Costa Rica vs South Africa

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

Costa Rica and South Africa, 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 South Africa
Costa Rica	Measure	South Africa
Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution	U.S. travel advisory	Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
6 (better)	Resorts in our catalog	0
★ 4.4	Average guest rating	–
$88–$285/night pp	Nightly rates	–
1 of 6	Adults-only resorts	0 of 0
Low hurricane risk	Hurricane exposure	No hurricane season (better)
May–November ('green season'), with September–October seriously wet	Rainy season	November–March (southern-hemisphere summer thunderstorms)
December–April, bone-dry in Guanacaste	Sweet spot	April–September for dry, mild weather; also prime safari season inland
Spanish (English common in tourist areas)	Language	11 official languages – English widely spoken
Costa Rican colón – USD widely accepted	Currency	South African rand (ZAR)
120V, Type A/B plugs (same as the US)	Power	230V, large Type M/N plugs (special adapter needed)
On the right	Driving	On the left
Liberia – Daniel Oduber (LIR)	Main airport	Durban (DUR) or Johannesburg (JNB)
~3.5–5.5h from the US (nonstops to Liberia)	Flight time	~15–17h from the US East Coast (often via Europe or the Gulf)

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

No mapped resorts yet

South Africa

Weather, month by month

Month-by-month average high temperature and rainfall for Costa Rica and South Africa
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
South Africa · high °F	82	83	82	79	77	74	73	74	75	77	79	81
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
South Africa · rain (in)	5.3	4.8	4.8	2.9	2.2	1.1	1.5	1.9	2.9	4.3	4.8	4.0

Approximate climate normals for Guanacaste / Papagayo and KwaZulu-Natal coast (Durban): planning guidance, not a forecast. A deeper tint is a higher number, read within its own row.