It’s not easy to stay within your budget while arranging a once-in-a-lifetime vacation! You want to see everything and stay in the nicest places, but unplanned charges can rapidly add up.
With that in mind, this article entails a list of the top 5 ways to save money on your Costa Rica vacation.
You’ll not only be able to maximize your time, but you’ll also be able to save a lot of money on your trip if you follow these suggestions!
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Five Money Saving Tips to Travel Costa Rica
If you’re on a tight budget and want to visit Costa Rica, here are five money saving suggestions.
Traveling in Costa Rica on a budget can be accomplished by visiting during the off-season, taking the public bus, eating at bakeries, visiting free local sites, hiring Limos and doing self-guided walks.
1. Traveling in off season
The dry season (December to April) is the most popular time to visit Costa Rica, but if you don’t mind getting a bit wet, the rainy season is also a terrific time to visit.
Everything is lush, green, and lovely. The rainy season lasts from May to November, but it doesn’t get particularly bad until August or September in most places.
When there are less tourists around, hotels are much cheaper, and it’s much easier to negotiate discounts on excursions and activities.
Furthermore, make sure to verify the hotel’s website. Many hotels provide discounts or have a campaign that is exclusively available on their website, especially during the off-season.
You can also do these free things in Costa Rica:
- Free hot springs in La Fortuna (near Tabacón resort)
- See crocodiles at the Crocodile Bridge in Costa Rica
- Get adventurous at El Salto, La Fortuna
- Go swimming or snorkeling
- Watch the sunrise (Caribbean side) or sunset (Pacific side)
- Cahuita National Park & Gandoca Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge have no entrance fee (they do ask for a donation)
- Watch baby turtles release in Montezuma
- Visit one of Costa Rica’s many amazing beaches
- Go to a farmer’s market
2. Saving money on transportation in Costa Rica
An effective way to cut costs on traveling is to hire airport shuttles service. When it comes to moving about Costa Rica, two aspects must be considered: time and money.
The public bus, which is the cheapest choice, takes the longest. Flying is the quickest but most expensive choice. Renting a cab service, which is the most convenient and flexible option, is somewhat cost effective.
If you hire a car, decline the optional insurance. Due to the high cost of insurance, renting a car in Costa Rica might be prohibitively expensive.
There is a necessary car rental insurance that every renter must purchase in Costa Rica, but you can also deny it by using your credit card to pay for your car rental insurance.
This can save you a lot of money on your automobile rental!
3. Explore the option of staying in a cheaper hotel
The simplest approach to save money on your vacation is to stay at a lower-cost hotel. Most of us, by nature, want to stay in the greatest places we can within our budget.
The issue is that we typically do not evaluate all aspects of a hotel when we first see it. Taxes alone are 13%, and if the hotel does not include breakfast, the total might be much more.
While none of us likes to stay at a hotel that is “second best,” it may be your best option. Consider the stress relief of not having to worry about money, in addition to the fact that it is the correct hotel.
Another way to look at it is to realize that the typical upper-four-star hotel nightly rate is around $160.
Cutting your hotel budget by 10% would result in a 12 star reduction in quality, which is still in the mid to upper 3 star area. But it would save you nearly $125 on the average holiday (based on 7 nights).
Of course, lowering these values by 20% would quadruple them, and so on.
4. Eat at Sodas
Restaurants on-site at hotels or in touristy areas are substantially more expensive. Rather, go to the nearest town and look for drinks.
Sodas are small Costa Rican eateries that serve traditional Costa Rican cuisine at affordable costs.
If you ask the locals where their favorite soda is, you can get cheap Costa Rican food. You can ask taxi drivers for recommendations to discover cafés that serve breakfast for $4 USD and lunch for $5-7 USD.
Although tap water in Costa Rica is generally safe to drink, many people prefer to purchase bottled water just in case.
It’s not cheap to buy bottled water, and the plastic isn’t good for the environment. Bring a reusable water bottle with a filter to save money on water and to help the environment!
5. Getting a guide is not recommended
A guide will most likely be waiting for you at the entrance of a national park whenever you arrive. They are readily capable of charging approximately $50.
They’ll tell you that without a guide, you won’t see any animals, but I promise you that’s not true.
Without a guide, you can see monkeys, lizards, sloths, iguanas, raccoons, tropical birds, and even a puma. You may see wild animals from your hotel or on the side of the road in many parts of Costa Rica!
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Conclusion
Costa Rica is one of the most costly countries in Central America to visit, but there are lots of ways to save money. It’s simple to save money while still seeing (almost) everything this beautiful country has to offer.
SP
