2020 was rough and a tropical getaway to Costa Rica is the perfect remedy.
outdoor everything | low cases | low risk | modern medical | perfect weather | assistance | restrictions
What Makes Costa Rica the Right Destination Right Now?
If you need a break from pandemic pressures there’s nowhere better than the land of ¡Pura Vida!
Costa Rica already had open air restaurants, outdoor adventures and even airy luxury tent lodges. There are so many ways to relax you might even forget for a few hours.
The experts agree that avoiding crowded indoor spaces is the best way to avoid infection so it’s fortunate that the best of Costa Rica is outside.
Especially if you utilize a professional travel planner, small group tours can be arranged to include just your family “bubble.” Even if there only two of you it’s easy to isolate on hiking and wildlife watching trails, ziplines, or while snorkeling in a protected cove.
The perfect dry season climate arrived before Christmas and Costa Rica should have precipitation free outside living for the next few months!
Best Time to Visit Costa Rica
Of course everyone should make informed vacation choices based on their circumstances and local levels of containment but as vaccines are distributed, mask rules take effect and treatments improve we’re looking forward to normal.
The dry season January through May guarantees perfect weather every day on the Pacific’s 230 beaches.
If you’d rather be extra cautious vaccines will be widely distributed by July or August and those are our personal favorite months in Costa Rica. You may be forced under a palm thatched cabana roof by the occasional afternoon thunderstorm but by then the indoor risk will be much lower.
Excellent Hospitals & Medical Care
Medical care in Costa Rica is modern and free to all residents and the same great care is available through low cost ($2 per day on average) insurance for every traveler.
Restrictions, Requirements & Precautions for Travel in Costa Rica
Testing is no longer required – and visitors from everywhere are welcome but travel insurance covering Covid medical expenses and quarantine is required.
Masks are not required – outdoor tours like zip-lines, wildlife hikes and rafting do not require masks but they may be needed while inside transport vans or visitor centers.
Driving restrictions – are enforced for Costa Ricans but since tourists have a limited time and fixed schedules they are excused from most no-drive days and curfews.
Beaches are open from 5am until 10 pm nightly – no beach parties or overnight camping allowed.
Until the vaccination programs can bring the spread of Covid under control, Costa Rica is reducing capacity of shops, restaurants and other public spaces while taking other standard precautions. You’ll find everyone distancing, using masks indoors, and reducing contact with anyone who isn’t part of their bubble just like at home.
A large majority of cases don’t require any medical care but just as you would anywhere in the world, if you contract a mild case of the virus you would have to isolate yourself for 10-14 days until you’re no longer contagious.
A few travelers have joked about trying to catch coronavirus so they can quarantine at the beach instead of returning to work. If it does happen there are worse places to be restricted to your hammock – please don’t write us nasty e-mails about how the pandemic is no laughing matter; of course it’s deadly serious but humor is a good way to handle stress.
Lower Case Counts in Costa Rica
Costa Rica started out with almost miraculously low infection rates with only a few cases in a few months. Since then like nearly every other country there have been surges and reductions but overall we’ve handled the pandemic well. Odds are good (almost guaranteed if you’re from the U.S.) that there are fewer cases per 1,000 in Costa Rica than where you are right now.
A huge majority of the cases in Costa Rica are in San José and the surrounding megalopolis. Tourist destinations not only have much lower case numbers due to low population densities but as a result of that and the open air lifestyle, many fewer cases per 1,000 people.
Air Travel is Low Risk
The lowest risk activity is to never leave your house and just binge Netflix for the next 8-10 months. In case you’ve chosen to exercise the appropriate precautions while taking a vacation instead you can be confident that airplanes are about the safest confined spaces there are. Modern high velocity Hepa filtration exchanges 100% of the air every few minutes and mandatory masks are enforced by federal law.
Flights to Costa Rica are relatively short (under 3 hours from Houston for example) so passengers don’t have time to get fatigued and antsy or overly relaxed about precautions.
Costa Rica’s airports are modern and with the 70% decrease in travel very uncrowded. The ministry of health’s program to encode everyone’s id, health and insurance info in a scannable QR code means immigration and customs is very fast and you’ll be out in the fresh air in no time.