Mandatory entry requirements and gradual recovery in Costa Rica

Spread your wings and fly

Costa Rica offers easy access from the most important cities in North America and Europe. It has two international airports -the Juan Santamaria airport in the Central Valley (SJO) and the Daniel Oduber Quirós airport in Guanacaste (LIR) – and is just a one-hour flight from the biggest hub in the Americas. Eighteen airlines offer more than 400 weekly flights to and from the country.

Since Nov. 1, Costa Rica has allowed all countries in the world to enter by air, as long as they meet the country’s visa and COVID-19 entry requirements.

The Government of the Republic has facilitated the entry of international tourists, and since Oct. 26, eliminated the requirement of RT-PCR tests for the detection of the coronavirus. Neither Costa Ricans nor foreigners will be issued sanitary confinement (or quarantine) orders when entering the country by air. These measures are subject to change and dependent on the evolution of the pandemic both in Costa Rica and around the world.

Entry requirements for the country during COVID-19

Complete the digital form called HEALTH PASS available at https://salud.go.cr This pass will be available 48 hours before boarding. It is accessible on any browser except for Internet Explorer. An individual form must be completed for every person, including minors. It is mandatory that tourists purchase travel insurance, covering their accommodations in case of quarantine and medical expenses due to COVID-19 illness.

Guarantee of coverage for medical expenses in cases of pandemic disease COVID 19 in Costa Rica, for at least US $50,000 (fifty thousand dollars of the United States of America). A minimum coverage of US $2,000 for extended lodging expenses due to pandemic illness or trip interruption/cancellation due to illness, which covers the extra cost of the passenger due to quarantine.

If you do not have international insurance, it is possible to opt for travel insurance from Costa Rican companies approved by SUGESE (General Superintendency of Insurance of Costa Rica), which offer their services at Juan Santamaría international airports (city of San José) and Daniel Oduber Quirós (city of Liberia).

National insurances meet all the requirements to have coverage of medical expenses for illness, including COVID-19, for a minimum amount of $20,000 and coverage for extended lodging expenses or quarantine, due to pandemic illness, for a minimum amount of $2,000.

Foreigners with temporary or permanent residence or temporary category who return to Costa Rica, and who are not up to date with the corresponding payments with the Costa Rican Social Security Fund, must purchase temporary local insurance for 22 days or bring international insurance that complies with the requirements of a foreign tourist. In the case of foreigners with the migratory category of permanent or temporary resident, or special category in the latter case, with the exception of the Student Subcategory, they must demonstrate the insurance by the Costa Rican social security, which can be verified at https://sfa.ccss.sa.cr/servMedicos/validarDerechos.do

Costa Rica records gradual tourism recovery

Despite eliminating the requirement for a negative coronavirus test and opening its airports to the world, Costa Rica welcomed just 36,044 people in November, according to data shared by the Tourism Board (ICT). The figure represents more than a threefold increase over October, when the country registered 9,888 air arrivals. In September, 3,371 people landed in Costa Rica, while in August — the month Costa Rica reopened its airports to a limited number of countries — just 1,636 people arrived.

JetBlue launches new routes to Costa Rica

The Costa Rica Tourism Board and JetBlue celebrated new routes for the North American carrier to Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) and Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (LIR). Saturday afternoon, a JetBlue flight from Los Angeles arrived in Liberia, Guanacaste, and a plane carrying 112 passengers from the same California city landed at the San José-area airport on Sunday morning. Both aircraft received a traditional water-cannon salute commemorating the new routes connecting Los Angeles and Costa Rica.

“These new JetBlue routes to Daniel Oduber International Airport and Juan Santamaría International Airport are the result of a joint public-private effort to reactivate our tourism industry,” said Gustavo Segura, Minister of Tourism. Segura indicated that California is one of the United States’ most important tourism markets for Costa Rica.

With the new routes, SJO, Costa Rica’s largest international airport, expects to end 2020 with direct connections to 20 cities across the world. Meanwhile, JetBlue will fly between Liberia and Los Angeles six times per week during the tourism high season. Costa Rica fully reopened its air borders to tourists on November 1. It requires that visitors purchase travel health insurance. Tourists do not need to quarantine on arrival or bring proof of a negative coronavirus test.

Nearly 70% of the November visitors (24,606 people) came from the United States. “This signal that we receive from the most important market in Costa Rica is encouraging for more than 600,000 people who directly and indirectly make a living from tourism,” said Gustavo Segura, Tourism Minister. The gradual increase in tourists is dwarfed by Costa Rica’s pre-pandemic numbers. In November 2019, 191,346 people arrived in Costa Rica via an international flight. Nearly 92,000 of them came from the United States, while nearly 41,000 came from Europe.

“Regarding future expectations, the Tourism Minister calls for caution, since the current inflow of tourists is less than the 20% of what existed before the pandemic,” a statement from the Tourism Board reads.