Costa Rica · Costa Rica
April
Pacific coast transitioning — still largely dry, Holy Week brings Costa Ricans to the beach en masse.
Strong option
#10 of 12 months
There are better months for Costa Rica — see the full ranking below.
See when to go instead →Climate
High
28°C
Low
18°C
Rain
46mm
Sun
6.8hrs/day
30-year climate normals · Open Meteo ERA5
How April scores in Costa Rica
Weather
Very good
Value
Average
Crowds
Average
Events
Very good
Atmosphere
Very good
What you gain in April
- ↑Semana Santa (Holy Week, Easter) is a major Costa Rican cultural moment: the country travels internally, popular beaches fill with Tico families, and the festive atmosphere is genuinely local and lively
- ↑Pacific conditions are still mostly good — afternoon showers begin but mornings are reliably clear for parks and beaches; the rains that arrive are brief and warm
- ↑Prices begin to soften from peak levels in the weeks before Easter; post-Holy Week April represents reasonable value with better-than-average weather
What you sacrifice
- ↓Holy Week itself (Easter week) causes domestic tourism to spike — coastal highways and popular beach towns become very busy with Costa Rican travellers; book well ahead
- ↓Increasing rainfall (46mm) and cloud build-up mean Arenal Volcano is often shrouded; cloud forest destinations like Monteverde become misty
- ↓The Pacific's surf season hasn't fully woken up yet; waves remain small compared to the green-season swell that arrives from May
How April compares to July (best month)
| Factor | April | July ★ |
|---|---|---|
| Weather | 7 | 5 |
| Value | 4 | 8 |
| Crowds | 4 | 8 |
April in other destinations
Lisbon (18°C)Barcelona (17.5°C)Tokyo (19.3°C)Bali (31.5°C)Santorini (16.5°C)Paris (14.7°C)New York (16°C)Marrakech (24.3°C)Amsterdam (12.3°C)Maldives (31.5°C)Rome (17.7°C)Bangkok (34.1°C)Istanbul (14.8°C)Vienna (15.2°C)Seoul (16°C)Dubrovnik (16.7°C)Rio de Janeiro (27.8°C)Kyoto (20.1°C)Phuket (33.8°C)Cape Town (22.3°C)Prague (16°C)Amalfi Coast (19°C)Mexico City (27°C)Medellín (27°C)Fiji (29°C)London (15°C)Sydney (22°C)Iceland (7°C)Tulum (31°C)Dubai (34°C)Singapore (33°C)Hoi An (31°C)Chiang Mai (35.5°C)Miami (28.3°C)Florence (18.6°C)Queenstown (15.5°C)Madrid (17.6°C)Porto (18°C)Edinburgh (12°C)Copenhagen (11°C)Budapest (17°C)Kraków (15°C)Tbilisi (18°C)Palawan (32°C)Hanoi (26°C)Osaka (20°C)Goa (34°C)Cusco (20°C)Buenos Aires (23°C)Mykonos (18°C)Zanzibar (30°C)Sri Lanka (32°C)
Climate data: 30-year normals (1991–2020) from Open Meteo ERA5 reanalysis. Scores compare months within Costa Rica, not across destinations. Methodology →