Costa Rica Travel Posts

Costa Rica Travel Guide and Tips – Avoid Getting Ripped off in Costa Rica

By Patrick Brunelle ⋅ April 3, 2009 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

How not to get ripped off while in Costa Rica

Since running my travel agency, I have discovered many tourist traps in Costa Rica. I have found that many people are grossly overcharged for activities, and have clue that such a thing has occurred. This is one of the black eyes of any tourist destination in Central America.

But how do you know you are being overcharged, and how can you avoid it? I will try to give you some tips for your next trip to Costa Rica.

1. Guanacaste is the worst area for abuse in terms of prices. Hotels are the worst in terms of offering tours for grossly inflated prices. It is not uncommon to see a tour to a National Park such as Rincon de la Vieja go for $120 USD a person. From the Papagayo region, Rincon de la Vieja is no more than 45 minutes away, and only charges $7 for you to get in. The best bet is to rent a car for the day and give yourself a self guided tour.

2. National Parks are your best bet for saving money while on your next trip to Costa Rica. I encourage people to go themselves rather than pay for a guided tour. The cheapest park tour we offer is in Manuel Antonio, however, even there it costs $35 a person, whereas you could just pay the $10 entrance yourself. It’s true, you will see much more with a guide, but nothing says you can’t take a peek at what other groups are looking at with their guide.

3. If there is no equipment included, and the cost is high, you are probably paying for something you can do yourself. If the activity is motorized, the cost will be high, there is no avoiding this. If the activity requires no motorized equipment such as surfing or canopy tours, you should be paying around $35 a person in Costa Rica.

4. The best way to avoid paying too much for activities in Costa Rica is not waiting until you arrive in Costa Rica. The highest prices are always seen when local try to sell their tours on the streets. The reason for this is they understand the tourist has obviously not done his or her research, and is the most likely to accept paying an inflated price. You can try contacting a travel agent directly in Costa Rica to find the best prices on travel to Costa Rica.