Costa Rica is often seen as a straightforward destination, but that can hide the real picture for working travel. For many organisations, the challenge is not the country as a whole, but how the trip changes once work moves beyond major centres and into remote, coastal or operationally demanding areas.
We provide specialist insurance for NGOs, journalists, contractors and organisations working across Costa Rica, including travel patterns that standard insurers may oversimplify.
What's included
Designed for complex and operational environments.
Costa Rica is generally more stable than many countries in the region, but risk still varies by location and type of work.
Urban crime, remote access challenges and differences in medical support outside major centres can all affect what meaningful cover needs to do. Your cover must reflect where you are actually working.
Can you get insurance for Costa Rica?
We provide specialist insurance for non-combatants working in Costa Rica. Standard insurers may treat Costa Rica as simple low-risk travel even when the real itinerary involves remote sites, multiple locations or operational work beyond a standard business trip. We assess the actual working environment.
More than a generic travel policy
Costa Rica combines strong visitor infrastructure in some areas with remote regions, coastal routes and operational environments where access and support may be less predictable. A straightforward city-based trip is one thing. Field work, environmental assignments, NGO travel or movement between remote areas is another.
This policy is built for how professional travel actually works across Costa Rica.
Country context
The situation
Costa Rica remains one of the more established and accessible countries in the region for business, NGO and field-based travel. That reputation is largely deserved for standard visitor patterns. However, current official guidance from the UK, US and Canada all points to crime as a real and ongoing consideration — particularly theft, opportunistic targeting and the urban security picture in San José and tourist areas.
For many organisations, the real issue is not whether Costa Rica is broadly accessible, but whether the trip involves remote areas, repeated internal movement or operational work that sits outside what a standard travel policy is designed to cover.
NGS provides 24/7 emergency medical and operational support, including evacuation and coordination of care. That matters most when a trip involves remote access, practical delays or a working pattern that goes beyond a simple city-based itinerary.
What to watch
Why it can be challenging
Crime remains a live consideration
Theft and opportunistic crime are highlighted by official advice from multiple governments. Urban areas — including San José and popular tourist centres — see property crime and some violent incidents. For operational travellers moving with equipment or cash, this matters practically.
Remote access and field environments
Costa Rica's biodiversity and geography create genuine operational challenges. Remote national parks, highland areas, coastal jungle regions and the Osa Peninsula involve terrain and distances that can complicate treatment and emergency response.
Variable medical support outside major centres
San José has reasonable private medical infrastructure. Outside the capital, the picture varies. Remote areas can be hours from meaningful emergency care, and evacuation may need to be planned in advance rather than assumed as available.
Operational travel may be more complex than it appears
NGO field programmes, environmental research assignments, journalism trips covering multiple locations and infrastructure project work often involve a pattern of movement that standard single-destination travel policies are not built to match.
Operational complexity
Moderate
San José and established commercial centres are generally manageable. Remote field locations, coastal jungle areas and multi-region itineraries introduce meaningful complexity that a standard travel policy may not be structured to address.
Medical access outside major centres
Variable
Reasonable private facilities in San José and some larger towns. Outside these centres — particularly in remote coastal or highland areas — quality and availability vary, and emergency care may require significant transit time.
Evacuation difficulty
Moderate
International evacuation from San José is generally feasible. From remote regions such as the Osa Peninsula or highland field locations, getting to the point of evacuation may itself require coordination and planning.
Practical relevance
Projects operating across more than one region, including field activity in national parks, coastal communities and areas outside the main commercial centres.
Reporting trips that involve movement across urban, coastal and remote environments — where the complexity is in the pattern of travel, not any single dramatic risk.
Assignments linked to sustainability, infrastructure, environmental research or on-site operational work in locations that look straightforward on paper.
Travel that is more complex in practice than it first appears — once location, repeated movement and distance from major medical centres are properly factored in.
Emergency support
NGS provides 24/7 emergency medical and operational support, including evacuation and coordination of care. That matters most when a trip involves remote access, practical delays or a working pattern that goes beyond a simple city-based itinerary.
You are not relying on a policy document alone. You have access to practical support when it matters.
Continuity
Yes. Cover continues across your declared itinerary, including movement between countries, provided your travel has been accurately disclosed in advance.
For teams moving between Costa Rica and neighbouring Panama or Colombia, accurate disclosure of the full operational itinerary across all locations is essential.
Exclusions
Being clear about exclusions helps buyers know exactly what this policy is for and where separate cover may be needed.
This policy is designed to protect people, not possessions.
Cover not included
Activity exclusions
Property exclusions
These covers can be arranged separately if required.
Also covering
Latin America
Threat intelligence
For a deeper understanding of the current situation, including operational risks and regional dynamics, see our threat intelligence hub.
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