Just within the last decade, Costa Rica has burgeoned into a tropical getaway for queer people from all over the world. Often overlooked as nothing more than a jumping-off point to head into Costa Rica's famed natural beauty, San Jose is starting to turn heads. The capital city's neighborhoods such as Escalante and Otoya are filled with quaint bistros serving up premium local coffee and international cuisine tucked into revamped colonial mansions. Downtown houses a variety of cultural spaces ran...
Just within the last decade, Costa Rica has burgeoned into a tropical getaway for queer people from all over the world. Often overlooked as nothing more than a jumping-off point to head into Costa Rica's famed natural beauty, San Jose is starting to turn heads. The capital city's neighborhoods such as Escalante and Otoya are filled with quaint bistros serving up premium local coffee and international cuisine tucked into revamped colonial mansions. Downtown houses a variety of cultural spaces ranging from the Jade Museum's Precolumbian collection to the ultra-modern Museum of Art Contemporary Design(MADA). By night an abundance of gay nightlife erupts. Local drag shows, multi-story video bars, girtty dive bars, clubs with DJs spinning into the night, and male strip clubs are all at one's fingertips. Aside from a solid number of gay bars and clubs, there is a handful of gay-owned B&Bs.
Although Costa Rica is the first country to legalize gay marriage, like most Catholic Central American countries, it still holds onto its conservative roots. Make sure to exercise discretion outside of safe queer spaces.