The Best Months to Visit Costa Rica

If travel planning weren’t a challenge and a job to itself before – and we all know that planning a vacation could absolutely be a challenge and a time-intensive proposition before – then arranging travel today is a whole new ballgame. Which is how you found yourself searching for the best places to travel this year – and now, narrowing it down to the best months to visit Costa Rica.

Welcome! You’re definitely in the right place.

Travel is our heart and soul. We’re professionals and we’re also travelers. And over the last two years, we’ve learned a thing or two (or twenty) about travel.

Because, while travel is good for your health, we also know that you have to take precautions. You know, like choosing a destination with open spaces, abundant sunlight, ocean breezes, and fresh air. A place where you’ll spend all day outside and in the surf.

Luckily, the best months to visit Costa Rica – and by that, we mean all of them, from January through December (you’ll see, soon!) – deliver all of the above. Sun. Open spaces. Fresh air. Space. Distance. And plenty of privacy to call your own.

As we said, welcome! You’ve almost made your way to Costa Rica and so, you’re definitely the right place.

The Best Months To Visit Costa Rica
Tamarindo Communities
Costa Rica offers your pick of all-sun season, rainbow season, sunset season, and so much more…

Costa Rica may be smaller than the state of West Virginia, but our terrain and our microclimates haven’t received the memo.

Costa Rica goes big when it comes to the weather. Of course, we’re a tropical country. And no, we don’t get snow. And you’re right that we’re so close to the equator, that we get 12+ hours of sunshine, every day (around 5:45 a.m. and 5:45-6:30 p.m., year-round). And sure, you’ve read that there are only two seasons here: “dry season” and rainy season.” It all sounds so simple…

And yet, Costa Rican weather and seasons and travel are so much more than tropical, no-snow, dual seasons; the nation is wild and diverse and wildly diversified, making for many best months to visit Costa Rica. In fact, depending on your preferences, to-do list, and personal travel style, almost any month could be your “best” month.

Here are the broad strokes:

January to March: High Sun Season
While the dry season officially begins in December, January marks the full transition from occasional showers to all sun, all the time. This is as close as Mother Nature gets to guaranteeing perfection, if your gauge of “perfect’ is set to sun and blue skies.

The weather is essentially ideal throughout most of the country, including the Tamarindo area: sun all day, every day, and not a cloud in the sky. Temperatures vary depending on your exact location, but here in Tamarindo, they typically fall into the 75ºF to 90ºF range. Because of the weather, this is the most expensive time of the year.

April and May: Sun, Sunsets & Rainbows Season
Remember the rhyme, April showers bring May flowers? That’s only a little bit true in Costa Rica, where April is still mostly sunny. While you may catch an occasional shower or even an unseasonal (but truly impressive) thunderstorm, consecutive daily rains would be uncommon (but not impossible) in April.

This seasonal transition not only delivers cooler temperatures and a transition back to greener landscapes, but also a promise of afternoon showers and their accompanying rainbows, turbulent clouds, and absolutely spectacular sunsets. It’s the perfect time to relax on your private terrace and watch the changing scenery over the Pacific…

June to August: Rainy Season
By June, Costa Rica is well into the rainy season: daily rain is common, if not guaranteed, though showers often last just an hour or two.

Ask most Costa Ricans, and they’ll say they love this time of year. Not only is the rainy season a perfect daily excuse to slow down – to take a siesta or mix yourself a drink or read a book, as the rain patters down – but the entire world turns a riot of green. It’s everywhere and always there, in a rainbow of emeralds, jades, limes, and avocados that you never knew could look so different.

September and October: RAINY Season
This is when Mother Nature kicks it into high gear: The two rainiest months of the year, September and October typified by sunny mornings and all-afternoon rains. Guanacaste and Tamarindo have slightly better (= drier) weather.

These compromises, if you see them that way, are accompanied by the lowest prices of the year, as well as a few you-can-only-do-them-in-rainy-season sights and activities: Sea turtle arribadas, or mass nesting events, reach their height from September to November. The whale-watching sweet spot hits in August and September. Whitewater rivers are frothing and waterfalls are roaring. And that’s only just the beginning…

November and December: Green Transitions
If you missed the April/May window, here’s your second shot at Costa Rica’s transitional season. Like a second spring, these months are marked by a steep decrease in rain, while still reveling in much of what makes the rainy season so wonderful: green, green everywhere. No, EVERYWHERE. It’s gorgeous and yet, the sun is almost your constant companion.

In Tamarindo, November-December is a time of bright sun, few clouds, and fewer and fewer afternoon rain showers. By mid-December, the rains have all but disappeared, while the landscapes are a blaze of wildflowers and colorful trees, making December arguably the most beautiful month of the year.

So, all that said, you tell us: What’s the best month to visit Costa Rica?