Guanacaste vs Halkidiki

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

Large curved swimming pool with bright turquoise water overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, with white umbrellas, loungers, and pine trees at Ikos Oceania.

Guanacaste and Halkidiki, 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

Guanacaste compared with Halkidiki
Guanacaste	Measure	Halkidiki
Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution	U.S. travel advisory	Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions (better)
6 (better)	Resorts in our catalog	3
★ 4.4	Average guest rating	★ 4.7 (better)
$88–$261/night pp (better)	Nightly rates	$342–$472/night pp
1 of 6	Adults-only resorts	0 of 3
Low hurricane risk	Hurricane exposure	No hurricane season (better)
May–November ('green season'), seriously wet September–October	Rainy season	October–December, lightly; no true wet season
December–April, bone-dry	Sweet spot	June and September; May can still be cool in the water
Liberia (LIR), Papagayo resorts 30–45 min	Airport	Thessaloniki (SKG); Kassandra 60–75 min, Sithonia and Ouranoupoli around 2 h
Nature + beach in one trip; reliable winter sun	Best for	Calm shallow swimming, a local rather than package feel, luxury without an island ferry

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

Guanacaste

Halkidiki

Weather, month by month

Month-by-month average high temperature and rainfall for Guanacaste and Halkidiki
Measure	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Guanacaste · high °F	91	92	93	93	91	88	88	88	87	86	87	89
Halkidiki · high °F	50	53	59	67	76	84	89	89	81	71	61	53
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
Halkidiki · rain (in)	1.4	1.4	1.6	1.5	1.7	1.2	0.9	0.8	1.1	1.8	2.1	2.0

Approximate climate normals for Papagayo / Guanacaste and Thessaloniki (the coast runs a touch milder): planning guidance, not a forecast. A deeper tint is a higher number, read within its own row.