What It’s Like to Live in Costa Rica in Rainy Season

If you’re thinking of moving to Costa Rica, you probably picture your new life filled with endless sunshine and clear blue skies. Costa Rica definitely has that for a good part of the year; however, let’s not forget about the rainy season. In this post, we’ll give you a sense of what it’s like to live in Costa Rica during rainy season. We’ll share some of the perks as well as some of the less desirable, though realistic, aspects.

Living in Costa Rica During Rainy Season

Background – Rainy Season in Costa Rica

Costa Rica has two distinct seasons: dry season, which runs from about December to the end of April, and rainy season, from about May to the end of November. Different regions have varying weather patterns, but that is generally what to expect.

Early on in rainy season typically isn’t too intense. May through August usually has good weather, with sunny mornings and an hour or two of rain in the afternoon or evening. Some days, it can rain more, of course. This varies by year, but most days are pleasant.

For lots more detail on what to expect month by month for weather, read our post, Rainy Season in Costa Rica: How Wet Is It? 

By September, there’s more rain, but usually still plenty of nice days too.

Rainy Season Guanacaste
A sunny day in Guanacaste in September

Then in October and early November, the rain can get intense.

Tropical waves (called ondas) pass through the country. These can bring intense rainfall for a few hours and last more than a day. Costa Rica rarely gets hit by hurricanes, but in recent years, has been affected when they pass through neighboring countries to the north. The hurricane bands bring lots of rain and occasionally wind.

Too Much Rain

This year (2022) has been especially wet. Meteorologists blame it on the weather phenomenon La Niña. Many people attribute it to climate change as well.

We have had several big storm events with torrential rain lasting several hours. Recently this past October, areas of the central Pacific coast got 90-120 mm (3.5-5 inches) of rain in only two hours!

Rainfall Map Costa Rica
Rainfall map after a big storm in October. Photo Credit: Instituto Meteorológico Nacional CR

Although the landscape is adept at handling large amounts of water (it is the tropics, of course), sometimes there can be too much. That brings us to some of the negatives of living in Costa Rica during the rainy season.

Difficulties of Living in Costa Rica During the Rainy Season

Landslides

When there is too much rain in a short period of time, we can have a lot of problems.

One is that the ground gets too saturated, making trees and plants uproot. This can cause landslides, fallen trees, and lots of other issues.

Where we live on the central Pacific coast, this October and early November, the highway closed a few times because of landslides. The problem was that we had been getting so much rain and not enough sun so the ground was already really wet. When another big storm came along, the soil couldn’t absorb it and several landslides occurred. This happened mostly on steep slopes. Highway 34 between Tarcoles and Herradura now has several new “waterfalls” due to recent slides.

Landslide Waterfall Highway 34
A waterfall on Highway 34 that formed because of a landslide

Side roads can be affected too, and these ones tend to take longer to fix. Here’s a picture of a dirt road near us that is getting narrower by the day.

Road Washing Out Jaco
A road washing out

Although road crews are quick to remove debris, especially on major highways, we’ve seen full closures lasting several hours. Traffic just stops and waits while loaders and dump trucks busily clean up. A couple of times in October/November, it took us more than two hours to go somewhere that normally takes 15 minutes!

Landslide Highway 34
A big landslide on Highway 34

Sometimes the government will preventatively close a road for public safety reasons as well. They do this in places that are already having problems and more rain is expected. We have seen this happen on Highway 27 to San Jose, Highway 34 around Tarcoles, and Highway 32 to the Caribbean coast. This isn’t a regular occurrence but can happen during peak rainy season months.

Rivers Flooding

Another major problem is rivers flooding. In Jaco this past October, so much rain fell in just a few hours that all the rivers in town breached their banks. Most of the main strip was inundated with water, causing cars to flood, people to lose their homes, and great loses for businesses. This happens in the southern Pacific coast as well during big storms.

Jaco Storm October 2022
Jaco completed flooded after a big rainstorm in mid October 2022

Power Outages

With down trees comes another problem, power outages. This is more of an issue in remote areas, but all parts of Costa Rica experience outages to some extent.

We have lived in several different areas of Costa Rica and had many more power outages when we lived in the thick jungle near Dominical (southern Pacific coast) than where we live now near Jaco. Usually the power would be out for just a couple of hours, but sometimes outages lasted an entire day if many communities were affected.

The country’s electricity provider, ICE, is generally very good at getting the power up and running again. They are also good at maintenance. You will see them doing preventative tree trimming year-round, which helps.

Mold

This is a much smaller problem, but many people struggle with this when moving to Costa Rica.

In rainy season, with all the moisture around, mold is common, especially if your house doesn’t have good airflow. Clothes, fabric, leather, and even walls can get that musty smell that’s hard to get rid of.

Some people have a dry room to store anything prone to mold or that could be damaged by too much moisture (e.g., electronics). This is a well-sealed room where they run a dehumidifier to keep the moisture out. Dryers help too to make sure your clothes are getting completely dry.

Expat Exodus

It should be no surprise that many foreigners living in Costa Rica choose not to spend September through November in Costa Rica. Many people understandably come for high season when the weather is predictably nice and head to their home country for rainy season.

A common belief among expats who have been living in Costa Rica for a while is that many people who make the move to Costa Rica only last for a couple of years, then decide it wasn’t for them and go back home. It’s no coincidence that many of these moves happen in August/September, when it starts to get wet.

Why We Still Love Rainy Season

With all the bad, we still love rainy season in Costa Rica.

We have been living here full-time for almost 10 years now. That’s 10 rainy seasons. And although life isn’t always easy during this time, it wasn’t back home in New England either where we dealt with snow and ice and had a very short summer.

The intense rainy season is short (only a month or two, really), and when you think about all the good things about rainy season, and living in Costa Rica in general, the good far outweighs the bad.

Benefits of Living in Costa Rica During Rainy Season

Less Crowded

Not everyone wants to deal with rain on their vacation so for that reason, Costa Rica is a lot less crowded during the rainy months.

Manuel Antonio, for example, is one of our favorite places in Costa Rica. But during peak vacation time around Christmas, it can be a little too busy for us.

In rainy season, it’s a wonderful place to visit. The beach and national park aren’t full, there’s little traffic, and the vibe is more chill.

Manuel Antonio National Park Rainy Season
Almost no one on the trail at Manuel Antonio National Park in September

Lower Prices

Rainy season is also a great time to travel and explore the country.

Since hotels need to attract tourists during those low season months, prices at hotels and vacation rentals are significantly lower. We always travel around in September and the price difference between then and high season is substantial.

Restaurants and tour operators sometimes do promotions this time of year as well.

Everything is Green

Probably our favorite thing about living in Costa Rica during rainy season is the green landscape. We love the vibrant tropical rainforest. After a dry season with little to no rain, it’s so refreshing to get that first big rainfall in April. The trees and plants almost immediately green up and everything becomes lush again.

Samara Rainy Season
Samara, in Guanacaste, looking nice and green in rainy season

Conclusion

We hope that this post gave you a more realistic perspective of what it’s like to live in Costa Rica during rainy season. Although rainy season certainly has its difficulties, we still love it and can’t imagine living anywhere else.

Have a question about living in Costa Rica during rainy season or want to share your experience? Leave a comment below.

Looking for more information about living in Costa Rica? Check out these posts:

Buying a House in Costa Rica: Our experience buying a house, with a breakdown of the process.

Costa Rica’s Digital Nomad Visa: Learn about this new visa program that allows you to stay in Costa Rica for a year with the chance to renew for another year.

FAQs About Moving to Costa Rica: Covers common questions, like how to get residency, doing border runs, earning a living, etc.

Moving to Costa Rica with Kids: Special considerations when moving with the family.

14 Comments

  1. We really enjoy reading your stories. Having just moved to Costa Rica this year we built our dream home in Playa Carrillo just south of Samara. We too love the rainy season. We have spent the last 11 years coming to Costa Rica for our extended vacations and have traveled extensively throughout this magnificent country. This was our first experience with the rainy season and we loved it. Even our friends from the US enjoyed their rainy season experience. We visited Punta Islita and Coco Beach Club and enjoyed a wonderful couples massage on the beach with crashing waves and a steady strong rain storm. It was magical.

    1. Hi Bob, Glad you had a good first rainy season in Carrillo! We actually visited Samara in late October and it was really nice there. Lots of rain on the drive the afternoon and evening before, but we had good weather the next day. Thanks for reading!

      1. Thank you for sharing! I have been visiting off and on for about 10 years and had our last company trip there in 2021.

        We are looking to have a baby June 1st and are giving serious thought to following you in your path there with citizenship for the child and a residency in the future for us.

        My dentist wants to sell 50 acres to us for about $50,000 Near Naranjo and we are looking at it.

        I speak great Spanish and my wife is a newbie at it. If you know someone who would help with paperwork etc. on the CR side for a reasonable fee that would be helpful to us.

        Congratulations on the move there and if you run into my friend Nadine Pisani down there say hello! 🙂

        1. Hi Randall, That’s exciting that you’re thinking of having the baby in Costa Rica. We did our own residency and don’t have a specific recommendation for someone who can help with residency paperwork other than the common recommendations of Outlier Legal or ARCR.

          I think Nadine has moved back to the US, but we will tell her hello if we happen to see her.

          Best of luck with your plans!

  2. I bought a condo in Tamarindo in 2006 & sold it in 2016. But loved it so much, I have been going every yr since for a month or more, except 2020. I love the “rainy” season! Was there this year all of august, last year all of may & November, & did not find it too rainy. Was on an outdoor massage table, when it started to rain, got up, waiting til over, got back on & finished my massage. Love the music in tamarindo, I play the tambourine with many bands. I’ll be there next august!

    1. Hi Lori, Tamarindo can be really nice in rainy season. We usually go to Guanacaste for vacation in September since it does tend to be drier. That’s great that you’re still coming back even after selling your condo. Cool that you play the tambourine. Pura vida!

  3. Hey. Am planning my first trip to Costa Rica and was wondering if you know of any expat communities that have horse boarding facilities?

    1. Hi Gayle, Sorry, we don’t know much about horse-boarding facilities, but there definitely are options. Lots of expats have horses here. If you’re on Facebook, you could ask on one of the Costa Rica expat groups. Good luck!

  4. Thanks for this good info, Jenn. We are living through the rainy season right now and mostly loving it! As a virtual nomad, I am finding the power/internet outages a challenge (so we just bought a big battery we can run the fiber optic internet/computer off of). The bigger problem is my computer. I’ve had two die in the last two months. I’m starting to think it might have to do with the humidity. Since we don’t have a dry room, do you have advice on how to keep the computers dry in this extreme humidity??

    1. Hi Jenny, That’s strange about your computers dying. That hasn’t happened to us in 9 years. Could be the humidity, I guess. What a bummer, though! If you have a laptop, you could start storing it in a dry box. Here’s a link to more info about that. Hope your luck turns around!

  5. Just want to say I love your articles! I first went to CR in 1986 on Canada World Youth, and have been back 3 times since. Last Nov rented a car and drove coast to coast. Biggest difference since 1986 is now many people own a car and the road infrastructure struggles to keep up, especially around the suburbs of San Jose.

  6. Me and my wife are interested in moving somewhere outside of Europe. We are tired of the cold weather and people and CR is in mind heavily, but we don’t know about the business side of things there. Could anyone give info on if holistic DR. offices are needed and the business of life coaching for tourist and or locals? That would be helpful please.

    1. Hi Rashaun, A lot of foreigners who live in Costa Rica offer life coaching and holistic medicine. Some areas are more saturated than others but you could probably find a location where it would work. We would recommend coming for a reconnaissance trip to get a feel for where you would like to live and what it’s like there.

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