Guanacaste vs Ocho Rios

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

Curved pool with blue water surrounded by lounge chairs and palm trees, white gazebo in center, multi-story resort buildings with red-tiled roofs in background.

Guanacaste and Ocho Rios, 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.

Guanacaste guide · Ocho Rios guide · How we score

By the numbers

Guanacaste compared with Ocho Rios
Guanacaste	Measure	Ocho Rios
Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution	U.S. travel advisory	Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
7	Resorts in our catalog	7
★ 4.4	Average guest rating	★ 4.5 (better)
$88–$289/night pp (better)	Nightly rates	$117–$430/night pp
1 of 7	Adults-only resorts	5 of 7
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; the rain is why it's this green
December–April, bone-dry	Sweet spot	December–April
Liberia (LIR), Papagayo resorts 30–45 min	Airport	Sangster (MBJ) ~90 min, or Ian Fleming (OCJ) for small aircraft
Papagayo Peninsula, Playas del Coco, Conchal, Flamingo, Tamarindo	The coast	Runaway Bay → Ocho Rios town → Oracabessa
Nature + beach in one trip; reliable winter sun	Best for	Waterfalls + gardens + excursions; couples classics
Wildlife everywhere; volcano and cloud-forest day trips	Signature	Dunn's River Falls; Blue Hole; Fern Gully

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

Ocho Rios

Weather, month by month

Month-by-month average high temperature and rainfall for Guanacaste and Ocho Rios
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
Ocho Rios · high °F	82	82	83	84	86	88	88	88	88	87	85	83
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
Ocho Rios · rain (in)	1.5	1.2	1.2	1.8	4.5	4.0	3.0	4.2	5.5	7.5	4.0	2.2

Approximate climate normals for Papagayo / Guanacaste and Ocho Rios / St. Ann: planning guidance, not a forecast. A deeper tint is a higher number, read within its own row.