Costa Rica Solo Female Travel Safety Tips and Advice

On this page you will find first-hand, unbiased, and real safety tips, advice and reviews from women traveling solo, submitted directly from their personal experiences in the country.

Their opinions are unfiltered and submitted independently as part of the Solo Female Travel Safety Index, a ranking of 210 countries and regions based on how safe they are for women traveling solo.

The safety scores range from 1 to 4 with 1 being the safest and 4 being the most dangerous for solo female travelers.

You don’t need to login to read the below reviews. But do sign up or login to share your solo travel experiences, country safety rating and comments.

Costa Rica Country data

We have compiled a few data points below that can help you better understand Costa Rica and have more context when thinking about travel safety.

Official country name: Republic of Costa Rica.

Etymology: The words costa rica means "rich coast" in Spanish and was first applied in the early colonial period of the 16th century.

Capital: San Jose.

Independence / foundation: In 1821, Costa Rica became one of several Central American provinces that jointly declared their independence from Spain.

Two years later it joined the United Provinces of Central America, but this federation disintegrated in 1838, at which time Costa Rica proclaimed its sovereignty and independence.

Population: 5 million.

Currency: Costa Rican Colón (CRC)
1 USD = 501 - 511 CRC
1 EUR = 539 - 560 CRC

Time zone: UTC-6

Languages spoken: Spanish (official), English.

Religions: Roman Catholic 47%, Evangelical and Pentecostal 20%, Jehovah's Witness 1%, other Protestant 1%, other 3%, none 27%.

Climate: Tropical and subtropical climate. Dry season from December to April and rainy season from May to November. Cooler in highlands.

Real GDP (ppp – purchasing power parity): $114 billion.

Real GDP per capita (ppp): $22,100.

Main airports: Juan Santamaria International Airport, Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport.

World heritage sites in Costa Rica

There are over 1,100 world heritage sites spread across more than 165 countries. New ones are added every year, and some may be removed from the list for various reasons.

Number of UNESCO listed sites: 4.

Top world heritage sites:

- Area de Conservación Guanacaste.
- Cocos Island National Park.
- Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves / La Amistad National Park.
- Precolumbian Chiefdom Settlements with Stone Spheres of the Diquís.

Interesting facts about Costa Rica

- Costa Rica was recognized as the happiest country in the world by the Happy Planet Index.

- Its national animal is the white-tailed deer, the one in the famous movie Bambi. There’s a deer on the 1,000 colones bill.

- Costa Rica borders the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other making it a great beach, surfing and diving destination.

- Costa Rica has a huge commitment to the environment. It currently runs on 98% renewable energy.

- Native Costa Ricans call themselves ticos and ticas.

Further reading: N/A.

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Costa Rica Travel tips

More about Costa Rica on Solo Female Travelers

Coming soon.

Did you spot any errors? We do our best to keep this information updated and accurate, but things change. If you saw anything that is not right, let us know so we can fix it: [email protected].

About the Solo Female Travel Safety Index

Safety matters to solo female travelers, you told us so in our annual Solo Female Travel Survey, where year after year, women prove that this is their most important concern when traveling solo.

We wanted to do something about it, so we built these country-specific pages where you can find reviews and scores for 7 key variables affecting the safety of women traveling solo.

How to use the Safety Index

On this page, you will find the country score and the personal opinions on safety of other women traveling solo.

You can sort the comments by:

• The level of experience traveling solo of the reviewer (beginner = <5 trips solo, Intermediate = 5 to 10 trips solo, Experienced = >10 trips solo).
• The age of the traveler.
• Whether they are a visitor or local.
• The date they were posted.

The safety scores range from 1 to 4 with 1 being the safest and 4 being the most dangerous for solo female travelers. 

Thus, the lower the score, the safer the country.

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Looking for more safety resources?

This entire website is devoted to helping women travel solo. Check out the links below to learn more:

Solo Female Travel Stats: Results from the the largest, most comprehensive and only global research study on solo female travel trends, preferences and behaviors published.

Thanks to Jacobo Vilella for creating the Solo Female Travelers Safety Index ❤️