13 Tips for the Costa Rica rainy season

IVO HENFLING | JUNE 19, 2015

Would you like to break an arm or a leg when walking into a Costa Rica shopping mall when it rains? I bet you don’t. The rainy season, or the green season as we call it in Costa Rica, is starting soon. When it rains in Costa Rica, it pours, so we all have to learn how to handle this.

In most countries, when you walk into a building, they will have anti-slip tile or rubber mats at the entrance. Don’t expect the same to happen in Costa Rica. If you do, you might break something and you don’t want to sue the mall for the medical expenses. The legal expenses will be higher than the cost of getting your leg fixed. If you do want to sue the mall for medical expenses, you’re in for a long fight.

Last year, when Dany and I were in Miami, I parked my rental car in the parking garage of a building and at the entrance they had this sign as you can see in the photo below that said “Please HELP keep our lobby floors dry. Use our complimentary wet umbrella bags.”

Well, that is the difference in culture between Costa Rica and Florida, where it rains almost as much as it does in here. As you can see, the floors in the building are marble floors and I don’t think they have invented anti-slip marble yet. If you walk into a Costarican shopping mall, you better watch out when entering the mall if your feet are wet.

_{HELP keep our Lobby floors dry – Costa Rica}

Let me give you 13 useful tips for the rainy season

1.    Always have an umbrella handy in your car and in the house

2.    Don’t use your umbrella when it’s windy, you will end up with a broken umbrella

3.    An umbrella for a female person is called “sombrilla” in Spanish

4.    An umbrella for a male person is called “paraguas” in Spanish

5.    An umbrella for use against the sun is called “parasol” and there is no difference between a parasol for a male or a parasol for a female user.

6.    Before entering a building, a mall or office building, be aware of the type of floor. Watch out! Walk carefully!

7.    Don’t step into a full rain gutter or ditch; you don’t know how deep those can be in Costa Rica.

8.    Don’t drive your car into a drain ditch either; your car could disappear in it.

9.    Don’t hide for the rain under a tree; we have a lot of lightning in Costa Rica. The Meteorological Institute of Costa Rica reports over 20 million lightning strikes in a year.

_{Don’t drive your car into a drain ditch; your car could disappear in it.}

10.    When it starts raining and you are driving, drive VERY carefully in the first 10 minutes of the rain because the road will be VERY slippery (don’t go crazy after those 10 minutes though and say it’s my fault). This is due to the amount of oil that is in the exhaust that the tailpipes of trucks and busses expel.

11.    If you live in a rural area where snakes are common, be aware that as soon as it starts raining, any snakes in the area will look for a dry and warm area and will try to get into the house.

12.    You will have more bugs trying to get into your house to stay dry, like mosquitos, spiders and ants.  Keep the window screens closed and the sugar in the fridge. Get rid of old tires and other garbage in your yard that can accumulate water which will attract mosquitos. Be aware of dengue.

13.    Don’t start any construction projects during the rainy season, unless you’re already under roof.

The rains keep Costa Rica green and beautiful, that’s the reason we call it the green season. Don’t let it scare you away; it doesn’t rain all day long. When it rains, it pours, but you can easily adjust your life to those hours. When you buy a house in Costa Rica though, think of us and don’t fear, contact us.

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