Is Costa Rica Safe? An Honest Take From People Who Live and Surf Here

Is Costa Rica safe? It’s one of the most common questions we get before a trip, and I understand why. You’re about to fly somewhere you’ve never been, maybe with your family, and you want the real picture, not a brochure.

So here’s the real picture, from someone who has lived on this coast since 2010 and raised two kids here. Costa Rica is one of the safer countries you can visit in the region. No standing army, a long-stable democracy, and a pura vida culture that isn’t just a slogan on a fridge magnet. That doesn’t mean nothing ever happens. It means the things that do happen are ordinary, avoidable, and mostly not your problem to manage when you’re with us. Let me walk through it.

Petty theft: the one real thing, and how we take it off your plate

I’ll be straight with you. The most common issue travelers run into anywhere in Costa Rica is petty theft: a phone left on a towel, a bag left in a parked rental car. It’s opportunistic, not violent, and it’s the same advice you’d get for any beach destination in the world. Don’t leave valuables unattended.

With us, though, you don’t have to manage that at all. Kalon is a gated, private estate. Only guests and our team are on the property, ever. When we go to the beach, our security team comes along. Not because the beach is dangerous, because it isn’t, but so that nobody has to sit half-watching their phone and their towel instead of watching the waves. An opportunist sees a group with someone quietly keeping an eye on things and moves along. You get to forget the whole subject exists and relax.

That’s how we think about all of it. We do the caring, the watching, and the planning in the background, so the only thing you’re deciding is whether to paddle back out.

The ocean: respected, not feared

The water is where new surfers imagine the risk, and the real hazard there isn’t dramatic. It’s rip currents, the same as any beach break. That’s why we never just point guests at the sea and wave. Every session runs with a coach in the water beside you, and we time each one to the tide so you’re learning where and when the ocean is friendliest.

As for what’s in the water, we get asked about sharks constantly, so we wrote the answer down: are there sharks in Costa Rica? Short version, they’re not something our guests or coaches think about, and even less so in the warm, shallow water where we surf.

Weather and wildlife: gentler than the internet suggests

Two more worries worth settling, both good news:

• Hurricanes. Our stretch of the Pacific coast sits at the southern edge of where hurricanes can even physically form, so they almost never reach us. The full geography is worth reading. We explained it in why Costa Rica’s Pacific side stays hurricane-free.
• Wildlife. Yes, this is the rainforest, and yes, that means toucans in the trees and the occasional monkey and sloth, which is the good kind of wildlife encounter, the kind people fly here for. The rest keeps to itself. In more than fifteen years, the animals have been a highlight, never an incident.

Health and the everyday stuff

Costa Rica has good private healthcare and clinics within reach. The tap water in most of the country, including where we are, is safe to drink. The food at the resort comes from our own kitchen and local farms, so the classic traveler’s-stomach worry doesn’t really apply with us. Bring insect repellent for the evenings, as you would anywhere tropical, and we recommend travel insurance with Cancel For Any Reason coverage for peace of mind. Our team can point you in the right direction.

What it comes down to

Costa Rica is safe in the way that matters. The risks are small, ordinary, and easy to sidestep, and the culture is warm. Come to us and most of them stop being yours to think about at all. The gate, the team, the coaching, the kitchen, all of it exists so that you can put your attention on the week and nothing else.

That’s what “all-inclusive” means to us. Not just the meals and the surf. The quiet, too. Here’s what the week actually looks like.

Kjeld co-founded Kalon Surf in Dominical with his wife Silene. They’ve lived on Costa Rica’s South Pacific coast, and raised their family here, since 2010.