in the Pacific.

The Caribbean side is solidly in the rainy season and heavy rain is common.  June and July 2015 were very wet on the Caribbean as the effects of a strengthening El Niño caused widespread flooding.  Major landslides and bridge structural damage closed many of the roads on the eastern side of the continental divide (including access to Arenal from the capital).

The beaches and lowlands have high temperatures in the low nineties and  low temperatures in the upper seventies or low eighties.   A week or two of temperatures in the mid nineties is possible at low elevations and especially on the Nicoya coast during July. Three thousand feet higher around San José and the Central Valley temperatures are 5-10 degrees cooler and temperatures at high elevations (Monteverde and Chirripo) can be 20 or even 30 degrees lower. The higher you go the more it cools off at night so if you’re looking for some relief head to the mountains.

Alternatives to July

August is quite similar to July – it has similar weather (slightly wetter), the big surf swells, and slightly fewer people. May, June and November are also alternatives, each with a little more rain but even fewer people.

Notes:

If you’re planning to rent a car you might want to take a look at the rainy season driving tips.

Winter School Holiday—The “Winter” break for public schools is typically the first two weeks in July (4th through the 19th in 2022) and families often vacation then making the beaches more crowded.

NOAA projects that 2022 will be an El Niño Southern Oscillation Neutral (La Niña) year which means July could be rainier than an average year.

…Other Bests…best kept secrets, best to do & best places…

Calendar of Nature, Holidays & Fiestas – Costa Rica in July

The Costa Rica tide table below is for informational purposes and is not suitable for navigation.  The more you see of a turtle, whale or quetzal symbol the more likely you’ll see one. A detailed explanation and legend is also included at the bottom.

July 2022						approximate exchange rate ¢562 per $U.S.
		Rise & Set		Tide Times		Pacific	Caribbean
Wed 1		↑14:53 ↓2:01	↑5:22 ↓18:04	↑11:09 ↑23:45	↓4:39 ↓17:29
Thu 2		↑15:52 ↓2:53	↑5:22 ↓18:04	↑12:09 ↑	↓5:42 ↓18:30
Fri 3		↑16:52 ↓3:47	↑5:22 ↓18:04	↑0:46 ↑13:06	↓6:43 ↓19:26
Sat 4		↑17:51 ↓4:44	↑5:23 ↓18:04	↑1:43 ↑14:00	↓7:40 ↓20:19
		Fourth of July – It has nothing to do with Costa Rica but there are a lot of expats in the beach areas and Ticos love an excuse for a party.
Sun 5		↑18:48 ↓5:42	↑5:23 ↓18:04	↑2:36 ↑14:50	↓8:34 ↓21:08
Mon 6		↑19:40 ↓6:39	↑5:23 ↓18:04	↑3:26 ↑15:39	↓9:24 ↓21:54
Tue 7		↑20:29 ↓7:34	↑5:23 ↓18:04	↑4:13 ↑16:25	↓10:13 ↓22:39
Wed 8		↑21:13 ↓8:26	↑5:24 ↓18:04	↑4:59 ↑17:11	↓10:59 ↓23:22
Thu 9		↑21:53 ↓9:15	↑5:24 ↓18:04	↑5:44 ↑17:56	↓11:44 ↓
Fri 10		↑22:32 ↓10:01	↑5:24 ↓18:05	↑6:28 ↑18:40	↓0:04 ↓12:30
Sat 11		↑23:09 ↓10:46	↑5:24 ↓18:05	↑7:12 ↑19:26	↓0:46 ↓13:16
Sun 12		↑23:46 ↓11:30	↑5:25 ↓18:05	↑7:58 ↑20:15	↓1:29 ↓14:04
Mon 13		↑23:46 ↓12:15	↑5:25 ↓18:05	↑8:45 ↑21:07	↓2:13 ↓14:54
Tue 14		↑0:24 ↓13:00	↑5:25 ↓18:04	↑9:35 ↑22:03	↓3:01 ↓15:49
Wed 15		↑1:04 ↓13:48	↑5:25 ↓18:04	↑10:27 ↑23:02	↓3:53 ↓16:45
Thu 16		↑1:46 ↓14:38	↑5:26 ↓18:04	↑11:20 ↑23:58	↓4:48 ↓17:40
Fri 17		↑2:33 ↓15:31	↑5:26 ↓18:04	↑12:12 ↑	↓5:44 ↓18:33
Sat 18		↑3:24 ↓16:27	↑5:26 ↓18:04	↑0:51 ↑13:02	↓6:38 ↓19:21
		Fiesta de La Virgen del Mar – The Fiesta of the Virgin of the Sea on the Saturday closest to the 16th is marked in Puntarenas by a procession of decorated fishing boats carrying a statue of La Virgen del Monte Carmelo (the city’s patron saint) and a special mass. The secular celebrat
Sun 19		↑4:18 ↓17:23	↑5:26 ↓18:04	↑1:40 ↑13:50	↓7:29 ↓20:07
Mon 20		↑5:16 ↓18:19	↑5:27 ↓18:04	↑2:25 ↑14:36	↓8:17 ↓20:50
Tue 21		↑6:15 ↓19:14	↑5:27 ↓18:04	↑3:09 ↑15:20	↓9:04 ↓21:33
Wed 22		↑7:14 ↓20:05	↑5:27 ↓18:04	↑3:53 ↑16:05	↓9:50 ↓22:16
Thu 23		↑8:12 ↓20:53	↑5:27 ↓18:04	↑4:36 ↑16:50	↓10:37 ↓22:59
Fri 24		↑9:08 ↓21:40	↑5:27 ↓18:03	↑5:20 ↑17:37	↓11:24 ↓23:44
Sat 25		↑10:02 ↓22:26	↑5:28 ↓18:03	↑6:06 ↑18:25	↓12:12 ↓
		Día de Guanacaste – Guanacaste Day celebrates the annexation of Guancaste from Nicaragua in 1824. Street fiestas, folk dancing, topes (horse show/parade), traditional bullfights, rodeos and cattle shows are particularily colorful and exhuberant in the eponymous northwest reg
Sun 26		↑10:57 ↓23:12	↑5:28 ↓18:03	↑6:55 ↑19:17	↓0:30 ↓13:04
Mon 27		↑11:52 ↓23:59	↑5:28 ↓18:03	↑7:46 ↑20:13	↓1:20 ↓13:59
Tue 28		↑12:47 ↓23:59	↑5:28 ↓18:03	↑8:43 ↑21:14	↓2:14 ↓14:59
Wed 29		↑13:45 ↓0:48	↑5:28 ↓18:02	↑9:44 ↑22:20	↓3:13 ↓16:03
Thu 30		↑14:43 ↓1:40	↑5:28 ↓18:02	↑10:48 ↑23:29	↓4:18 ↓17:10
Fri 31		↑15:41 ↓2:35	↑5:29 ↓18:02	↑11:53 ↑	↓5:25 ↓18:15
		Rise & Set		Tide Times		Pacific	Caribbean

Calendar Legend

Averages for the month

• Approximate exchange rate
• General weather pattern for each half of the country
  
• Average surf wave height for each coast
  

Shown for each day

• The phase of the moon, and the moon and sun rise and set times for planning turtle viewing or a night hike (best under the dark skies of a new moon when nocturnal animals are most active).
• Times for each high and low tide along the outer Pacific coast (gulfs and bays vary). Average height 8 feet (2.5 meters).
  Not intended for navigation.
• Tides on the east coast occur about 2 hours earlier. However, the average height is only 8 inches (0.2 meters) so levels in the Caribbean Sea do not significantly impact most activities.
• Natural events are shown as shaded icons for quetzals (nesting), turtles (nesting), and humpback whales (calving) on each coast.
  
• The more solid color shown the more likely the event, the more shaded the less likely.
  
• Baby turtles hatch (usually at night) after approximately 50-70 days incubation so look for nesting activity on the calendar two months prior to your visit if you’d like to see the little ones popping out of the sand..
• Holidays – Bold indicates a government & bank holiday when most businesses are closed and buses may run on limited schedules.
• Fiesta and local festival dates are approximate – most include events spread over a week or two so check the schedule locally for more information.