One Week in San Jose, Costa Rica: A Digital Nomad Guide

Between my stays in Panama and Nicaragua, I had to pass through Costa Rica as flying between the two countries was very expensive.

After looking at all my options and speaking to other travellers, I actually decided just to do a whistle stop tour and just spend one week in San Jose instead of exploring all the amazing things that Costa Rica is known for. I explain why further down.

I wasn’t expect much from my stay and hadn’t heard the best things about San Jose, but what I found pleasantly surprised me.

Where to stay in San Jose as a digital nomad

In my opinion, the best place for a digital nomad to stay in Costa Rica is in the east of the city close to Barrio Escalante, San Pedro or any area close to the high court area and downtown.

Unfortunately, there are still some areas of San Jose that aren’t too safe but these areas are safe, centrally located and still have a local feel to them.

San Pedro and Barrio California are great places where students hang out and there are an abundance of food and drink options around.

I stayed at Costa Rica guesthouse which was a short walk from everything. Note that they only allow stays of up to 7 days.

Where to work in San Jose as a digital nomad

Opposite Costa Rica Guesthouse is Costa Rica Workstation, a coworking space with the same owners (that also own Costa Rica Backpackers next door to the coworking space. They weren’t imaginative with the names…).

If you’re staying where I recommend in the east of the city there is also an ImpactHub and Selina coworking in the same area as well as other privately owned coworking spaces.

In the downtown area there are some coffee shops that have wifi on a public network however be aware that the downtown area is closer to unsafe parts of the city and would you want to sit with a £1000 laptop in front of you there?

What to do in San Jose

As with most cities I visit, I did a free walking tour in San Jose. The guide was excellent at explaining the history of the country as well as modern day Costa Rica. I went with Dan Jose free tours.

San Jose also has an abundance of museums. In my opinion, the national museum is a must see in any country. The Jade Musuem and National theatre are also highly recommended.

I was pleasantly surprised by the number of parks in the city as well. The National Park is one of the largest but Morazon Park is also lovely to spend some time in.

There is plenty of shopping to be done along Avenida Central and the San Jose Central Market is nice to visit for local crafts and produce.

Of course, most people go to Costa Rica for the nature and it’s possible to do day tours from the city to various parts in the surrounding areas.

What and where to eat in San Jose

As I had a hotel and not my usual AirBnB, I ate out for all of my meals. The food in San Jose is similar to the rest of the region with a variation on rice, beans and fried plantain being the staple.

San Jose has a lot of sodas, small locally run restaurants where you can get a casado, the typical dish of rice, beans, plantain, salad and a protein for 2000-4000. I found these meals to be huge and very filling so often only ate twice per day. There are also some cheap but good bakeries or panaderia along many of the pedestrian areas in the centre. I also ate at two excellent restaurants close to where I stayed. Valicha Cocina Peruana is a Peruvian restaurant that had good Peruvian beer and a wide selection on the menu.

If rice is getting too much for you, I can also recommend Groove Kitchen, an Italian restaurant run by and Italian which had an excellent pasta bolognaise.

Safety in San Jose

Like many cities, there are areas that are fine and areas that aren’t as safe. I felt perfectly safe where I stayed and walking around the city centre in daylight. I didn’t go out late at night and was normally home by 8pm, a precaution I take in many places anyway. Even late at night in Barrio Escalante, there were students hanging out in parks and I didn’t feel unsafe walking around by myself.

However, our tour guide did say that crime had been increasing recently and there are some areas to avoid. The central market is safe, but don’t walk more than 200m north of it. The area close to the Tracopa bus station didn’t seem particularly welcoming either.

Why I only spent one week in San Jose

I didn’t really know where to start in Costa Rica. All of my research showed me beach towns, that although looked amazing to stay for a holiday, didn’t provide me with what I wanted when looking for a place to work and stay for a month.

I had also been told how expensive Costa Rica is from people that had been there. My research also showed me that the accommodation and food options didn’t provide value for money in my opinion.

Even searching for an AirBnB in San Jose gave results that I thought were pricey but lacking value. One I found had a “fully equipped kitchen” but in the small print “must provide own pots and pans”.

Wtf?!

In the end, that’s why I stayed at a guesthouse for my week which I thought was good value, and even with eating out, worked out cheaper than staying in an AirBnB with a kitchen.

Summing up being a digital nomad in San Jose, Costa Rica

I enjoyed San Jose so much more than I thought I would. I had only heard bad things but I enjoyed the greenery of the city and the quality of the food and drink on offer during my stay.

Although not a digital nomad hot spot, there are always plenty of digital nomads passing through the Costa Rican capital on their way to more adventurous destinations in the country. Plenty of coworking spaces and some affordable places to stay make it a good place to work when visiting Costa Rica.

Dan

Dan is an avid traveller from London. His first big adventure was in 2010 living in Malaysia for 3 months. He has been on the road almost constantly since 2015 travelling to destinations that aren’t on the mainstream tourist trail and working full time and travelling since 2021.