Costa Rica All-Inclusive Resorts: Where They Are and What They Include

Install a HelloRoam Costa Rica eSIM before you leave Canada, and your phone has data for maps and messages on the drive from LIR to the resort, with 24/7 support if a setting needs help.

Most All-Inclusive Resorts Sit on the Guanacaste Coast

Costa Rica's tourism board, ICT, calls Guanacaste one of the most developed areas because of heavy investment in hotels. It points to the Gulf of Papagayo tourism development centre and Daniel Oduber International Airport (LIR). It names five tourism centres on this coast: Papagayo, El Coco, Flamingo, Conchal and Tamarindo.

Get your Costa Rica eSIM before you flyInstall it at home, then turn on data roaming for it when you land. From CA$9.77.See Costa Rica plans

Guanacaste Airport lists routes to Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg on WestJet, to Montreal and Toronto on Air Canada and Air Transat, and to Ottawa on Porter (read on 24 October 2026). Air Transat says its flights to Liberia now run all year round. Check your travel dates with the airline before you book.

The resorts below are all on the Pacific coast, and none is in San José. From San José's airport (SJO), Barceló Tambor lists the drive at 173.9 miles (about 280 km), an estimated five hours.

Five Resorts Show How Much All-Inclusive Plans Differ

The label means different things at different resorts. Here is what five of them list on their own websites, read on 24 October 2026. The list is not a ranking.

Riu Palace Costa Rica still shows up in search results, so check that any package for it starts after the April 2027 reopening.

Read the inclusions list before you book. Check:

• Which restaurant outlets fall inside the package and which are charged à la carte
• Whether motorized water sports and excursions carry an additional fee
• Which drinks the plan covers: RIU lists domestic and international drinks, while Barceló Tambor lists local drinks
• Whether gratuities are included or expected on top of the nightly rate
• Whether the airport transfer is in the price, and how far ahead you must book it

Guanacaste's Dry Season Runs From December to March

Costa Rica's national weather service, IMN, puts Guanacaste in its North Pacific region, one of the driest and warmest in the country. There, the dry season runs from December to March, when only 4% of the year's rain falls. April is a change month, and the rains set in around the last third of May.

The wet season has a pause. In July and August the trade winds pick up and the rain eases, a spell IMN calls the veranillo or canícula. September and October bring the most rain, and November is the change back to dry weather.

Canada's travel advice puts the hurricane season from mid-May to the end of November in the Pacific, and from early June to the end of November in the Atlantic and Caribbean. It warns that heavy rain in those months can cause floods and landslides. It also says El Niño conditions are present and expected to strengthen into 2027, which may raise the risk of droughts, floods and severe storms.

For monthly temperatures and rain by region, read our guide to Costa Rica weather month by month.

Volcano Trips and Local Food Take You Beyond the Resort

An all-inclusive works best when most days are beach days, because the volcano and forest parks are inland. Occidental Papagayo, near Liberia, lists Rincón de la Vieja National Park at 43.5 miles (about 70 km), Tenorio Volcano and Río Celeste at 75 miles (about 120 km) and Arenal Volcano and La Fortuna at 90 miles (about 145 km).

The inclusion lists above cover the resort itself, so plan to pay for zip-lining, volcano and wildlife trips on top. Canada's travel advice says canopy tours, rafting and other adventure sports can be dangerous if you are unprepared, and it tells you to buy travel insurance that includes helicopter rescue and medical evacuation. Our guide to what travel insurance should cover can help you compare.

Eating off the resort is part of the trip. Visit Costa Rica describes the casado as black beans with white rice, sweet plantains, cabbage and a fried egg, and calls gallo pinto, a breakfast dish spiced with cilantro, the national dish. You find these at a soda, a family-owned eatery. On the Pacific coast, the board points to sopa de mariscos, a seafood soup in tomato broth.

Entry Rules, Money and Canada's Advice for Costa Rica

Canada's travel advice for Costa Rica, updated 14 October 2026, says a regular Canadian passport must be valid for the length of your stay. No tourist visa is needed for stays up to 180 days, but the immigration officer decides how long you may stay. Customs officers will ask for a return or onward ticket and proof that you can pay for your stay.

Guanacaste Airport also asks arrivals to have the exact address of their accommodation ready. In October 2026, the airport listed Costa Rica's departure tax as US$29 per person. It says most airlines include it in the ticket price, and you pay it before you fly out if yours does not.

The currency is the Costa Rican colón. Canada says credit cards are generally accepted, Canadian dollars are extremely difficult to exchange, US dollars are easier, and cash machines work with a 4-digit PIN only.

Canada asks travellers to exercise a high degree of caution in Costa Rica due to crime. The same advice warns that riptides are common and very few beaches have lifeguards. Our guide to Canada's risk level for Costa Rica covers areas, cash and emergency help. Rules and advice can change, so read the Government of Canada's Costa Rica page at travel.gc.ca again before you go.

Resort Wi-Fi Ends at the Gate, So Set Up Mobile Data at Home

Resort Wi-Fi covers the property: RIU, for one, includes Wi-Fi throughout its Guanacaste hotel. Guanacaste Airport has free Wi-Fi in the terminal, but transfers, tours and town visits rely on mobile data.

A travel eSIM needs an unlocked phone. Canada's telecom regulator, the CRTC, ruled that from December 1, 2017, new phones must be sold unlocked and carriers must unlock devices free on request for personal and small business customers. On an iPhone, open Settings, then General, then About: "No SIM restrictions" next to Carrier Lock means it is unlocked.

HelloRoam's Costa Rica plans run on Claro's network. First check that your phone supports eSIM, then install the eSIM at home over Wi-Fi with our step-by-step eSIM setup guide.

For a local plan instead, Guanacaste Airport lists a Claro store among its shops. Its page gives no location or opening hours. To see what you would pay at home, look up your Canadian carrier's roaming price for Costa Rica and read how eSIM compares with roaming.