[April 2], the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its travel guidance for fully vaccinated people to reflect the latest evidence and science. Given recent studies evaluating the real-world effects of vaccination, CDC recommends that fully vaccinated people can travel at low risk to themselves. A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the last recommended dose of vaccine.
Fully vaccinated people can travel within the United States and do not need COVID-19 testing or post-travel self-quarantine as long as they continue to take COVID-19 precautions while traveling – wearing a mask, avoiding crowds, socially distancing, and washing hands frequently.
As of mid-March, Southwest Airlines remains the only U.S. airline that has not resumed any service to Costa Rica since suspending flights due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On its website, Southwest Airlines indicates “service will resume at a later date” to Costa Rica, The Bahamas, Belize, Grand Cayman, and Turks and Caicos.
As of this story’s publication, the Southwest Airlines’ so-called “Low Fare Calendar” lists no tickets available for purchase to or from Costa Rica’s airports through at least August.
Many other airlines have retaken routes to Costa Rica, including Alaska, American, Delta, JetBlue, Spirit and United.
A growing number of people have turned to the dream of a “digital nomad” lifestyle answering emails from the beach or the cloud forest as remote working goes mainstream during the pandemic.
Costa Rica hopes to attract more of these workers through a bill that would grant year-long visas for qualifying digital nomads.
If the bill is approved in the Legislative Assembly, remote workers could obtain a permit to stay for one year in Costa Rica, extendable for one additional year. They would also have the possibility of opening local bank accounts and could drive in Costa Rica using their country’s license, among other benefits.
The Public Works and Transport Ministry says Costa Ricans and legal residents with foreign driver’s licenses can continue using that document to drive in Costa Rica for six more months.
The grace period applies to citizens and residents whose license expired or should have been homologated as of March 20, 2020.
The six-month extension begins when the resolution is published in La Gaceta, the official government newspaper. That is expected “in the next few days,” MOPT says.
“In this way, foreigners under the migratory categories of refugees, permanent or temporary residents, special category of complementary protection or Costa Ricans whose licenses that were issued abroad have expired, or who have not managed to homologate the document, will enjoy this grace period,” MOPT explains.
Since November 1, tourists from anywhere in the world can visit Costa Rica.
Visitors can arrive to Costa Rica via a flight, sailboat or yacht. The land borders remain closed for incoming tourists until at least April. Costa Rica does not require a negative coronavirus test, but travel medical insurance is necessary.
Tourists must purchase insurance even if they have received a vaccine.
Here are are the requirements to enter Costa Rica on a commercial flight as a tourist since November 1, 2020:
Fill out the electronic epidemiological HEALTH PASS form, available at https://salud.go.cr. This should be completed in the 48 hours before boarding for Costa Rica. It generates a QR code that you must show upon arrival; most airlines ask for it at check-in.