Vacation On The Cheap: Little Known Budget Travel Tips For A Prudent Costa Rica Vacation
For nearly two decades, tiny Costa Rica has been a favorite vacation destination for Americans, Canadians and, increasingly, Europeans. Merely as big as West Virginia, its many attractions are world-famous: more than 1600 kilometers of uncrowded coastlines on two oceans; parks and reserves covering 25 percent of its land area; and an incredible diversity of fauna and flora.
Volcanoes, terrific angling, some of the best surfing anywhere, whitewater river rafting or family rafting adventures, ziplining 80 feet in the top of tropical canopies, and, of course, nightlife for adults. What happens here stays here, unless you want to brag about your adventures in My Space.
There is a Costa Rica vacation fitting everybody's budget. For the rich and famous (or wanting to vacation in high style) , there are places like the Real Intercontinental Hotel, Papagayo Four Seasons Resort and Los Suenos Resorts. But, if these are too expensive, you can travel Costa Rica quite easily on a smaller budget. Here is how.
1. Experienced travelers can save 20 percent on accommodations by traveling off season
a. Budget travelers should avoid Peak Season, of which there are two: Easter week and Christmas. Christmas through New Years week (December 15-January 5) and Easter Week are Peak Season for two groups of tourists: overseas visitors and locals. Summer vacation for Costa Rica schools begins in December and tens of thousands of Ticos head to the most popular beaches. Easter week is another very popular vacation period for locals. They will find the cheapest bargains. For you, prices will still be way better than in Florida or Cannes but your money will go much farther at other times.
b. High Season extends from January through April coinciding with winter in North America and Europe . Many tourists travel Costa Rica during this time to escape the dreary days at home, a fact not lost on resorts and hotels. Though prices in this Latin American country are less than in Florida, Arizona, and the Texas coast, Snowbirds get plucked a bit more than during off-season (just like back home).
c. The experienced bargain travel seeker will take pains to travel to Costa Rica during the Green (Low) Season because the very best travel and accommodation bargains are found then. Unfortunately, some travelers mistakenly take it for granted that it rains every day though, indeed, most days are sunny and warm. Typically rains last an hour or so and occur in the afternoon or early evening. Many college students and families from the northern countries visit between June and mid-August but prices are good and accommodations available in most places. For the very best travel (airplane) and accommodation prices come between September through mid-November. Savings of 20-35 percent off High Season prices often await.
2. If you plan to rent a car, think ahead and save $25 a day
Many visitors reserve a car online before they come and are distressed to learn when they arrive that the rental agency plans to impose an additional fee of $25 or more per day for liability insurance! Informed travelers never pay that money because it is unnecessary, provided three rules are followed. Rule 1: If your home vehicle policy provides liability coverage, that insurance is good in Costa Rica. Recommendation: bring a copy of the policy along with the fax and email of your insurance agent and save that money for your vacation. Rule 2: Many credit cards offer a little known benefit: liability insurance coverage for rentals when the card is used. Contact your credit card company before you travel for best results. Rule 3: Be polite but informed. If you don't have the insurance info the first day, have your agent fax your coverage as quickly as possible. After all, it is your money. Budget travel can be fun, particularly when you do not pay for unnecessary insurance that you already have.
3. Save at least five percent on things you buy because Cash is King
Many Costa Rica merchants welcome dollars over credit cards and when asked for a cash discount will offer 5 percent or more. You need to ask :"Que (pronounced "K") es discuento por efectivo?" which means "What is the discount for cash?" Be sure the bills are new and not defaced with even a tiny tear. And, bring $20 and $50 bills. Many restaurants, merchants, and hostels cannot break a $100 bill.
4. Do not accidentally pay two tips in a restaurant and save 10 percent
Many Costa Rica restaurants, particularly those serving foreign visitors, automatically include a 10 percent tip (called "servicio") on a bill. They are required by law to note that charge on the menu but few bars or restaurants do so and are rewarded by unknowing foreigners who leave a second tip. It is up to you, the budget travel patron, to pay attention to your bill. If you are in doubt, ask if the tip ("servicio") is already included on the bill. Over the course of a vacation, this little tip can save you serious money.
About the author: Vic Krumm writes about spectacular Costa Rica. Visit his acclaimed website about and see why is world-famous.
It Is That Time Again: Say Goodbye To Old Man Winter And Make Plans For Your Costa Rica Vacation
1. Airfares have not been this reasonable in years. The world economic downturn has come to Costa Rica. Tourism in Costa Rica is down by at least fifteen percent this year, presenting terrific travel deals to an informed and frugal traveler . Want affordable luxury? Budget-conscious folks who travel Costa Rica can rent very nice Costa Rica hostels (some with private rooms) for about $12.00. If you are a bit more flush with cash, but still looking for a deal, the Hilton Papagayo Resort is offering rooms as low as $160.00 a night. Seniors can get an extra discount. Travel Tip: always ask the hotel, resort, or hostel if there is a discount for cash. And, keep in mind that the very best rates are between May to mid-November and the premium prices are over the holidays.
2. With almost eight hundred miles of coast visit one or more of hundreds of pristine Costa Rica beaches. Fish off of Drake Bay, named after Sir Francis Drake, who visited the southern Costa Rica Pacific coast a decade before sinking the Spanish Armada and saving England in 1588. You can even walk the same Caribbean beach where Columbus named Costa Rica 600 years ago. Black, brown, and white sand beaches, sea shell beaches, rugged rock-strewn beaches are everywhere.
3. All Costa Rica beaches are public so you can frolic on the same Costa Rica beaches enjoyed by Britney Spears or Mel Gibson (but you need to bring your own Russian model). Take romantic walks or just be lazy. Do not forget to bring your surfboard because some of the best surfing on the planet is found here. Most beaches are completely free but if you prefer to visit a very popular national beach park called Manuel Antonio, there will be a small entry fee.
4. Become an ecotourist. Costa Rica ecotourism has become a booming industry and is helping to preserve endangered sea turtles, exotic macaws, and many other species while bringing in much needed revenue to local communities. Be sure to check out Ostional National Preserve on the popular Pacific Gold Coast, where thousands of olive ridley sea turtles come ashore in massive nestings, called "arribadas", perhaps the largest spectacle of its kind in the world. Arribadas take place year-round but the biggest (sometimes involving hundreds of thousands of turtles) typically are when the moon is in its last quarter during the months of July to November.
5. Costa Rica has been called the "Switzerland of Latin America." This mountainous little country has nearly as many species of birds as in the entire continental U.S., more than 900. You can hike every inch of Africa without seeing as many species of butterflies as there are in Costa Rica. Twenty Percent of all animal and plant species on the world are found in this country.
6. You can hike the tallest mountain in Latin America, Mt. Chirripo. Voted one of Costa Rica's Seven Natural Wonders, hikers start at its tropical forest base and, if they have the stamina, end at its cold alpine summit. Bring a backpack with warm clothes as you climb this beauty to a little night time shelter overlooking remnant glacial lakes carved from ancient glaciers. Climbing requires a permit and reservation but the cost is very modest and when you reach the top you may be reminded of the mighty Andes. Most hikers make this a two day trip.
Writer Victor Krumm posts from his home in Costa Rica. Visit his authoritative, lovely website about and be sure to check out the spectacular
Costa Rica’s Olive Ridley Sea Turtles
The fact that olive ridley marine turtles are endangered is really almost unfathomable because, after all, they have been swimming the oceans more than one hundred million years.
To put some perspective onto this number, consider the mighty T Rex. It roamed North America sixty-five million years ago and, as surely as night follows day, it feasted on these sea turtles when they came onto beaches to nest.
Over unimaginable eons, these animals have flourished, despite being prey for nearly everything under the sun for tens of millions of generations. Probably 30,000,000 or more generations were preyed upon by dinosaurs and other reptiles and fish before the first T Rex evolved and, since then, another seventy million generations have fed a lot of critters. Still, they flourished.
They even survived the greatest extinction the earth has suffered, a calamity that killed all of the mighty dinosaurs---and yet the turtles flourished.
Over millennia, spreading across the face of the planet, these ancient mariners swam all of the tropical and temperate seas. From the Arabian Sea to the Atlantic coast of the American continents and from India to the Pacific coast of the New World, they thrived all around the world. Untold millions.
When I was a child everybody loved watching "I Love Lucy." When the first episode of that TV show aired, the oceans were still filled with olive ridley turtles. On Mexico's Pacific coast alone, there were 10,000,000 olive ridley nests that year---1951--- and every nest contained about 100 eggs per clutch. That is a billion eggs on a single coast in just one small country. A billion eggs every year. And, of course, these marine turtles were found virtually everywhere there were warm or temperate waters. The bounty was limitless.
There were so many eggs that were gathered so easily and so much profit to be made that, during the incredible arribadas, or nestings, huge pack trains of horses and mules were brought to the beaches. These pack animals and our mechanized trains and trucks carried out hundreds of millions of eggs each nesting season, year-after-year. And, so it was that within twenty years, there was only one nest in one year on a beach where there had been several hundred thousand when we first laughed at Lucy and Desi. Unfortunately, this was being repeated around the world.
At the same time, country-after-country opened sea turtle fisheries.
The result? From limitless to endangered in a couple of decades. A single generation of men nearly accomplished what seemed impossible: nearly destroying in the blink of an eye what had taken a hundred million generations to create.
Fortunately, some countries finally realized the extent of depredation and began taking steps to conserve and protect sea turtles. Tiny Costa Rica has helped lead the way, creating reserves and working with dedicated conservationists and local residents to not only conserve what is left but to rebuild stocks.
Today, Ostional Beach, on Costa Rica's Pacific coast, may have the world's largest arribadas of olive ridley sea turtles. Every month, often when the moon is in its last quarter, female turtles gather close to shore for several days and suddenly come to the beach en masse, day after day. The greatest arribadas are often in October, November, and December and the biggest mass nesting in recent years was half a million females coming ashore in 1995. If you are interested in Costa Rica ecotourism, this is a must-see.
Today, Costa Rica recognizes that these creatures are worth more alive than dead. And, remember that Mexican beach that was reduced to a single nest? Well, the government finally protected it and it recovered to 50,000 nests in 1988---and more than a million in 2000.
May God and mankind grant the olive ridley another 100,000,000 years.