Guanacaste vs Negril

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

Large turquoise pool with lane markings at Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton Resort & Spa, flanked by white buildings, palm trees, and blue lounge chairs under clear sky.

Guanacaste and Negril, 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 Negril
Guanacaste	Measure	Negril
Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution	U.S. travel advisory	Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
6	Resorts in our catalog	14 (better)
★ 4.4	Average guest rating	★ 4.5 (better)
$88–$285/night pp (better)	Nightly rates	$127–$490/night pp
1 of 6	Adults-only resorts	8 of 14
Low hurricane risk (better)	Hurricane exposure	In the hurricane belt
May–November ('green season'), seriously wet September–October	Rainy season	May–June and September–November
December–April, bone-dry	Sweet spot	December–April, with a sunset every night of the year
Liberia (LIR), Papagayo resorts 30–45 min	Airport	Sangster (MBJ), ~75–90 min transfer
Nature + beach in one trip; reliable winter sun	Best for	Beach purists, couples, long unhurried stays
Wildlife everywhere; volcano and cloud-forest day trips	Signature	Sunsets at Rick's Café; calm swimmable water

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

Negril

Weather, month by month

Month-by-month average high temperature and rainfall for Guanacaste and Negril
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
Negril · high °F	83	83	84	85	87	89	89	89	88	87	86	84
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
Negril · rain (in)	0.8	0.6	0.7	1.3	4.2	3.8	2.6	3.8	5.5	7.0	3.2	1.4

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