The Costa Rica weather is as varied as its wildlife and activities! Although Costa Rica is approximately the size of West Virginia, there are many different climates zones within the country.

If you were planning a trip to West Virginia in January, you would simply check the weather for January and be safe assuming the weather would be pretty much the same for the whole state.  This is not true for weather in Costa Rica! For that same month of January, you could check the weather in the Guanacaste region and find that it is the “dry season “with high temperatures and very little rainfall.  Yet travel a mere 100 miles east to the Northern Caribbean region and you will find it is their “wet season”.

You would need to pack very differently for these two regions that are separated by less than 100 miles!  Costa Rica has a tropical climate and therefore the temperature does not vary by much in any region during the year.  The temperature varies by elevation rather than season. You will always experience higher temperatures in the lower elevations and cooler temperatures in the central valley and mountainous regions.

Another contributing factor to Costa Rica weather is the fact that the country is located close to the Equator. Most destinations in Costa Rica have two primary weather seasons, the "Dry Season" and the "Green Season". This varies considerably dependant on the location due to mountainous terrain and the Pacific Ocean and caribbean Sea. Many savvy tourists plan to experience the nice weather and lushness of the in-between seasons while saving money with Green Season pricing.

Pacific TradeWinds SA hopes to help you be better prepared for your trip and planned activities with the following pages.