Solo girl around Costa Rica

Hello there,

I´m planning to take a 2 weeks Spanish course in Costa Rica in March and afterwards I would like to explore the country for another 2 weeks.
Is it easy to travel by public transportation to the highlights of Costa Rica?
Is it safe for a solo girl?
Waht are the must-see?

Thanks a lot for your suggestions and advice.

Public transit is generally cheap and safe, but you do want to watch your belongings on some routes. I had my bag stolen from a busy bus en route back to San Jose, but I was on the tourist bus back from La Fortuna and foolishly left it in the overhead compartment without paying attention to it. Keep your bag by your feet if you can (or under the bus if it's too large).

Elsewhere in the country I always felt like my belongings were quite safe. The bus terminals in San Jose have a reputation, but so does the whole city. I'd try to avoid walking around as a solo female foreigner at night there. Costa Rica is loaded with tourists, so if you stay at hostels you should have no problems finding friends to go out with if you want to explore the city in the evening.

I'd say don't miss Manuel Antonio. The park is well worth at least a full day to walk around and explore, and lounging on the beach can be very peaceful and quiet... until monkeys start rifling through your bag.

Beyond that, I can't help you much. I've mostly only been there to surf and not done too much sight seeing or activities.

Hi there,

I traveled around CR for two wks on my own (plus another 2 wks in Nicaragua) in July 2010. I was 23F at the time.

I found public transit easy to navigate - if you're flying into SJO, I recommend stopping at the tourism desk and asking for a bus schedule - it's a little booklet maybe 4" x 4", and contained hours for all bus routes, natl or intl. Mine was dog-eared by the end of two wks.

Same thing as above, be cautious but not paranoid. I've found that looking like you know what you're doing helps more than anything.

My votes are to check out Tortuguero, and do some volcano-hopping. Have fun!

The challenge with travel in Costa Rica is that "all roads lead to Rome" (aka San Jose). And since San Jose is smack dab in the middle of the country, you'll end up doing a lot of backtracking unless you plan out your route ahead of time. And even if you do plan it ahead of time, you may have to do some backtracking.