Cheaper but due to the “fame” and tourism not too cheap

If you are looking for your next destination and love national parks full of nature, all different kinds of animals and waterfalls but also enjoy your beach days and surfing – you might wanna check out Costa Rica.  

But how much does a trip to Costa Rica actually cost? It definitely depends on the type of trip you are looking for. Do you like staying in luxury resorts or are you backpacking throughout central america? Costa Rica can offer both and I can for sure say you are going to have an amazing time with any budget. 

Another big factore is the time of year you are traveling to Costa Rica. If you want to save some money I’d recommend going in the rainy season, which is from the beginning of may to november. I’ve been there twice, once in November and another time in may. It is cheaper, but also less crowded. These aspects are without doubt worth some rain. 

On my most recent trip to Costa Rica in May 2024 a friend and I road-tripped through Costa Rica for 11 days and this is what it cost us.

Costa Rica Budget Guide:

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Transportation Expenses:

Flights:

Return flights usually cost between 300€ and 1000€ depending on the departure city/country and time of year. We flew directly from Frankfurt, Germany to San Jose, Costa Rica. This cost us 678,50€ per person.

Car Rental:

We rented a car for the entire 11 days and spent 633,30€ in total for the car rental. This includes insurance and the young driver fee. We spent an additional 100€ on fuel and around 10€ on tolls. 

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Shuttles:

If you don’t feel comfortable driving in Costa Rica you can book shuttles for easy transport. They operate all over the country and get you basically everywhere. Depending on the distance they cost between 30€ and 90€ per person.

Accommodation Prices 

Airbnb:

The first and last night of our stay we booked two different Airbnb’s in San Jose. Both of  them cost around 45€ per night. Which is a pretty common price if you’re looking for decent Airbnbs.

Hostels:

For the rest of our trip we stayed in Selina Hostels in Manuel Antonio, Monteverde and Santa Teresa. We booked each of those around three weeks prior online for three nights with a private room but shared bathrooms. Each room ended up costing us between 250€ – 300€. 

Total Accommodation Cost = 764,48€ 

Because there were two of us it came out to 382,24€ per Person for the entire 11 days.

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Food Expenses

Grocery shopping:

First of all I want to say that grocery shopping is super easy compared to other countries. You find big supermarkets like Maxi Pali almost everywhere in urban and touristy places. They have a lot of international products in stock, so we were able to find a lot of similar products we are used to at home. The pricing of most products is very similar to Europe, maybe slightly lower, but not to different.

Restaurants:

For dinner we chose to eat out a lot. Which is not the most affordable option but for us the most convenient. Because breakfast was included we only ate out once a day for dinner. Which for two people cost between 30€ and 40€. 

If you are on a tighter budget I can recommend Sodas. Sodas are smaller local owned restaurants serving typical Costa Rican food. Another option is cooking meals yourself. Most Airbnbs and Hostels have fully equipped kitchens you can use to make your own delicious food.

Tours/ Activities

Activities in Costa Rica can 100% make or break your budget. When people say “Costa Rica is so expensive” this is what they mean. The country offers a wide range of activities, most of them also being extremely popular like ziplining, white water rafting and so on. All of those also cost quite some money. So if you are on a budget, prioritize and focus on your most important adventures. 

Entry fees:

Typically national park fees are around 15€ to 20€ per person. Manuel Antonio National Park in particular cost us 15€ per person. The tickets can only be bought online. To buy those tickets you have to register on sinac.go.cr. This website offers tickets to all national parks in Costa Rica. After registering, you can just pick the park, your time and schedule your visit.  – national parks(16usd pro person)/ 

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Waterfall entry fees are similar and come up to around 10€ per person. We went to Nauyaca waterfall and paid 20USD in total. Additional costs were a small parking fee at the beginning of the hiking trail.

Beaches:

Beaches are a great way to spare some of your travel budget. Whether you like surfing or just relaxing and listening to the waves. Good for you that all of Costa Rica’s public beaches are free and a must see for everyone. Keep in mind that beaches located inside of national parks such as Manuel Antonio Beach can only be visited if you have a ticket to visit the park itself.

Other Expenses

Sim Card:

I always get my Sim Cards online before my trip even starts. The App I use is Airarlo. It offers E-Sims to a bunch of different countries and regions all over the world and is super easy to use. I got 3GB for a 30 day duration. This cost me 28,82€. If you don’t like E-sims or they are not compatible with your phone, you can obviously use a normal sim as well.

Now that I broke down our entire trip, it’s time to reveal our grand total. For the 11 days I spent in Costa Rica including my return flight I paid 2085,67€. This is for sure not low budget travel, but it’s also not fancy. We saved some money on the accommodation and transport because we could split the cost but were also keen on experiencing the adventure this incredible country has to offer. 

So is Costa Rica expensive? It’s certainly on the pricier side if you compare it to other central american or south east asian countries. But this is just because of the popularity the country gained over the past years. In the end you can decide how much you are willing to spend. It is 100% worth it no matter the budget. So what are you waiting for?