Costa Rica vs Malaysia

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

Workers unload cardboard boxes and supplies from an open truck bed at Club Med Borneo.

Costa Rica and Malaysia, 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.

By the numbers

Costa Rica compared with Malaysia
Costa Rica	Measure	Malaysia
Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution	U.S. travel advisory	Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions (better)
6 (better)	Resorts in our catalog	1
★ 4.4	Average guest rating	–
$88–$285/night pp	Nightly rates	–
1 of 6	Adults-only resorts	0 of 1
Low hurricane risk	Hurricane exposure	No hurricane season (better)
May–November ('green season'), with September–October seriously wet	Rainy season	April–October, wettest September–October
December–April, bone-dry in Guanacaste	Sweet spot	December–March
Spanish (English common in tourist areas)	Language	Malay (English widely spoken)
Costa Rican colón – USD widely accepted	Currency	Malaysian ringgit (RM/MYR); cards common in cities
120V, Type A/B plugs (same as the US)	Power	240V, Type G plugs (UK-style; bring an adapter)
On the right	Driving	On the left
Liberia – Daniel Oduber (LIR)	Main airport	Kota Kinabalu International (BKI)
~3.5–5.5h from the US (nonstops to Liberia)	Flight time	~22–26h from the US with one or two stops

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

Costa Rica

Malaysia

Weather, month by month

Month-by-month average high temperature and rainfall for Costa Rica and Malaysia
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
Malaysia · high °F	90	91	91	91	89	88	88	88	87	87	87	88
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
Malaysia · rain (in)	1.4	2.0	4.1	7.4	9.1	7.0	7.8	8.5	12.8	13.5	9.2	3.5

Approximate climate normals for Guanacaste / Papagayo and Langkawi: planning guidance, not a forecast. A deeper tint is a higher number, read within its own row.