Costa Rica Honeymoon: How to Plan a Trip That's Actually Yours

If you're planning a Costa Rica honeymoon, you're probably overwhelmed with the options. Costa Rica is a small country, but the options seem endless, especially when every resort seems to be 'the best honeymoon hotel in the world'. This guide is for that decision. Our team is based in Costa Rica, and together we've planned over 3,000 trips across Latin America. What follows is simply what we tell couples on the phone, whether or not they ever book with us. We'll cover when to come, the regions and hotels that actually suit a honeymoon, what an all-inclusive really trades away, what everything costs, and a sample ten-day itinerary you're welcome to steal.

Is Costa Rica a good honeymoon destination?

Absolutely! If your idea of a honeymoon includes actually doing things together, Costa Rica is one of the best places on earth for it. We usually recommend packing in the adventure at the start of the trip and then finishing with three or four days of doing absolutely nothing on a beach to recharge.

The country is safe, easy to travel, and diverse enough that you can drive 30 minutes in any direction and experience something completely different.

It's honestly not for everyone, though. If your dream honeymoon is crystal clear blue waters, a swim-up bar, a lounger, and never leaving the property, then this probably isn't the destination for you. Costa Rica is best for couples who want a mix of adventure and relaxation. If that's you, keep reading.

The best time of year for a Costa Rica honeymoon

Short answer: there is no bad time to visit! But you should visit certain places during certain times of year and avoid them at other times.

December–April (dry season): Reliable sun on the Pacific side, the busiest and most expensive months. December through February is when most honeymooners travel and, not coincidentally, when most of you are reading this, planning around a spring wedding. Book six to nine months out for the best small hotels.

May–June: The start of the green season, and one of our favorite windows. Mornings are usually sunny, afternoon showers cool everything down, the landscape starts to bloom, and rates drop 20–30%.

July–August: A brief mid-rainy-season dry spell locals call veranillo. It's busier with families due to summer school break in the US, so choosing an adults-only property is key this time of year.

September–October: The wettest months on the Pacific, but the driest on the Caribbean coast, which runs opposite of the Pacific. This is the insider move for a September honeymoon — though note that some areas, like the Osa Peninsula and Santa Teresa, have hotels that close entirely for a few weeks this time of year.

November: Everything is super green, and the December crowds haven't arrived. A sleeper pick.

It is also important to note that the weather in the tropics is pretty unpredictable, especially with the increasing global temperatures. What was once known as absolute dry season, now sees rain, and what was once known as rainy season, can now at times see no rain. A lot has changed in the last 5 years here in Costa Rica.

For a fuller month-by-month breakdown, see our Costa Rica destination page.

The best regions and honeymoon resorts in Costa Rica

Where you stay really does matter in Costa Rica, so here's the honest map: the regions, who each one suits, and the specific honeymoon hotels in Costa Rica we book again and again.

This is by no means a comprehensive list! There are plenty more hotels we could name. But every couple is different, so it comes down to what would make the trip yours, how much time you have, and your budget.

The Central Valley & cloud forest (or your first and last nights)

Most couples treat San José as a layover but the coffee highlands above the city are one of the most romantic corners of the country, and worth your first two nights if you can fit them in.

Finca Rosa Blanca — A charming boutique inn on a working organic coffee farm, with hand-painted suites and one of the best coffee tours in the country steps from your room. An unforgettable soft landing.

Peace Lodge — Inside the La Paz Waterfall Gardens: stone fireplaces, waterfall showers, and a balcony hot tub facing the cloud forest. Over-the-top in the best way.

El Silencio Lodge — Minimalist suites in a private cloud-forest reserve in Bajos del Toro, surrounded by waterfalls. The name means "the silence," and it delivers exactly that.

Monteverde

The classic cloud forest with hanging bridges, hummingbirds, and misty mornings made for two.

Koora — Modern, glass-walled rooms perched high above Monteverde with views that stretch to the Gulf of Nicoya on clear days. The freshest stay in a town of aging mountain lodges and it is walking distance to our favorite food experience in the entire country, San Lucas Treetop Dining.

Arenal & La Fortuna

Volcano views, rainforest, and hot springs everywhere. This is the region almost every honeymoon should include. It also has the country's deepest bench of hotels, at every budget:

Nayara — Three sister properties on one rainforest hillside, each with its pros and cons; for honeymoons we book the adults-only villas with private spring-fed plunge pools. The benchmark for romance in Arenal, these properties consistently top lists of the best honeymoon hotels in the world, for good reason. Pro tip: if you're booking a Nayara property, put it at the end of your itinerary so you finish on a high note, because this place is hard to follow.

Amor Arenal — Adults-only casitas tucked into the rainforest, each with its own plunge pool. More intimate than the big names, which is exactly its appeal, but they have memorable add-ons like a private dinner and wine pairing in the wine cava and specialty spa and wellness experiences.

The Springs Resort — Enormous rooms, head-on volcano views, and a multi-level hot-springs complex you could spend the whole trip exploring. This is the pick for couples who want a classic resort experience and a livelier atmosphere rather than a sleepy one. We wrote about its pools in our roundup of Costa Rica hotels worth booking for the pool alone.

Lomas del Volcán — Our budget-friendly pick: simple wooden cabins with straight-shot volcano views. Book the Deluxe rooms so you get the jacuzzi, we promise it's worth it!

Guanacaste & the north Pacific

The sunniest, driest region and the easiest to reach, 30–60 minutes from Liberia airport.

Casa Chameleon Las Catalinas — Adults-only villas, each with a private pool, above a car-free beach town built like a Mediterranean hill village. The sunsets are absurd, this place was made for honeymoons.

Rio Perdido — A design-forward boutique hotel set in a private thermal-river canyon near Miravalles volcano. Soaking in a warm river at the bottom of a canyon is one of the country's most unique experiences, and the whole operation puts sustainability first so you can feel good about your stay.

The south Pacific coast: Manuel Antonio & Uvita

Wilder, greener, and more dramatic, where the rainforest meets the sea. This is the coast for couples who want wildlife with their beach. It's a popular destination for a reason!

Arenas del Mar — One of the only hotels in the area with direct beach access, resident sloths and monkeys on the grounds, and the kind of service our couples write to us about afterward.

Los Altos — The new townhouses here are the best new game in town for honeymooners who want a modern feel: multi-level space, private plunge pools with ocean views over the canopy, and room to actually spread out. We love them.

Kurà — A handful of adults-only villas perched high above the Costa Ballena coastline, with the most romantic view in the country of the iconic whale tail beach.

The Caribbean coast

A different Costa Rica with Afro-Caribbean culture, jungle-to-sand beaches, and its best weather in September and October, when the Pacific is wettest.

Aguas Claras — Pastel Victorian-Caribbean cottages in Puerto Viejo with an excellent restaurant and a wild, gorgeous beach out front. If this coast is on your list, there really is no better or more stylish stay, especially for a honeymoon.

Should you book an all-inclusive honeymoon in Costa Rica?

It's a fair question, and our honest answer is: for most couples, no… with a couple of real exceptions, because every couple is different. (Cheesy, but true.)

Almost everything that makes Costa Rica great happens outside the resort walls, like the cloud forest, the volcano, the hot springs, the wildlife, etc. An all-inclusive puts you in one (dry, beautiful, somewhat un-Costa-Rican) corner of the country and gives you a financial reason never to leave, because… well that's what you paid for. You'd miss so much of what this country is about. Some couples know that and choose it anyway, and that's completely okay, but we'd be doing you a disservice if we recommended it as the whole honeymoon.

Now, the exceptions. We almost always suggest splitting your trip between two or three regions, and folding a few all-inclusive nights into that split can be a great way to meet in the middle: rainforest and adventure first, then two or three effort-free nights at an all-inclusive to close things out. And if you only have a handful of days and your one goal is to decompress after wedding week, an all-inclusive can genuinely be the right move. If that's your situation, our guide to five days in Costa Rica covers how to spend them.

What surprises most people is the cost. A well-planned custom trip that includes hotels in two regions, private transfers, and a few guided experiences usually starts around $3,500 per person in the high season and $2,500 per person in the low season for a week long trip, which works out to a daily spend similar to a good all-inclusive once you add the flights, spa days, and excursions resorts sell separately. You're not paying more to see the country; you're paying about the same to see it or not see it.

One more insider note: all-inclusive pricing in Costa Rica isn't what it is in Mexico. Resorts here generally cost more for a less polished all-inclusive experience, food and drinks included, which is worth knowing before you compare a Papagayo package to a Mexican Caribbean one.

So: should you book an all-inclusive? For the whole trip, probably not. For part of the trip? Maybe!

Start planning your honeymoon with us.

A sample 10-day Costa Rica honeymoon itinerary

Here's a trip we've built, in different variations, hundreds of times: cloud forest first, then the wild southern Pacific coast, ending with the volcano and hot springs.

Day 1 — Arrive and climb into the clouds. Land in San José, meet your driver, and head up into the coffee highlands. Fireplace, hot dinner, early night. The wedding is officially over.

Day 2 — Coffee and waterfalls. A morning tour of a working coffee farm (with a proper tasting), then an afternoon hike to a waterfall, hummingbirds everywhere.

Day 3 — To the southern Pacific. A scenic private transfer down the southern Pacific coast. Your home for the next four nights: an adults-only hideaway perched high above the coastline, a handful of villas around a saltwater infinity pool overlooking the Pacific.

Day 4 — Whales and the national park. A morning boat tour in Marino Ballena National Park — humpback whales calve in these waters much of the year, and dolphins are a near-daily sight. Afternoon at the beach or back at the pool.

Day 5 — Waterfalls, the jungle way. Hike or ride horseback into the Nauyaca waterfalls, one of the country's most spectacular swimming holes, then a slow afternoon and dinner at one of Uvita's surprisingly excellent restaurants.

Day 6 — Nothing, on purpose. Every honeymoon needs one scheduled empty day. Couples' massage, pool, books, repeat.

Day 7 — To the volcano. Travel day north to Arenal — a private transfer with a good lunch stop, or a short domestic flight if you'd rather trade road time for a nap. Check in at an adults-only resort where every villa has its own spring-fed plunge pool, then spend the evening in yours, watching the volcano's silhouette fade into the dark.

Day 8 — Hanging bridges and hot springs. A morning canopy walk with a private naturalist guide who will find you sloths you'd never spot alone; an evening soak in thermal river pools heated by the volcano itself.

Day 9 — Choose your adrenaline. Whitewater rafting, waterfall rappelling, or an e-bike loop around the lake — then one last night in the plunge pool.

Day 10 — Fly home. A three-hour transfer back to San José, already planning the anniversary trip.

Every piece of this is customizable, so you can trade the south coast for Santa Teresa, add in a few days somewhere special, or stretch it to a full two weeks. See more sample Costa Rica itineraries, or tell us what you have in mind.

How much does a Costa Rica honeymoon cost?

Real numbers for two people, excluding international flights, shown for a 7-night (one-week) trip and an extended 10-day trip:

Planning it yourself, mid-range: roughly $4,000–6,500 per couple for a week, or $5,500–8,500 for 10 days. Comfortable small hotels ($200–300/night), a rental car, meals out, and a few tours. Add planning time and some trial-and-error. Our guide to what Costa Rica actually costs breaks these down further.

An adults-only all-inclusive: roughly $4,500–7,000 per couple for 7 nights at the properties honeymooners actually want, or $6,000–9,500 for 10 days, before excursions and top-shelf extras.

A custom boutique trip with us: from about $2,500 per person. For a week, that's roughly $5,000 per couple at the starting level and $6,000–8,000 at the midlevel; a 10-day trip with higher-end properties like Nayara Springs runs $8,000–12,000+ per couple, private transfers and guides included.

Most couples come to us with a budget already set. So the real question isn't usually how much to spend; it's the best way to spend the amount you have.

Do you need a travel planner for a Costa Rica honeymoon?

Could you plan it yourself? Sure. Costa Rica is an easy enough country to travel. But here's the honest case for not going it alone on this particular trip. (If you'd rather DIY it, start with the seven mistakes we see most often.)

You get one honeymoon. One shot! No room for a mediocre hotel or the five-hour transfer nobody warned you about. And you're planning it during the busiest year of your life, wedding planning these days is more time-consuming than ever, with endless details to think about and family dynamics to navigate.

A planner based in Costa Rica changes what that one shot looks like. Every property we recommend has been vetted by someone who has physically stood in the room, who knows about the ongoing construction next door that you'd hear from your balcony, which no review site will tell you. Because we work with these hotels year after year, our rates match or beat booking direct, and our couples get the extras that come with arriving as our guests: honeymoon amenities, the best-positioned room at the hotel, upgrades when they're available (almost always for our honeymooners!). We also like planting a few surprises along the way, like a private waterfall picnic or champagne appearing at sunset. These are the moments you'll still be telling people about at your tenth anniversary. And if a flight cancels or a road floods mid-trip, a human in Costa Rica answers the phone, not a call center.

The process is simple: (1) a free call to understand what you two actually want, (2) a custom itinerary built by a planner based in Costa Rica, (3) refinements until it's right, (4) full support on the ground while you travel. Book a free planning call, and if you'd rather do it yourself, this guide should get you most of the way there, genuinely.