The best time to visit Monteverde is a harder question than it looks, and it starts with a correction. If you have looked up the weather here and seen daytime highs around 28 degrees, that forecast is not for Monteverde. Most weather sites pull their data from Puntarenas, a beach town 23 miles away and 1,400 metres below us.
We sit on the Continental Divide, in cloud, and it is cool here every day of the year. I live in Cañitas, just outside Santa Elena. Here is what the year actually looks like.
Monteverde has three seasons, not two
Most of Costa Rica has a dry season and a green season. We have a third, and nobody warns visitors about it.
- Dry season, late December through April. The sunniest, clearest and busiest.
- Green season, May through October. Mornings often fine, rain building through the afternoon. September and October are the wettest.
- Windy season, roughly November into early December, though the wind carries on through February. Strong trade winds off the Caribbean push a fine drifting mist through the forest. We call it pelo de gato, cat’s hair. It makes extraordinary rainbows.
The windy season is the one that catches people out, because it overlaps the start of the dry season. December can be sunny and still windy enough to close the ziplines.
The year at a glance
| Month | What to expect | Crowds |
|---|---|---|
| January | Dry and bright, and genuinely windy | High |
| February | Driest, clearest, best all round | High |
| March | Dry and warm, wind easing | High |
| April | Still dry, greener, quieter | Medium |
| May | Rain returns in the afternoons | Low |
| June | Wet afternoons, lush forest | Low |
| July | Often a dry spell mid-month | Medium |
| August | Dry mornings, wet late afternoons | Medium |
| September | Wettest, quietest, cheapest | Very low |
| October | Wettest, some places close | Very low |
| November | Rain eases, wind arrives, rainbows | Low |
| December | Drying out, windy, busy from mid-month | High late |
Temperatures sit roughly between 14 and 24 degrees Celsius all year. What changes is the rain and the wind, not the heat.
Late December to AprilThe dry season
This is when most people come, and they are not wrong to. Mornings are bright, the long views open up across to the Gulf of Nicoya, and the trails are dry enough that you are not picking your way through mud.
February and March are the best of it. March is generally the driest and warmest. February gets you much the same weather with a slightly better chance of a quetzal, since the nesting season is beginning.
April is underrated. Still dry, but the crowds thin after Easter and the forest starts greening up again before the rain really returns.
The catch is the wind. January in particular can be fierce. It is not dangerous, but it is loud, it makes the mist come at you sideways, and it feels much colder than the number suggests. Zipline parks close in high wind. If you have your heart set on ziplining in January, build in a spare morning.
The other catch is booking. Guided walks, zipline slots and hotels fill weeks ahead from Christmas through Easter. This is the one time of year when arriving without reservations goes badly.
May to OctoberThe green season
The thing visitors get wrong about the rainy season here is thinking it rains all day. It usually does not. It builds through the afternoon. A typical green season day gives you a clear or misty morning, cloud around midday and rain from mid afternoon into the night.
Plan outdoor things for the morning and you lose surprisingly little. What you gain is a forest that is greener, louder and more alive, trails with nobody on them, and lower prices on almost everything.
May and June are the sweet spot. The rain has returned but not settled in, and the crowds have gone.
July has a secret. Most years a dry spell of one or two weeks appears in the middle of the rainy season, usually early to mid July. We call it the veranillo, the little summer. It is unpredictable and some years barely shows up, but when it lands you get dry season weather at green season prices.
September and October are the wettest. I will be honest about these two: they are the hardest months to do a lot of outdoor activity, and some businesses close. They are also the cheapest, the emptiest, and the most beautiful if you like a forest that drips. Amphibians are everywhere. If you are coming for wildlife rather than views, they are far better than their reputation.
November to early DecemberThe windy season
My favourite, and the one almost no guide mentions.
The heavy rain has stopped but the dry season has not properly started. What you get instead is wind off the Caribbean carrying that fine drifting mist through the canopy. It is not really rain. It settles on you rather than falling on you. And because the sun keeps breaking through it, there are rainbows constantly.
November is quiet and cheap. December is drying out and lovely until about the 20th, when the holidays arrive and prices and crowds go up sharply.
The best time to visit Monteverde, by what you want most
- Clearest weather and long views: February and March.
- Quetzals: February through May, during nesting season, with a guide.
- Fewest people: September and October.
- Best value: May, June and November.
- Amphibians and insects: the wet months, without question.
- Rainbows: November and December.
- Ziplining: anything but January, or accept you may be rescheduled.
- Families: the dry season, when a rained-off afternoon does not derail everyone.
My honest answer
If you are asking me for a single best time to visit Monteverde, it is February. If you want the forest closer to yourself, come in May or November. And if the only time you can travel is September, come anyway. In eleven years I have never seen a month here where there was nothing worth doing.
What to pack, whatever month you pick
- A warm layer. Every month. Evenings are cool all year and visitors arriving from Guanacaste are consistently caught out.
- A poncho or rain jacket, not an umbrella. It is too windy here for an umbrella to be much use.
- Closed shoes with grip. Even in the dry season the forest trails hold moisture.
- Something waterproof for your phone. A sealed bag is enough.
- Quick-drying clothes. Cotton stays damp here for a long time.
Planning around the weather
Whatever month you come, the same rule holds: put the outdoor things in the morning and keep the afternoon flexible. That is true in February and it is true in September.
For the afternoons that do get rained on, I have written about what to do in Monteverde when it rains, including which activities are actually better in the wet. If you only have a single day here, my one day itinerary is built around the same principle, and if you are travelling with children there is a separate guide for that.
The one thing that does not depend on the weather
My cooking class runs indoors, year round, Monday to Saturday. Maximum nine guests, and there is no deposit needed to reserve.
Send a booking requestFrequently asked
What is the best month to visit Monteverde?
February or March for the clearest weather. May, June or November if you would rather have quiet trails and lower prices.
What is the rainiest month?
September and October. They are also the quietest and the cheapest, and the wildlife is at its most active.
How cold does it get?
Roughly 14 to 24 degrees Celsius year round. Cool every evening, and the December to February wind makes it feel colder.
Is the rainy season worth it?
Yes. The rain usually builds in the afternoon rather than lasting all day, so mornings stay usable and the forest is at its best.
