What should I avoid in San José?

Your first mistake could happen at the curb. Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) is in Alajuela, about 20 km west of downtown San José, and the men with lanyards who meet you outside arrivals are offering rides in unmarked 'piratas' with no meter and no insurance. The orange Taxi Aeropuerto is the official cab at the curb, and a ride to Barrio Amón usually costs US$30 to $35, depending on traffic on Route 1. Uber works too, though it still operates in a legal gray zone, so a driver might ask you to sit in the front seat. Once you're in the city, take the red taxis with a yellow triangle on the door and ask the driver to 'ponga la maría', which means turn on the meter. If the driver says the meter is broken, get out. The next red cab is usually 30 seconds away on Avenida Segunda.

Location is the second thing to get right. Don't book your first night near Terminal Coca-Cola or in the blocks west of the Mercado Central toward Hospital San Juan de Dios, where the streets smell of diesel and frying oil and empty out fast after 7pm. The pedestrian Avenida Central between Plaza de la Cultura and the market is fine in daylight, but keep your phone in a front pocket, because snatch-and-run thefts there are common. TTDI rates San José 5.2/10 for solo safety (see the TTDI Solo-Safety Index). That is a real warning, not a formality. Stay in Barrio Escalante, where the restaurants along Calle 33 stay lit and busy until 11pm, or in Barrio Amón, among its tin-roofed mansions. Even for an 800-meter walk after dark, take a taxi that costs ₡1,500.

Next, watch the money. Many tourist shops quote prices in US dollars and then return your change in colones at a rate that quietly costs you 5 to 10 percent. The rate on 8 October 2026 was ₡455.9 to the dollar, so ask for the colón price and pay in colones. At the counter sodas inside the Mercado Central, a casado of rice, black beans, sweet plantain and grilled chicken should cost about ₡3,500 to ₡4,500 (US$8 to $10). If a menu on Plaza de la Cultura charges twice that, walk four blocks. One exception is worth the money: the café inside the National Theatre, which opened in 1897, charges more for coffee, and you are paying to sit under a painted ceiling.

The last trap is the weather, and it shapes every day trip. October is one of San José's wettest months, and on the night of 8 October it was 18.4°C and overcast with 93 percent humidity, the kind of damp chill that seeps into cotton. Afternoon storms usually hit around 1 to 2pm: rain hammers the tin roofs and the gutters on Avenida Segunda overflow within minutes. Poás Volcano requires a timed ticket booked in advance through SINAC. Combo tours that reach the crater around 11am often find a white wall of cloud, so take the 8am slot or skip it. If you rent a car, beware of the slashed-tire scam on Route 27 and near the airport: strangers stop to 'help' while a partner takes your bags, so drive on to a gas station before you pull over.