Our First International Trip Post-Pandemic – One Week in Costa Rica After Covid

We miss travel but were anxious about traveling out of the country while our kids aren’t fully launched and somehow getting stuck outside the US for an extended period. At the same time, we were anxious about how our properties were doing in Tamarindo and Langosta and just curious about how Costa Rica was doing after Covid. I had received two free airline certificates from JetBlue as part of a speaking engagement I did (in 2019!), and they were expiring, so that tipped the balance.

On Saturday afternoon, July 10, we landed in Liberia Airport after an 18-month absence. Seven planes delivered passengers into Liberia within a two-hour span, and the normally spacious airport was mobbed. The line for immigration snaked around more than eight rows deep, right up to the entry escalator. There was an additional wait to even descend the escalator. We ended up waiting just over an hour. Thankfully, the line was well-maintained, and everyone was on their best behavior. The Pura Vida lifestyle seems to infect everyone right from the start.

We spent $268 round-trip to upgrade our seats to the “even more legroom” seats, and it definitely paid off as we were able to deplane quickly and be one of the first passengers at least from our airplane on the long immigration line. It also meant we were early enough onboard to have ample room for our carry-on bags – no waiting at the luggage carousel among seven other arrivals.

Our immigration officer was very friendly in dealing with us, despite the crowds, and we were quickly off on Tamarindo Shuttle for an air-conditioned minivan ride to Condo Boom. The ride is about an hour, and I was happily surprised that the traffic was non-existent. It’s mostly just one lane each way from Liberia to Tamarindo, and with so many planes, I expected more volume, but it was a smooth ride. We did slow up at one point, but just to see a pair of monkeys climbing along the power lines:

Our favorite restaurants are still open

We have so many favorite restaurants in Tamarindo – so many that we had to do a second post on favorite restaurants. With just eight days here, we had to be selective about exactly where to go. Our first stop is usually Surf Shack, a burgers and shakes place, and we did get there a few days into our trip. However, the owners were on vacation the weekend that we arrived, so we tried out a new place, Pikatas, which had delicious Mexican – we opted for the fajitas and burrito.

Other highlights:

A Mediterranean egg dish called shakshuka, a banana bowl and mixed smoothies at Breaking Bread:

The typical Costa Rican breakfast of eggs, gallo pinto (rice and beans) and plantains, another version of the fruit bowl and more smoothies at Café Nordico:

BBQ platters at Longboards – pulled pork, pulled chicken, brisket and the most tender fish!

Fine dining at Dragonfly, including a giant red snapper over orzo:

A typical Costa Rican lunch, the casado, which includes rice, beans, plantain, salad or veggies and a choice of meat – I opted for more fish

We still start and end our days with a walk on the beach

Now that we live in Florida and have much easier access to a beach than in New York, I wasn’t sure I would be as awestruck with Playa Tamarindo as I had been on previous trips. However, I was happily mistaken. While I love seeing the beach homes during our walks on Atlantic Beach, Florida, I realize now how much I missed the lush greenery and mountain backdrop accompanying our walks on Playa Tamarindo.

We like to walk early in the morning – before 7a – and at sunset – around 6p – to avoid the hottest parts of the day. Unfortunately, this week those hours do not coincide with low tide, which is how we normally plan the timing of our walks. At high tide, the beach is at its narrowest, and more rocks and shells wash up. This makes the walking much slower, though still doable. On the plus side, we have a lot to look at:

Interesting seashells (and then putting them back in the water):

The retreating tides that create patterns in the sand that look like trees:

With tourism picking up steam here, the day-cruise boats are in full force:

The dry season is over and it is transitioning to the rainy season now. We have been caught in some showers and have had cloud cover block the sunset views. However, we still enjoy the coloring, if not the full egg yolk effect of the sun setting on the ocean horizon:

Errands are still more fun in a tropical paradise

We had several errands on this trip, including finalizing some details on potential real estate transactions. As I posted before, the Costa Rica real estate market is hot right now, which made us seriously think about selling.

We signed a power of attorney with our real estate attorney while we’re here live, since this transaction requires a wet (live) signature, though other sale/ purchase paperwork can be done virtually. We did a couple of walk-throughs of our vacation house, Casa Salita, as we want to do some renovations while the weather is still dry enough and tourism is not at its peak (which is in the dry season – December through March). We had hoped to do some shopping in the more urban Liberia, but the car rental costs were higher than expected, making the trip impractical. We priced out hiring a car service for the day, and it came to $200!

What to know about traveling to Costa Rica post-Covid

Rules change, so check with the US Embassy for the most up to date guidelines. On our end, we had to get travel insurance in order to enter Costa Rica. This cost us just under $70 for the two of us for eight days of coverage. Just a few months ago, it was required to have a specific Costa Rica-based insurer, which would have cost over $100, so already there are changes.

We didn’t need to take a Covid test to enter Costa Rica, but we do need to take one and test negative to re-enter the US. There are several places to do this right in Tamarindo, or you can do it at the airport before your flight. We opted for a local doctor in Tamarindo, who charges $65 per test for results within 24 hours. For a Sunday flight, we booked our test for Thursday morning, leaving us several days to find alternate arrangements should something go wrong.

As in the US, car rental prices have ticked up higher, though other prices seem unchanged. Food is still a great value. Our gourmet meal at Dragonfly, where we each ordered a drink, appetizer, entrée and dessert, set us back just under $45 per person, and that was by far the most expensive meal of our trip. The exchange rate is ~620 colons to 1 US dollar, up from mid-500’s in 2019. Yet, the prices in colons seem unchanged. Some restaurants price in dollars so you don’t get the exchange rate benefit but you still get the benefit of flat prices. Our trip for the week will be about $1,200, half of which is food. Keep in mind that we didn’t rent a car, the base price of our airfare was paid for and our condo is paid for by our rental income.

We’re already making plans to return in a few months. How about you? Any international trips in the near future?