Preparing your trip
Preparing your trip
For any other questions or tips, join the Help - Travel in Costa Rica WhatsApp group where Filipe and Ana can help you!
If you are traveling from abroad, please book your flight tickets as soon as possible as prices increase considerably on these dates and give yourself a minimum of 2 full days to arrive before the wedding due to Jet Lag.
If you are traveling from 2 different time zones, ex: from London to Canada and Canada to Costa Rica, it is best to book a flight ticket for the 25th of November as you are likely to land in Costa Rica at night.
The airport has Wi-Fi after crossing the border but the connection might be weak outside the building if you need to order an Uber.
We recommend buying an eSIM card (electronic SIM) before flying into Costa Rica, which is supported by most iPhones and recent Android phones. A 3 GB plan (15€ in Revolut app) was enough for a period of 20 days on basic usage.
The electronic sockets are the same as the United States and Canada, so if you might need an adapter for charging your devices.
Traveling within the cities, Heredia or San José, is fairly cheap with Uber. It is generally a good idea to just travel with Ubers while in the city or for the wedding day.
A 7 min trip within Heredia cost about 1600 CRC ~ 2.75€
A 30 min trip from Heredia centro to Villa Tremedal (reception) cost about 5500 CRC ~ 10€
From the airport to Heredia centro on a Friday evening on an Uber XL, cost about 8500 CRC ~ 14.5€
From the Church to Villa Tremedal should be about 10-12 mins trip.
If, or when, you rent a car, it is recommended to park it in a garage or public parking. This is fairly common amongst locals.
Don't worry too much about the rain. In Costa Rica, even during the wettest months of the year, mornings are usually nice and hot and it only rains in the afternoon, so this gives you plenty of time to enjoy the sun in the early hours.
Most shops and services allow for international card payments so you don't need to withdraw a lot of cash. But cash might be needed for the local markets.
When withdrawing money, the ATM Bac Credomatic will charge a fee of 4000 colones ~10€ independently of how much your withdraw, so it is recommended to withdraw fewer times.
Food in supermarkets isn't as cheap as you might think. Expect similar prices compared to Portuguese or English supermarkets. Pali is the cheapest and Automercado and Freshmarket are the most expensive but you can always find a variety of products in Mega Super or Mas x menos.