10-Day Costa Rica Itinerary – Beach and Birding

Planning a 10 day Costa Rica itinerary that blends adventure, wildlife, and pure relaxation can feel overwhelming with so many places to see and things to do. We wanted sloths, volcanoes, cloud forests, birds, beaches, and scuba diving — all without sacrificing time to unwind.

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What followed was one of our favourite trips yet. From chasing rare birds in Monteverde to diving the Catalinas and closing out the trip on a stunning all-inclusive beach resort, this guide breaks down exactly how we spent our days, what we loved most, and how you can make it your own.

How We Spent 10 Days In Costa Rica

When we were planning our Costa Rica trip, we knew we had a bunch of Marriott Bonvoy points that we wanted to put to use for a free stay but we also knew it’d be a shame to be in a resort all week. That’s how this beach and birding itinerary was born.

With 10 days to work with and splitting time with the eventual resort winner, The Westin Reserva Conchal and Costa Rica’s adventure offerings, it wasn’t easy to build out our trip planning spreadsheet.

We thought about the key things we were interested in and narrowed it down to sloths, birds, coffee, volcano, cloud forests, and scuba diving.

Once we had that, it was a matter of research and asking friends that had been. Turns out, it’s totally possible to fit everything we wanted in 5-6 days!

All-in-all, this turned out to be one of our favourite trips. It combined our lust for outdoor adventure while also giving us the stress-free relaxation we yearned.

Day 1: Liberia to La Fortuna

Getting to Costa Rica from Toronto for us is pretty easy and luckily, there’s a direct flight into Liberia (LIB). That said, for this trip, you could certainly fly into the capital of San (SJO) and out of Liberia.

That said Liberia to La Fortuna is 30 minutes faster than from San Jose so if possible, Liberia is still the optimal option for this Costa Rica itinerary.

The first order of business after landing was to pick up our rental car. For our trip, we went with Adobe Rent A Car.

Stepping out of the airport, we simply looked for the person holding the Adobe sign and we got on the shuttle van with a group of other travellers.

Once at the office, it was a straightforward process of checking in and we ended up with a Hyundai Grand i10 manual transmission car which sits in the lowest car class category.

With our car rental, it’s a 3 hour drive to La Fortuna. This starts off easy with highway roads but eventually you enter in windy jungle roads. While a long drive, it was actually quite enjoyable because there was a lot of changing landscapes.

Since we didn’t leave Liberia until roughly 4PM, the sun had set for the last hour or so. That made for more adventurous driving.

We wouldn’t say the drive was dangerous in any way, but you definitely have to pay full attention to the road as locals drive faster and you have to be aware of when people might want to pass you.

The hotel you’ll be staying at tonight is Hotel Arenal Xilopalo. We chose this location because of a few standout features:

• Great breakfast.
• Affordable nightly rates.
• Close to the heart of La Fortuna.
• Birding opportunities, especially right at breakfast with views of Arenal Volcano.

Something we knew going into it was that this isn’t a luxurious lodge by any means. As you’ll see from the photos above, we got upgraded to a large suite because of availability. It was clean but certainly a bit dated.

Since it was late, we were looking for a quick and easy local spot for dinner. Our hotel recommended El Coloso Arenal and it was the perfect first meal in Costa Rica.

This is a local restaurant along the main strip of La Fortuna. I ordered the Casado Tipico (mixed plate with chicken) and Chantelle got the Churrasquito (grilled beef) and both of these traditional Costa Rican comfort foods hit the spot. They also have a full vegetarian menu too!

While a relatively uneventful day, a necessary one to get ready to explore La Fortuna.

Day 2: Adorable Sloths and Arenal Volcano

Even before you leave for the morning, we were absolutely blown away by the first tease of birding right from our breakfast bar table at Hotel Xilopalo Arenal.

Not only was the food fantastic, thanks to the feeders they have set up, there were so many tropical birds that were there including Orange-chinned Parakeet, Red-legged HOneycreeper, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Scarlet-rumped Tanager, Clay-colored Thrush, Green Honeycreeper, and Great Kiskadee.

Unfortunately, the weather was cloudy so we couldn’t see Arenal Volcano.

Your first destination for the day is Bogarin Trail which is right off of the main drag in La Fortuna and very easy to get to.

While we had the option to go with a guide, we figured it would be easy enough to spot the slow-moving sloths so we decided to go self-guided. Were we right? Yes and no.

At this park, the trails are quite easy to follow and we effectively did a slow clockwise loop (with a few detours for the side trails).

The beginning part of the trail was quite uneventful but once we got out of the forest clearing to a more open area (near #9 on the map), we saw a group of people looking up at sloth hanging out high up on a tree. As you’re imagining, the sloth was amusingly moving very slowly.

As we learned, this is the best-case for spotting because many times, they’re in the thick of the forest and high up making them hard to spot. That said, with others walking around and guides, it’s pretty easy to tell when there’s something nearby.

All-together we saw 5 sloths in various location, a poison dart frog, glass frog egg sac, iguanas, and a turtle.

Back in town, we ate lunch at Rain Forest Cafe & Restaurant, a cute and colorful spot that had awesome drinks, empanadas, and healthy seafood with salad and fruit options.

We also used this opportunity to explore a bit of the downtown by walking into a few shops and the grocery store.

We probably should’ve hustled a bit for lunch because as we would later find out, we cut things pretty close.

Driving roughly 30 minutes, we eventually made our way to Parque Nacional Volcan Arenal (Arenal Volcano National Park). Here, we wanted the opportunity to hike a little and see the volcano a little more up-close.

What surprised us was how early the park closes. By the time we got the exit, the gate was already closed. We had a mini freak-out moment, thinking that we were locked in but luckily you could open it yourself.

With a tighter schedule, we decided that our best game plan was to do the main Las Coladas trail (#4 and yellow on the map below) which would get us right up to the old lava flow area from 1992.

The trail itself was quite uneventful as it’s a well-laid path between a lot of foliage. There are a short set of stairs and only when you finally get out of that is when you can see the volcano.

A HEADS UP: Something new that didn’t exist when we were there is an observation deck to the right of the photo you see of us on the right.

Coming back into town, we had some time to kill so we spent most of it popping into different souvenir shops, grabbed some ice cream, and fresh coconut.

For dinner, we ate at La Fortuna Pub where we tried the birria tacos, tilapia cerviche, and chorizo hot dog. This was the perfect way to end off a fun day.

Day 3: Chocolate, Coffee, and Night Walk

Leaving La Fortuna, we could finally see Arenal Volcano from town!

After breakfast and checking out of the hotel, make your way to North Fields, a coffee and cacao farm that offers immersive tours that give you a glimpse into the biodiversity of the farm, cultivation techniques, processing, and sampling of the final product.

Booking the Craft Specialty Coffee and Chocolate Tour, we guided through the farm in our small group.

The first part focused on chocolate. We saw what cacao fruit looks like, the process of roasting, grinding into a paste, tempering, and then trying the finished product in the form of a drink and chocolate bar.

In the middle of our tour, they talked about sugar cane and we even got to try one of their extraction machines.

The last part of the tour was an extensive walkthrough of the history of coffee, how it’s grown on their lots, various forms of processing, and the art of the brew.

After the tour, we went back into town to pick up stamps from the post office, grabbed more supplies from the grocery store, and ate a quick lunch at Mercadito Arenal.

A big reason for the rush was that we knew that we had a 3 hour drive all the way around the northern side of Lake Arenal and southeast towards Monteverde. With a goal of getting to the hotel before 4PM, we knew we couldn’t linger around La Fortuna for too long.

Along the drive, there was a beautiful side-of-the-road stop called “Mirador Tilarán Viewpoint” that is very much worth the break.

We also tried to see if we could make Viento Fresco Waterfall but the timing didn’t make sense. When we went in to ask, they said that it was a 1.5 hour guided experience to 4 waterfalls (costs $17 USD per person).

By the time we got to Monteverde, it was incredibly foggy, which we heard isn’t uncommon in this part of Costa Rica.

We dropped off our things at YerbaBuena Lodge, got re-organized, wore all of our rain gear, and set back out for our 5:45PM meet up at Monteverde Wildlife Refuge.

A must-do for any trip to Monteverde is a night walk. This is when a whole other side of wildlife comes alive (and others that you’ll see are asleep).

With our birding guide, Esteban, who stepped in after his recommended guide couldn’t make it, we had an awesome 2 hour tour with only our headlamps in the dark.

On our own, we wouldn’t have known where to look but Esteban was able to shine a light on a sleeping violet saber wing hummingbird, sleeping keel billed toucan, orange knee tarantula, side-striped bit eyed viper, red-eyed tree frog, rufous-eyed brook frog, a walking stick, and more.

I was certainly nervous about the critters but trust me, you feel really safe with a guide and you can see things here that you wouldn’t during the day, which is extra exciting.

Since the night walks start earlier than you think, it totally makes sense to have dinner afterwards. We made our way to Restaurante Sabor Tico which I remember being packed that evening.

The Chicken Gaucho Rice and Crispy Pork Ribs were excellent and turned into one of our favourite meals of the trip.

Day 4: Bird-Watching In The Clouds

Up bright and early in the morning, we munched on a couple of granola bars we picked up along the way, and met Esteban at Curi Cancha Reserve.

Even before entering the gate, he was able to point out a flock of keel billed toucans in the trees quite a distance away and also rainbow-colored macaw in the trees.

Once the park opened at 7AM, we made our way in and were treated to the most memorable experience, seeing birds we had never before including the stunning purple throated mountain gem hummingbird.

In total, we spent 4 hours here and while we barely made a dent in walking all the possible trails, I very much appreciated the patience and time to allow me to photograph using my new set up – the OM System OM-1 Mark 2 and 150-400mm birding lens.

As a bonus, we also saw a baby pit viper in the pond and rambunctious white-faced capuchin monkey jumping around in the trees. This was also the first time we spotted the racoons of Costa Rica, the coati.

Famished after a long day of morning birding, we read the high reviews of Orchid Coffee Shop and were not disappointed at all. Their wide selection of breakfast items, pastries, and healthy drinks made this another one of our favorite spots to eat.

A heads up that the parking in front of the restaurant is a bit limited so it felt like you really had to Tetris your car to make it work. Either stay patient and wait for a spot to open up or park a bit further away.

TIP: We noticed that specifically in Monteverde, restaurants were adding 10% automatically to the bill. Pay attention so you don’t end up double-tipping.

The hanging bridges of Monteverde was another item on our bucket list and there seemed to be so many different options.

That said, to help in your selection, we’ve broken down the main hanging bridge options:

Hanging Bridge ParkHighlightsPrice

Selvatura Park (Book)	– 8 bridges – Longest is 157 meters and max height of 31 meters. – Decent wildlife – Park also offers sloth habitat, ziplines, butterfly sanctuary, and amphibians & reptiles exhibition	$56
Treetopia Park (Book)	– 6 bridges – Longest is 236 meters and max height of 50 meters – More bird and wildlife – Park also has sky tram and ziplines	$55
100% Aventura Adventure Park (Book)	– 6 bridges – Decent wildlife – Includes a guide	$45
Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (Book Guided Tour)	– Single bridge but it’s the iconic red one – Park is primarily known for its birding, forest trails, waterfalls, and viewpoints – Heart of the Forest and Continental Divide circuits include the hanging bridge	$29

If you’re looking for another alternative option, there’s also Mistico Park and their Arenal Hanging Bridges if you want to fit it in when you’re in La Fortuna.

In the end, Selvatura Park felt like the best place for the full hanging bridge experience and we quite enjoyed the views from above the rainforest canopy.

Having a mild case of vertigo, I was definitely feeling it on some of the bridges that are higher up but one thing I’ll say is that none of these bridges are the kind where they bounce when you walk on it. They’re very stable, sturdy, and safe, so that definitely helped.

After another action-packed day, we had free time to walk around the downtown of Monteverde. We were hit with a bit of rain and so we ran back to our car and drove to our dinner spot, Restaurante Choco Cafe.

Wanting to change things up a bit, I tried their burger with their juicy angus beef patty, homemade sourdough buns, and crispy bacon. Chantelle ordered the quesadilla filled with chunky spiced chicken. We rounded out the meal with with two glasses of Costa Rican Cerveza Imperial beers.

Day 5: Mission Quetzal and Coco Beach

Located right by our lodge is the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve so it made sense to include this in our itinerary.

Having learned about the rare and elusive bird, the quetzal, during our time with Esteban, we asked him if we could dedicate our last day to try to spot one. This being in November, we weren’t there at the right time, we thought it was still worth the attempt.

We ended up spending a good 5 hours at the reserve, patiently waiting at one of the primary observation decks but sadly didn’t have any luck.

That said, sprinkling in a few side trails, we did manage to see a toucanette, common chlorispingus, soldier helmet beetle, and another green viper.

A nice little bonus at the end, after saying goodbye to Esteban, is that at the back of the gift shop are several bird feeders for hummingbirds so I had a field day photography the green crown brilliant hummingbirds and many other types that were darting in and out.

NOTE ABOUT RECENT CHANGES: The unfortunate news is that because of the increased cost to private guides at Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, many have decided to not operate here anymore. As a result, you might want to consider Reserva Santa Elena instead which is where our guide, Esteban, operates in conjunction with Curi Cancha Reserve.

If you’re wanting to learn a bit more about our private guide, his information is below.

After an intense morning of birding, we were very happy to have a relaxed lunch at Soda La Amistad in Monteverde where their pork chop with rice and their jam-packed empanada were delicious.

Hopping back in our car rental, we made sure we filled up the tank and blasting our road trip tunes, we made it to the Pacific Ocean side of Costa Rica and the town of Playas del Coco in just under 3 hours.

Villa del Sol was the perfect hotel just across from the beach for our one night here. We ended up getting one of the rooms on the main floor in the main building. If we were here longer, we sure would’ve loved to have taken advantage of their pool and included hot breakfast.

We closed out the day by enjoying the sunset along the beach, having a seafood dinner at Restaurante Mar Azul, and soaking in the evening energy in town which was a 20-minute walk away.

Day 6: Diving The Catalinas

As scuba divers that don’t get to dive very often, we’re always looking to find ways to incorporate it into our trips. This also helps avoid needing to do refresher courses if we go beyond a year since our last one.

The reason why we made a stop in Playas del Coco is because the most reputable dive shop in the area is Rocket Frog Divers.

Looking at their offering of dive excursions, we were most enticed by the Catalina Islands (Islas Santa Catalina) which are touted to be the best scuba spots in the country.

Since the islands are quite a bit of a distance off-shore and there isn’t a proper marina at the beach, you’ll first need to hop on a small boat which then takes you to the dive boat itself. From there, it’s just a little less than an hour to get there (not as close as you think).

We ended up diving the El Clasico and Las Brumel sites which I thought were both decent, although not a top-ranked one. Marine life wise, we saw a few stingray, white-tip shark, lobster, moray eel, and scorpion fish.

What stood out to us the most was actually the free beer and popcorn every diver received after taking the van back to the shop. It was also great that we were able to complete our Nitrox certification here.

Grabbing a fresh coconut off the side of the street in Playas del Coco, we hit the road again and followed the coast towards our resort.

Along the way, we had lunch at Patagonia Del Mar, a beachfront restaurant on the shores of Brasilito Bay. They’re known for their excellent service, and Italian and Patagonia inspired dishes.

At this point, the first part of the Beach and Birding was over and we transitioned to relaxing at The Westin Reserva Conchal All-Inclusive Resort.

The check-in process was smooth and included a welcome drink and our room was ready for us which is always a bonus when arriving a tad early.

The only remaining thing left to do was to return the car rental. Luckily, Adobe Rent A Car offered to pick up our car from the main gate of the resort itself which is so helpful. A member of the staff came by, did a quick inspection, and then was off. It was simple as that.

This is the start of your 5 nights at what is easily one of the best in the Marriott all-inclusive resorts portfolio when we look at the Caribbean and Central America.

Day 7-10: Reserva Conchal

The photos above show a slice of what we were up to at the resort. The food was fantastic, room was lovely, we enjoyed the entertainment, the beach was relaxing, and the coati and monkeys were mischievous.

If you have a good stash of Marriott Bonvoy points, or even on cash, the The Westin Reserva Conchal is an easy winner.

Technically, there’s an 11th day in there as well. For that last day, you’ll be simply getting a shuttle ride back to Liberia. Keep in mind this is a 1.5 hour ride and is probably most straightforward as a booking with the property.

The Perfect Wildlife and Beach Combo

This was easily one of our favorite trips to date. Yes, we’re adventure-lovers but our travel style has also evolved to include more pamper and restorative experiences.

As a photographer, my cup was easily filled with all of the opportunities to snap away at species of birds, mammals, critters, and marine life, many of which I had never seen before.

In a lot of ways, this was a lot like our trip to the Peruvian Amazon Jungle. It wasn’t quite as wild as sleeping in a room that had no windows but the wildlife walks triggered the same type of wonder and excitement that I remember having.

The rugged and raw nature intersects beautifully with the resort we selected and it was just what we needed to slow it down.

You know it’s a good trip when you come home and don’t have to say “we need a vacation after that vacation”.

Map Of Costa Rica Itinerary

Use this Google Map to easily navigate all the stops on our 10-day Costa Rica itinerary.

Advice On Costa Rica Money

If you’re coming to Costa Rica on vacation, the question we had was whether we needed to convert Costa Rican Colons (₡, CRC) before our trip.

Cash in Costa Rica

For all of our travels, we find that this is handy to have, so we converted ₡220,000 CRC locally before our trip.

That said, something we found in Costa Rica is that you could getaway with US Dollars exclusively if you wanted to. All of the tours are listed in USD, hotels expect USD as payment, and even restaurants accept it.

Of course, in the local establishments, if you pay in USD, they’ll used a less-favourable exchange rate and if change is required, they’ll return you back in CRC.

OUR ADVICE: Cash is still king in Costa Rica so make sure you calculate exactly how much you need in USD for the big costs (hotels and tours), some extra, and a lot of $1 bills for tips.

Credit Cards in Costa Rica

Credit cards are widely accepted in Costa Rica at major businesses as we saw most with point-of-sales machines.

The major credit cards of Visa, Mastercard, and American Express are accepted. However, we did notice that some didn’t take American Express.

We ultimately didn’t end up use our card much on this trip except for the car rental and one restaurant.

If you’d like to use a card and not worry about getting ripped off on exchange rates, we would recommend getting a Wise card which is a card where you load foreign currency into it. It’s something we’ve used for subsequent trips but if we were to go today, we’d convert $200 USD to CRC at near-market rates and minimal fees. Once in Costa Rica, you’d be able to use it as a Visa card and pay in CRC.

How Much Did Our Trip Cost?

Granted this was a few years ago and prices have certainly gone up since then, we’ve tabulated all of our costs (minus the flight) for two people into a table and pie chart to give you an idea of what 10 days looks like.

Another thing to keep in mind is that we redeemed Marriott Bonvoy points we’ve collected through sign-up bonuses such as the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Card in order to stay at The Westin Reserva Conchal All-Inclusive Resort for free.

CategoryCRCUSDTOTAL (USD)

Activities		$1,241.38	$1,241.38
Food	₡176,898.92		$297.12
Accommodations		$241.00	$241.00
Transportation	₡5,000.00	$203.00	$211.40
Hotel		$140.00	$140.00
Souvenirs	₡28,507.54	$18.00	$65.88
Gas	₡28,807.00		$48.38
Tips	₡6,500.00	$37.00	$47.94
TOTAL	₡245,713.46	$1,880.38	$2,293.10

For two people, the trip costs were quite modest. Working out the math, this trip was only $114.65 USD per person per day.

Compared to our other trips, this was significantly lower but take it for a grain of salt because while we don’t normally include flights into our calculations, we had the benefit of 5 nights at an all-inclusive resort.

That’s why we think you should look at this as more of a 5-day trip instead so that means this is more realistically $229.31 USD per person per day.

When we look at a few of our other itineraries, this sits in the middle, and comparible to our 6 day road trip to the Quebec Maritimes. Other trips as examples are our 10 day Japan itinerary which was $147 USD/person/day, 3 days in Gros Morne which was $387 USD/person/day, and 3 weeks in New Zealand which was $353 USD/person/day.

Money TypeCRCUSD

Cash	₡217,718.66	$1,097.38
Credit Card	₡27,994.80	$203.00
Paypal		$580.00

More importantly, hopefully the details of how much cash you might want to bring. Of the $245,713.46 CRC we spent, $220,000 was from CRC cash we exchanged in Canada. We didn’t use any banks or ATMs to withdraw along the way.

7 Costa Rica Travel Tips

Thinking about our trip as a whole, we can summarize our biggest learnings into these travel tips.

1. Money – You can honestly get away with USD-only if you wanted to but if you want to be safe, follow our cash recommendations above. Having a Wise card will also be a good idea.
2. Convert Before Deciding On Currency – In some curious situations where we could pay in either USD or CRC, we found that it was actually cheaper to pay in USD. This is likely because they don’t constantly change their listed USD prices based on the fluctuating foreign exchange. Doesn’t hurt to check based on the rate you were able to get your CRC.
3. Find A Good Guide – You’ll find that each reserve offers their own birding guides. You can certainly opt for this, but you’ll be assigned someone random which always leaves the chance for someone that might not be great. Finding a quality guide was important to us so the recommendation for Esteban mattered to us and it worked out amazingly well. Since photography was important to me, he was also able to tailor his guiding for us as a private group.
4. Easy To Get Overwhelmed Planning – If there’s one thing we learned, it’s that there are so many different options for activities around La Fortuna and Monteverde. What makes it more convoluted are the number of tour operators that disguise themselves as attractions so it all has your head spinning. If we break down our itinerary, what we ended up doing was 1 night walk, 2 birding reserves, 1 sloth reserve, 1 hanging bridges park, 1 volcano hike, and 1 coffee/chocolate plantation.
5. Weather Changes Quickly – When you look at our packing list below, you’ll see that we favor clothing that allows for flexibility as it can quickly go from hot to rainy in a flash. Always bee ready for shifting weather!
6. Stamps – If you’re old school like us and still enjoy sending postcards, the only place we could get stamps was at the Correos de Costa Rica (post office). They had custom printed stamps with QR codes on them. At the time, it was ₡751.45 CRC to mail a postcard to Canada.
7. Gas up frequently – If you’re renting a car, we learned the hard way in New Zealand not to push it. These days, we recommend filling up almost daily, if you’re doing any decent amount of driving. Keep the car topped up so there’s no stress.

Costa Rica Packing Guide

The key to Costa Rica is preparation. The climate here is tropical and hence, extremely unpredictable.

It’s hot throughout the year so that’s a given but rain and chill can come through in a snap as well.

To keep this super simple, we’re going to list out a bunch of essentials you’ll definitely want to have on your packing list.

• Sunglasses: A good pair of polarized sunglasses go a long way. We’re huge fans of Maui Jim and we pair them with Croakies Arc System eye glass retainer which are thin and lightweight so that you can hang them on your next when you’re using your camera. Trust us, this saves your glasses from falling off of your head over and over.
• Sun-friendly clothes: You’ll be going through cloud forests but really it’s very sunny most of the time. In the forests, you’ll get the relief of shade but ultimately we recommend that you have breathable short-sleeve shirts and if you’re sensitive to sun, long sleeve sun hoodies are amazing.
• A good hat: Definitely personal preference but if you’re looking for a recommendation, we really love the Ciele GoCap hats as they’re super lightweight, provides protection, and have fun designs/colors on them.
• Waterproof jacket: Always make sure you either have a light waterproof jacket in your backpack or in your car in case it rains.
• Mosquito repellent: Mozzies are around all-year round so it’s critical that you have protection, especially in rainforests and you’re by the coast. Grab this one with 20% Picardin for lighter protection but if you attract mosquitoes, go with 40% DEET which we don’t love using but it’s really the only protection you can get. Another recommendation is to wear adventure-friendly long sleeves and pants.
• Bring plenty of sunblock: Make sure you have a bottle of SPF 50 sunblock with you at all times. Better yet, have sunscreen for your face as well which less oily. Don’t forget aloe vera gel just in case.
• Stay charged: With the amount of photos you’ll be taking, your phone’s battery won’t last long so this mini powerbank is great to have with you because they charge quickly and is airline safe (under 10,000 mAh). We’ve tested the MagSafe chargers but unfortunately they aren’t as fast and get really hot. Also, if you’re renting a car, we always make sure we have an adapter with at least 2 USB-C outlets.
• Comfy walking shoes: You’ll be hiking through a lot of natural paths in the various reserves so you’ll want a quality closed-to shoe such as the Altra Lone Peak shoes which have been a revelation since owning them. Since there’s a good amount of beach-time at the rest, these sandals are also a staple in our packing list.  A heads up that there are some hanging bridges and adventure parks that require closed-to shoes so your favourite flip flops might not cut it. If you know that it’ll be extra muddy or wet, you might even want waterproof high-ankle shoes such as the Arc’teryx Kopec Mid GTX boots.
• Powerful headlamp: If you’re with a wildlife guide, they will likely have one for you to use but we wouldn’t risk it. It might be also handy if you’re ever on your own such as the Fenix HM65R or Black Diamond Spot 400R.
• Waterproof phone pouch: These Pelican IP68 waterproof phone pouches are great to have when you’re on the beach or plan to head into the water and don’t want to keep your valuables on your chair.
• Beach bag: If we know we’re going to be spending time a lot of time at the pool or beach, it’s better to have a beach bag than going around with a backpack. It doesn’t have to be fancy, one of these will do just fine!
• Outlet adapters: If you’re visiting from another country, remember you’ll need a travel adapter and possibly a voltage converter. In the Costa Rica they use plug types A and B. This is the same as the rest of North America. If you need it, use one of these handy travel adapters.
  • Most modern electronics can handle 120V but if you have any that are 240V, you’ll need a voltage converter.

Frequently Asked Questions