Costa Rica in October: A Good Time To Visit?

Summer 2020, Corona hit and our planned world trip first changed into a road trip through Europe. But as of September, the world started to open up again in some places. Researching our options for a trip abroad in fall, we came up with the idea to visit Costa Rica in October.

Iff you are a familiar with Central America's geography and climate in general, you probably know that Costa Rica in October means rain. And I'm not talking about gentle drops. It's cats and dogs!

October is Costa Rica's wettest month. Every guide will tell you that October in Costa Rica brings several hours of rain per day.

So why would you want to go there during that unpleasant month? You'll be surprised!

Here are the pros and cons for a visit of Costa Rica in October!

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Costa Rica's climate

Two seasons: winter and summer

Rainy season in Costa Rica, also called the 'Green season', lasts from May to November with October being the absolute wettest month.

It's one of actually only two seasons in Costa Rica: summer and winter, dry and rainy season. 

And when it's winter in Europe, summer in Costa Rica starts. And vice versa. 

Several microclimates

And if this weren't confusing enough, Costa Rica also has several microclimates. This means that the climate completely changes from one parte of the country to the next.

You can experience pouring rain in central Costa Rica in October while being spoiled with the brightest sunshine on the Caribbean side at the same time.

This is partly due to the mountains crossing Costa Rica from the North West to the South East, causing a huge difference in yearly rainfall.

South and North of the country differ too, rainy season starting later in the South part and being generally wetter than in the North but ending at the same time.

The Caribbean coast has rain throughout the year and can't be divided in a proper dry and rainy season but February/March and September/October are the sunniest months.

Costa Rica in October: prepare to get wet

I'll stop the meteorology here cause you don't really care about the scientific details, do you? But just remember: October is generally the wettest month for the whole of Costa Rica. 

There. I said it.

Then why bother visiting Costa Rica in October anyway?

Costa Rica wasn't in our initial plans...

Ha! We're almost coming to the reasons why you should still visit Costa Rica in October. But not quite.

Like I said earlier, we didn't have that much of a choice. This is how it went:

After having spent time in quarantine in Austria in April, we embarked on a trip through Europe in June. Starting with a lovely Austrian road trip (Austria being Sebi's home), we crossed Slovenia to travel several weeks in Croatia. 

We managed to get all the way to Crete (best beaches in Crete anyone?) and got to enjoy the famous Santorini sunset after having marvelled at the Meteora monasteries. 

Then we had to get back to Austria to attend two different weddings - which we enjoyed very much.

Lockdowns lurking in Europe

September was the month people came back from holidays and schools started again. And while we made absolutely sure to not have any close contact with anyone during our two months-trip because my Ulcerative Colitis treatments make me vulnerable, others did not.

Cases were rising globally but especially in Europe. And there were talks about anew lockdowns.

Having lost several months of our initial world-trip-plan already (not to mention several thousands of Euros in flights that got cancelled), we were eager to at least get out of Europe.

We were even willing to go into quarantine upon arrival.

Our options

From our original plan, these were the options we had at that point:

So we embarked on an epic four-weeks-adventure in Costa Rica!

Next issue: getting into the country

Obviously, travelling in strange times like a global pandemic required a bit of preparation. And because we decided on visiting Costa Rica in October in ... well, September, it was quite hectic to get all the paperwork done.

Basically, this is what we needed at that point (September 2020) coming straight from Europe*:

*UPDATE 2021: vaccinated people don't need a negative test, nor insurance.

The pros and cons of visiting Costa Rica in October

Let's start with the cons cause - duh! - most of the travel guides will advise against heading to beautiful Costa Rica in rainy season and ESPECIALLY in October cause the weather is just too bad.

The cons

The pros

The first one is obviously one of the biggest advantages: no mass tourism!

We visited tourist-hotspots such as the Monteverde Cloud Forest, the volcano Arenal and the 'Catarata Río Fortuna' and we were basically alone. 

Reserva Bosque Nuboso Santa Elena

The cloud forest was magical! We were literally the only human visitors in that giant lush green rainforest and the mist from the clouds added some kind of drama.

This is actually how I imagined the 'Bosque Nuboso' (= literally 'cloudy forest') to be!

We had the whole morning without any rain and even a little bit of sun for the first part of the hike.

As of noon, it started to rain but this was just so charming and we hardly got wet thanks to the giant trees and leaves everywhere.

No tourists also meant no queue at the different viewpoints and no people jams in the narrow areas.

Granted, in the evening it started to pour but back at our cosy hotel in Santa Elena, the Greemount Hotel* (isn't it cute?), we had the best sleep cause rain-sounds are just so soothing.

Plus: we only paid 25 € / 30 US$ a night, yummy breakfast included! 

*this is an affiliate link, meaning we earn a tiny commission when you book something through this link at no additional cost to you

Parque Nacional Volcán Arenal

A few days later, we hiked through the National Park of the Arenal Volcano.

In order to do this, we stayed at the Arenal Xilópalo* in La Fortuna, which cost about 18 € / 22 US$ per night for a huge room with two double beds, lush green jungle around us and an incredible full-frontal view on the volcano from the lovely restaurant terrace.

*again: affiliate link

The park on itself was pretty much empty again: no other tourists in places where you would normally have to wait a bit to get a good view on the volcano.

Catarata Río Fortuna

We also went to see the 'Catarata Río Fortuna' which is a super impressive waterfall that plunges down in a straight line of 75 m. It was magnificent to watch!

And like I said, cooler temperatures don't mean that you freeze: we had some nice swimming time underneath (well not directly underneath) the fall and in the river.

Yes, we dried up pretty quickly while climbing back up the stairs to the entrance as it was a nice 27° Celsius (about 60° F).

Here again, you can see that visiting Costa Rica in October isn't half bad: no people, big waterfall (it's usually a lot smaller during dry season) and still warm enough to have plenty of swimming-pleasure.

Tortuguero NP: Mama-turtles and babies hatching

We went to the National Park Tortuguero where we had the insane opportunity of watching mama-turtles laying eggs at night.

The big turtles are the most active from May to November with nesting and stuff. Only, when you come during European summer holiday season, you will have to book a turtle-observation tour quite early and you will most certainly not be alone.

Here again: visiting Costa Rica during their wettest month, i.e. October, is perfect for turtle-adventures.

Sure, that's still no guarantee to see anything spectacular but the chances are definitely higher during rainy season.

Manuel Antonio NP

This was the next National Park we visited that has supposedly one of the most beautiful beaches in the world: Manuel Antonio beach.

I can't stretch this enough: we were alone.

Costa Rica's Caribbean coast

Do you really need another reason to visit Costa Rica in October? Well, here you go:

October is actually one of the driest months for Costa Rica's insanely beautiful Caribbean coast. That's why I talked about microclimates at the beginning.

Add to this that, here again, there are a lot less people travelling during that month, that's just the perfect combination, right?

And look at the blue of that water! We've only seen more beautiful shades of turquoise in Caye Caulker (Belize) or Bora Bora in French Polynesia.

In conclusion

YES, YES, AND A BIG YES to travelling to Costa Rica in October!

I must admit, we were a little bit sceptic as this really wasn't planned and we feared the rain would mess everything up.

But knowing what we know now and having experienced everything first-hand, we would probably pick the exact same period to come back to Costa Rica anytime!

At least for the parts of the country we've seen. Our limited time in that incredible country wasn't enough so we will most certainly come back to check out other areas, maybe even in different seasons.

But October was a great idea and choosing Costa Rica an even better one!

For more Costa Rica content, check out our posts below:

Read also | Driving in Costa Rica: useful tips and info

                      10 days in Costa Rica itinerary for epic trips

                      Costa Rican food is amazing and here is why

                      Costa Rica's Caribbean side: incredibly beautiful

I hope you found this post useful for your decision-making progress and feel free to comment, pin and share this post for others to see if you liked it!

Pura Vida!

xx

Cyn

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