The high season
The high season in Costa Rica runs from Decenber through April.
The main attraction of traveling in the high season is the weather.
It is less likely that it will rain on you, and in some areas (notably
Guanacaste) the wildlife is concentrated near shrinking water sources
and easier to spot. Obviously, another motivation for North American
and European travelers is escaping the snow and cold at home. Not
only is Costa Rica warm, but travelers from the north
will be rewarded with an extra few hours of sunshine
every day—at this latitude the days are longer.
The main problem with traveling to Costa Rica during the northern
hemisphere winter is that it is the high season. It is harder
to get reservations, everything is relatively crowded and the prices
are higher.
From Christmas until the end of the first week in January, and
Easter week are double jeopardy periods with lots
of international travelers, and many Ticos traveling
(the beaches
are especially
crowded).
The green season
The rainy season, or winter in Costa Rica
(May through November) has been dubbed the 'green season' by
the tourism industry.
Our first green season traveling in Costa Rica we expected the
worst. At least a couple of hours of rain every day, and a few
weeks
of
solid
rain.
We
were
pleasantly
surprised that over half the days it didn't rain at all and the
rest of the time it was a couple of hours in the afternoon bracketed
by brilliant sunshine. In more than three months there were only
two stretches of three days when it rained most of the time. During
these drizzly days, it was clear and sunny on the opposite side
of the country, so we could have avoided the rain had we thought
it was a real annoyance.
If you are thinking about a trip to Costa Rica during the green
season, don't let the weather stop you. |
