Costa Rica Travel Insurance – Do You Need It?

One of the things you need to prepare for a trip abroad is travel insurance. I started purchasing travel insurance since my first trip to Costa Rica in 2010. Nowadays, travel insurance is highly recommended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this post, I’ll talk about why you should get travel insurance and my recommended travel insurances for Costa Rica and international. I have also included Trawick International. another insurance I have personally purchased for Costa Rica during COVID.

Why You Should Get Travel Insurance

First of all, well, pandemic. We all know from experience that literally ANYTHING can happen and now, even a pandemic can happen during your travels.

Second, flights are still changing, being cancelled and delayed all the time as the travel industry bounces back. Lost luggage, lost hotel reservations, cancelled trips, are all possibilities even more nowadays.

Now let’s talk about Costa Rica’s entry requirements and the insurance.

Costa Rica COVID Entry Requirements

As of April 1, 2022, Costa Rica no longer has any specific entry requirement to enter the country for tourists. Please read our Costa Rica COVID entry requirements post for specific updated details.

However, we still do recommend to purchase a travel insurance because travel is still recovering from the pandemic and LOTS of changes are happening still. Pilot strikes, cancelled flights, lost luggage, flight delays all have more possibilities to occur now.

If you are looking for a general travel insurance for Costa Rica, I have used two different ones: Trawick and World Nomads. Trawick was the insurance we recommended when travel insurance used to be a mandatory requirement to enter Costa Rica as they offered specific COVID-19 travel to Costa Rica. Although insurance is no longer required to enter Costa Rica, we still highly recommend to purchase travel insurance and Trawick is a great option.

Get a Quote

To get a quote or purchase your Costa Rica Insurance, click the link. We use this site to browse through different insurance options for Costa Rica and other countries.

World Nomads Travel Insurance

We used World Nomads many times before COVID and still use them today. I found World Nomads through Lonely Planet and National Geographic back in 2018 when they were named as one of the best insurance companies.

World Nomads is an Australian company founded by a passionate traveler. He wanted to give an honest and high quality product, something rare in the insurance market back in the early 2000’s. Their insurance covers over 150 countries providing medical, evacuation and 24 hour emergency assistance.

Best of all, they cover a vast range of adventure activities! This is why World Nomads is highly recommended for Costa Rica since the country is known for its adventure. More likely than not, you are going to be doing some of them.

What They Cover

Here is the slightly confusing part about travel insurance: the coverage. World Nomads provides a few different plans and it all depends on your country of origin and where you are going.

Medical

Medical coverage is up to $100,000 for accidental injury and they also provide coverage for emergency dental treatments and hospitalization. The amount depends on the plan you choose.

Accidental death or dismemberment

Knock on wood this doesn’t happen but in case it does, World Nomads will pay a lump sum to a beneficiary for loss of life or limb.

Lost or stolen goods

World Nomads will reimburse you for lost, damaged or stolen goods.

Collision Damage Waiver

This is a car rental insurance available only on the explorer plan. They will reimburse you for damage to your rental car not in your control such as collision, theft or natural disaster. ***Most car rental companies in Costa Rica do not accept this insurance so you will need to check with the company. You can read more about Costa Rica car rental insurance here.***

Trip cancellation/delay/interruption

They will reimburse you in case you need to cancel a trip due to sickness, accidental injury or death of you or a family member, unforeseen natural disasters, strikes or other reasons. Also applies if your trip had to get interrupted for those reasons. Trip delay coverage applies when for an unused portion of pre-paid accommodation or expenses if you’re delayed for more than 6 hours.

One Call 24/hour assistance

This is their 24 hour phone line. They will help you find a doctor, dentist or medical facility. If necessary, they can help arrange for transportation.

Adventure sports and activities

They cover over 200 different adventure sports and provide coverage for emergency medical assistance or care that occurs during the sport.

My Experience with World Nomads

I’ve purchased World Nomads multiple times for Costa Rica and other countries. Luckily I haven’t had to make any sizable claims with it but I did have to use it in Europe. I got incredibly sick in Ireland and had to see a doctor. I called the One Call 24 hour hotline and they gave me a list of doctors near my location I could see.

There was also one time I wish I purchased travel insurance but didn’t. I was flying to Seattle for the holidays and I got stuck in the horrible Delta-LAX fiasco of massive cancellations and delays. When I was at LAX for my layover, my flight kept getting delayed. First by one hour, then 3, then 20 hours later, they finally announced it was cancelled because of a pilot/crew shortage.

I had spent a whole day and night at the airport and been awake for over 24 hours. Now I needed to get a hotel for 2 nights until my rebooked flight. As if that’s not enough, Delta then proceeded to lose my bag! If I had purchased travel insurance, I could have gotten fully reimbursed because all Delta did was rebook me on a flight two days later.

Needless to say, it was the most frustrating flying experience I’ve ever had and I wish I got travel insurance. Lesson learned. (And I have never flown Delta ever since then.)

Why You Should Get Travel Insurance for Costa Rica

Delays and cancellations

We highly recommend this, particularly if you are visiting Costa Rica during the North American winters. I can’t tell you the amount of times we’ve had to help out our readers who had their flights cancelled or delayed due to the winter storms up north.

Some of them had to cancel entire trips, some of them lost all their tours and hotel reservations, some had to stay in Costa Rica for a couple extra nights until they could get on the next available flight. Many of them had lost their luggage since their flights got cancelled and delayed so many times.

With travel insurance, you will be covered for all of that due to inclement weather.

Rainy season in Costa Rica

Costa Rica rainy season can get extremely intense being a tropical country. If you’re visiting the months of September and October, for most of the country it rains very hard. It is common for some parts of Costa Rica to flood.

In 2016, Hurricane Otto crashed through the north of the country, even killing people and destroying roads and homes. In 2017, Tropical Storm Nate hit Guanacaste hard. Many people had to cancel all their travel plans or they got stuck. Trees fell on houses and cars, roads were closed, etc. Roads are more slippery in rainy season and accidents are more prone to occur during this time of year.

In 2020, the bridge to Nosara collapsed and people got stuck. Tropical rainy season is no joke!

You’re going to adventure in Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a country highly regarded for its fantastic outdoor adventure and sports. Every visitor participates in at least during their trip here whether it’s hiking, ziplining, kayaking, etc. Although safety is the number one priority, accidents can happen.

If unfortunately an accident happens, travel insurance will help cover the cost of emergencies.

Holiday travel means more opportunities for theft

Theft is the most common crime in Costa Rica. If you are visiting during Christmas, New Years or Easter week (spring break), you need to be very careful. Since these are our peak season times, the beaches get packed with both local and foreign tourists camping, drinking and partying.

Unfortunately, thieves take advantage of this time to break into cars and pick pocket. (Make sure to read our Costa Rica safety tips post on how to stay safe).

So there you are, reasons to get travel insurance for Costa Rica and our recommendations.

Ready to get covered for your Costa Rica vacation?

Click here to get the Safe Travels Voyagers insurance for Costa Rica. (Remember to click trip insurance in the menu to easily get a quote).

Click here to get a quote for World Nomads!

Read our other Costa Rica travel tips below!

Getting around Costa Rica

Costa Rica tourist scams

Immigration and customs in Costa Rica

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