I am just about to buy a ticket to Costa Rica from Feb. 26 - March 10 (a good time to get away from work). I recently spent nearly two years traveling and working in Ecuador and Peru, but never in Central America.

I read that right now is the high season in Costa Rica and it is hard to find hostels. I'm hoping to travel on a pretty limited budget (approx. 20-25 USD/day max.). Is this realistic? Are there good budget spots where I'll be able to find rooms?

I'd appreciate any input from people who have done budget traveling in Costa Rica during the high season.

Thanks!!

Hi

We were in CR this time last year. To be honest we weren't on a tight budget and stayed in some really nice places, but we certainly saw plenty of places with cheap rooms (less than $10 per night) that looked fine.

Because of reduced numbers of US tourists, rooms were seldom full in places like La Fortuna (for Arenal Volcano) and Monteverde. There seemed to be plenty of choice and so you could probably negotiate rates for stays of more than a couple of nights. Plenty of good, cheap places to eat as well. On the coast, the Caribbean south east was probably the cheapest, in places like Cahuita & Puerto Viejo.

If you haven't been to CR before and can stand reading about wildlife, my trip report, from a Eurocentric view, can be found on www.birdtours.co.uk. Look for the report for Feb/Mar 2003.

Hope this helps.

Dear Pandachris,

Thank you so much for your reply. Glad to hear you saw many cheap, nice rooms available this time of year. I've got my ticket and am excited to check out some of Costa Rica out!

I also enjoyed your travel notes---it sounds like you were in some gorgeous spots and saw an incredible array of birds.

Thanks again,
Allison