Written by Nikki Solano

Nikki is the CEO of Pura Vida! eh? Inc. (Costa Rica Discounts), and the author of the guidebooks Moon Costa Rica (2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025 editions) and Moon Best of Costa Rica (2022 edition) from Moon Travel Guides. Together with her Costa Rican husband, Ricky, she operates the Costa Rica Travel Blog, created the online community DIY Costa Rica, built the Costa Rica Destination Tool, oversees the brand-new (summer 2023) Costa Rica Travel Shop, and designed the Costa Rica Trip Planning 101 E-Course. Also, Nikki wrote the Costa Rica cover feature for Wanderlust Magazine's sustainability-focused Travel Green List issue, showcased Costa Rica destinations and experiences on Rick Steves' Monday Night Travel show and podcast/radio show, and served as the Costa Rica Destination Editor for Essentialist, a luxury travel brand. Want to show your appreciation for her free article below? Thank Nikki here. ❤️️

The information about copos below is an excerpt from our full Costa Rica Food Guide. To learn about other types of Costa Rican food, visit our free food guide:

30 Things To Eat In Costa Rica And Where To Eat Them

What are copos?

A typical Costa Rican dessert

If you have a sweet tooth, get ready to drool over Costa Rican copos. This is the treat you’ll want in your hand on a hot, sticky, tropical day at a Costa Rican beach.

Ice cream (usually vanilla in flavor, or sometimes chocolate, strawberry, or Neapolitan in flavor) and shaved ice form the base of the dessert. The two ingredients are scooped into a cup and doused with condensed milk, powdered milk, and syrup. Usually red, Kola-brand syrup is used in Costa Rica (it resembles watered-down Grenadine), but we’ve seen copos prepared with syrups in a variety of colors and flavors, so the sky’s the limit to what you can get.

Copos are served in a plastic cup with a plastic spoon and a plastic straw. Some vendors also include a marshmallow for decoration and a wafer roll to help you slurp the dessert’s melted contents.

Where to try copos in Costa Rica

Copos are one of the most popular items that street vendors, park vendors, and beach vendors sell in Costa Rica. Most towns have at least one person selling them, though you may need to ask locals where to find him or her on the day you visit; they tend to move around.

How to pronounce copos

COH-POHS

• Copos: 2 syllables / equal emphasis on both syllables

QUESTION TO COMMENT ON: Have you tried copos in Costa Rica? What did you think?

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