Responsible Travel in Costa Rica: A Guide

Costa Rica is a leader in sustainable tourism, celebrated for its vibrant ecosystems, rich biodiversity, and cultural heritage. Despite its small size, Costa Rica is home to approximately 6% of the world’s biodiversity, attracting nature enthusiasts, conservationists, and eco-conscious travellers alike. This commitment to preserving its natural beauty is reflected in Costa Rica’s national efforts to protect the environment and promote responsible tourism.

Since the 1990s, Costa Rica has implemented numerous initiatives to safeguard its environment and culture. The Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST) programme, for instance, rates tourism businesses based on their environmental and social practices, encouraging accommodations, tours, and other services to operate responsibly. 

The government and private communities protects over a quarter of the country’s land through national parks and reserves, helping Costa Rica remain a sanctuary for endangered species and pristine landscapes

Additionally, Costa Rica generates nearly 99% of its electricity from renewable sources and aspires to be the world’s first carbon-neutral nation. This commitment to sustainability makes Costa Rica a model for eco-tourism globally and a country we are proud to work in.

As a responsible travel company, we endeavour to focus on improving the environment, culture, economy, and well-being of local communities rather than merely reducing the negative impacts of tourism. This concept is rooted in the idea of regeneration—actively contributing to the restoration and enhancement of ecosystems, cultural heritage, and social structures. 

We hope the following guide is useful to understand a little more about the positive and negative impact travel has on the environment and local communities, and how we can help to mitigate it.

Despite Costa Rica’s impressive achievements in sustainable tourism, the growing influx of visitors has presented several challenges:

Overtourism: Popular destinations like Manuel Antonio National Park and the Monteverde Cloud Forest draw thousands of visitors daily, which can degrade natural habitats, increase waste, and strain resources. Excessive foot traffic in sensitive ecosystems disrupts local wildlife and harms delicate flora and fauna.

Wildlife trade and interactions: Some tourists unintentionally support practices that harm wildlife, such as paying for photos with animals, feeding wild species, or purchasing items made from endangered animals. Such activities can encourage illegal wildlife trade and alter natural animal behaviours.

Impacts of climate change: Costa Rica’s ecosystems are vulnerable to climate change, with rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns impacting both marine and forest ecosystems. These changes threaten biodiversity, alter tourist seasons, and challenge the country’s carbon neutrality goals.

Large-scale accommodation and infrastructure strain: The development of large hotels and resorts, especially in coastal areas such as Guanacaste, leads to deforestation, water shortages, and pollution. Such infrastructure often prioritises the needs of tourists over those of local communities, straining resources like water and waste management systems.

How Beyond Tourism is addressing these challenges

Beyond Tourism is dedicated to promoting sustainable tourism practices that alleviate the pressures tourism can place on Costa Rica’s environment and communities. Here’s how they are making a difference:

Promoting off-peak travel and lesser-known destinations: Costa Rica has a summer or dry season in the months of November-March. This is also a time when European countries, Canada, and the US are experiencing winters and heavy snowfall and therefore, an influx of tourists arrives at this time of the year. We make sure we highlight the benefits of travelling at different times of the year, such as seeing the turtles nesting between June-September, or the low crowds in May and June.

Costa Rica has some wildlife and adventure heavyweights, and while it’s well worth spending time in popular places such as Monteverde, Tortuguero and Arenal, we also highly recommend that you take a trip or two into more remote regions of the country, such as our Wilderness and Wildlife trip or Caribbean Explorer itinerary which helps to support lesser known communities and areas.

Choosing public transport and reducing flights: Supporting and promoting public transport can help reduce the number of rental cars on the road, decreasing emissions and traffic. Beyond Tourism actively encourages travellers to opt for buses, shuttles and shared transfers where possible. You also won’t find any internal flights in our suggested itineraries. Whilst you can fly between some destinations in Costa Rica, we design our holidays so that long drive times are reduced. We feel by the time you have added in the airport wait times etc. and added the environmental implications, there is little or no need to fly within Costa Rica.

Educating travellers and raising awareness: We’re committed to guiding travellers on how to engage responsibly with local ecosystems and communities. Our travel materials include handy information on respecting wildlife, minimising waste, and supporting local businesses.

Collaborating with local communities and operators: Beyond Tourism works closely with local communities and operators to ensure that tourism revenues benefit locals and support long-term sustainability. This approach builds mutual respect, preserves cultural authenticity, and enhances the traveller’s experience. While we’re happy to guide you to popular wildlife spots, we also specialise in working with community-managed reserves, such as Cerro Escondido on the Nicoya Peninsula, Los Campesinos near Manuel Antonio, and the Bri Bri Reserve on the Caribbean coast. These unique locations allow you to experience Costa Rica’s incredible nature and wildlife away from the usual tourist crowds, while offering a rare chance to engage with local culture.

Travellers can participate in guided rainforest hikes, visit culturally significant sites, learn about sacred traditions, and enjoy a traditional meal prepared by the community. Additionally, we prioritise using local guides at popular tourist destinations, ensuring funds return to the community. These guides bring deep knowledge and a genuine passion for Costa Rica, offering you a richer, more authentic travel experience. 

Supporting sustainable accommodation: Hotels have one of the largest environmental impacts on a holiday. We’re committed to only work with accommodations that uphold eco-friendly practices, such as those certified by the NCST (National Sustainable Tourism Certificate programme). These accommodations may use renewable energy, reduce water consumption, and support local conservation efforts. Although not all of the accommodation we use is officially NCST certified, you can find out more about our personal criteria here.

This approach to accommodation can actually work against us in peak season as often we find that availability can be an issue. We appreciate this can cause disappointment (and a slight headache for us!) but we feel it is important not to compromise on this pledge.

Travelling responsibly is essential to preserving Costa Rica’s natural beauty and supporting the local economy. We’d suggest that any reputable tour operator should be able to follow these guidelines when developing an itinerary, so it’s useful to have the pointers below to check through. Here’s how you can pledge to making a positive impact as a traveller:

• Choose sustainable accommodation: Look for hotels and lodges certified by Costa Rica’s CST programme or those that demonstrate strong eco-friendly practices. Staying in smaller, locally-owned accommodations often ensures your money supports the local economy.
• Respect wildlife: Avoid taking photos with animals, feeding wildlife, or purchasing souvenirs made from animal products. Observing animals from a respectful distance helps to prevent disruption to their natural behaviours. We do not offer any experiences that include captive animals on our trips to Costa Rica as it’s quite possible that these animals have been captured in the wild and sold as pets. If you do encounter any such experiences on your trip then it is important that you let us know.

Be cautious when souvenir hunting in Costa Rica. If something is made from tortoiseshell (the trade of which is banned), or any other animal part, then it could be from trafficked wildlife. The same goes when ordering food. Avoid anything that is deliberately aimed at tourists with adventurous palates, like turtle meat, monkey or songbird.

• Minimise waste and plastic usage: It’s one of the easiest swaps to make, and one that has a huge impact - especially when it’s hot and you’re rehydrating often. Carry a reusable water bottle (we provide these to each of our travellers), avoid single-use plastics, and responsibly dispose of any waste you produce. Costa Rica is making strides to reduce plastic pollution, and travellers can contribute by minimising their plastic use.
• Support local businesses: Seek out local restaurants for tasty meals, buy crafts from local artisans, and book tours led by local guides. This ensures that your spending directly benefits Costa Rican communities and helps preserve cultural practices - you’ll often find the best conversations are had this way also!
• Practise low-Impact activities: Instead of hopping straight in a hire car, consider low-impact activities like hiking, birdwatching, and kayaking. For example, in Tortuguero, adventure travellers could kayak along waterways searching for turtles and monkeys. One activity that’s both fun and supports reforestation is ziplining. It’s exhilarating and offers a bird’s eye view of the forest canopies, untouched flora, and fauna.These activities reduce emissions and allow you to appreciate Costa Rica’s natural beauty up close.
• Use eco-friendly transport: Use public transport, shared shuttles, or eco-friendly options like bicycles wherever possible. Reducing your carbon footprint not only supports Costa Rica’s sustainability goals but can also offer a more immersive experience.