The quick answer
Costa Ricans call themselves ticos, greet warmly, avoid direct confrontation and expect a little more formality with strangers than most visitors from North America bring. Politeness costs nothing here and buys a great deal.
Pura vida
The phrase means, literally, pure life. In use it is a greeting, a farewell, a thank you, a you’re welcome, an I’m fine, and an it’s all right, don’t worry about it. It is used constantly and sincerely, and it carries an attitude that a visitor will notice within a day: an unhurried, unbothered good humor that treats most problems as things that will sort themselves out.
That attitude has a flip side worth knowing. Punctuality is treated flexibly in social contexts, and an arrangement can be softer than it sounded. This is not rudeness and reacting to it as though it were will not help.
A country without an army
Costa Rica abolished its military in 1948, after a short civil war, and wrote the abolition into the constitution that followed. The decision is central to how the country understands itself: the money that would have gone to armed forces went instead to education and health, and Costa Ricans will tell you so. It is also why the country has spent decades as a place of refuge and diplomacy in a region that has had a hard time.
It is worth understanding before you arrive, because it explains a national self-confidence that can otherwise read as smugness, and because it is a source of real pride rather than a piece of trivia.
Greetings and address
- Greet people when you enter a shop, a restaurant or a small hotel. Walking in silently reads as rude.
- Buenos días, buenas tardes and buenas noches, or simply buenas, which works at any hour.
- A handshake with strangers. Between women, and between men and women who know each other, a single kiss on the cheek is normal.
- Use usted with people you do not know, with older people and in any official setting. Costa Rica uses it more widely than most of Latin America, and defaulting to it is safe.
- Señor and señora, or a professional title, with anyone noticeably older than you.
How disagreement works
Direct confrontation is avoided. A request that cannot be met may be answered with something that sounds like agreement, and a complaint delivered forcefully will make things worse rather than better. Raise problems quietly, privately and with a smile, and you will generally get further than you expect. Losing your temper in public is the fastest way to lose the room.
Dress
Casual almost everywhere, but beachwear belongs on the beach. Cover up to walk into town, and dress modestly in churches. San José and the highlands are cooler than visitors expect and people there dress accordingly, so arriving in a vest and shorts marks you out more than it needs to.
Photography
Ask before photographing people, particularly in Indigenous communities, where there may be specific restrictions and where the answer may be no. Do not photograph children without a parent’s clear agreement. In the Caribbean province, be aware that a camera pointed at people going about their day is intrusive in exactly the way it would be at home.
A few things visitors get wrong
- Calling Costa Ricans Ticans or assuming the country is Mexican in culture, cuisine or Spanish. It is neither.
- Treating Limón province as an afterthought. Its Afro-Costa Rican and Indigenous communities, its language and its cooking are a substantial part of the country.
- Feeding wildlife for a photograph, which is harmful, illegal in protected areas and widely resented.
- Haggling in shops. Prices are fixed outside of craft markets.
- Assuming everyone speaks English. Many people in tourism do; away from it, a little Spanish is appreciated out of proportion to how well you speak it.
Indigenous Costa Rica
Eight Indigenous peoples live in Costa Rica, in territories that have their own governance and their own rules about visitors. Access to some is restricted and should be arranged through the community rather than around it. If your itinerary includes an Indigenous territory, go with a guide from that community, ask what is and is not appropriate to photograph, and buy directly from the makers.
Planning with LABUSA Travel
We brief travelers on what to expect and arrange community visits through the communities themselves, which is both the respectful way and the more interesting one.
Sources
- Instituto Costarricense de Turismo: the national tourism board, including official entry guidance and protected-area visitor information. Accessed 11 August 2026.
- Ministerio de Cultura y Juventud: the national cultural calendar, including Afro-Costa Rican heritage month and the commemorations of 31 August. Accessed 11 August 2026.
- Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica: visiting arrangements and the history of the national theater in San José. Accessed 11 August 2026.