Costa Rica
Warnings and insurance
Before you travel
No travel can be guaranteed safe. Read all the advice in this guide. You may also find it helpful to:
- see general advice for women travellers
- read our guide on disability and travel abroad
- see general advice for LGBT+ travellers
- read about safety for solo and independent travel
- see advice on volunteering and adventure travel abroad
Travel insurance
If you choose to travel, research your destinations and get appropriate travel insurance. Insurance should cover your itinerary, planned activities and expenses in an emergency.
About FCDO travel advice
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) provides advice about risks of travel to help you make informed decisions. Find out more about FCDO travel advice.
Follow
Get andtravel contact FCDO traveladvice on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.updates
Sign You can also sign up to to get email notifications when when this travel advice is updated.updated.
Follow FCDO:
Warnings and insurance
Before you travel
No travel can be guaranteed safe. Read all the advice in this guide. You may also find it helpful to:
- see general advice for women travellers
- read our guide on disability and travel abroad
- see general advice for LGBT+ travellers
- read about safety for solo and independent travel
- see advice on volunteering and adventure travel abroad
Travel insurance
If you choose to travel, research your destinations and get appropriate travel insurance. Insurance should cover your itinerary, planned activities and expenses in an emergency.
About FCDO travel advice
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) provides advice about risks of travel to help you make informed decisions. Find out more about FCDO travel advice.
Follow
Get andtravel contact FCDO traveladvice on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.updates
Sign You can also sign up to to get email notifications when when this travel advice is updated.updated.
Follow FCDO:
Update history
2025-04-25 20:04
Update on recent volcanic activity
2024-11-26 11:10
Information about airport disruptions (‘Safety and security’ page)
2024-11-15 10:43
Information on heavy rainfall in Costa Rica (‘Warnings and insurance’ page)
2024-09-06 13:58
Addition of information about Vaccine recommendations and Health Risks (‘Health’ page)
2024-05-24 16:54
Information about quad-biking and insurance and about new rules for use of foreign driving licences (‘Safety and security’ page).
2023-11-03 09:17
Removal of information about Tropical Storm Pilar.
2023-10-31 20:50
Latest update: Information about tropical storm conditions, possible from Tuesday 31 October along the Pacific coast as a result of Tropical Storm Pilar (see ‘Warnings and insurance’ page).
2023-10-18 10:52
Information that you may not use your UK driving licence for longer than three months after you enter Costa Rica (‘Safety and security’ page).
2023-10-12 10:32
This travel advice has been rewritten to make it easier to read and understand.
2023-09-08 11:31
Removal of COVID-19 restrictions (‘Summary’, ‘Coronavirus’ and ‘Entry requirements’ pages).
2023-06-22 10:46
Information about the global terrorism risks to British nationals abroad on all FCDO travel advice pages.
2023-05-24 15:44
Removal of information about travel disruption on 21 April, updated information about eruption at Volcan Rincon de la Vieja, and reported cases of Malaria (‘Summary’, ‘Health’ and ‘Natural disasters’ pages).
2023-04-21 14:53
Addition of information that on Friday 21 April 2023, a strike and protests by police forces is likely to cause significant disruption to road travel and may cause airport closures (‘Summary’ page).
2023-01-06 21:14
Updated information on new Covid entry regulations for travellers from China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan (‘Summary’ and ‘Coronavirus’ page).
2022-11-01 10:12
Removal of information on the mandated use of masks in schools and public transportation between the 17 and 31 October 2022 (‘Summary’ and ‘Coronavirus’ pages).
2022-10-18 09:13
Updated information on use of facemasks in schools and public transport (‘Summary’ and ‘Coronavirus’ pages).
2022-07-12 14:49
Removal of information on Tropical Cyclone #2 (Bonnie)
2022-06-30 19:52
Updated information on potential hazardous weather conditions (‘Summary’ and ‘Natural disasters’ pages)
2022-06-29 12:32
Updated information on potential hazardous weather conditions (‘Summary’ and ‘Hurricanes’ pages)
2022-05-24 19:26
Removal of advisory on fuel price protests that were planned for Monday 23 May.
2022-05-23 02:37
Addition of information on possible fuel price increase protests on Monday 23 May (‘Summary’ and ‘Safety & Security’ pages).
2022-04-05 11:17
Update to information on entry rules following changes on 1 April (‘Entry requirements’ page)