Air Connections / Domestic Flights
Costa Rica has a good, economy-priced national domestic flight network, offered by SANSA and NATURE Air. Both offer a safe and modern fleet complying with all technical requirements and well-trained pilots. They serve almost all important regions with one or more daily flights. You can get all necessary information about itineraries and rates in our office. Important: Please be aware, that there is a baggage weight limit of 12 kg + small cabin bag on all domestic flights. Excess luggage will usually not be transported because of overweight risk for the aircraft. On fully booked flights, your excess luggage will not be transported for this safety reason.
Bargaining
It is not usual to bargain at supermarkets and shops, where all articles wear clearly declared price tags. However, on local markets, this is different. You can try to lower the price and sometimes the salesmen even expect you to bargain.
Clothing
Please be aware, that you might visit volcanoes at a level of about 3’400 meters, that you will discover rain- and cloud forests, where it is almost sure that you will get wet and that only a little later, you will enjoy warm or even hot climate at one of the Costa Rican coasts. Therefore, it is very important to prepare the right clothing for your trip. It might get quite cold at higher levels and you will be happy to dress yourself with a jacket or a pullover. It’s also recommendable to pack up a light raincoat. For your jungle visits and during dusk and dawn, we recommend light and bright clothing covering your arms and legs as mosquito protection. Your shoes are also very important on your trip. Light hiking shoes are a must when you walk in the jungle. Many hotels and lodges offer rubber boots for your excursions into the jungle which are very useful for shorter hikes. However, for longer hikes we recommend the use of hiking shoes, even if they get dirty. Otherwise and in general you will wear light summer cloths all year round. If you visit churches, people expect you to ware appropriate cloths. Topless or even naked sunbathing is undesirable and not appropriate in Costa Rica
Complaints
If you unhappy with one of our services or if you have a complaint, please let us know immediately. You may contact your guide or our ARA Tours office in San José. That’s the only way for us to get a chance to correct and change justified imperfections. We hope you understand, that sometimes things are not working out fast enough in Costa Rica and that we all need a little patience.
Deposits
Hotels and especially car rental companies will ask you to leave a deposit with your credit card. You will have to sign an open credit card voucher, that means without any amount on it. The hotels use this kind of security deposit to enable you signing your restaurant and bar checks instead of paying cash. At the end of our stay, the total amount will be charged to your credit card. The car rental companies need this security deposit to be able to charge any damage caused to the car. Please remind to use the open credit card voucher to make your final payment by inserting the amount, or to destroy the voucher before you leave.
Diseases / Vaccinations
We are almost sure that you have already been informed well before your departure to Costa Rica about possible diseases and vaccinations. We would like to point out, that it is always your very own decision to consume medicine or a preventing medicament. Our information does not replace professional advice of a doctor or a vaccination institute and their information has priority always. We would just like to point out some possible dangers you might face on your Costa Rica trip. There is a very low but existing risk of malaria disease in Costa Rica, mainly near the border to Nicaragua and close to the Panama border. Malaria is transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. You can protect yourself against mosquito bites by using appropriate cloths and mosquito repellent. Most doctors recommend buying an emergency medicament, which you only use in case of a malaria infection. There is another disease in Costa Rica, with very similar symptoms as malaria. It is called dengue fever and there are no vaccinations or medicines against this infection available to date. Dengue fever is transmitted by a mosquito bite as well and there are two types of the disease. The less dangerous, but more spread is the classic dengue type. Symptoms of the classic version are high fever for about 5-7 days, strong headache, pain on the whole body and eyes and sometimes vomits, diarrhoea, bleedings and itching. The patients are prescribed a lot of bed rest and it is important do drink allot of water. Painkillers are also prescribed, but it is important to not use Aspirin, because they could cause more bleedings. The other and more dangerous type "dengue hemoragica" is very rare. The symptoms are similar to the classic version, but in addition to that, patients suffer of inner and external bleedings, swelling of the face, respiration problems, circulation problems, sweating, tiredness and loss of appetite. A doctor must attend the patient immediately. The second type is especially dangerous for those, who already have been infected once by the less dangerous classic dengue. Dengue fever mainly appears in poor and dirty city districts of Puntarenas, Limón, Siquirres, Guápiles, Santa Cruz, and very rarely in Alajuela and Heredia. As soon as dengue fever appears, the ministry of health takes immediate action against mosquito breedings and the disease can be controlled within a very short time. Protect yourself against mosquitoes by using appropriate cloths and mosquito repellent. However the possibility for infection is very low.
Duty-free Articles
Before departure, you can buy duty-free articles at some small shops inside the airport. However, the choice is very limited and prices are not really better than outside. We recommend buying your alcoholic beverages, cigarettes and souvenirs before your departure.
Embassy
Should you be in need to contact your embassy, please contact us immediately and we will get you in contact.
Emergency
During weekends, on public holidays, and at night we offer an emergency contact phone number for our clients. In case of an emergency, please dial the mobile phone number 8893 38 63 and you will be attended by the ARA Tours Duty Officer. Please use this phone number for real emergencies only and in case that your guide or hotel reception staff can’t help out. Should the mobile phone temporary be out of the reception area (this happens sometimes in Costa Rica) or out of order for any other reason, please dial 2232 04 00 and leave your message indicating your name, calling time and contact number on the answering machine. The Duty Officer will contact you as soon as possible.
Food And Beverage
All the diversity of food and drinks of Costa Rica will definitely be described more detailed in your travel guide book. We would just like to provide you with some precaution measures here. Although tab water is drinkable except on the Caribbean coast and Puntarenas city, we recommend drinking bottled water to be on the safe side. If you want to be consequent, you should also to renounce to ice cubes made out of tab water. Many places prepare their ice with treated water which is without danger. At all cosy and simple places on the Caribbean coast, we recommend to order your meat well done. Besides, there exist not many dangers and you can enjoy fruits, vegetables, meats and seafood without any worry. Costa Rica is a very hygienic country, and the health ministry applies very strict rules for restaurants.
Information On The Road / Internet / Where To Book
A growing amount of our guests are travelling in Costa Rica on their own by rental car, collective bus or public transportation. However, allot of questions appear on the trip: where can I find a hotel of my taste, which tours and activities can be made on spot and where can I book? It is very important to choose local tour operators and activities carefully to guarantee your safety. They must have an official license, prove an appropriate insurance coverage and fulfil some ethnic rules for operating legally. Unofficial sales people, mediators and supposed “guides” waiting for you at bus and gas stations or at restaurants are not trustworthy, even if the tour or activity is offered for some dollars less.
Luggage
We recommend traveling with 2 pieces of luggage: one main suitcase and a smaller backpack or bag for your excursions and short multi-day roundtrips. If you have booked a roundtrip including overnight stays in San José on or after the trip, we suggest taking only the necessary things with you and leaving the main suitcase at your San José hotel. This makes the loading and unloading of busses, aircrafts, and boats on your trip easier and faster. In addition, there is a baggage weight limit of 12 kg + small cabin bag on all domestic flights and for Tortuguero boat excursions . All San José hotels offer a safe storage room and at almost all of them this service is free of charge.
Mobile Phones
Unfortunately, telecommunications development in Costa Rica takes time and the technology is not up to date.
Please inform yourself with your provider if there is a roaming agreement signed with the Costa Rican Telephone Institute or directly with the local provider ICE (click here). The GSM cellphones should use the 1800 Mhz frequency and the 3G cellphones the 850 HSDPA frequency. If your cellphone meets these requirements, it works in over 80% of the country. Several providers rent out mobile phones. However, the deposit and the phone costs are very high. If you are interested in renting a mobile phone, please contact our office.
Money / Currency / Change / Credit Cards
The local currency is the Costa Rican Colón. Be aware that only US$ in cash or traveler checks can be changed
easily. Other currencies such as Euros or Pounds can only be changed at the headquarters of banks in San José
and takes a significant amount of time. For money changing, you must present your passport. Never change
money on the street with any type of “flying agent”. Credit cards are widely accepted in major cities, hotels,
restaurants, and shops around the country. Some smaller businesses and those without a phone connection
may not accept credit cards. VISA is accepted with priority, while you might experience some difficulties with
MASTERCARD, AMERICAN EXPRESS or DINERS CLUB. If you travel with one of these cards, we recommend
carrying always a cash reserve on you.
Pharmacy / Medical Attention
Medical care in San José is highly developed and in good conditions. San José has several public hospitals and also some private clinics offering European or US standards, such as “Clinica Bíblica” (Tel: 2257 52 52) or “Hospital CIMA” (Tel: 2208 10 00). Both private hospitals also offer a pharmacy opened 24 hours, where all important medicine you might need are available. The pharmacies can be reached by the same phone numbers as mentioned above. Other pharmacies can be found all over San José, but they are only open during the day and their product range is limited. Medical care outside San José is also good. Every major city has it’s own public hospital and each mediumsize or small village has a pharmacy, an ambulance and a doctor. In case of an emergency, please contact our office or the emergency phone number outside the office hours.
Post Office / Phone Calls
San José main post office is located at Calle 2, Avenida 1-3. Opening hours are from Monday to Friday 08h00 to 18h00 and Saturdays from 08h00 to 12h00. At all major cities You can also find local post offices (Correos de Costa Rica). Your post cards and letters will take 1-3 weeks to arrive at their destination., All mail first goes to the main post office at San José, before it will be delivered to the airport. Therefore, it does not make sense to take your correspondence to the airport for faster delivery Some larger hotels offer blue mail boxes where you can deposit your post cards. Postage for a post card to Europe costs 115 colones and a letter up to 20g 130 colones. (Changes are possible). Costa Rican post offices also offer phone and fax service. There are blue public phones all over the country. Some phones work with coins of 5-, 10- or 20 Colones only. More and more public phones accept prepaid cards only. “199 – Tarjeta Colibri” prepaid phone cards can also be used for international calls.
There are no area codes in Costa Rica. The country code for Costa Rica is ++506. If you want to call home, these are the country codes: Belgium 0032, Denmark 0045, Spain 0034, Finland 00358, France 0033, Holland 0031, Italy 0039, Norway 0047, United Kingdom 0044, Sweden 0046, all followed by the area or city code without the 0 at the beginning.
Questionnaire
In your travel documentation, you will find a questionnaire and we would very much appreciate if you could complete it before your return flight and hand it over to our airport guide. This important help enables us to improve our services and to check the standard of our providers. Voluntary, you can mention your contact data on the questionnaire, which allows us to provide you with important and interesting news from Costa Rica and Central America after your return. We would like to thank you very much for taking your time to fill out the questionnaire.
Reconfirmation Of Your Flight
According to the airlines, the reconfirmation of your flights is not necessary if you stay in Costa Rica for less
than two months. If this is the case, or if you still prefer to reconfirm the flight please contact the airline or visit
their website.
Return Flight / Airport Taxes
Please take note, that all airlines require your presence for check-in 3 hours before the scheduled departure
time. If you have booked an airport return transfer with us, we will respect this rule accordingly. You will find the
hotel pick up time on the transfer information sheet in your travel documentation that we handed you over upon
arrival. Upon departure, each person must pay the airport departure tax of US$ 26 plus US$ 2 security fee. This can only be paid in cash.
Safe
Almost all hotels provide a safe in your room or at least at the reception. This service is often free of charge or available at a small fee. We highly recommend using the safe in your room or at the reception everywhere in the country.
Safety
Costa Rica is known as a comparatively safe country to travel through and you can move around with few restrictions if you respect some general and international safety rules. Given the fact that safety is a very important issue for many of our clients, we have dedicated a separate chapter on safety chapter on page 10. Please refer to this page for detailed information.
Shopping / Souvenirs
On your trip through Costa Rica, you will always find shops and stands selling T-Shirts and cheap jewellery. For real shopping, we do recommend the city centers of San José, Heredia, Alajuela and Cartago. That’s where you can find large shopping malls, such as Mall San Pedro, Multiplaza, Centro Comercial Cariari (all in and around San José). A huge selection of T-Shirts, jewellery, ceramic articles, hammocks and wooden handicrafts, such as the colourful Sarchí oxcarts, can be found at Plaza de la Democracia and at El Pueblo in San José downtown. Please make sure not to buy articles made out of protected hard wood. Most handicrafts are made out of coffee-tree-wood and you can buy them without any doubt. It is absolutely prohibited to export any tortoise-shell articles, any kind of living plants (seeds no problem), animals and all original pre-Columbian and indigenous objects. Airport controls are very strict.
Taxi
When it is not raining, enough taxis are circulating in the major cities. You recognize them by the red colour
of the car and a yellow triangle at each front door. The official airport taxis are painted orange. We highly
recommend using official taxis only. All taxis must have a taximeter (‘Maria’). Please do insist that the driver
activates the taximeter before departure. If he doesn’t, it is preferable to change taxi or negotiate a flat rate
before departure. Prices vary very much.
Theft
As everywhere on our planet, you can also become a victim of theft in Costa Rica. For detailed information about safety and prevention, please carefully read page 10 of this brochure. In case you of a robbery, please inform the hotel manager and/or ARA Tours immediately. You then need an official police report issued by the local police station. This is imperative to declare the damage to your insurance company. If your tickets and/or your passport are stolen, it is always possible to replace these documents in San José. However, it will be necessary to present the official police report for a replacement of these documents. Everything goes faster and easier, if you can show copies of your documents. Should you become a victim of an assault, please stay as calm as you can and do not offer any resistance. If you panic or offer resistance during an assault, the use of violence is very probable and it’s not worth it to risk your health for some replaceable documents or articles.
Tips And Taxes
13% sales tax apply to any article, service, meal or drink. An additional 10% service charge is charged on
restaurant bills. Therefore, it is important to check before ordering if the prices on the menu include tax and
service charge. If not, 23% will be added to the prices.
Transportation / Transfers
With pleasure we arrange all your domestic transportation needs. Please be aware, that the organization of
transports and transfers may take some time. Therefore, we appreciate anticipated bookings. Costa Rica offers
many means of transports, also public buses. However, reaching some regions with public transports is rather
time-consuming. There is also collective bus transportation for tourists only, an attractive and comfortable way
of getting around. The operator picks clients up at the hotel and brings them right to the hotel at their destination.
This shuttle service operates with fixed schedules, and runs with a minimum of 2 passengers. In Costa Rica,
you can also easily get around by plane. Please contact our office for detailed information.
Underwater Currents
In Costa Rica, strong underwater currents may appear without warnings at all Pacific or Caribbean beaches. In addition, all coasts are a surfer’s paradise, which means, that there are always good waves. Please be aware of these two facts. It is very important to follow the advise of the local population regarding the situation in the ocean before you enjoy a swim in the sea. Please respect huge waves. They have an energy you hardly can imagine before. Please try to never loose ground under your feet. Should you be taken out to the sea by a strong current, it is vital to stay calm and let float your body first. Never try to swim against the current and safe your energy. In any case after a certain time you will be drifted to land again.
Voltage
Costa Rica offers 110 volt and you need an international adapter for switching to the US system.
