Geographical Facts

Costa Rica’s Climate and Weather

Be prepared for sunshine, rain, cool mountain breezes, and muggy jungle mists depending on where and when you visit our country.

Rugged topography means we have amazing biodiversity and a wide variety of microclimates. As you ascend or descend in altitude, or move from one province to another, our weather changes drastically.

Rain

It is the principal defining feature of rainforest; the reason for this complex ecosystem. The wettest forests in Costa Rica receive up to 8 meters (26 feet) of rain annually, so chances that you will learn to love the misty landscapes and intermittent showers are likely at some point along your journey. Rain nourishes the world’s greatest biodiversity wherein lie undiscovered cures for undiscovered illnesses. Understanding this makes getting caught in a warm, tropical shower just another part of the rainforest experience. It doesn’t rain all the time, however, and you may never use the umbrella you carefully packed. But if it does rain, enjoy it – whether it falls in a patter of light drizzle or with the deafening roar of a tropical downpour.

Our rainy or “green season,” which typically brings sunny mornings and afternoon showers, lasts from May to November, but it's best to be prepared for rain at any time of the year.

In rain forests and cloud forests, it rains almost every day, sometimes several times per day.

The Central Valley

In the Central Valley, year-round daytime temperatures are in the 70s and 80s Fahrenheit (20-24 degrees C). At night, expect temperatures in 50s and 60s. (17-20 C).

Beaches

Costa Rica’s beaches are hot and humid, except for the northwestern province of Guanacaste, which tends to be dry and breezy. Temperatures will be in the 80s and 90s (24-32 C) at the beach. Remember you are only 8 degrees from the equator, so use plenty of sunscreen and a hat.

High altitudes

Expect windy weather and temperatures in the 50s and 60s (10-15 C) at Costa Rica’s highest altitudes, including Cerro de la Muerte, Poás Volcano, Monteverde and other mountains.

Today's Weather

Click here to see an instant weather report for Costa Rica: http://www.imn.ac.cr

Pacific Shores

Warm gold, volcanic black, seashell white, and every shade in between, color the beaches of Costa Rica. On the two oceans flanking its shores, visitors find a wide array of beaches with accommodations and facilities to suit every taste. There are solitary hotels, in wild and virtually undeveloped areas like Santa Teresa and Malpais, casual beach communities offering a selection of small hotels like Potrero Bay and even resort developments like Ocotal and Papagayo. Many hotels are located a top steep coastal hills, affording spectacular views of the ocean. Others are at the beach level, in a setting of forest or tropical gardens, just a short walk from the surf. The rocky Pacific coastline is characterized by dozens of beaches on hidden bays and inlets. Most beaches hold a special meaning for surfers, who take advantage of world class waves. So before you venture into the water, please check tides, go with a buddy and ask what part of the beach is safest for swimming.

Rainforest

Once perceived as a mysterious, dangerous and inaccessible wildernesses, blocking the way of development, tropical rainforest are now recognized as repositories of the world’s greatest biodiversity and irreplaceable filters of the air we breathe. Today’s imperiled rainforest attract travelers seeking to understand and, in some way, to help ensure their preservation. Not all tropical forests in Costa Rica are the same. They may be wet, humid or even dry, depending on what part of the country you visit. Caribbean slope forest such as those found in Sarapiqui and Arenal differ from those on the Pacific, such as Corcovado and Manuel Antonio national parks. Costa Rica is probably the best place on earth for people of all ages and physical condition to experience this complex array of tropical forests. Many protected areas are accessible by paved highways. Remote, isolated areas remain for the more adventuresome.

Wetlands

Known as nature’s nursery for fish, crustaceans and water birds, wetlands are marshy areas that are a favorite for bird watchers and serious nature lovers. These areas also produce much of the world’s oxygen and protect watersheds for human consumption. Travel on a nature expedition by boat into the deep mangrove forests across landscapes taken from another place in time. Costa Rica presently has 11 inland and coastal sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance. These include Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge, a shallow freshwater lagoon near the Nicaraguan border, surrounded by marshes and woodland that attracts breeding or migrating waterbirds, including a small numbers of the endangered stork, Jabiru mycteria. Gandoca-Manzanillo National Park on our Caribbean coast shelters a coastal lagoon consisting of coral reefs, seagrass beds and beaches that provide an important area for nesting sea turtles. Palo Verde. National Park holds permanent, shallow, freshwater lagoons, associated marshes and seasonally flooded woodland and mangroves of the lower Tempisque River. On the Pacific coast, Tamarindo Wildlife Refuge shelters a coastal area under tidal influence with permanent saline wetlands with a large mangrove forest. Terraba-Sierpe Reserve is some of the most spectacular mangrove forests of the country, sheltering estuaries of two rivers, lagoons, and a palm swamp forest.