Hello Budget Ventures, I know Costa Rica is expensive. So many of you want to skip the location and prefer to go to a cheaper destination. But I found it can be cheaper than usual. Read this blog thoroughly, and you can find some travel tips. If you are a backpacker or mid-range traveler, you can find everything for under $50 per day.
I keep track everything I spent in a week in Costa Rica to show you guys what the real cost of living is like in Costa Rica so you know what to expect on your trip. This blog is perfect for anyone who is planning to travel to Costa Rica but maybe on a budget or is just curious about the cost of living there. I personally love reading these types of blogs as well, so I definitely wanted to do one in Costa Rica because I was very curious about the cost of living there. It is known as one of the more expensive countries in Central America. Make sure you stay tuned to the end of the blog where I will be giving all of my top budget-friendly tips for Costa Rica specifically, so make sure you stay tuned for that buzz.
Accommodation
Now let’s start with the biggest expense for pretty much everyone in Costa Rica, and that is accommodation. I am a full-time Digital Nomad, so if we’re just thinking for the first time, this week in Manuel Antonio was a total work week. My partner and I were grinding day in and day out at this Selina. We lost a few times here and there to go to the beach and some restaurants, but for the most part, we didn’t do any major activities or tours that took up a big part of our budget. So just keep that in mind. But as a digital nomad, and if you’re a digital nomad, you’ll know this yourself, not every week is a crazy fun travel week. A lot and most of the days really are spent working on our computers and making sure that we are making that online income that makes a lifestyle possible.
When I was in Manuel Antonio, I stayed at a Selina hostel. If you’ve never heard of Selina, they are a big hostel chain throughout Latin America, parts of Europe, and North America. They are really geared up toward backpackers and digital nomads. By the way, if I keep looking at my computer, it’s because I have it write here. And this is for two people. We spent $238 for 7 nights at a Selina. This is good for us. It cost $17 per person, but way more than I usually spend on housing when I travel solo, which is most of the time. I am staying in shared dorms at hostels. But to build on that, one of the cells, because the other two weeks of our travel, we had a combination covered by various jobs that we were doing. Because I do whatever to treat ourselves at Selina, and they also had a co-working space, which we didn’t know we had to pay extra for. I’ll cover that in my review. I was not happy about the add-on, but yes, at the Selina, we stayed in a private standard room. It included our own bathroom, a private balcony, and daily cleaning. Other amenities at this Selina included free Wi-Fi, a rooftop deck, a restaurant and bar, a shared kitchen, and overall, the Selina really felt like a resort, so the price tag was justified. But I still definitely felt like it was a little too much, but staying in Costa Rica is just typically more expensive than a lot of other places in Latin America. Oh, I forgot to mention that it also did include free breakfast every morning. Like I mentioned earlier, the $238 we spent on our room, we thought that was going to include a co-working space, which given that price tag, it should, in my opinion. But in order to use the actual co-working space, you had to pay $12 a day extra or $50 for the week. We didn’t end up doing this and didn’t really end up feeling that it was 100% necessary. So that total of $238 ended up coming out to $119 per person for 7 days of housing. So that’s how much we spent on accommodation. But just to give you a general idea of some other places, I was doing a little bit of research on other hostels and Airbnbs in Manuel Antonio. High season versus low season is something we’re going to discuss later in the blog, but that will drastically impact the price of everything. So for a dorm, you can expect to spend anywhere from $9 to $12 a night, in a dorm, anywhere from $34 to $100 a night in a private room at a hostel, and then anywhere, it’s a big range, but like $34 to $130 a night in an Airbnb. And again, this will also depend on how many people are with you, where it is, and what time of year it is. So those are some general costs.
Foods & Drinks
The second largest expense is food. A few things to note right off the bat: we did have breakfast included, as I mentioned earlier, with our private standard room at the Selina. Additionally, the Selina also had a restaurant and bar on-site that was really convenient for when we were working there all day and we went to grab lunch quickly. We did that probably half the time we were there, so that was really great and convenient. And lastly, if you are on a stricter budget, Quepos, which is the town right next to Manuel Antonio and where the entrance to Manuel Antonio National Park is located, offers cheaper food options, both in grocery stores and restaurants. We actually went there on Saturday to the farmers’ market, highly recommend doing that. It was a really cool, immersive local experience. So we took the bus there from Manuel Antonio. It was probably a 10-minute ride, and we went there to pick up some fresh local produce, fruits, veggies, and other goods. The total we spent there was ₡7,200 colones, which was about $11 USD. We also picked up some bread at a local bakery for about ₡3,300 colones, which came up to $5, and some other random essentials at a grocery store for about ₡4,000 colones, which was about $6. So the total of that entire grocery run for the week was about $22 USD.
I went to a couple of smaller local grocery stores in Manuel Antonio. The prices are significantly higher than they are in Quepos, so I highly recommend going there. It’s really easy to get there by bus. We’ll discuss transportation in the next section, but that’s my main budget-saving tip.
In terms of eating out, like I mentioned earlier, we ate a lot of our meals at the Selina, but we also took dinner as a fun time to explore Manuel Antonio, watch the sunset, and dine out at different restaurants right by the Selina, including El Avión, El Wagon, and La Lambreta, all of which were really nice and had beautiful views of the ocean and sunset every night. Prices here usually ranged from about ₡10,000 to ₡30,000 colones, which is about $15 to $45 USD for two people. This completely varied depending on whether or not we got appetizers or drinks, of course. For example, one night, and this was our most expensive night out, we spent ₡37,000 colones, which was about $56 USD, because we were with friends and having a really fun night. We all got appetizers, drinks, entrees, and enjoyed the sunset. Those kinds of nights are like a splurge night, and honestly, for two people, $56 on that, I personally thought that was a decent deal, especially in the tourist area like Manuel Antonio. But another night in Manuel Antonio, we spent about ₡6,500 colones, which is a little under $10 USD, on some pizza from El Wagon. That was just way cheaper, and it just shows how drastically the overall budget can vary based on your personal preferences and how much you want to spend.
The total amount that we spent on food for the week that we were in Manuel Antonio was ₡219,140 colones, which comes out to $331.31 USD for two people, which comes out to about $165.50 per person for the week.
Transportation
The next major expense you’re probably going to incur is transportation. Like I mentioned earlier, this was a very intense work week for us, so we didn’t leave the Selina too much. And when we did, we could walk to the beaches and the restaurants around the Selina. But we did take a shared shuttle from the San Juan Airport all the way to the Selina. It was about a 4-hour ride, depending on traffic, and per person, it was $60.
In terms of getting around Manuel Antonio, the bus is what I would recommend, especially if you’re on a budget. They run all day, every day between Manuel Antonio and Quepos, starting at 5:45 AM. It’s a flat fee of 320 colones per person, no matter how far you’re going. So whether you’re going one stop or all the way to the National Park, it’s still 320 colones. Make sure you have coins on you, which is a lot easier when you get on the bus to hand the bus driver. It’s super convenient, easy, and very budget-friendly. 320 colones is like 50 cents, I think, somewhere in that range. We only took the bus twice when we were there, so that ended up being 1280 colones, which is less than $2 USD. So in total, in a week in Manuel Antonio, we spent 80,652 colones, which comes out to about $122 for the week.
Before I jump into the next section, I do want to touch on gas really quickly because I know a lot of people may be renting a car while they’re in Costa Rica. We rented a car the second week in Costa Rica, and there are two main things I want to touch on. The first thing that we noticed right off the bat is there are a lot of tolls, especially if you’re driving along the Pacific coast. I think we stopped at about 5 on our way from San Juan to Jaco. Make sure you have a lot of change or at least some smaller bills that you can get changed from at the tolls themselves. They’ll charge anywhere from like 300 colones to 1000 colones. I think they do take cards, but it’s just a lot easier if you can give them the cash right there and then.
If you’re anywhere in the world pretty much, gas prices are absurd right now, and that did not exclude Costa Rica. We filled up our tank on the way to Jaco, and I think we did about 44 liters. For that, we spent 38,778 colones, which comes out to about $58, which ended up being about $5 a gallon when we were there.
Sim cards: important tips for Digital nomads
SIM cards and other expenses we incurred here in Costa Rica. The co-working space ended up being extra at Selina, but we did not spend money on that. However, if we did, it would have been an additional $50 on top of everything else. So really, the only thing that we ended up spending money on in regards to work on this trip was our Google Fi SIM card bill. If you’ve never heard of Google Fi, I was with you until the last few months when I started using it, and I am so far pretty obsessed. It’s about the closest thing that you can get to an international SIM card, which for digital nomads like me and many of you reading, is so convenient. It saves us from having to stop by a Claro or a Tigo or whatever SIM card provider is in your area and get a new one in every country, and then deal with topping it up and making sure that you didn’t run out of data, all that annoying stuff. So Google Fi is what I’ve been using for the past few months, and it worked amazingly in Costa Rica. It was $60 per person for the month for 22 gigs plus tethering, which is great. I love to have the option to use my phone as a hotspot wherever I am. So for one week with the Google Fi SIM card, it comes out to $30 total on our plans. That’s about $15 per person for the week. Side note, I do plan to make a full Google Fi review at the end of this year after I’ve traveled to more countries. I really want to be able to test it out in different places to make sure that the strength is what they say it is. So stay tuned for that.
Budget Travel Hacks
General budget tip number one is to travel during the off-season in Costa Rica, which typically correlates to the rainy season, usually from May through November, with October being the rainiest. During this time of year, prices are much lower than they would be in the peak season of December through March or April. But just because it’s considered the off-season does not mean it’s any less amazing. I’ve actually heard that the Caribbean side of Costa Rica during this rainy season is amazing, so do your research and see where the best places to go are during the rainy season. With the rainforests and the jungles, the rain adds to the vibe, making it a unique experience. So don’t totally dismiss it until you try it.
Budget tip number two is to stay at locally owned hostels and Airbnbs instead of chain options like Selina. And if you’re on an even tighter budget, stay in a shared dorm at a hostel.
Tip number three is to take the public bus everywhere you go, between Manuel Antonio and Quepos or from Manuel Antonio to another city in Costa Rica. It may take a little bit longer than a shuttle or a taxi, but it will be a lot cheaper in the long run. And there are tons of buses running every single day, so just check the schedule online.
Tip number four is to avoid tours. While they do offer the perks of seeing wildlife that you probably wouldn’t have spotted on your own, you can still have an amazing time at Manuel Antonio National Park or some of the surrounding areas by hiking and exploring on your own. And you’ll save yourself quite a bit of money.
Tip number five is to get your groceries and eat out in Quepos, as prices are lower because it’s a more local area. If you’re on an even tighter budget, seek out some sodas. If you’ve never heard of a soda, they are all throughout Costa Rica and they’re basically locally owned, open-air restaurants that serve traditional Costa Rican food every single day for a very low price. It’s a really fun experience and I highly recommend it, even if you’re not on a strict budget, just because it feels very authentic and local. And the “plato del día” (plate of the day) is often the best deal.
And finally, tip number six, and my final tip, is to take advantage of happy hour. We love happy hour all over the world, but in Costa Rica, they love their 2-for-1 deals. These deals are available at restaurants and bars all along the beach, and they even have them at Selina every single day. You can get drinks for a lot cheaper, and sometimes even food is included in those deals. So keep your eye out for those happy hour deals, usually from around 3 to 6 PM.
Total Cost IN Details
Here’s the breakdown of the total costs for the week, as well as the daily and per person/day costs:
- Accommodation:
- Total: $238
- Daily: $34
- Per person/day: $17
- Food & Drinks:
- Total: $331.31
- Daily: $47.33
- Per person/day: $23.66
- Transportation:
- Total: $122
- Daily: $17.42
- Per person/day: $8.71
- SIM Card:
- Total: $29.82
- Daily: $4.26
- Per person/day: $2.13
Total Overall Cost:
- Total: $721.13
- Daily: $103.01
- Per person/day: $51.5
It’s a very beautiful country lots for tourist come here every year, that’s why also expensive destination. But if you want budget travel like me then are so many option to do that so don’t worry. So, that’s is for now.
