According to the most recent ranking of the cost of living of countries around the world, Costa Rica sits at number 44. Just to give you a comparison, Australia is #5, Canada is #16 and USA is #33. This means that Costa Rica is relatively pretty cheap!! Your personal spending on the trip will include the costs for most of your lunches and dinners, entertainment, and shopping. We recommend that you budget $400 – $600 for all of your expenses during the 12 days. This amount should be PLENTY to cover all of your expenses while you’re here.
- The low end of $400 budgets for eating all meals at restaurants, some souvenir shopping, doing activities, and some nightlife, but it is for a more budget conscious traveler.
- $600 on the other hand is for someone who plans to be more careless with their spending, or because they want to do all of the activities available.
- We must mention that there are also travelers who spend even much more than $600, but the bulk of that spending would come from spending extravagantly or shopping to the extreme!
To help you figure out what your budget would be, here are some example costs (in USD) in Costa Rica:
| Bottle of water | $1 |
| Arroz con pollo (typical dinner dish) | $10 |
| Imperial beer at a grocery store | $2 |
| Open bar at nightclub | $12 |
| Plate of fresh fruit | $3 |
| Full day surf lesson | $60 |
| Ziplining package | $50 |
| Bag of chips | $1 |
| Fresh fruit shake | $2 |
| Restaurant sandwich | $5 |
| Day car rental | $25 |
| National Park entrance | $10 |
| 10 minute taxi ride | $10 |
| Gallo Pinto (traditional breakfast) | $6 |
| Rum and coke | $3 |