Costa Rica is generally safe for a visitor who leaves nothing in a rental car and keeps a bag closed in San José and on the beach. The towns in this guide are an ordinary trip. The thing that changes a plan is a first drive after dark, especially the climb to Monteverde or the dirt road into Santa Teresa.
Yes, with the same care you would use in any beach town. Use the hotel safe. Do not leave a bag on the sand while you swim, including at the sunset crowd in Tamarindo. Do not leave a bag, a phone, or a passport visible in a parked car, even for five minutes at a trailhead or a gas station. A towel over the seat is still a reason for a broken window. Empty the cabin before you walk away.
In San José, the useful part of downtown is the National Theatre, the museums around Plaza de la Cultura, and the central market. Do the market in the morning, keep the bag in front, and pay cash in small bills. Many stalls fade after lunch. On a crowded sidewalk the phone stays in a pocket, not in your hand.
At the airport, use the official taxi line or a transfer you already booked. An unmarked car at the curb is the one to skip. In town, a red taxi uses a meter, called a maría. In a rural taxi, agree the fare before you leave.
The center is a city, not a resort. Daytime errands are ordinary. After dinner, take a taxi back. Skip a long walk on a dark side street, and skip the walk from a bar to a hotel with a phone out.
A night in Alajuela, a short ride from Juan Santamaría airport, is quieter than downtown. If the flight lands after midafternoon, sleep there. The drive to La Fortuna is about three hours, and it is a morning drive, not the same night you landed.
A daylight drive is the normal way around the country. Do not plan a first drive after dark on a road you do not know. Shoulders are narrow, rain hides holes, and animals, pedestrians, and unlit bicycles cross. The two that go wrong after sunset are the climb toward Monteverde and the dirt road into Santa Teresa.
Friday afternoon is the slow direction out of the valley. Sunday afternoon is the slow direction back. If you are entering or leaving San José on those days, leave earlier than the map suggests. A highway checkpoint is ordinary. It is not a sign that something is wrong. The rest of the driving is in getting around Costa Rica.
Yes. The usual loss is a bag left on a chair, or a camera left on a car seat. Tamarindo and Jacó are the busiest, so they are where a loose bag goes missing. Puerto Viejo is the same rule on a smaller street: lock the bike, and do not leave a bag in the basket. A quieter town is not a reason to leave the car unlocked.
Swim where other people are in the water. Do not walk a dark beach alone with a phone in your hand. A town can be safe and the shore break can still dump. At Jacó and at Dominical, read a few sets before you go in. Rips run along those beaches. The inside is not a pool.
Cards work in towns, hotels, and most restaurants. Park gates, public buses, and small sodas still prefer cash, often in small bills. Carry the day's cash. Leave the rest, and the passport, in the room safe. A photocopy, or a photo on a phone you are not waving around, is enough for most daytime errands.
Use an ATM in the valley or in the beach town, not the exchange window at the airport. Take cash out before a Sunday, or before a day that ends on a boat, when the next ATM is behind you. Dollars are accepted in many beach towns. The change usually comes back in colones. Tap water in the main towns is treated. On a boat day, or past the last village, bring what you will drink. How the money works is in the ticos.
