Tips for living in Costa Rica?

Question

This spring I will be living in San Jose, Costa Rica as part of my study abroad. Does anyone have any general tips or useful information, such as the bus system, student hangouts, etc..? I'm not looking for the stuff I could find in a travel guide, but rather the tips I would get from the locals. Also any ideas on weekend trips would be helpful. I will be there January -April. Gracias

Answer 1

Here are some tips:

-Definitely learn to take the bus - it is cheap and will save you a small fortune on cabs!

-If you have the opportunity to choose where you live in San Jose, I would recommend not staying in the city center. It is too crowded and many reports of crime. Instead, I would recommend the Central Valley area: Santa Ana, Ciudad Colon, Escazu, etc etc

-In terms of weekend trips, here are some I've taken and have loved: Tortuguero, Guanacaste (Stayed at Tambor Beach), the Arenal Volcano area, I've even gone to Guatemala. I soon plan to take a 6-hour bus to visit Nicaragua.

Good luck!

Answer 2

If you staying in San Jose or in any city in the Central Valley you can make weekend trips to almost every where in the country. There is so much to do in Costa Rica. You must check out the volcanoes, Poas for a close view of crater and Arenal for it majestic view and night lava eruptions.

Go to the beach, the ones in Guanacaste are the best.

If you are adventurous, try white water rafting and the zip lines.

In San Jose, go to the Gold museum and the Jade museum.

The transportation is good, there are buses to every where and it is cheap. All the main bus stations are locate in San Jose, very close to each other. Other option is taking cabs is you are traveling to close spots in the city.

San Pedro, in the East part of San Jose, around the University of Costa Rica, is a very popular spot for students hangout. There are a lot of bars and good restaurants. Escazu in the West, is another popular spot, specially during the weekends.

People are very friendly there. If you need help or get lost, feel freely to ask anyone for help. As in everywhere in the world, be careful when you walking in the street in dark places or where there are a lot of people.

Answer 3

For a weekend trip, I would recommend going north to the Arenal Volcano area. However, don't stop there as many tourists do. Go up to Guatuso to get to Rio Celeste. As the name indicates, the water really is light blue! Of course don't just take my word for it. Look at these pictures that I took:

http://www.ruralcostarica.com/photos4.ht...

Also, here I describe many different ways to get there:

http://www.ruralcostarica.com/rio-celest...

If you get a chance, you should also check out the Venado Caves, which are on the way to Guatuso:

http://northerncostarica.com/venado-cave...

Answer 4

Pretty much most of the country is visitable on weekend trips, although the far south of the country might be a stretch.  

The following make decent 1-day trips:

Braulio Carrillo, Volcan Poas, Volvan Irazu, Tapanti-Macizo de la Muerte, Carara, Guayabo national parks, Jaco beach.

Visit towns in central valley, like Heredia, Cartago, I especially liked the Orosi valley, with the small town of  Orosi and the nearby ruined church of Ujarras.

Full weekend: Monteverde reserve, volcan arenal, manuel antonio and quepos, tamarindo beach, cahuita np.

Answer 5

Make sure you know basic spanish, if not bring a Costa Rican fraze book everywhere.

Money translation: 500 colones = $1

Their is ALOT of places that dont take American money, so make sure you have colones on hand at ALL time.

Depending how old you are, their are alot of bars around. Especially in central Escazu lol.

Guy's here are total perverts so i sugjest not wearing too short skirts or showing to much cleavage.

And that really all i have for now =]

i hope you have fun!!!

"Pura Vida"