It is more important than ever to get travel insurance and check it provides sufficient cover. See the FCDO’s guidance on foreign travel insurance.

Travel disruption Friday 21 April 2023

A strike and protests by police forces is likely to cause significant disruption to road travel and may cause airport closures.  You should monitor local media and amend your travel plans if necessary.

The Costa Rican government has announced that from Monday 9 January 2023 travellers who have been in any of the following regions: China, Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan in the 14 days preceding their arrival, will need to present a negative Covid 19 test, PCR or Antigen, taken no more than 72 hours before their entry into Costa Rica. The test certificate must be in English or Spanish. Travellers over the age of 12 years from China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan will also be required to provide a full vaccination certificate. Some official Costa Rican government web pages may not yet display this updated information until the conclusion of public sector holidays on Monday 9 January 2023. Further information from the Costa Rican Health Ministry is available here in Spanish.

The hurricane season usually runs from June to November. You should monitor local and international weather updates from the World Meteorological Organisation and the US National Hurricane Centre. Follow the advice of local authorities, including any evacuation orders. Keep up to date with FCDO travel advice and social media. Plan any local travel carefully.

Commercial flights have returned to almost pre-pandemic levels.

Around 91,000 British nationals visited Costa Rica in 2019. Most visits are trouble-free, but incidents of violent crime against tourists have increased. There have been incidents of robbery at gunpoint involving groups of British visitors, and 2 incidents in August 2018 that led to the deaths of tourists. See Crime.

Although there’s no history of terrorism in Costa Rica, attacks can’t be ruled out. Attacks involving an explosive device occurred in front of a parliamentary office building and a TV station in San Jose in June and July 2019 respectively. See Terrorism.

There have been a number of deaths and cases of serious illness in Costa Rica caused by drinking alcoholic drinks containing methanol. See Methanol poisoning.

Beaches in Costa Rica may have dangerous currents and these are not always indicated by signs. Life guards are not usually present. Seek local advice and take extreme care. See Swimming and water sports.

Cases of dengue in Costa Rica have been increasing year-on-year. The rise in cases in 2020 has been significant and is most pronounced in the provinces of Limon and Puntarenas. See Health.

Increased activity of several volcanoes has caused national park and airport closures and this could happen again at any time. See Natural disasters. See our tropical cyclones page for advice about what to do if you are caught up in a storm.

If you need to contact the emergency services, call 911 (English speaking operators are available).

If you’re abroad and you need emergency help from the UK government, contact the nearest British Embassy, Consulate or High Commission.