Costa Rica Etiquette: 12 Tourist Mistakes to Avoid

The One Phrase That Explains Costa Rica

Ask a Tico how they’re doing and the answer is almost always the same two words: “pura vida.”

It’s not a tourist gimmick and it’s not reserved for beach towns. Costa Rica’s etiquette code is short and mostly about pace, patience and paying attention, not a long list of formal rules. Get the basics right and the trip runs smoother from the first taxi ride.

Pura Vida: Not Just a Souvenir T-Shirt

“Pura vida” (“pure life”) is the phrase you’ll hear from the first “hello” at immigration to the last “thanks” at the airport gift shop.

It stretches to cover more ground than any single English word: a greeting, a farewell, “you’re welcome,” “no worries,” an answer to “how’s it going,” and a shorthand for the unhurried, grateful outlook Ticos are known for. Using it back isn’t awkward. Costa Ricans expect visitors to pick it up and generally enjoy hearing it, unlike some countries where mimicking local slang can land oddly.

• Say it as a greeting: “¿Cómo está?” “Pura vida, ¿y usted?”
• Say it as thanks: someone helps you with directions, you say “pura vida” instead of (or alongside) “gracias.”
• Say it when something goes sideways: a delayed bus, a rained-out hike. It signals you’re taking it in stride, which is the whole point of the phrase.

Tico Time: Real, But Bounded

Costa Ricans have a genuinely relaxed relationship with punctuality for casual, social plans, commonly called “tico time.”

That flexibility does not extend to anything with a fixed departure or entry window. Public buses, tour pickups, and the online-only, capped-entry system now used at parks like Manuel Antonio all run on the clock, no exceptions for a laid-back reputation.

• Casual meetup with a new friend or a fellow traveler? Arriving 15 to 30 minutes after the stated time draws no comment.
• Booked shuttle, tour, flight, or park entry slot? Show up on time. These run on a fixed schedule regardless of the country’s reputation.
• When in doubt, just ask whether a plan is a hard time or a loose one. Ticos won’t be offended by the question.

Addresses Without Street Numbers

Costa Rica largely skipped the formal street-grid-and-house-number system that most visitors take for granted, and plenty of addresses still work the old way: landmark, distance, direction.

A real Costa Rican address might read “200 meters west of the old cinema, yellow house with a red gate.” It sounds improvised, but it’s the functioning system in smaller towns across the country, a legacy of organic growth rather than planned numbering.

• Don’t expect a taxi app or GPS to resolve a written address the way it would at home.
• Ask your hotel, hostel or tour operator to send a Google Maps or Waze pin rather than a street address before you head out.
• Save your accommodation’s pin offline before you lose signal on a rural drive, since not every stretch of road has coverage (more on that in our Costa Rica eSIM guide ).

Wildlife Rules: Don’t Feed the Monkeys

Costa Rica’s wildlife is one of the biggest draws of a trip here, and it comes with one hard rule: don’t feed it.

Feeding wild animals, including the white-faced capuchin and squirrel monkeys that approach visitors at Manuel Antonio and elsewhere, is illegal under Article 116 of the Wildlife Conservation Law (Ley de Conservación de Vida Silvestre No. 7317). A fed monkey loses its fear of people fast, starts raiding backpacks and picnic tables, and can bite. Fines apply for feeding wildlife generally, so treat “don’t feed the animals” as a legal rule, not a polite suggestion.

• Never offer food to monkeys, coatis, raccoons or any wild animal, even if one reaches for your bag.
• Zip your day bag and keep food out of sight on trails, especially in Manuel Antonio, where habituated monkeys are the most persistent.
• Stay on marked trails and paid entrances only. Costa Rica’s 2026 guidance also flags fines for entering restricted conservation areas without authorization, so don’t wander off a park’s marked route looking for a better wildlife photo.
• Book Manuel Antonio National Park online in advance. As of 2026 it’s online-booking-only with no gate sales, closed on Tuesdays, and capped at around 600 visitors a day, so a walk-up plan doesn’t work here. Always double-check current hours on sinac.go.cr before you go.

Beach Safety: Rip Currents, Not Bar Culture

Costa Rica’s coastline is the headline of most itineraries, and it comes with a safety fact worth knowing before you’re standing on the sand: most beaches here have no lifeguard.

Costa Rica sees roughly 150 to 200 drownings a year in its waters, concentrated at about 30 of the country’s roughly 600 beaches, and more than 80% of those involve a rip current, a strong, narrow channel of water pulling away from shore. Even where lifeguard towers exist, at beaches like Manuel Antonio, Tamarindo and Cocles, they aren’t always staffed.

• If you’re caught in a rip current, don’t swim against it. Swim parallel to the shore until you’re free of the pull, then angle back in.
• Ask locally before you swim at an unfamiliar beach: hotel staff and surf shops usually know which stretches are running rough that day.
• Skip solo swims at remote beaches, especially outside the main tourist towns, where help is further away if something goes wrong.
• Save the beach afternoon for a scenic terrace or a fresh coconut water stand instead of a bar crawl. Manuel Antonio and Santa Teresa both have plenty of ocean-view cafés if you’d rather watch the sunset than chase the current.

Rental Cars: The Flat-Tire Scam and How to Avoid It

A rental car opens up Costa Rica’s countryside, but it also puts you in the middle of the country’s best-documented tourist scam.

The most reported pattern: a staged flat tire shortly after leaving the airport, your hotel, a gas station or a rental lot. A “helpful” stranger flags you down to point out the flat while an accomplice quietly empties the car. A second version has someone knock on your window to point at something underneath the vehicle, purely as a distraction. The Tárcoles crocodile bridge and supermarket parking lots come up often as hotspots, and the US Embassy has also warned that some thieves use signal blockers so a key fob’s lock doesn’t actually engage, worth a physical door check before you walk away.

• Never leave visible luggage or bags in a parked car, even for a five-minute stop.
• If a tire looks flat in an isolated spot, keep driving to a lit, populated area before you get out to check it. A genuinely damaged tire will hold long enough to reach one.
• Physically test that each door is locked after using a fob, rather than trusting the beep.
• Decline help from strangers who appear the instant something goes wrong with the car; call your rental company’s helpline instead.
• Third-party liability insurance is legally mandatory on every Costa Rican rental and can’t be waived; full collision coverage is optional but heavily pitched at the counter, worth deciding on before you land rather than under pressure at the desk.

One more airport-specific note if you’re not renting: a 2026 rule bars rideshare drivers from picking up at the airport, port and maritime terminals, so don’t plan on hailing an Uber curbside at San José’s Juan Santamaría airport. Use the official red airport taxis (metered, yellow triangle emblem, around $26 to $27 into downtown) or a pre-booked shuttle instead, and save the rideshare app for once you’re already in town.

12 Etiquette Mistakes Tourists Make Most

Frequently Asked Questions

What does ‘pura vida’ actually mean in Costa Rica?

Pura vida translates literally to ‘pure life’, and Ticos use it constantly as a greeting, a farewell, a way to say ‘you’re welcome’ or ‘all good’, and a general life philosophy. It’s genuinely everywhere, from bus drivers to hotel staff to shop clerks, and using it back is welcomed, not seen as tourist mimicry. There’s no wrong context to drop it in casual conversation.

What is ’tico time’ and can I use it to run late?

Tico time describes the culturally relaxed approach to punctuality Costa Ricans bring to casual social plans, where showing up a little after the stated time draws no comment. It does not apply to anything with a fixed departure: shuttles, buses, national park entry windows and tours all run on schedule, and showing up late means missing them. Save the flexibility for informal meetups, not bookings.

Is it illegal to feed monkeys or other wildlife in Costa Rica?

Yes. Costa Rica’s Wildlife Conservation Law (Ley de Conservación de Vida Silvestre No. 7317, Article 116) bans feeding wild animals, including the monkeys that approach tourists at Manuel Antonio and other parks. Fed animals lose their natural fear of people, raid food from bags and campsites, and can bite. Fines apply, and the simplest rule is to never offer wildlife food, no matter how close it gets.

Why don’t Costa Rican addresses have street numbers?

Many Costa Rican towns grew without a formal street grid, so addresses are traditionally written as a landmark plus a distance and direction, like ‘200 meters west of the old church, yellow house with a red gate’. It’s a real, still-current system in smaller towns, not a quirk that’s died out. The practical fix is to ask your hotel or tour operator for a Google Maps or Waze pin rather than expecting a written street address to work.

Are Costa Rica’s beaches safe to swim at?

Take rip currents seriously: Costa Rica sees roughly 150 to 200 drownings a year in its waters, concentrated at about 30 of the country’s roughly 600 beaches, and most involve a rip current. The large majority of beaches have no lifeguard at all, and even towers at beaches like Manuel Antonio, Tamarindo and Cocles aren’t always staffed. Ask locally about current conditions and never swim alone at an unfamiliar beach.

What’s the rental-car scam I should watch for in Costa Rica?

The most reported pattern is a staged flat tire shortly after leaving the airport, a hotel or a gas station: a seemingly helpful stranger flags you down while an accomplice empties the car. A second version involves someone knocking on your window to point at something underneath the vehicle as a distraction. Keep valuables out of sight, and if a tire genuinely goes flat in a quiet spot, drive on to a lit, populated area before stopping to check it.

Travel Costa Rica Like a Local Would

Say “pura vida” and mean it, save “tico time” for plans without a departure board, and get a maps pin instead of an address. None of this is about anxiety, it’s matching the habits Ticos already live by. VoyageHacks checked this guide’s wildlife-feeding law, rip-current figures and rental-car scam patterns against current sources in August 2026, so you can spend less energy second-guessing the basics and more time actually in the rainforest.

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