Is Costa Rica Worth Visiting During The Rainy Season?

Living on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales in the UK, we are spoilt with a beautiful and lush landscape of rolling green hills, which are only green because we get a LOT of rain.  I am therefore accustomed to carrying on with activities ‘despite’ the weather.  That said, vacation time is so valuable that I don’t want to be rained off too many times on holiday. So when we decided to visit Costa Rica during its rainy season, I really wanted to know just how much rain they were talking about…

When is the best time of year to visit Costa Rica?

Most people agree that the best time of year to visit Costa Rica is between December and April, which are typically the driest and sunniest months (the Costa Rica ‘dry season’), with an average of 12 hours of sunshine per day and lovely warm temperatures around 28 degrees Celsius.  However, Costa Rica does have a tropical climate and so it can rain at any point, even during the dry season, although most likely in very short bursts.

When is the Costa Rica rainy season (‘green season’)?

The Costa Rica rainy season (‘green season’) runs from May until November, with the heaviest rain usually falling in September and October.  As our holiday to Costa Rica had to be booked in either July or August to tie in with the UK school Summer break, then we needed to brace ourselves for rain.

What is the Veranillo?

At first I was concerned about travelling in the Costa Rica rainy season but, whilst researching the holiday I kept finding references to the ‘Veranillo’ or ‘little Summer’ where Costa Rica typically experiences a short, mini-dry season for around 3-4 weeks in July or the beginning of August, particularly on the Pacific Coast.  

During this time the weather was described as offering ‘bright sunny mornings, with some potential rainfall later in the day or overnight’.  We took heart from this and decided to risk travelling at this time of year, despite being during the rainy season.  We accepted that we would have some rain, but hopefully not too much to interfere with our itinerary, and that we could to some extent plan around the rain.

So, how much rain did we experience in July?

Our experience of the weather on our Costa Rica road trip during the last 2 weeks of July was generally excellent – we had mainly beautiful sunny days (tick!), plus a few days where it was sunny in the morning and rainy later on (as predicted in our research findings relating to the Veranillo).

Only on 2 occasions was the rain heavy and more persistent – once, on our waterfall trip from Quepos when we were in the water anyway and so it didn’t really matter, and the second time in Tortuguero National Park when the rain was torrential for most of the day.  I am not sure if we enjoyed a ‘Veranillo’, or just got lucky, but the rain seemed to work with us and did not prevent us undertaking any of our planned trip activities.

What’s it like when the weather in Costa Rica gets involved?

The tropical climate downpour that we experienced in Tortuguero National Park was quite something!  However, the rain created quite a special moment for us as we sat on our hotel balcony listening to the rain clatter on the roof and the thunder roar, and watching the lightening show over the Tortuguero National Park.  

Luckily, the rain stopped that evening just before our scheduled trip to the beach to observe green sea turtles laying their eggs, but, as the storm was still going on somewhere in the distance, the beach was periodically lit up by lightening, which was extremely dramatic and atmospheric, adding to the magic of the occasion.

Perhaps the biggest impact of the weather during our stay in Costa Rica was on a trip to the Poás Volcano outside San José, when sadly we could not see the volcano crater at all due to cloud cover – the scene was completely white.  However, this was apparently caused by the converging winds from the Pacific and Caribbean slopes rather than rainfall, so this could occur at other times of the year, even in the dry season.  “But hey, that’s nature” as our guide said.  Pura Vida!

What to pack for a holiday in the Costa Rica rainy season

We took umbrellas for light rain in Costa Rica and good quality ponchos for heavier rain, but only used the ponchos once.  I chose ponchos rather than cagoules as I thought they would be good over backpacks and to help keep camera equipment dry.  

However, in Monteverde, where there is some damp cloud cover in the Cloud Forest, most people were wearing lightweight cagoules and quick drying clothes, which seemed like a better idea as we were finding it difficult to dry some of our clothes in the humidity.  

Also, if it does rain, then the floor can become pretty muddy so don’t pack your best shoes.

Good news though, the ponchos have not gone to waste and have come in very handy already at several UK music festivals when the rain has arrived!

Final thoughts on travelling to Costa Rica in July

If you can time your trip for the Veranillo, then I think you’ll be very happy with the weather in Costa Rica, and also the lower prices and fewer crowds! Costa Rica looked lush and green at this time of year as well – we would be more than happy to return in July again for Part 2 and a trip to the Nicoya Penninsula…

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