Costa Rica in December Is Two Trips, and the Calendar Decides Which

Tamarindo Beach in the week after Christmas, with dry-season hills across the bay. Photo: Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz (Mariordo), CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped and brightened.

On Wednesday, December 9, the Costa Rican school year ends. Eleven days later, on December 20, the legal deadline arrives for private employers to pay the aguinaldo, the thirteenth month of salary that nearly every worker in the country receives. Put those two dates together and you can predict, almost to the weekend, when Costa Rica's beaches stop belonging to visitors and start belonging to Costa Rican families.

That is the part most guides to Costa Rica in December skip. The weather is the easy bit: on the Pacific side, December is dry season. The harder question is which December you are booking, because the first half and the second half of the month feel like two different countries. Same sun, same beaches, very different prices, roads and moods.

The travelers we see enjoying December most at our Tamarindo hotel are usually the ones who knew which half they were walking into. Here is how the month actually breaks down, where the weather is kindest, and where to stay depending on what you want from the trip.

Costa Rica in December, before the country goes on vacation

By the first week of December, the dry season has usually settled in across most of the Pacific. The national weather service (IMN) expects the 2026 to 2027 dry season to start on normal dates: between November 3 and 15 in the North Pacific, where Guanacaste and Tamarindo sit, between November 8 and 23 in the Central Valley, and in the second half of November for the Central Pacific. The South Pacific is the late one, around November 30 to December 3.

So the first half of December gets most of the dry-season reward with little of the crowd. The hills are still green from the rains and the beaches are quiet on weekdays. Costa Rican kids are in class until the 9th, and many hotels hold their lower rates until somewhere around the middle of the month, before holiday pricing begins.

A couple of dates are worth knowing in this stretch. December 1 is a public holiday, the Day of the Abolition of the Army, which lands on a Tuesday this year. And on Saturday, December 12, San José holds the Festival de la Luz, its big Christmas parade, now in its 29th edition. This year's version is unusual: no floats, because the companies that normally build them pulled out, so giant inflatables and twelve bands lead the way on a new route from Plaza de la Democracia to Torre Mercedes on Paseo Colón, starting at 6 p.m.

If you are flying into Liberia and want an easy, sunny week by the beach, this is the window we would point you to. A night in San José for the parade is a fun detour for anyone flying through the capital, but it is a long way from Guanacaste for a single evening.

After the 15th, book like everyone else already has

Somewhere between December 15 and 20, the country changes gear. School is out, the aguinaldo is in the bank, and families head for the coast. Christmas week and the days running up to New Year are the busiest of the year, alongside Semana Santa, and the hotels, rental cars and popular tours that are easy to find in early December can sell out weeks ahead.

One comment on the r/CostaRicaTravel forum sums up what many residents say, from someone who has lived in a beach town for more than 20 years: even locals tend to stay home during Christmas and Easter week, and early December or early January is the better bet. Another traveler who likes flying into Liberia in January described the main road out of the airport as bumper to bumper. Both are worth taking seriously if your dates are fixed.

The second half also brings more seats into Guanacaste. New winter routes into Liberia start right in the busiest stretch: United from Washington Dulles from December 17 to January 4, Delta from New York JFK every Saturday from December 19, and WestJet from Ottawa every Sunday from December 20. More flights mean more choice, but they also mean more people landing at the same hour, so leave slack between your arrival and anything you have booked that evening.

Back in the capital, the holiday calendar fills up after Christmas. The Tope Nacional, the national horse parade, returns to San José on December 26 after three years away, this time organized by the Ministry of Culture, starting from Plaza González Víquez with no alcohol sold along the route. The Fiestas de Zapote, San José's year-end fair with rides, concerts and Costa Rican style bullfights where the bull is not harmed, are scheduled for December 25 to January 3, although in late October the city still had not found an operator for the fairground. Check local news before planning a day around it.

The weather splits by coast, not by date

When people ask whether it rains in Costa Rica in December, the honest answer depends on which side of the mountains they mean.

The Pacific coast and the Central Valley are in dry season, with sunny days and only the odd isolated shower. As the month goes on, the trade winds strengthen, a breeze many people call the Christmas winds. It makes nights and early mornings noticeably cooler, and on very windy days some boat trips, zip lines and sailing tours get rescheduled, so leave a spare day in the plan if a Tamarindo catamaran is high on your list.

The Caribbean coast and the Northern Zone work differently. Those regions have no real dry season, and cold fronts from the north can bring cloudy, rainy spells in December and January. This year the IMN expects them to be a little drier than usual, with December rainfall up to 20 percent below normal in the Northern Zone and on the Caribbean side. That is good news for Arenal or Tortuguero, but it is still a forecast, not a promise, so pack a rain jacket for those legs.

The South Pacific is the last to dry out, and a shower there in the first days of December would not be unusual.

What the December wind does to the surf in Tamarindo

On the Guanacaste coast, that same wind is the reason surfers love the dry season. Around Tamarindo it tends to blow offshore, sometimes for several days in a row, from about December to March, which smooths the waves and keeps them clean for longer into the day. Surf schools in town generally describe December to April as the best stretch for beginners: smaller to medium waves, blue skies and tidy conditions. We go into tides and schools in our guide to Tamarindo surf lessons for beginners.

Where to stay in Costa Rica in December

Because the weather favors one coast so strongly, December is the month when the choice of base matters most. A few patterns we see with travelers every year:

If sunshine is the priority, stay on the North Pacific. Guanacaste is usually the driest, sunniest part of the country in December, and Liberia airport puts most of its beach towns within about an hour or two. Our guide to where to stay in Guanacaste compares the towns by distance from the airport.

If you want to walk to dinner and learn to surf, Tamarindo is the obvious fit, with restaurants, surf schools and a long beach in one compact town. Which part of town to choose is covered in where to stay in Tamarindo.

If rainforest and volcanoes are on the list, split the trip. Spend a few nights inland or on the Caribbean side and finish on the Pacific, so the end of the holiday is the sunny part and the rainiest leg is not the one you were most excited about.

If your dates fall after the 15th, book the beach nights first. Those are the rooms that go fastest over Christmas and New Year. Inland stays and city nights are usually easier to fill in later.

What is on the table at Christmas

The dish that defines a Costa Rican Christmas is the tamal navideño: corn dough filled with pork or chicken, rice and vegetables, wrapped in banana leaves, tied in pairs and boiled. Families make them in batches big enough to last from Christmas to New Year at a tamaleada, a kitchen gathering where every generation has a job. Researchers at the Ministry of Culture trace the custom back to the pre-Columbian period, with pork, lard, rice and peas added after the Spanish arrived.

The rest of the menu changes by region. In the Central Valley you will find rompope, a creamy eggnog-style drink, and queque navideño, a fruitcake heavy with dried fruit and rum. Guanacaste has its own list: rosquillas, small rings of corn and cheese, alfajores, atol made from purple pujagua corn, a corn drink called chicheme, and gallina henchida, a stuffed hen. On the Caribbean side, rice and beans is the holiday plate. Turkey and baked pork have joined many tables in recent years, but the tamal is still the one nobody skips.

Spending the holidays across the road from Tamarindo Beach

If you are staying with us at Surf Ranch Tamarindo, you are in one of nine rooms across the road from Tamarindo Beach, close enough to check the waves with your first coffee and walk to dinner in town. There is free public parking on the street, and dogs are welcome. Booking direct gets you the best rate we offer, and direct guests earn 2 percent back in Surf Ranch rewards. You can see the rooms on our Tamarindo page or go straight to book direct. For the second half of December, our advice is the same as for everywhere else on this coast: lock in the room first.

Getting from the airport is worth sorting before you land, especially on the busy weekends. Our Liberia airport shuttle to Tamarindo starts at $120 one way for one to two people, and anyone can book it at surfranchnicaragua.com/shuttles. The Liberia airport shuttle guide explains how it works. Some December travelers also cross into southern Nicaragua for La Purísima and La Gritería on December 7 and 8; our notes on combining Costa Rica and Nicaragua and our San Juan del Sur page cover that side of the border.

Quick answers about Costa Rica in December

Is it warm enough to swim in Costa Rica in December?

On the Pacific beaches, yes. Days are hot and sunny. The wind can make mornings and evenings feel cooler, and on some windy days the water along parts of the Guanacaste coast feels fresher than it does in the rainy season.

Is Costa Rica crowded at Christmas?

Very. Christmas to New Year is the busiest stretch of the year, along with Semana Santa. Expect full beaches, slower roads and early sellouts for rooms, cars and popular tours.

Is early December or late December better?

For value and space, early December. For a festive atmosphere and more flight options into Liberia, late December, as long as you book early.

Which half of December is yours

The first half is for travelers who want dry-season weather at something close to normal prices: couples, surf learners, anyone who likes a quiet beach on a Tuesday. It is also the better choice if you want room to change plans as you go.

The second half is for families tied to school holidays, groups who want to be somewhere lively for New Year, and anyone who enjoys watching a country celebrate. Go in knowing it will be busy, with every important booking made well ahead, and it can be a wonderful time to be here.

And if your calendar is flexible, the first week of January is the quiet secret. The weather is just as dry, the holiday crowds start heading home, and the tamales are still in the fridge.