Costa Rica vs Los Cabos
Costa Rica and Los Cabos, 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.
Costa Rica guide · Los Cabos guide · How we score
By the numbers
| Costa Rica | Measure | Los Cabos |
|---|---|---|
| Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution | U.S. travel advisory | Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution |
| 7 (better) | Resorts in our catalog | 1 |
| ★ 4.4 | Average guest rating | ★ 4.6 (better) |
| $88–$289/night pp | Nightly rates | – |
| 1 of 7 | Adults-only resorts | 1 of 1 |
| Low hurricane risk | Hurricane exposure | Low hurricane risk |
| May–November ('green season'), with September–October seriously wet | Rainy season | Essentially just September, and briefly |
| December–April, bone-dry in Guanacaste | Sweet spot | October–June; whales December–April |
| ~3.5–5.5h from the US (nonstops to Liberia) | Flight time | ~2–3h from the US West Coast |
Advisory levels sync from travel.state.gov; catalog figures reflect the resorts we've researched, not every hotel in the country. A marked row is one we are willing to call; rows without a mark are a matter of taste, or we have no comparable figure for both sides.
On the map
Weather, month by month
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Costa Rica · high °F | 91 | 92 | 93 | 93 | 91 | 88 | 88 | 88 | 87 | 86 | 87 | 89 |
| Los Cabos · high °F | 78 | 79 | 81 | 85 | 89 | 93 | 93 | 92 | 90 | 88 | 84 | 80 |
| 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 |
| Los Cabos · rain (in) | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.6 |
Approximate climate normals for Guanacaste / Papagayo and Cabo San Lucas / San José del Cabo: planning guidance, not a forecast. A deeper tint is a higher number, read within its own row.
Where you'd actually stay
Best of Costa Rica
The Westin Reserva Conchal, an All-Inclusive Golf Resort & Spanull · ★ 4.5
Margaritaville Beach Resort Playa Flamingonull · ★ 4.4
Planet Hollywood Costa Rica by Royalton, An Autograph Collection All-Inclusive Resortnull · ★ 4.4
Chains here: RIU Hotels & Resorts · Westin · Margaritaville
Chains here: Le Blanc Spa Resorts / Palace Resorts