Costa Rican Flag

Last verified: Monday, 18. March 2024 at 07:26 AM

Costa Rica Travel Advisory

Warning Level Icon We advise caution when travelling to Costa Rica

Local Situation: 3.3 / 5

We advise caution when travelling to Costa Rica. We detected travel advisories from 6 sources for this specific country.

Regional Situation: 3.3 / 5

Costa Rica shares land borders with Nicaragua and Nicaragua. For these countries, the individual warning index is 3.6 (Nicaragua) and 3 (Panama).

Current informationen on Covid-19 in Costa Rica

There are currently no officially reported cases of infections with SARS-CoV-2 (or Coronavirus) in Costa Rica. As reported by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control this morning (~8:30am CET).

There are currently no officially reported deaths related to this disease in Costa Rica.

Source: www.ecdc.europa.eu

Advice scoring history for Costa Rica

Chart of the risk level over that last 200 days. This is the daily calculated travel risk for Costa Rica.

Chart of the number of sources over that last 200 days. This is the daily number of advisory sources (of any rating) that have been active on that day.

Note: Changes happening on the 28th/29th of July 2019 are related to a change in the software and number of sources processed.

Rating Details (single travel warnings)

These are the individual advisories published by other countries about the destination Costa Rica from a travellers perspective. The scoring of all messages combined is the foundation for the current rating 3.3 out of 5.0.

Warning Level Icon Danger level: 2 - Travel is usually safe.

This is the general advisory usually covering the country as a whole.

Advisory issued by: New Zealand

Flag of New Zealand

Exercise increased caution in Costa Rica due to violent crime (level 2 of 4).

Source: https://www.safetravel.govt.nz/costa-rica

Warning Level Icon Danger level: 2 - Travel is usually safe.

This is the general advisory usually covering the country as a whole.

Advisory issued by: United States

Flag of United States

Reissued with obsolete COVID-19 page links removed. Exercise increased caution in Costa Rica due to crime. Country Summary: While petty crime is the predominant threat for tourists in Costa Rica, violent crime, including armed robbery, homicide and sexual assault, occurs in Costa Rica. The Costa Rican government provides additional security resources ...

Source: http://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/costa-rica-travel-advisory.html

Warning Level Icon Danger level: 2 - Travel is usually safe.

This is the general advisory usually covering the country as a whole.

Advisory issued by: Finland

Flag of Finland

Iaktta normal försiktighet -

Source: https://um.fi/resemeddelande/-/c/CR

Warning Level Icon Danger level: 3 - Travel with high caution.

This is the general advisory usually covering the country as a whole.

Advisory issued by: Canada

Flag of Canada

The Canadian goverment suggests: Exercise a high degree of caution.

Source: https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/costa-rica

Individual rating changes for Costa Rica

This is the recent history of individual changes of travel advices that affected the total asessment of Costa Rica. Most recent events first.

Changes from September 28th 2020

The total rating for Costa Rica changed from 3.7 to 3.9. Here are the influencing details:

Flag of Austria

The Austrian government issued a new warning for Costa Rica with a rating of 5.0.

Changes from August 7th 2020

The total rating for Costa Rica changed from 3.2 to 3.7. Here are the influencing details:

Flag of United States

The United States government increased their existing warning for Costa Rica to 5.0 (of 5.0) from the previous rating of 2.0 (by +3.0).

Changes from March 22nd 2020

The total rating for Costa Rica changed from 3.0 to 3.2. Here are the influencing details:

Flag of Canada

The Canadian government increased their existing warning for Costa Rica to 4.0 (of 5.0) from the previous rating of 3.0 (by +1.0).

Changes from March 18th 2020

The total rating for Costa Rica changed from 2.8 to 3.0. Here are the influencing details:

Flag of Australia

The Australian government increased their existing warning for Costa Rica to 5.0 (of 5.0) from the previous rating of 4.0 (by +1.0).

Changes from March 16th 2020

The total rating for Costa Rica changed from 2.4 to 2.8. Here are the influencing details:

Flag of Australia

The Australian government issued a new warning for Costa Rica with a rating of 4.0.

Flag of Ireland

The Irish government increased their existing warning for Costa Rica to 4.0 (of 5.0) from the previous rating of 3.0 (by +1.0).

Changes from January 8th 2020

The total rating for Costa Rica changed from 2.2 to 2.4. Here are the influencing details:

Flag of United States

The United States government increased their existing warning for Costa Rica to 2.0 (of 5.0) from the previous rating of 1.0 (by +1.0).

Changes from September 25th 2019

The total rating for Costa Rica changed from 0.0 to 0.0. Here are the influencing details:

Flag of Finland

The Finnish government issued a new warning for Costa Rica with a rating of 2.0.

Flag of Ireland

The Irish government issued a new warning for Costa Rica with a rating of 3.0.

Flag of New Zealand

The New Zealand government issued a new warning for Costa Rica with a rating of 2.0.

Flag of Canada

The Canadian government issued a new warning for Costa Rica with a rating of 3.0.

Flag of United States

The United States government issued a new warning for Costa Rica with a rating of 1.0.

About Costa Rica

Costa Rica with its capital San José is a country in North America (Central America), slightly smaller than West Virginia (51,100 km²). The country is located Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Nicaragua and Panama. The climate can be described as tropical and subtropical; dry season (December to April); rainy season (May to November); cooler in highlands. The landscape is coastal plains separated by rugged mountains including over 100 volcanic cones, of which several are major volcanoes. With a population of about 4.19 million citizens.

Costa Rican flag

Flag of Costa Rica

Introduction Video

Basic Statistics and Facts

Topic Value
Capital San José
Population about 4.19 million
Size 51.100 km²
Size comparable to slightly smaller than West Virginia
Common languages English, Spanish
Currency Colon (short: CRC)
Common voltage (electricity) 120V - 60Hz
Used GSM Frequencies 1800
International phone prefix +506
Internet Top Level Domain .cr
Countrycode: ISO Alpha 2 CR
Countrycode: ISO Alpha 3 CRI
Countrycode: ISO Numeric 188

Environmental problems and natural hazzards

These are problems Costa Rica is facing. Environmental issues refer to damages of the nature due to industry and society. Natural hazzards refer to potential dangers originating in nature.

Environmental problems

  • air pollution
  • coastal marine pollution
  • deforestation and land use change
  • fisheries protection
  • largely a result of the clearing of land for cattle ranching and agriculture
  • soil erosion
  • solid waste management

Natural hazzards

  • active volcanoes
  • Arenal (1,670 m), which erupted in 2010, is the most active volcano in Costa Rica; a 1968 eruption destroyed the town of Tabacon; Irazu (3,432 m), situated just east of San Jose, has the potential to spew ash over the capital city as it did between 1963 a
  • frequent flooding of lowlands at onset of rainy season and landslides
  • occasional earthquakes, hurricanes along Atlantic coast

Top Industries and Agricultural Products

These are the main product industries and agricultural products of Costa Rica. This list indicates what this country is good at producing.

Industries

  1. clothing
  2. construction materials
  3. fertilizer
  4. food processing
  5. medical equipment
  6. plastic products
  7. textiles

Agriculture products

  1. bananas
  2. beans
  3. beef
  4. coffee
  5. corn
  6. dairy
  7. melons
  8. ornamental plants
  9. pineapples
  10. potatoes

Costa Rican Imports and Exports

These are the main product categories of imports and exports to and from Costa Rica.

Export products

  1. bananas
  2. beef
  3. coffee
  4. electronic components
  5. medical equipment
  6. melons
  7. ornamental plants
  8. pineapples
  9. seafood
  10. sugar

Import products

  1. capital equipment
  2. construction materials
  3. consumer goods
  4. petroleum
  5. raw materials

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the current travel advisory for Costa Rica?

Costa Rica is currently rated at 3,3 out of a possible 5.0. Collected from 6 official sources. We advise caution when travelling to Costa Rica.

Is it safe to travel Costa Rica in 2024?

Visiting the country Costa Rica is usually fine. The score is at 3,3 Just keep an eye open, obey local rules and you'll most likely be fine.

How many travel advisories do you know for Costa Rica?

We currently evaluate 11 official sources each morning. Today, we know of active advisories from 6 individual sources for Costa Rica.

What is the current Corona virus situation in Costa Rica?

There are currently no officially reported cases of infections with SARS-CoV-2 (or Coronavirus) in Costa Rica. As reported by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control this morning (~8:30am CET). There are currently no officially reported deaths related to this disease in Costa Rica.

What is the size of Costa Rica?

Costa Rica has a size of 51,100 km² or 19,730 mi² which is slightly smaller than West Virginia.

Common Frequently Asked Questions

For non-country specific questions, please check our global F.A.Q.