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FOR YOU, FOR FREE: 17 years' worth of firsthand Costa Rica trip planning and travel advice compiled into hundreds of articles, plus exclusive discounts. Created by a Costa Rican and a four-time published Costa Rica guidebook author. Welcome, amigos, and as we say in Costa Rica, pura vida!

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About Nikki and Ricky
- - - Mucho gusto! (Nice to meet you!)
      
      Meet us, learn about our Costa Rica experience, and learn how we help Costa Rica travelers!
Costa Rica Trip Planning: Getting Started
- - - Browse our Costa Rica blogs to learn everything you need to know about starting to plan a Costa Rica vacation. If you’re just setting out on this journey, review our introductory Costa Rica trip-planning resources first.
What To Do: Tours & Activities
- - - Browse our Costa Rica blogs to learn what to do in Costa Rica, including recommendations for the most popular Costa Rica activities, as well as ways to discover Costa Rica off the beaten path.
How To Get Around: Transportation
- - - Browse our Costa Rica blogs to learn everything you need to know about transportation in Costa Rica, including different ways to get around Costa Rica.
Where To Go: Cities & Towns
Where To Go: Beaches
- - - Browse our Costa Rica blogs to learn everything you need to know about Costa Rica beaches, including recommendations for beaches to visit in Costa Rica.
- - - ► Guide to 80+ Costa Rica beaches
    - ► Guide to Blue Flag (eco-friendly) beaches
Where To Stay & Luxury Travel
- - - Browse our Costa Rica blogs to learn everything you need to know about Costa Rica accommodations, including recommendations for where to stay in Costa Rica.
Spending & Saving Money
- - - Browse our Costa Rica blogs to learn everything you need to know about saving money in Costa Rica, and to access free discounts for Costa Rica tours, hotels, car rentals, and shuttle services.
Food & Drink
- - - Browse our Costa Rica blogs to learn everything you need to know about food and drink in Costa Rica, including recommendations for things to eat in Costa Rica, drinks to try in Costa Rica, and Costa Rican recipes so you can re-create Costa Rican meals in your own home!
- - - ► The cost of food and drink in Costa Rica
Travel Anxiety, Safety, & Health
- - - Browse our Costa Rica blogs to learn everything you need to know about staying safe in Costa Rica, including Costa Rica safety tips and ways to keep a level head while traveling.
Packing, Souvenirs, & Sustainability
- - - Browse our Costa Rica blogs to learn everything you need to know about coming and going from Costa Rica, including Costa Rica packing information, Costa Rica souvenir information, and tips for practicing responsible, sustainable tourism.
Top Questions & Answers
- - - Browse our Costa Rica blogs to read our responses to some of the most common questions we receive about Costa Rica, including questions about white-water rafting in Costa Rica, questions about zip-lining in Costa Rica, questions about visiting the hot springs in Costa Rica, and more!
Extras
- - - Browse our Costa Rica blogs to discover other things about Costa Rica not included in other categories.

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Our Costa Rica guidebooks published by the prestigious Moon Travel Guides
- - - Our 2023 Moon Costa Rica guidebook (third edition)
  - - Our 2022 Moon Best of Costa Rica guidebook (first edition)
  - - Our 2021 Moon Costa Rica guidebook (second edition)
  - - Our 2019 Moon Costa Rica guidebook (first edition)
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FREE DIY COSTA RICA ACCESS! Details here.

Our company is inclusive. Read our Anti-Hate, Anti-Racism, Anti-Xenophobia, Anti-Inequality, Anti-Discrimination Statement here.

NEW! Our awesome Costa Rica Destination Tool filters 66 destinations by nearly 150 criteria to help you quickly and easily decide where to go in Costa Rica according to your unique preferences, wants, and needs. Learn more and access the tool on our sister site, DIY Costa Rica, here.

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Our seal of ownership

Each Costa Rica Travel Blog article reflects our own work, travels, and lessons learned. We strive for quality, not quantity, and we never stuff our blog with general information about Costa Rica that is widely available elsewhere. We write only what we believe or choose to believe in, and not a word more. .

Our company is inclusive

Read our Anti-Hate, Anti-Racism, Anti-Xenophobia, Anti-Inequality, Anti-Discrimination Statement.

Our Site, Our Right

All of the opinions, recommendations, and advice expressed on Costa Rica Travel Blog are our own. We support our comments with evidence, however we welcome opposing comments. Please note that our reviews are not financially supported by the companies we choose to evaluate. Our thoughts are influenced by our own travel experiences for the sole purpose of contributing feedback to the greater travel community.

Our blog is ad-free and affiliate-link-free!

Your SPAM-FREE visit to OUR FREE WEBSITE is more important to us than making money off your clicks. Also, unlike competing blogs, we never sell your personal information (for example, your email address). We appreciate your interest, preference, time, and visit. Pura vida, amigos! 🙂

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All content, concepts, and photos (unless credited otherwise) property of Ricky and Nikki Solano. © Copyright 2007-2024 Costa Rica Travel Blog (Pura Vida! eh? Inc.)

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We're Nikki and Ricky, and we're human!

Sadly, AI-generated Costa Rica blogs and guides are taking over the internet. Thank you for choosing our authentic website and resources over others, for trusting our firsthand experience, and for preferring our human-backed recommendations! 😀 Other ways we are unique:

✓ We choose not to display ads, sponsored content, or affiliate marketing on our blog. Because we prioritize your privacy, we don't earn money when you visit us, when you sign up for our e-course, or when you click on our links, which means the time and work we put into this blog is entirely voluntary.
✓ Ricky is a born-and-raised Costa Rican and Nikki (married to Ricky) has explored Costa Rica since the mid-2000s.
✓ We've operated our Costa Rica-based business, Pura Vida! eh? Inc., for 16 years (and counting!).
✓ Our Costa Rica guidebooks are published by the prestigious Moon Travel Guides brand.
✓ We only ever write about experiences we know firsthand, and we never stuff our blog with general information about Costa Rica that is widely available elsewhere.
✓ We never copy or plagiarize other writers' content. How we wish other writers would show us the same respect!
✓ Unless stated otherwise, every photo displayed on our blog was taken by us, and with our own two hands. (Unlike some other bloggers, who rely on drones to travel and conduct research for them, we actually visit and explore the places we write about.)👍🏽
✓ We're active in promoting Costa Rica around the world. We've written about Costa Rica for Wanderlust Magazine (UK), presented Costa Rica on Rick Steves' Monday Night Travel Show and podcast/radio show (US), and served as a Costa Rica Destination Editor for Essentialist (Spain).
✓ Our work is backed by hundreds of positive reviews and testimonials (read some here)
✓ We are not overly active on social media. Instead of fixating on our own popularity, we spend the majority of our time exploring and researching Costa Rica, updating our various Costa Rica resources, and working with travelers one-on-one. We're focused on the quality of your travel experience, not the quantity of our followers. ❤️

We hope you enjoy your visit to our junk-free blog as much as your time in Costa Rica. 😊

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If you do not accept the policy, we respect your choice 100%. Unfortunately, several of our website’s features, including our Questions and Answers Forum, rely on cookies to operate. Most are also run by themes, plugins, and other add-ons to our website that we do not and cannot control, which means the cookies you receive are mainly provided by third parties. Because simple actions like reading our articles, asking a question, and even visiting our website’s homepage require the use of cookies, it is not possible to explore or use our website without them. If you would prefer not to receive cookies, we kindly (and sadly) ask that you do not visit our website. (Alternatively, you can try setting your browser to remove or reject browser cookies before visiting our website, but you may find that our website doesn’t function properly without them.) By visiting or submitting information through our website, you acknowledge and accept our use of cookies, and the use of third-party cookies. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy.

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