If you ever endure a truly stressful life experience (i.e., a bar exam, a divorce, etc.), do yourself a favor and go to Costa Rica immediately afterward.

If there's a more laid-back place in the world, I'm not sure I even want to go there. The people couldn't be friendlier, and you hear "pura vida" everywhere you go -- instead of "thank you," "you're welcome," "hello," etc. I'm not sure I know what the phrase means beyond the literal translation, but it means something, and my guess is it's pretty chill.

The most up-tight people I ran into in CR were in Dominical, a tiny surfing village south of Queopos, and they were from Wisconsin.

Costa Rica is awesome. I've been thrice and will gladly return. It's got beaches, hospitable people, and the most diverse ecosystem in the world. Fly here, rent a car, and drive around and you'll see gorgeous beaches, active volcanoes, rainforests, and much more.

According to Scientific Constructive Predictions, The Silver Surfer ( probably a Costa Rican) will stop a giant energy monster here sometime after 2011.

expensive!!!

If I had to live in Latin America, it would be here.

I worked for years with a gentleman from Costa Rica.He made it sound like a wonderful place to visit or retire to.From what I hear,it's quite affordable.I'd love to see the rainforest there,and my friends who are avid birdwatchers and naturalists highly recommend it also.

If you ever get a chance to visit Costa Rica, take it! Its one of the best vacations I've ever been on. Not only are the beaches warm and beautiful, but they have some of the best and beautiful rainforest hikes, wonderful zipling trips, and bridges that let you see the canopy of the rainforest. They also have other ncie things like hummingbird, butterfly, and botanical gardens. It also has a real cool active volcano, as we were driving by we could see erupting on the otherside of the lake!

nothing really special... the rain forest and nothing else, better go to columbia, brazil or ecuador

Nice place, too crouded

too expensive!!!

costa rica havent the history neither the sightseeings in order to be so high in the rating

a great country!

Has the potential to be much better. It should have nice beaches and a good economy, which is dosent. Too poor and uneducated for a nice time visiting.

I give it a "5" just to push it past France.

"Rich Coast"? Not quite. Kinda poor and overcrowded. Not a terribly strong history of democracy. And they should speak ENGLISH! AMERICA, BAY-BEE!!!

It would be nice to see the lush rain forest here, but the political instability throughout Central America would probably make it a dangerous trip for an American to take.

Small country in Central America... OK, it has a lot of diferent places to visit but I think all this fame Costa Rica has came form the USA. Americans love going there, it must be very cheap. I'd prefer to visit any South American Country, which are much more interesting.

The only pacifistic country in the world! Support this country - travel there! :o)

went there for my honeymoon to get away from all the cheesy "mount airy lodge" places. It was everything I thought it would be -- laid back, friendly and cheap. The off season is the time to go and don't believe everything you read about the rainy season, it's not that bad. Remember though -- YOU'RE IN THE TROPICS -- IT RAINS ALL YEAR!!!!

This country RULES. One day, I will open up a little hotel there, and spend my days surfing, fishing, and drinking Imperial.

Amazing and reasonably priced. The locals, affectionately called 'Ticos', are friendly and the sites are amazing. Dining outside watching lava flow down volcano arenal was definitely a highlight.

What a great place to visit and hopefully one day a great place for me to live part of each year. Beautiful scenery, great people, so many things to do and great food and drink make Costa Rica one of the best places to get away to for any length of time. The flight is not long from most parts of the US and is fairly reasonable in price if you book your trip early. Cerveza Imperial, monkies runnning wild and surfing are 3 great reasons to visit this beautiful country.

Costa Rica is a trip. Check out Quepos, and Jaco Beach (for surfers).