When it comes to traveling in Costa Rica, there are a few apps that will come in handy. Gone are the days where one wanders aimlessly through town with a map in their hands to find their destination, now all you need are a few clicks on your smart phone and you’ll be on your way! Download these apps for traveling in Costa Rica to make your trip stress and hassle free.
Waze
If you’re driving, this is one of the best GPS apps for traveling in Costa Rica. This is because Waze is the most widely used navigation app for Costa Ricans, utilizing the user’s generated content like traffic and accident updates, construction, obstacles and more.
You need internet on your phone to use Waze and I recommend downloading it at home, opening up the program and letting it download all the programs and languages before you open it in Costa Rica.
You can also find gas stations, restaurants, hotels and everything on Waze so you can use it as your GPS if you’re renting a car. To use Waze in Costa Rica, type in the name of where you are going as your final destination. You don’t need to type in an address (since there aren’t really addresses here anyways).
Google Maps
Google Maps also works in Costa Rica for navigation but we recommend Waze more though. However, the offline maps on Google Maps is super handy.
If you use Google Maps, you can download the Costa Rica maps offline so that you can use the GPS without data. It won’t populate the information/data without Internet but you can still use it to navigate. I recommend saving the places you’re going to in a “saved your places list” to easily find them.
Map.Me also works offline.
Pro Travel Tip: Get an prepaid SIM card, rent a WiFi hot spot or contact your home provider for an international data plan to have Internet on your phone. SIM Card allows you to have a Costa Rican phone number. Car rental agencies normally rent WiFi hot spots.
CRMaps
This is my favorite Costa Rica app for maps. Although you can find their physical map in the supermarkets, hotels, and tourism businesses, you can also download their app beforehand. They have cartoon maps with businesses and places of interests, a directory, and tide charts. They update it often and is super useful (and their cartoon maps are super cute). Available for Apple and Android.
Uber
If you’re in San Jose, Uber is the best way get around. It’s cheaper than a taxi, generally very efficient and less stressful as you don’t have a dozen taxi drivers pestering you and you have more choices for pricing.
We love using Uber in San Jose and is now our preferred method of transportation. It’s not that much more expensive than a bus and you can get from Point A to Point B, instead of trying to figure out which bus stop is closest to your destination.
Uber is in a few more destinations in Costa Rica like La Fortuna and Quepos. However, we do not recommend relying solely on Uber for your entire time in Costa Rica as it’s not a guarantee it exists where you are going.
Didi is also a ride share available only in San Jose.
Read our tips for taking Uber in Costa Rica.
Instagram is much more than for posting your selfies. Whenever I want to find out exactly how the weather has been in Costa Rica or what one place is like, I’ll check the location tags on Instagram because you can see the photos people post in real time.
Furthermore, many times, they’ll write something in the caption along the lines of “Such a beautiful day today!” or “It poured in the morning but finally got some sun!” That way you can get a better idea of how the weather is like where you are going.
This is the go to communication app in Costa Rica and is one of the best free apps for Costa Rica. Everyone in Costa Rica uses WhatsApp including businesses. Many businesses have a dedicated Whatsapp business account and customer service line. You can message them to ask questions, book tours/shuttles/hotels, etc. Usually they respond faster to Whatsapp or Facebook than email!
When we went canyoning in Jaco, our tour guide took pictures of us on his phone and sent it to us via WhatsApp. We’ve booked shuttles via Whatsapp. We’ve communicated to our hotel we were running late through Whatsapp. So make sure you download WhatsApp to communicate easily in Costa Rica.
Windy and Wunderground
These are the two great apps for Costa Rica for weather forecasts. Costa Rica weather seems like it’d be straightforward since there are only two seasons (rainy and dry), but the weather can change frequently throughout the day, especially in rainy season.
The common weather app like Accuweather or Weather.com is getting better but make sure you aren’t just looking at the forecast as a whole. Check it hour by hour or else you will think it’s thundering, storming, and lighting very day in Costa Rica. Also check humidity levels and % chance of rain. Another very helpful website is the IMN Costa Rica for the latest weather forecasts.
Google Translate
Google Translate is improving a whole lot as a translation. It does a fairly decent job and it can be used offline (must download the languages first). Whether you need to translate a few words, phrases or sentences, it is super useful.
I love the camera function which allows you to hold up your phone camera to something you want translated. It’s a bit wonky but I found it very useful for labels and signs.
In case you want to learn some basic Spanish, I learned Spanish with Duolingo. Available for Apple and Android. There are many Spanish learning apps though.
Mytanfeet tip: Download our Costa Rican Spanish travel guide so you can always have it with you!
Moovit
Moovit (works from San Jose) and La Terminal are two good bus apps in Costa Rica. These apps are some of the best apps for traveling in Costa Rica for budget travelers as most are taking the bus. Yo Viajo is another good app and is now in English!
Passer
This app is for the Tracopa bus line (routes mostly for the Central and South Pacific coast) which allows you to look for and make bus ticket reservations for their routes. It’ll remind you of your journey and let you check/edit it. A must if you’re taking any bus routes with Tracopa. Available in Apple and Android – look for the Passer app with a purple icon.
Magic Seaweed or Surfline
Coming to Costa Rica to surf? The two main surf forecast apps are Magic Seaweed and Surfline. They give long range surf forecasts and it works not only in Costa Rica, but over 300 beaches in 180 countries.
So if you’re traveling through Latin America to surf, this is the best app to have. You can figure out when high and low tide is, when a swell is coming in and what beaches are best during certain times of the year.
Currency Convertor
Want to keep track of the exchange rate? Download the Currency Convertor app to stay on top of your expenses. Since the Costa Rican colon exchange rate changes every day and US dollars are readily accepted, it’s helpful to know what the exchange rate is that day so you can get the correct change. You can also learn more about handling money in Costa Rica here.
iOverlander
If you plan to camp around Costa Rica or find , you need to download the iOverlander app. It is difficult to find good information about campsites in Costa Rica but this app does a decent job. Not even the National Geographic physical map has the campsites!
Wikiloc
This app is a great one if you want to look for random hikes and biking routes. It allows users to save their own trails and hikes, mostly people who bike, hike or overland use this so it’s a fantastic app for finding trails and saving your own.
Polarsteps
If you love travel momentos and reliving your vacation, then download Polarsteps. This app tracks where you went and puts it into a map for you, organized by day and location (or you can change it to how you want). Then for something very special, you can even order it as a book!
One handy thing about the app is you can invite people to follow you so they know where you went and where you are (useful if you want any family members to know where you are during your trip).
Read more Costa Rica travel tips here!
10 cheap activities in Costa Rica
Best souvenirs to buy in Costa Rica
Shopping and tipping in Costa Rica
Costa Rica Vacation Checklist
- First time to Costa Rica? Read our First Time in Costa Rica guide.
- Not sure how to move around Costa Rica? Read our How to Get Around Costa Rica guide to find the best transportation method for you.
- Click the link to get our detailed Costa Rica Packing List so you know what essential items to bring.
- Do not forget to purchase Travel Insurance for your trip to Costa Rica.
- Stay connected by purchasing a prepaid SIM Card in Costa Rica.
- Save money with Mytanfeet Deals for tours and hotels. Save more money with our Costa Rica Car Rental Discount.
Gilles says
Hi MTF!
Thanks for this wonderful info đ
RE: Google maps… can you eleborate on your note please? :
“It wonât populate the information/data without Internet but you can still use it to navigate.”
Cheers!
Sammi says
Hi Giles, so for example if you don’t have internet on your phone but you downloaded the map offline, Google Maps will still save the location so you can navigate towards it from where you are but it won’t populate information like the website, reviews, phone number, etc.
Patty says
Hi! There are several Windy and Wunderground apps. Do you have the exact app links or logos so that I can make sure Iâm using the correct one that you are referring to? Thanks!
Sammi says
Windy should be a red logo, called Windy.com, Wunderground is called Weather data & Microclimate, Weather UNderground
Barb Yanoshek says
Traveling to Costa Rica in about a week. LOVE your blog!!
One quick question….
Why does WhatsApp ask for a credit card number when it is a free app. I’m leery about downloading it, but can see it is needed.
Thanks, Barb Yanoshek
Sammi says
To be honest I have no idea, make sure it is the correct Whatsapp app. I’ve had Whatsapp for years so I never had to download it recently
Jason Doran says
Hey Guys,
I am flying into Liberia and heading down to Montezuma for my B-day in March, I am staying for 15 days and want to rent a car for my stay and travels while I am down there, I also don’t want to spend more than 700 to 800 on a decent little SUV. What place would you recommend for me to rent from that I can pick up at or near the airport right when I land. I appreciate any insight and thank you. Love the sight BTW and the information you guys cover is pretty awesome so thank you for that as well.
Sammi says
I believe the closest agency is in Tambor by the airport if you want to rent a car in Montezuma.
You can also rent a car when you land at the international airport depending on if you want to drive there or not
Laurie Soule says
I will be visiting CR in may for 5-7 days. I have never been and either has my girlfriends. Which airport is the best to fly into? We are looking at resorts, any suggestions? We are interested in seeing the volcano, beach and springs.
Sammi says
You can read our Costa Rica airports guide to see which one is best for you and our Best all inclusive resorts in Costa Rica guide.
Kristy says
Iâm unable to find off the grid. Did the name change again?
Sammi says
Ah yes they did, it’s called Costa Rica Traveler now (with a blue and yellow bus symbol).
Drew says
You should add Merlin Bird ID. It’s a free field guide app for birds that covers Costa Rica. merlin.allaboutbirds.org
Sammi says
Thank you for the recommendation!
Jason says
Can you uber from San Jose airport? If so how convenient is it?
Sammi says
Yes! You can read in this post about using Uber in San Jose: Uber Costa Rica
John says
Thanks for this list. It would be even more useful if you included direct links to the apps, or named the publishers. Many apps have similar names and it’s not always easy to find something with a generic name. Waze and WhatsApp are easy to find because the name is unique, but “Travel Spanish”, for instance, brings up a host of possibilities. In that example, none of the results are actually called “Travel Spanish” in my search results.
Tim says
I recently tried the InCostaRica app via https://incostarica.com/ and I have been impressed thus far. Very Helpful and the Real Estate section is very cool. Maybe you folks could collaborate with them somehow..
Sammi says
Thanks for the rec Tim! I’ll check it out
Julie says
I canât find goCostaRica app in the App Store on my iPad. Is it called something else?
Sammi says
Unfortunately they got rid of the app đ I just removed it from our post.
Cally & John Rivett says
I wish I had this for my last visit in Costa Rica! But I at least I have it for my next one!! Thank you – great list!!
Tom says
Costa Rica idioms doesn’t seem to be free.
Sammi says
No sadly! I’ll update the post, thanks!