Top Apps to Have While Traveling in Costa Rica
The tech world is now a part of most people’s lives in a way that can make traveling easier than ever. We all carry a smartphone, many of them, loaded with apps that are everything from useful to entertaining. Costa Rica Beach Rentals knows all the best apps to use when traveling throughout this beautiful country so we’ve compiled a short list for your reading pleasure. Whether you’re trying to find your way around in a rental, catch the best wave, or find local music to enjoy, these are Costa Rica Beach Rentals’ top four apps to download onto your smartphone before you touchdown in the volcanic beach paradise of Costa Rica.
WAZE
For getting around in a rental or checking your taxi route, everyone uses Waze. Costa Rica can be difficult to navigate due to its lack of street addresses and occasionally street names altogether. Waze makes it easy to navigate to locations by showing upcoming traffic incidents, debris or lane changes, and informs users of license plate restriction zones for those living in the cities long term. Waze is user based, allowing drivers to update the map in real time for everyone and with the majority of people in Costa Rica using the app, this makes it very accurate as well as convenient.
SPOTIFY
Despite Costa Rica being such a small country, it can take a while to get around. And when you do arrive and go into local watering holes one might want to know the music playing. Spotify is very popular in Costa Rica and is the most widely used music streaming app. Many local restaurants will be using it to stream their music, so it’s easy to ask which playlist they’re playing from and add it to your own. With Spotify, users can build their own playlists from a seemingly infinite library of music, download playlists created by others including Daily Mixes and New Release lists, as well as tune into digital radio stations worldwide. Costa Rica Beach Rentals highly recommends this app.
SURFLINE
Once you’ve grooved to your Costa Rica Beach Rental using Waze to guide the way and Spotify to set the mood it’ll be time to take a dip in the sea. Surfline is the app to have for this. Users will have access to local surf reports, weather forecasts, tide charts, even local write-ups in particular areas so they can make sure the ocean is ripe for their planned activities. From Playa Hermosa to Mal Pais there are plenty of waves to choose from, so best to keep a close eye on the swell. Costa Rica Beach Rentals wants to keep you ahead of the game and the early bird on the wave, so this app is a must whilst in the Southern Nicoya Area.
Surely, you’ll want to discuss the surf report though, and make plans for evenings and day trips. WhatsApp is extremely popular throughout Costa Rica. It’s the preferred means of communication over any other platform and its advertised everywhere, with many phone plans having free WhatsApp messaging. This messaging service allows voice messaging, pictures, videos, files, GPS locations and more, so make sure you download this one as soon as possible.
These four apps are just to get your started and once you land, Costa Rica Beach Rentals recommends you ask around to see what other useful apps people are using. Travelers will have directions, music, communication, and tides covered with the four above. Be sure to check back with Costa Rica Beach Rentals regularly for more tips on Costa Rica and the Southern Nicoya Peninsula, one of the most beautifully eco-diverse places in the world.