How To Travel To Costa Rica in 2021
Booking a trip to Costa Rica in 2021? Here’s what you need to know in order to enter and exit the country and comply with local health guidelines!
We all know it’s been one weird year. With the lowest dip in international tourism - since the world literally shut down - it’s been refreshing for tourism to begin to open up, and for people to be able to safely travel!
Also, I believe in “voting with your dollars” and putting my money toward the hard-hit tourism industry feels good. I know many cities or entire countries rely on tourism for the local economy, so knowing I am able to give back to travel (an industry I am so passionate about). Knowing the money is going to help local workers pay their bills and feed their families, is humbling.
I visited Tamarindo, Costa Rica in February and March this year. I enjoyed my visit and recommend it! I’ll dig into Tamardino travel tips in a separate post, and focus more on getting in and out of Costa Rica as a whole right now.
1. Most passports do not require a visa
Right now, most passports do not require a visa to enter or exit the country, and this hasn’t really changed because of 2020’s events for getting into Costa Rica right now.
2. There are Currently No COVID test requirements to get in
At the time of writing, there are no requirements for a negative COVID test to enter Costa Rica. (Be sure to check this before your trip in case anything has changed!)
You will, however, be asked to not fly if you have had contact with someone in the past 14 days who has contracted COVID, or if you have symptoms of COVID.
3. A “Health Pass” and Specific Health Insurance Are Required To Enter and Stay in Costa Rica
In order to board your flight and enter the country, you will need to fill out a Health Pass and sign up and pay for specific health insurance.
You can fill out the Health Pass here.
The health insurance is essentially travel health insurance specific to Costa Rica, specifically for COVID. The purpose of this is to help cover costs if you were to contract COVID while in Costa Rica.
The Costa Rican health insurance costs $10/day (it’s higher if you are in an older age range) and must be purchased through one of the three local companies that offer it:
The insurance I went with was Sagicor.
This article has plenty of helpful information on this process.
4. There are plenty of options to get tested reliably before you leave Costa Rica if your departure destination requires it
Since we were in Tamardino, a nearby testing center was in Huacas (Beachside Clinic), which was about a 20-30 minute taxi ride. We got $55 USD antigen tests that got us results in under eight hours.
There are many places and options to get COVID tests if you need one, and they’re very reliable!
There were also plenty of pharmacies in Tamardino, and I remember seeing pharmacies in the other Costa Rican towns I visited previously (San Jose, Manuel Antonio, Puerto Viejo) should you need to purchase over-the-counter medicine.
5. Warm climate, open-air restaurants, lots of space, and not super crowded
Everywhere I’ve traveled abroad since 2020 has had a warm climate, open-air restaurants, lots of space, and wasn’t super crowded (like pre-2020 NYC or Hong Kong, for example).
This made us all feel more comfortable while traveling, knowing we weren’t all cold and crammed in a small space together. There was plenty of space and we were outside almost the entire time.
6. Masks?
If you go into a grocery store, pharmacy, or boutique, you’ll probably need a mask to enter. In Tamardino, they will not allow you to enter such places without a mask.
And you’ll need to wear your mask for the entire airport and flight experience (except for when you are seated and eating).
Every person I saw that worked in hospitality (all hotel staff, restaurant staff, taxi drivers) wore masks when I was there.
7. Can you travel with a group?
That’s up to you! I went with a large group of friends and mutual friends: 22 people in total! All 22 of us tested negative to get back in the states (and I tested negative two more times within the 10 days that followed due to my travel plans to the DR and US after that).
This is up to you, but if it helps to note this, none of us got sick before, during, and after.
Be smart and take precautions! Only you can decide what is best for you.
Want more Costa Rica travel tips? See my Costa Rica archive here!
