Weekends/
Travels
During the weekends, volunteers have spare time to relax, enjoy their free time to take the opportunity to go explore other parts of the city and of Costa Rica. The bus will be the cheapest way to go around the country. The tickets cost less than $10, wether you’re going to the east or west coast.
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Volunteers have several local travel options, Costa Rica is known for its beauty and for having unique places in the world.
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We recommend you to visit these places :
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La Fortuna Waterfall, Río Celeste (81km de San José)
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Tortuguero (95km de San José)
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Puerto Viejo de Talamanca (150km de San José)
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La Península de Osa (170km de San José)
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Guanacaste (160km de San José)
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Bocas del Toro (Panamá)
You can ask for more information when talking to your program coordinator.
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MORE INFORMATION
The monthly budget given here is based on volunteers’ previous budget. Every expenses is an average of what you can expect when living in Costa Rica. Your monthly expenses will of course vary depending on the type of activities you choose to do, on whether you cook at home, if you take the local bus, Uber or taxi, etc.
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Here are examples of what you can expect:
Transportation:
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Bus fare in San José, one way in the city: â‚¡320
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Bus fare in Costa Rica, one way to every part of the country: â‚¡7000
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Uber, one way to the foundation from the house situated in Rohrmoser: â‚¡1500
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Uber, one way to the bus terminal in the situated in the city center: â‚¡2500
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Uber, one way to the international airport: â‚¡6000
​Food:
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Feria (fruits and vegetables): â‚¡16.000/ month for one person ($25)
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Supermarket : â‚¡40.000- 80.000/ month for one person ($75)
​Accommodation:
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Room: $300/month
Average budget
Arrival/ Departure
Costa Rica is well connected by air to other Central and South American countries, as well as the USA. The International Airport Juan Santamaría where the international flights arrive, is located 17km northwest of San José (in the town of Alajuela) and is around 30 minutes away from Lifting Hands.
Visas are not required for stays of up to 90 days. For stays longer than 90 days we recommend that each volunteer look how to proceed. If the volunteer can’t apply for a VISA for any reason, he/she will have to leave the Costa Rican territory for at least 2 days before coming back in order to get the authorized 90 days again. The good news is that you could take some vacations to travel to Bocas del Toro (Panamá) before your 90 days and come back... sounds good?!
Visa
Health
Costa Rican travelers do not need to be worried. The water is 100% drinkable and even though mosquitos are present in Costa Rica, it is not common to get ill because of them. If you're coming from some countries (specially located in Africa and South America), you'll need to check for your vaccines, but we can guide you with that!
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It is obligatory to pay for an insurance when comming that covers you. You'll need to send us a copy of it.