Costa Rica vs St. Lucia

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

Private villa courtyard at Serenity at Coconut Bay with turquoise plunge pool, loungers, and pink cottage beyond palm trees.

Costa Rica and St. Lucia, 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 · St. Lucia guide · How we score

By the numbers

Costa Rica compared with St. Lucia
Costa Rica	Measure	St. Lucia
Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution	U.S. travel advisory	Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
7	Resorts in our catalog	14
★ 4.4	Average guest rating	★ 4.5 (better)
$119–$289/night pp	Nightly rates	$89–$810/night pp
1 of 7	Adults-only resorts	7 of 14
Low hurricane risk	Hurricane exposure	In the hurricane belt
May–November ('green season'), with September–October seriously wet	Rainy season	June–November, heaviest September–October
December–April, bone-dry in Guanacaste	Sweet spot	December–April
Spanish (English common in tourist areas)	Language	English
Costa Rican colón – USD widely accepted	Currency	East Caribbean dollar; USD widely accepted
120V, Type A/B plugs (same as the US)	Power	240V, UK-style Type G plugs
On the right	Driving	On the left
Liberia – Daniel Oduber (LIR)	Main airport	Hewanorra (UVF)
~3.5–5.5h from the US (nonstops to Liberia)	Flight time	~4.5–5h from the US East Coast

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

On the map

Costa Rica

St. Lucia

Weather, month by month

Month-by-month average high temperature and rainfall for Costa Rica and St. Lucia
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
St. Lucia · high °F	84	84	85	87	88	88	88	88	88	87	86	84
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
St. Lucia · rain (in)	3.7	2.6	2.4	3.4	4.4	7.5	8.1	8.9	8.4	9.2	7.7	5.2

Approximate climate normals for Guanacaste / Papagayo and Northwest coast (Rodney Bay–Soufrière): planning guidance, not a forecast. Deeper gold = hotter; deeper teal = wetter.