Before we booked our family trip to Costa Rica, I half-joked that I needed to talk to a Red Deer financial advisor or Victoria financial advisor first. Flights, hotels, activities, rental car, meals, mystery snacks for the kids every 14 minutes…it adds up fast. But once we decided to go, it occurred to me that I knew next to nothing about the basic stuff like: can you drink Costa Rican water, or do you need to live on bottled water the whole time?The short answer, from our experience, is yes. In the main tourist areas we visited, we drank the tap water without hesitation.
We spent part of our trip in the Arenal area and part of it in Samara. At our hotels and resorts, we drank water from the tap. At restaurants, we drank the water they served. We had ice in drinks. We brushed our teeth with tap water. No one in our family had any issues whatsoever.
That does not mean every single tap in every corner of Costa Rica is guaranteed to be perfect. But Costa Rica is generally known for having drinkable tap water in most areas travellers visit. The official Costa Rica tourism site says tap water is “completely drinkable” and only recommends bottled water for a few rural areas.
That matched what we found on the ground.
In Arenal, we stayed in the La Fortuna/Arenal area, where tourism is well established. Between hotels, restaurants, hot springs, and day trips, we never felt like water was something we had to worry about. Servers brought water to the table the same way they would at home. Nobody gave us a warning. Nobody suggested we order bottled water instead. It all felt normal.
In Samara, it was the same. Samara is a smaller beach town, but still very used to visitors. We drank tap water at our accommodations and in restaurants, and again, no problems. With kids, this was a relief. When you are travelling as a family, you already have enough to think about. Sunscreen. Shoes. Snacks. Someone being inexplicably sticky. Not having to constantly hunt for bottled water made the trip easier.
The research supports being reasonably confident, especially in established areas. Travel health sources still recommend common-sense caution with food and water while travelling, particularly because contaminated water can cause illness in any destination. The CDC, for example, advises travellers to avoid contaminated water and be careful with food and drink choices when travelling internationally.
So my view is this: Costa Rican tap water is generally safe in the main places tourists go, but use your judgement.
At a hotel, resort, or reputable restaurant in places like Arenal, La Fortuna, Samara, Tamarindo, Manuel Antonio, San José, or other well-travelled areas, I personally would not be worried. We were not. If you are staying somewhere very remote, renting a rustic home, hiking far from towns, or visiting an area where the water source is unclear, bottled or filtered water is probably the safer choice.
A few simple rules help:
- Ask your hotel if the tap water is safe.
- Use bottled water in remote areas if you are unsure.
- Bring a reusable bottle if you are staying somewhere with safe tap or filtered water.
- Be extra cautious after heavy rain, flooding, or if you have a sensitive stomach.
For our family, Costa Rica was one of the easiest travel destinations we have visited from a water perspective. We did not spend the trip worrying about every glass of water or every ice cube. We drank what was served, enjoyed our meals, and carried on with the much more important business of looking at volcanoes, watching monkeys, swimming at the beach, and trying to keep sand out of literally everything.
So, can you drink Costa Rican water?
In most tourist areas, yes. Based on both the research and our own family trip through Arenal and Samara, we had no hesitation — and no issues.