COSTA RICA TRAVEL GUIDE 2024: ALL-INCLUSIVE RESORT PROS + CONS

One of the best things about my friend group from high school is that when we talk about making plans, we actually do it. We’ve taken road trips throughout the Southeast, last year a few of us went to Switzerland, and we just got back from a group trip to Costa Rica. Dive in for my Costa Rica travel guide with where we stayed, what we did and wore, and all the pros and cons of staying in an all-inclusive resort.

WHERE WE STAYED + WHAT WE DID: GUANACASTE

Passports in front of Hotel Riu Guanacaste

Aimee, Marissa, Nikki and I stayed at an all-inclusive resort called Hotel Riu Guanacaste, which is located on Matapalo Beach in Guanacaste. They have tons of deals, and when we booked (through Marissa’s dad’s friend at a travel agency), our price for the hotel also included airfare. I’m not sure if we only received that because she works at a travel agency, but knowing that the total price of the trip was pretty much paid for in one go was amazing. We stayed in a beach-front suite (two beds each in two rooms connecting with adjoining doors).

We flew from Birmingham to Atlanta to Costa Rica on Saturday. It was a pretty long travel day (complete with a 3AM alarm), but Costa Rica is the same time zone as Birmingham, so we arrived around 4PM and got a van to the hotel and were able to just get started with a visit to the pool and dinner. On Sunday morning, we chose a few excursions to take throughout the week. A few different companies were set up in the resort with information, and we only talked to the company we had transportation from the resort, but I’m sure we could have browsed more. When we weren’t on an excursion, you could find us crisping up in the sun at the beach or drinking at the pool bar.

We chose to go on two excursions, but there are so many to choose from. We went for a river boat cruise in Palo Verde, which included an hour-long van ride, 30 minutes swimming in a waterfall, an hour-long jungle river cruise with crocodiles and monkeys, lunch and a stop in the city of Liberia. We ended our week with a sunset cruise excursion which included boating, drinks, a stop at a private beach to snorkel and paddle board and dinner. Each excursion was around $100 or $200, and doing two was the perfect amount for us.

Excursions ranged from three hours to fourteen hours—and most excursions (aside from the snorkeling ones) would have required at least an hour drive because of Guanacaste’s location.

WHAT TO PACK FOR COSTA RICA IN JANUARY

Of course my Costa Rica travel guide will have a packing recommendations and outfit ideas! January in Costa Rica is the summer, and we experienced temperatures in the upper 80s and 90s. A very welcome change to the lows in the teens and 20s in Birmingham this week! It’s their dry season then, so we didn’t experience any rain and there really wasn’t a ton of humidity.

Comfortable sandals. This was my biggest mistake: choosing sandals that were cute for walking around the resort, but slipping and sliding on the beach. The sand is painfully hot, so I’d recommend sandals with backs or Chacos. Yes, cute shoes are fun, but you can always crop your feet out of the pictures.
Multiple bikini/swimsuit options. I brought three pairs of swimsuits and honestly could have brought more! It’s nice to wear something new the next day since everything doesn’t fully dry.
Loose skirts, dresses or pants. In our resort, there was one swim-up bar, but every other bar required clothes. Nothing is worse than pulling on jeans over your damp body, so pack a few oversized layers like button-down shirts or dresses that you can just throw over while you walk around!
Sunscreen! I definitely walked away with some tan lines (and some sunburns) even though I was applying sunscreen fairly regularly. Nikki checked a bag, so we added a few full-sized sunscreens to share. Bring some kind of chapstick with SPF, too. I woke up on our final day with lips that looked like they’ve been stung by bees thanks to my sunburn.

ALL ABOUT ALL-INCLUSIVES

Pros:

It’s so nice to not have to make decisions on a trip—I loved Switzerland and I love road trips, but it does become tiring or stressful to have to always choose what you’re doing next. At an all-inclusive, you get to choose excursions, but your choices are limited, so you don’t have to waste time finding a spot to eat.
Another pro was definitely not worrying about transportation. We could walk to everything, and for our excursions, we either got in a van or met on the beach for a boat ride. Much better than trying to figure out the subway system in NYC or missing our stop and traveling two more hours than we needed on a Switzerland train.

Cons:

One of my favorite parts of traveling is trying different restaurants and experiencing local cuisine, and at a resort, you’re definitely limited on your choices (and the quality, IMO). The best meal I had by far was the Casado (or combo plate) on our excursion. There’s a ton of food available at the all-inclusive and different cuisine options (our resort had a Japanese and Italian buffet onsite), but no food blew my mind.
If you’re looking to relax and spend all day by the beach, you can’t go wrong with an all-inclusive. If you like to experience a bit more, you might find an all-inclusive boring—or you’ll at least want to take a few excursions.

MY RECOMMENDATIONS: COSTA RICA TRAVEL GUIDE

Costa Rica was absolutely gorgeous, and going to escape the cold of winter in Alabama was a welcome change. I would definitely recommend making your way there. I loved the all-inclusive resort for relaxing, but in the future, I think I’d like to visit the cities even more—with an extra day or two (we had five), it’d be nice to spend half your time exploring cities then end your time relaxing at a resort or beachfront hotel.