11 Days in Costa Rica

Costa Ricans are incredibly friendly, happy and easy going people! It's not difficult to make friends with the local Ticos while you're here. Maybe consider learning a few words of Spanish with something like DuoLingo before you arrive! We recommend starting off with “Hola” (hello), “Gracias” (thank you), and of course “Donde esta la playa?” (where’s the beach?).

LGBTQ rights in Costa Rica are impressive, given the influence of conservative religions in this part of the world.  Same-sex marriage and adoptions have been legal since 2020, transgender people are able to change their legal gender and the country is recognized as a leader in human rights in Latin America.

Local Costa Rican cuisine tends to be a mix of food from all over the region from Gallo Pinto for breakfast, to Mondango (try it if you're brave) for dinner.  Rice and beans are staples here too.  Detours doesn't believe in limiting your choices by including all of your meals at pre-decided restaurants as part of the trip package. Instead, we include all of your breakfasts to start your day off as well as select meals through the trip, then encourage you to explore all of the different restaurant options available to you for other lunches and dinners. This way you can eat when you want, where you want, with whomever you want, and spend what you want! Your trip leader definitely has their favorite spots so if you'd like some advice on the best in each location, just check with them.

Our advice is simple. Pack your bag, then take half of those things out and leave them back home. It’s common to hear people wishing they’d packed less stuff, but we’ve never heard anyone complain that they didn’t bring enough. Costa Rica is a relatively inexpensive country, meaning even if you realize you forget to pack some crucial item you can just pick it up on the trip for cheaper than what it would have cost back home. We'll include some trip-specific packing advice based on expected weather as part of our update email to you, sent 60 days prior to your trip.

Costa Rica uses a mix of their own currency (Costa Rican Colones) as well as US Dollars.  In an effort to avoid bank fees, we suggest arriving to Costa Rica with some local currency (around 200,000 CRC) as well as your ATM and credit cards just to be completely prepared. 10,000 Costa Rican Colones is worth around $16 USD, so if your dinner bill costs 5,000 Colones that's only $8 :)

Tipping isn’t a native Costa Rican custom, however, it has become an expected part of the tourism industry, similar to most other places in the world. We suggest tipping for services in a similar way as you would at home; that is, if your dinner bill is 5,000 colones then we encourage you toss at least 500 colones in on top of that. That extra bit is very appreciated by the service staff.

We have pretty high standards when it comes to choosing our accommodations, and trust us, we’ve done plenty of room-sniffing, pillow-patting, and bathroom inspections to make sure we stay at quality spots. To be approved as a Detours accommodations provider, a guesthouse must: be locally owned (to support the local community), be in an amazing location (close to the beach or other hot spots), AND be gay-owned or gay-friendly. We won't be staying in 5-star Ritz-Carltons but we also won't subject you to anything we wouldn't want to stay in ourselves. Clean, comfortable, well-located spots that'll put a smile on your face, you can count on that!  Click on the "accommodations" tab to get a better idea of what accommodation we use on this trip.

All Detours trips are led by one of our own Detours trip leaders.  They're there with you every day and their job is to help ensure that this is your trip of a lifetime by taking the hassle out of your trip and enabling you to experience everything you came to Costa Rica for.  Consider them like a friendly concierge that's traveling along with you.  All of our trip leaders are gay and all are well-traveled and experienced in the destination they're leading in, so they'll be a great part of your experience!

We do absolutely everything possible to avoid needing such a mundane awakening. A world without alarm clocks is one we want to be part of, and your “rise and shine” while in Costa Rica will come from the sound of crashing waves, an bilingual parrot squawking, or perhaps even monkeys jumping onto the roof of your bungalow.

For many people, 11 days in Costa Rica just isn’t enough time. If you’re lucky enough to be able to stay longer, or if you decide to quit your job and become a beach bum in Central America for the rest of your life, we’d be happy to offer advice to extend your trip. We’ve been all over the area, so don’t think twice about asking where to go or what to do after your Detours trip is complete.

Our Costa Rica group trips are run with a maximum of 16 travelers. Ages of group members vary but the average travelers are in their 40's, and 50's. Whatever the age of the guys on our trips everyone's already got something in common, an exciting new experience in a new country! Each group is led by a Detours trip leader who is there to ensure everything goes off without a hitch, allowing you to focus on having the time of your life!

As previously mentioned, Costa Rica is Central America's most gay friendly country and most people are welcoming of homosexuality. That said, public displays of affection (gay or straight) are generally frowned upon. In respect for their local culture we usually suggest keeping your excitement and affection for your partner to more private locations.

No problem! Don’t worry, overall, over 50% of our travelers come solo and our trip will provide plenty of chances to meet great people both inside and outside of our group, including other solos. As far as your accommodations go, you’ve got two choices. We can either pair you up with another solo group member in a two-bed room, or you can have your own room for a reasonable surcharge.

Costa Rica uses a "type A" and "type B" plug, the same as North America and several other places in the world. The voltage is 120V with 60 Hz frequency. These days, the majority of items that are plugged into an outlet are built to handle varying voltage and frequency levels, but just to be sure, we suggest checking your item for its acceptable range.