Costa Rica (or similar area) - what to wear

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I'm hoping some of you more seasoned travellers can help me.
We are planning a November holiday touring round Costa Rica mainly rainforest areas (Tortuguera, Arenal, Monteverde, Manuel Antonio) but hoping to spend some time on the coast at Tamarindo. As most of my holidays in recent years have involved renting a UK cottage or UK city breaks I have no idea what sort of clothes I will need.

We will be mainly walking & watching wildlife, definitly will not be zip-ling or white water rafting. I'm reading various reports that say you need to wear long trousers & long sleeved tops at all times because of the bugs. Is this only when you go on hikes into the forest areas? What about when we are sat around the hotel gardens, or driving to our next location ?
Some of the hotels seem to have nice restaurants, do people dress up for these or is everyone still very casual ?
We will be at the tail end of the rainy season, I have read that it is so humid that your clothes will never dry, is this your experience ?

You're in luck! We went to Costa Rica last year in November (two months ago).

Weather-wise you'll be fine. It is warm and humid, but not uncomfortably so. My wife wore shorts, hiking trousers, regular trousers, and she was fine. We were never cold, and we were never particularly hot unless out in direct sun, which you actually don't see much of... it's just a wonderfully pleasant time to visit. Hotels are very casual, don't worry. Of course, bring a range of clothes.

Bugs... we didn't see any bitey bugs the whole time. Maybe one mosquito, so don't worry. We loaded up on deet and never really needed it. MAYBE only in Monteverde at night, although they say you need it down south.

As for tours and activities, they are all tourist traps! You're talking £30 for two hours walking around someone's back garden for coffee or chocolate tour. The skywalks are a bit samey and again, cost a fortune.

We absolutely recommend night tours! "Tarantula way" with a guide called Chris was amazing. Other night tours were hit and miss, but for actual wildlife, you'll see ten times more at night.m.facebook.com/100069414803584/

If you're driving, ABSOLUTELY get a 4wd!

You'll get so so bored of beans and rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner... so pop into snack shops and load up. You might see the odd Taco Bell or KFC along roads, but that's about it, they're rare.

You're just coming out of turtle egg laying season so look a few of these up.

Hotels LOOK nice in the images from say Hotels.com, but they are all a bit rundown unless you're on the West Coast. Don't expect much here, but there's nothing wrong with them...

Most things are pay in cash and they preferentially go for USD.

You can never hike too much in Costa Rica. Manzanillo was my favourite. If you're going up to the crater, go EARLY!!!-otherwise you'll just see cloud.

Anything else, just ask :)

Wow thanks for all the information, it's very useful.
We will definitley book a night tour, though I could do without seeing tarantulas - I'm scared of house spiders.

I concur with @C1N1C about clothes.

If you go to Tortuguero and like kayaking, go for a dawn tour. Highpoint of our trip.

I went in November 2019 and what I can mostly recommend is good waterproofs, and things that dry very quickly - I took a lot of my gym / running stuff for hikes as it dries so fast; it's not just getting wet, it's the humidity in the air that slows the drying process to a crawl when you have got wet.

It's not at all dressy, with the possible exception of the big fancy americanised hotels around Tamarindo etc. I stayed in a very nice hotel in San Jose for a couple of nights and even there the restaurant was just barely smart casual. Out and about in Tamarindo though, not at all. Laid back beach / surf vibes.

Outside the rainforest, shorts and t-shirts or sundresses will be fine, but take a few warmer bits too as it can be chilly in Monteverde and Arenal when it's wet.

I found it useful to have a selection of small dry bags, in case anything isn't totally dry when you have to pack and move on, you can keep everything else from getting damp.

I'm jealous! Enjoy

Ps.. I was there the last 2 weeks of November and first of December. I banked on the 'tail-end' of rainy season but with the exception of a few notable dry days I have never seen so much rain in my life.

That said, it didn't spoil my enjoyment of an amazing country even a tiny bit!

Just back from there. Pacific coat was hot and humid, Monteverde chilly at night and Arenal warm, humid and rainy. I also took gym leggings for walks, I had intended to take gym tops too which I regrettably forgot. We didn't find the bugs too bad. We had our waterproofs with us but were far to warm in them so used an umbrella more when it rained

Tarantula Way? Remind me never to go to Costa Rica !

It's my dream to visit the Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica one day 😍

Can I ask about the beans, rice for all meals?

would Costa Rica be good for a vegetarian, coeliac (so no gluten, wheat, oats)

I've been twice, and have seen tarantulas both times BUT only on rainforest walks and only when the guide has literally taken us to where they are and pointed out their hole with a torch. Everyone had the option not to look if they preferred not to.

They're not just wandering the streets, don't worry!

We went in April - a slightly different time of year. It was wonderful but we could not get clothes dry! I ended up paying not much money for a service wash in a laundrette in Arenal area and it was the best money we spent! Clean, dry clothes.

We had zero bites. I wore shorts most of the time. The cloud forest is quite a bit cooler.

Tamarindo was hot when we went - about 10 degrees hotter than Monteverde.

Another tip- the sun is very strong being close to the equator so we went up to factor 70 (and we’re all quite olive skinned).

We saw tarantulas but they are harmless. It’s the (eyelash) viper snakes you need to keep an eye out for! We saw some on trees but not on the paths.

We went last summer and even the nicest restaurants we went to had a very casual vibe. It’s fabulous. You’re going to love it.

I agree with most posters BUT I stayed near Tamarindo (not there but on the Guanacaste coast) and got bitten by mosquitoes a lot. So definitely pack bug spray!

To a Pp who asked about Costa Rica being good for a vegetarian who didn’t eat gluten: I think it would be pretty easy. I don’t eat meat / fish. A lot of the wraps are Mexican style corn wraps. And a lot of American tourists go there, so allergens are listed on a lot of menus to cater for them.

@JustPickleRick A basket o' sloths, just for you

Thanks for all the info - it's really helpful. A bit worried about the sun now, I'm the palest person alive & burn very easily.

Actually given the sunburn, tarantula's, snakes & mosquitoes , I have not idea why I think I want a holiday in Costa Rica ! Those darn sloths had better be worth it 😀