Aruba vs Costa Rica

Manchebo Beach Resort & Spa's yellow-lit beachfront buildings with thatched roofs and palm trees at dusk, lounge chairs on patios overlooking a grass lawn.

Illuminated beachfront dining pavilion with white railings and thatched-roof bungalows reflected in the pool at dusk.

Aruba and Costa Rica, side by side: live travel advisories, our resort catalog's real guest data, and each destination's honest weather picture. Everything you need to break the tie.

Aruba guide · Costa Rica guide · How we score

By the numbers

Aruba compared with Costa Rica
Aruba	Measure	Costa Rica
Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions	U.S. travel advisory	Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
9	Resorts in our catalog	7
★ 4.4 (better)	Average guest rating	★ 4.4
$143–$332/night pp	Nightly rates	$119–$289/night pp
2 of 9	Adults-only resorts	1 of 7
Outside the hurricane belt	Hurricane exposure	Low hurricane risk
October–December, and 'rainy' is generous: this is one of the driest islands in the Caribbean	Rainy season	May–November ('green season'), with September–October seriously wet
Year-round; January–March is peak season and priced like it	Sweet spot	December–April, bone-dry in Guanacaste
Dutch & Papiamento (English universal)	Language	Spanish (English common in tourist areas)
Aruban florin; USD universally accepted	Currency	Costa Rican colón – USD widely accepted
120V, Type A/B plugs (same as the US)	Power	120V, Type A/B plugs (same as the US)
On the right	Driving	On the right
Oranjestad (AUA)	Main airport	Liberia – Daniel Oduber (LIR)
~4–4.5h from the US East Coast	Flight time	~3.5–5.5h from the US (nonstops to Liberia)

Advisory levels sync from travel.state.gov; catalog figures reflect the resorts we've researched, not every hotel in the country.

On the map

Aruba

Costa Rica

Weather, month by month

Month-by-month average high temperature and rainfall for Aruba and Costa Rica
Measure	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Aruba · high °F	85	85	86	87	88	89	89	90	90	89	87	85
Costa Rica · high °F	91	92	93	93	91	88	88	88	87	86	87	89
Aruba · rain (in)	1.5	0.8	0.4	0.5	0.6	0.7	1.3	1.0	1.8	3.0	3.7	3.2
Costa Rica · rain (in)	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.7	7.7	9.0	5.9	7.9	13.0	12.2	4.3	0.5

Approximate climate normals for Palm Beach / Eagle Beach and Guanacaste / Papagayo: planning guidance, not a forecast. Deeper gold = hotter; deeper teal = wetter.

Where you'd actually stay

Best of Aruba

Full Aruba guide

Chains here: Iberostar · Barceló · Renaissance Hotels

Best of Costa Rica

Full Costa Rica guide

Chains here: RIU Hotels & Resorts · Westin · Margaritaville