Practical Info
On this page we have listed the most practical things that are useful for your trip and stay here!
TRAVEL AND PACKING TIPS
COsta Rica
Visitors to Costa Rica must have a valid passport (valid for at least 6 months) and proof of their intention to leave the country before their visa or entry stamp expires, usually within 90 days.
Filling in the so-called "health pass" and wearing a face mask are no longer mandatory since April 2022.
Visa info (in Spanish) can be found at: https://migracion.go.cr/Paginas/Visas.aspx
Money
Costa Rica uses “Colones” as its national currency (1 Eur = 724 CRC). You can also pay with US Dollars here.
We recommend that you have at least 100 USD / 60,000 CRC in your pocket on arrival so that you can pay for the taxi, accommodation and bus. You can withdraw dollars at Schiphol. And at the airport in Costa Rica you can. also include CRC & USD with a Credit Card.
Our experience is that only (MasterCard & Visa) Credit Cards work here.
Power Outlets
In Costa Rica the power outlets are of type A and B (American model). The mains voltage is 120V 60HZ instead of 220V 50HZ. Here is the right universal power plug
Clothing
In terms of temperature, you can walk around all day and evening in shorts and a t-shirt. Warmer clothes are not necessary here (Average 25 to 30 degrees Celsius).
Unless you travel up into the mountains, where it can drop to 15 degrees.
If you want to spend the evening outside long pants are recommended due to mosquitoes.
Jungle Clothing
Long pants/leggings are useful for walks in the jungle.
In terms of footwear, we recommend rubber boots or hiking boots.
For $15 you can buy a decent set of rubber boots here.
Swimming / Beach clothing
Water shoes and flip-flops are recommended.
An airy, dark and long-sleeved shirt is useful during activities on the water to prevent sunburn.
Special UV-ray blocking clothing is also available locally.
Overnight stay in San Jose
Tracopa Bus Station
If you want to use the bus, it is useful to look for an overnight stay in the vicinity of the Tracopa bus terminal. That saves you a taxi ride. Thru booking.com many great locations can be found, often with a shuttle service.
Villas Los Candiles
This is a beautiful luxury and quiet hotel where we personally like to stay. If this seems like a nice place, let us book the overnight stay directly for you (usually with a discount).
travel time – airport -> hotel 30 minutes
travel time – Hotel -> bus terminal 30 minutes
Taking the bus
Tracopa BUS
Tracopa bus is the long-distance line that runs from San Jose directly via the west coast to our location in “Piedras Blancas”. This bus journey takes about 6 hours. This means that it is often not feasible to continue traveling immediately after your flight. And an overnight stop in San Jose is recommended.
We regularly visit the town of "Uvita" and can also arrange to pick you up there.
timetable
On the website of tracopa you can easily look up departure times. For this you start with the final destination PASO CANOAS. You can then look up the times at the route COSTANERA.
Bus stop 'Uvita' (travel time 4 hours)
Bus stop 'Piedras Blancas' (travel time 6 hours)
Practical Info
- You can buy a ticket at the ticket office, the cost is about c6000 (equivalent to $10 dollars). Or you can buy a ticket directly from the driver, in which case you have to pay the exact amount.
- The bus makes 2 sanitary stops of about 15 minutes.
- Your luggage will be labeled and placed at the bottom of the cargo area in order of destination.
- From the airport it is 20 kilometers by taxi to the bus terminal. Price for this is between $25 and $35. Allow 25 minutes to 1 hour for this journey, depending on traffic jams.
Telephone, 4G & internet
If you are staying for a longer period of time or if you do not have coverage with your telephone provider, it is useful to buy a (prepaid) CR SIM card. Our site has excellent 4G reception, but no wireless internet (Wi-Fi). We have internet at two points via a LAN cable. As a result, you often use more data via 4G on your phone.
The best phone providers are KOLBI and MOVISTAR. There is a KOLBI/ICE shop at the airport. You will find this in the baggage hall immediately in the corner on the right. This is by far the easiest way to get a SIM card. This is also possible at almost any supermarket. When purchasing a prepaid SIM card you need your passport. An employee can then help to activate the SIM card. It is useful to immediately purchase prepaid credit of, for example, 10,000 CRC / 16 dollars (1 gigabit of data).
If you also want to remain reachable with your other number, it is best to bring another 'old' phone.
Safety and Stay
accommodation
We have a new, comfortable and modern guest house with fully equipped kitchen, corner sofa, 2 bathrooms with hot showers and 2 bedrooms with beds for a total of 6 people.
The house is well ventilated, with adjustable (silent) fans, a dry room, walk-in closet, filtered water and mosquito nets on all windows to keep insects out. There are also extra blankets available in case it gets cold at night.
Insects
Costa Rica is known for its bio-diversity, so there are also many species of insects. It can happen that you are bitten by, for example, mosquitoes, ants or sand fleas. We do not experience the amount of such insects here as disturbing. But for example Citronela oil or anti-mosquito spray can be useful to bring on jungle walks.
There is a small risk of mosquito-borne diseases such as Dengue in Costa Rica. Fortunately, these almost never occur in our region.
Snakes
Both non-venomous and venomous snakes can be found here. Both are not often seen, usually only in the evening and at night. In the rare case that you encounter a snake, we ask you to keep your distance and report this to us. Safety is more important than a nice picture. We also ask everyone not to walk around here in the dark without lighting. You can borrow flashlights from us, but it is useful to bring a flashlight yourself. If you want to do night walks, a headlamp is best.
See you soon...
We wish you a nice trip and a lot of fun in Costa Rica!
