Welcome to Costa Rica, a small but mighty country in Central America. We have previously visited and explored the tropical Guanacaste region, situated on the north west coastline. From the moment we set foot here, we fell truly in love and – by the end of our stay – was genuinely googling “Costa Rica holiday homes for sale!”.
Costa Rica embraces the country’s motto “Pure life” every day – with its miles of raw rainforests, vibrant oceans and lavish black sand beaches. That’s before mentioning the astounding amount of wildlife you will see at every turn, including sloths, frogs, hummingbirds, monkeys, turtles, whales and even clouded leopards! Costa Rica contains 5% of the World’s biodiversity, and is truly a wildlife lovers dream!
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Costa Rica Facts
A phrase you will hear in abundance in Costa Rica is ‘Pura Vida’ – which literally translates to ‘Pure Life’. Costa Ricans use this phrase to greet, say goodbye and express positivity, but also fully embrace it as a life motto – to live a pure and simple life!
Because of this, Costa Rica is one of the happiest countries in the world. It also boasts a high life expectancy of its residents, with a staggering average of over 80 years old!
Costa Rica has seven provinces across the country: Guanacaste, Alajuela, San Jose, Cartago, Heredia, Limon and Puntarenas, all with their own unique identity and draws. Puntarenas is the smallest, housing the Monteverde Cloud Forest.
Costa Rica is absolutely bursting with wildlife, home to over 500,000 species – 900 of which are birds, including the wonderful hummingbird. Costa Rica contains 5% of the World’s biodiversity, even though it only cover 0.03% of the Earth’s surface.
The Costa Rican National Anthem is played on all radio stations across the country every morning.
Costa Rica is home to over 200 volcanic formations, including 5 active volcanoes! These include: Arenal, Irazú, Rincón de la Vieja, Turrialba and Poás volcanoes.
Costa Rica generates more than 99% of its electricity using renewable energy. It strives to be a completely zero net emission, carbon neutral country by 2050!
Astoundingly, regardless of the time of year, Costa Rica always has 12 hours of daylight a day. Likewise, the sun always rises and sets at the exact same time, 365 days a year! This is due to the incredibly close proximity to the equator.
Costa Rica Weather & Seasons:
Costa Rica has two distinct weather seasons: Wet and Dry seasons. Costa Rica has an average temperature between 12°c – 27°c. On average, the hottest months in Costa Rica are February – April and the coldest months in Costa Rica are usually September – November. However, Costa Rica is actually made up of many climate zones, thus creating a lot of different “microclimates” to experience across the country.
January – April (Dry Season)
The perfect months to visit Costa Rica if you want almost guaranteed sunshine and much drier, warmer weather, particularly on the coast! This is Costa Rica’s busiest period for tourism.
May – December (Wet Season)
Costa Rica’s rainy season is also known as its “green season”, when its rainforests and thus lower accommodation costs. The rain does reduce significantly in July and August, attracting many tourists who want to see Costa Rica’s nature in its prime! Guanacaste province, located in the North-West, is the driest area during Costa Rica’s rainy season. July is also the start of the whale watching season in Costa Rica to see Humpback and Bryde whales.
Costa Rica’s Capital City
SAN JOSÉ
Costa Rica’s capital city is San José, located inland of central Costa Rica.
Costa Rica Wildlife
Sloth
Native to Costa Rica, the iconic sloth is one of the world’s most intriguing creatures! There are two different species of these gentle, slow-moving mammals: the two-toed and three-toed sloths, who look very different from one another! Though tree-dwellers, sloths are surprisingly also brilliant swimmers and can move 3x faster in the water! Sloths are nocturnal and are most active at night! Join a natural sloth excursion adventure to see them in their natural habitat!
Rainforest Frogs
Incredibly, Costa Rica is home to 149 species of frog! The most iconic is the red-eyed gaudy leaf frog, a bright green species with bright blue, yellow and orange leg markings. Another is the tiny but mighty poisonous “blue jeans” frog, a tiny red frog which looks like it is wearing – you guessed it – blue jeans! The best way to spot Costa Rican frogs is on a guided rainforest tour, or on a specific night frog safari!
Hummingbirds
Costa Rica is home to over 50 species of Hummingbirds, 2 of which can only be found in Costa Rica! See how you can see hummingbirds in Costa Rica!
White Nosed Coati
The white-nosed Coati, otherwise known as the Coatmundi, are typically forest dwelling creatures that are very distinguishable by their long ringed tails, similar to their racoons cousins. Being omnivores, they eat a variety of including fruits, berries. birds, eggs and even lizards!
Hundreds of Birdlife
Costa Rica is home to over 900 species of bird, making it one of the best places to go bird watching! This includes the exotic and brightly coloured Keel-billed Toucans, Scarlet and Great Green Macaws! Venture out on the many group or even private Bird Watching tours in Costa Rica!
Costa Rica Wildlife
Wild Cats
Costa Rica is home to six species of wild cat: Jaguar (the only ‘large’ wild cat, Puma, Jaguarundi, and the adorable (and visually similar) small species of Ocelot, Margay and Oncilla.
Monkeys
Costa Rica is home to 4 distinct monkey species: The black-handed and central American squirrel monkeys, the white-faced capuchin and – our personal favourite – the mantled howler monkey! The howler monkey is an excessively loud and confident species whose calls – despite their size relatively average size – sounds like King Kong moving through the forest!
Sea Turtles
5 out of 7 of the world’s sea turtle species nest of Costa Rica’s beaches! Key hotspots to see turtles are Tortuguero National Park (Caribbean Coast) and Ostional / Nancite beaches (Pacific Coast). Ostional beach is a National wildlife refuge, set up to protect over 100,000 Olive Ridley turtles that visit the beach to lay over 10 million eggs! This event is known as ‘Arribada’, translating to ‘mass arrival’. Join a dedicated turtle watching tour to witness this amazing natural occurance!
Whales and Dolphins
Costa Rica have the longest whale-watching season in the world, with humpbacks roaming the waters for almost 8 months of the year (December-April for the Northern Hemisphere humpback whale / July-November for the Southern hemisphere humpback whales! The South Pacific coast is the best place to see whales in Costa Rica, in particular the Osa Peninsula. If you are lucky, it is also possible to spot pilot, sperm, bryde and killer whales too!