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Costa Rica requires all persons entering the country to:

  • have valid health insurance (that covers COVID-19)
  • provide an outbound ticket (either bus or plane)

Tourists visas are given to travellers for up to 90 days (at the discretion of the immigration officer)


I am travelling to Costa Rica with no set plans -- could be there for 60 days, could be there for 90.

Health insurance for 90 days is extremely expensive. Suppose I buy my outbound bus ticket for 10 days after I arrive (but don't intend to use it) -- does the health insurance I buy need to cover just those 10 days?

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    When you travel you need health insurance. If you do not have enough money to pay for the insurance you will certainly not have enough money to pay for medical help when you fall ill in the country. I strongly advice not to skimp on the insurance even if you could trick the border official in letting you in with just 10 days of insurance.
    – Willeke
    Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 12:04
  • If you do not have enough money to afford health insurance, it's just not financially responsible to be travelling abroad at all. Learn to love your home. Get health insurance.
    – Nobody
    Commented Dec 20, 2020 at 16:43

1 Answer 1

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Well after some further digging I think I found my answer on the US Embassy website:

Immigration officials are currently limiting the duration of stay to correspond with coverage dates provided by the COVID-19 medical insurance. Tourists are not able to extend their stay while in Costa Rica. Those seeking to extend their stay will be required to exit the country and purchase additional COVID-19 medical insurance prior to reentry.

So if I want to stay for X days then I need to have a valid health insurance policy for X days.

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