🇨🇷 Costa Rica or 🇮🇩 Indonesia
And what the world thinks
🇮🇩 Indonesia leads by 1 vote.
Which one, honestly
Indonesia leads on value for money, the sea and food.
A normal day costs about $130 in Costa Rica and $75 in Indonesia.
Side by side
- 🇨🇷 Costa Rica🇮🇩 Indonesia
- Dec to MarBest monthsApr to Jun, Sep to Oct
- $130A normal day$75
- 2h 55m from Mexico CityClosest hub2h 50m from Singapore
- Very goodBeaches and seaExceptional
- Not the drawCities and cultureNot the draw
- GoodFoodVery good
- ExceptionalNature and hikingExceptional
- Not the drawValue for moneyExceptional
- GoodEasy to get aroundGood
- A hire car with clearance, the distances are short but the roads are slowGetting aroundScooters and private drivers on Bali, short flights and ferries between islands
- September and October on the Caribbean side, the wettest weeks of the yearWhen to avoidJuly and August in south Bali, when the traffic becomes the trip
Pick by what you want
🇨🇷 Choose Costa Rica if
you want wildlife above everything else, cloud forest and two oceans in one small country, and you accept it costs more than its neighbours.
🇮🇩 Choose Indonesia if
you want volcanoes, reefs and rice terraces for very little money, and you are willing to leave the busy south to find them.
Full Costa Rica guide →Full Indonesia guide →
Compare something else
Written and checked by hand. Nothing here about visas or entry rules: those change often and depend on your passport, so check an official source.