Crete vs Guanacaste

Outdoor dining area with white sail shade canopies over wicker chairs and tables, black support columns, and sea views beyond.

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

Crete and Guanacaste, 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

Crete compared with Guanacaste
Crete	Measure	Guanacaste
Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions (better)	U.S. travel advisory	Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
18 (better)	Resorts in our catalog	6
★ 4.6 (better)	Average guest rating	★ 4.4
$45–$2113/night pp (better)	Nightly rates	$88–$285/night pp
5 of 18	Adults-only resorts	1 of 6
No hurricane season (better)	Hurricane exposure	Low hurricane risk
November–February	Rainy season	May–November ('green season'), seriously wet September–October
June and September; July–August is hottest and busiest	Sweet spot	December–April, bone-dry
Food-driven beach trips, history day trips, long seasons	Best for	Nature + beach in one trip; reliable winter sun

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

Crete

Guanacaste

Weather, month by month

Month-by-month average high temperature and rainfall for Crete and Guanacaste
Measure	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Crete · high °F	60	61	64	69	76	83	85	85	81	74	68	62
Guanacaste · high °F	91	92	93	93	91	88	88	88	87	86	87	89
Crete · rain (in)	3.5	3.0	2.2	1.0	0.6	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.8	2.7	2.3	3.0
Guanacaste · 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 Crete (north coast) and Papagayo / Guanacaste: planning guidance, not a forecast. A deeper tint is a higher number, read within its own row.