Take a look at the two maps below, which show Costa Rica rainfall in January and October. These include seasonal temperature variations and changes in wind direction. In general, each of these factors follows fairly predictable patterns. In the northern tropics — the area between the equator and the Tropic of Cancer — this creates intense warming of the land and ocean. As hot humid air rises up, it cools and condenses.
Eventually the moisture precipitates out as rain. The 1 Costa Rica guidebook. Full-color and filled with insider tips. Plan the ultimate Costa Rica adventure! Rainfall is also influenced by wind, which blows northeast across Costa Rica for much of the year. As warm, moist Caribbean air flows up and over the tall mountains that run through the center of Costa Rica, it cools and condenses. Heavy rain falls on the eastern slope of the mountains, while relatively dry air flows down to the Pacific coast.
It also blocks moist air that would otherwise drift in from the Pacific. During the rainy season, however, this situation is reversed. As northeast trade winds weaken and southern trade winds strengthen, moist Pacific air flows west. Obviously, another motivation for Northern American and European travelers is escaping the snow, cold weather and dark at home. In addition to tourists, Arctic storms drive ocean swells southward and the surf is bigger and more reliable in the high season.
It is harder to get reservations, everything is relatively crowded and the prices are higher. From Christmas until the end of the first week in January, and Easter week are double jeopardy periods with lots of international travelers, and many Ticos traveling the beaches are especially crowded.
Even the crowds have their up side though. Everything is open and running extended hours. Bars and nightclubs are much more fun and there is an audience for live music and other performances.
The little blue and yellow map image links to an interactive weather map that shows the total annual precip and the monthly average rainfall for each region in Costa Rica. We will be in Costa Rica for 10 days in the middle of October and plan to rent a car.
It sounds like there are many reasons to recommend traveling that month the greenery and lack of crowds are big pluses so long as we are prepared for the rain. My main anxiety right now is that we plan to rent a car, and I am worried about the roads being washed out, as this is something all of the guidebooks have warned about. We plan to only drive between places between 8am-1pm to avoid heavy rains.
How would we find out about bad road conditions or flash flooding that might impact our drives? Any other tips for staying safe while driving in the rainy season? Always stay on the main road. Are things open? Costa Rica depends a lot on tourism for a good part of their economy and Tamarindo being a touristic town depending solely on tourism really wants tourists to come but we do ask that you follow any regulations that are still in place in October which could be mask wearing, social distancing, etc.
Right now Costa Rica has applied nearly 2. As for the rain, schedule activities in the morning and plan for rain in late afternoons and nights. Hi we are coming to costa rica in october. I love it. I want to go to Costa Rica for my birthday late October I was also planning on doing the private boat tour with Marcy. Then I was planning of ending my Costa Rica trip by driving to San Jose on the 31st and fly back home from there. Do you think the weather will really affect my trip?
Hi Jasnin, it is difficult for me to predict how the weather will be exactly, as usually the Guanacaste coast is dry but cloudy in the mornings, rains in the afternoons and night. La Fortuna where Pure trek is does tend to rain quite a bit and this year they said it will be another very rainy year and October is our rainiest month.
And I would fly in and out of the same airport if you can. Hi I love your Blog! It is so imformative! Are the crowds generally the same? I know there is a mini summer in July but does that draw crowds as well? How busy is Manuel Antonio in June and July? Thanks so much! June is definitely less crowded, because in July, the local schools also have their mid winter break for 2 weeks so July gets very busy. June can rain a bit, especially in the South Pacific.
Hello, Thank you for your great website. It is very informative. I would be great if you could provide more links to your favorite car rentals sites, vacation hotels or VRBO areas, restaurants, and adventure sites. Do you know if there are any travel restrictions or quarantine issues we may face in October? My husband wants to fish for tuna one day.
Any recommendations? We love horseback riding, inner tubing low rapids , hiking, relaxing on beaches, ziplining, animals etc. We are traveling from October st. Any other advice or recommendations you can give us?
Thank you so much. Hi Anne, you can check our Costa Rica destination map to browse through all our articles via location or our Costa Rica itinerary ideas which has sections for things to do, hotels, restaurants, tours, etc.
I am planning on solo travelling to Costa Rica in late October. I was considering booking a trip through a rain-forest tour website. They drive you to all locations and take care of hotels and day tours. I would much much rather rent a car, go on my own to save money and have the freedom of having my own car. I consider myself a great driver and am capable of making rational decisions, but still worried that I will run into issues with the season driving.
I would do all the long drives in the early morning and keep a good look at the weather radar. Should I be okay to rent a car? Hi Michael, all those destinations and those routes are on well paved roads, in fact most of them go through the highway. Once you get out of San Jose, the driving is pretty easy and nothing crazy to Arenal or Jaco. Hope this helps! My husband and I were considering a trip to CR in October of this year.
How is the trip over the mountain? How long? How high? What is a typical price for a flight from San Jose to Limon? Thanks for any information! The drive is a bit long because that route usually has a lot of traffic so it can take anywhere from 4 hours normal without traffic to 6.
I am coming to Costa Rica, Guanacaste on May 25th. We are staying for 5 days. I wanted to know some of the tour recommendations you had. I would like to know more about the weather being that it is wet season but I know Guanacaste is relatively a drier city compared to the rest. We are so excited! What are some of your favorite tours. We wanted to do mud baths, surfing, hot springs, ziplining, volcanos, and ATV tours. Please let us know your suggestions!!!! We are looking forward to having a great experience.
Hi thank you for all the details here! I travel next week to San Jose for a week. Also, what would you recommend as mode of transportation? You can take the San Jose bus to Playa Jaco , a shuttle or drive. Any help will be greatly appreciated. We are staying 3 nights in Peurto vejo and 3 in Cartago. How is the drive between the 2 towns? Is there cell service to use Waze? The drive is not bad, it is on all paved roads actually and there is signal for the most part, except for the section in Brauilio Carillo National Park from San Jose to Guapiles.
This is my first time traveling solo as a woman and carrying a lot of supplies.
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