What's the Rainy Season Like in Costa Rica? And Is It Really That Bad? Shivers Under Umbrella

The rainy season in Costa Rica really gets a bad rap: most people are picturing these GIGANTIC MONSOONS, in which the wind blows and the trees whip and the rain pours and the electricity goes out—and no suntans will be had. No suntans for you!

But I have excellent news. "Rainy" doesn't mean "hurricane-ey," nor does it mean "total-destroyer-of-all-fun."

In fact, I actually prefer the rainy season, because it's much cooler. And by cooler I mean LIVABLE. And by livable I mean, I AM NOT ACTUALLY SWEATING RIGHT NOW, YOU GUYS. And even better: it doesn't even rain all of the time! They just call it the rainy season because it rains more than it does in the dry season. Which is really not an indicator of anything because during the dry season it doesn't rain at all. It is, as it were, completely dry—as the name so cleverly indicates.

But here's the deal with rainy season, a la Costa Rica: it will likely rain every day, or every other day, BUT—only for a short time. So, like, for an hour in the afternoon like clockwork. But it's not going to be rainy all the live long day, every day. Which means you can still get up and go to the beach and enjoy all of the things—and then hit up happy hour when the rain comes. Obviously. Why do you think happy hour was invented?

It does tend to rain more in the afternoon than it does in the morning, so if you're planning on taking a flight, you might want to take that into consideration. (They'll cancel if it's raining too much.) You also may want to take that into consideration if you're planning on going ziplining or, you know, casually cruising around topless in a four by four vehicle.

Does rainy season mean you have to plan a little bit more? Sure. But should it prevent you from having the trip of a lifetime? Hell. No. Come on down and embrace it! By which I mean bring an umbrella. Because when it does rain?

It pours.