Holy Week or Semana Santa is a peak week to vacation in Costa Rica, public employees and schools are off all week, while Maundry Thursday and Good Friday are mandatory holidays so a lot of businesses remain closed for business from Thursday through Sunday; this year Holy Week starts on April 9th and therefore Costa Rica adds another mandatory Holiday on April 11th day in which this country celebrates Juan Santamaría Day (national hero); therefore it is expected that this 2017 even more people take advantage of these holidays to enjoy their vacation.

There are a few things you need to know if you are spending Holy Week in Costa Rica:

1) If you haven’t made your reservation yet you are already running late, hotels expect a 95% occupation this year, so hurry.
2) Weather: A big question everyone has when they want to vacation in Costa Rica, this country usually has great weather, with temperatures ranging from 75⁰F to 88⁰F, however, Holy Week has the characteristic of being particularly hot, especially in the Pacific Coast where temperatures can reach the 96⁰C or more.
3) Holy week is one of the busiest times in the year to visit Costa Rica, this means there will be crowds at the most popular beaches, prices are also higher for hotels and transportation.
4) Selling of alcohol during Thursday and Friday is prohibited in some Costa Rican counties, this “dry law” used to be applied in the whole country, but in recent years it is up to the different municipalities if they apply it or not.
5) There are religious parades or processions held in every city throughout the week. Some of the best can be seen in Heredia, where professional actors and a production teams actually recreate the different biblical stories.
6) Seafood is the star, this because of the fast tradition not to eat any other meat during Holy week. Other traditional foods are made during these week, like chiverre empanadas, (Chiverre is a large type of squash).

If you are not big on crowds, but you still want to go to the beach, the Caribbean beaches are a great option, or you may want to go for beaches in the Pacific Coast that are not as crowded: Esterillos, Uvita, Ballena, or you can head to the remote areas of the South Pacific, where beautiful beaches like Matapalo or Zancudo can be found. In Guanacaste, Samara and Carrillo may be less crowded than the beaches along the gold coast.

If it’s the hot temperatures what you can’t take don’t forget Costa Rica also has amazing mountain destinations where the weather is fresh and cool.