Costa Rica has something for everybody! Whatever your interests; jungle adventure, rain forest, Monteverde, cloud forest, eco-tourism trip, national parks like Chirripo, Santa Rosa, Guanacaste, Corcovado, Dolphin swimming (nado con delfines), Tortuguero and Manuel Antonio; mountains, volcanoes, bird watching, quetzal watching, adventure tours, fishing, diving, rivers rafting, surfing, canopy tours, golf, historical and cultural downtown,  all inclusive hotels, small personalize hotels, you will find all of that and more in this tropical and secure paradise.

In addition, Costa Rica is characterized by an impressive scenic beauty, consolidated system of protected areas, social and political stability, and high educational levels.   All these characteristics you can find in a territory of only 51 thousand square kilometers, surrounded by both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, only three to four hours away from each other by land or 45 minutes by air.

The country's strategic position, in the heart of the western hemisphere, the Government's positive attitude towards foreign investment, its infrastructure, access to international markets, and labor quality and cost, make Costa Rica an ideal place to establish commercial operations.

The fact that more than one million tourists visit Costa Rica each year does not happen by chance. Our country, located in Central America, is an isthmus where life seems to have created its roots. Covering only 0.03% of the surface of our planet, Costa Rica has approximately 6% of the world's biodiversity.

CLIMATE IN COSTA RICA


TEMPERATURE

Due to the fact that Costa Rica is located between 8 and 12 degrees north of the Equator, we do not suffer the drastic changes of temperatures between one seasonal period and another, that characterize the temperate and cold zones. The major part of the Costa Rican territory enjoys thermal stability throughout the year. In some zones of Guanacaste, the increase in temperature is associated with the dry season and the large amount of daylight hours with clear skies.


RAINFALL

In Costa Rica there are no real dry zones, because the minimum rainfall is of 1200 mm per year ( 48 inches ). On the other hand, there are zones with 8000 mm ( 320 inches ) of rainfall per year.

In general terms, in Costa Rica we can talk about 2 rainfall regimes:

The Pacific ( often called tropical ), characterised by a very well defined dry season, and the Caribbean ( many times called equatorial ) , with the permanent influence of the north easterly trade winds and without a dry season.

In the Caribbean regime, there are 2 very different systems. On one side, the coast lowlands and northern plains, that present a notable decrease of rainfall during March and April and sometimes September, and on the other side, the mountains and slopes exposed to the trade winds, where it rains all year long without appreciable interruption.


CLIMATE THE CARIBBEAN REGION

This region, that encompasses the Caribbean and Northern slopes, present temperatures according to the altitude. The whole region is directly exposed to the north easterly trade winds, which are fully loaded with the humidity of the Caribbean Ocean. Part of this humidity precipitates in the coasts and plains, but the major rainfall occurs in the slopes of the range of mountains due to the topographic effect.

This kind of rainfall is due to the winds, that are being forced to climb because of the mountains, they lose temperature slowly and create the condensation and the subsequent rainfall.

This rainfall regime will decrease during 2 periods of the year, March-April and August-September, because of modifications produced in the tradewinds by the relative position of the sun. Nevertheless, in these zones there is no defined dry season.

The highest rainfall occurs in the mountains, particularly between 1000 and 2000 meters ( 3000 and 6000 feet ) of altitude, with major precipitations of 5000 mm ( 200 inches ). The highest amounts of rainfall have been registered in the cuenca of the Reventazon River, where 8000 mm ( 320 inches ) fall yearly, and more at other sites. At altitudes higher than 2000 m ( 6000 feet ) the rainfall tends to decrease.

Storm in the Atlantic

They correspond to a variable period ( up to 15 days ) in which rain and drizzle predominate that could last all day and night. They occur mainly during the winter and in the north.


CLIMATE THE PACIFIC REGION

The fundamental characteristic of the climate of the Pacific is the presence of a dry season that lasts for 4 months and more in some zones. Also there is an important characteristic, a short dry period during half of the year, known as veranillos ( little summers )

Rainy Season

During this period, the Pacific region is inside the convergence zone, where the winds from the west strengths those already existing and produce the rainy season with all its intensity. This period extends from mid May to the end of November, and it is only interrupted by the veranillos. ( little summers ). The veranillos last for a period of one to two weeks , almost always in July, where precipitation decreases considerably in all the Pacific Zone. When it occurs early ( end of June ), its known popularly as " Veranillo de San Juan ", if it occurs in July or beginning of August, sometimes with alternatives of dry and rainy days, the countryside men know it as caniculas. This phenomena, is due, basically to the changes of the zenithal position of the sun.

Rainfall in the Osa Peninsula

The region of the South Pacific receives considerably more rainfall than Guanacaste and the north of Puntarenas, and so much more than many localities of the Caribbean. Nevertheless, different than the Caribbean, this region has a period with a defined decrease of rainfall.

Storms in the Pacific

During the summer in the north ( from July to end of November ), frequently, zones of low pressure are formed in the Caribbean region, where winds are produced that rotate in opposition to clockwise to the centre of the depression. This produces strong winds and rain.

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