I know to only drink bottled water and use it for brushing teeth. I did this in the Dominican Republic and my friend and I both got terribly sick the last day.
I want to try to avoid that nightmare in Costa Rica. Is stomach illness common when traveling there? Thanks!

For the most part, the water and food in CR is entirely okay. We ate/drank all through San Jose, Manuel Antonio, Arenal, and Peace Lodge. The only place we've been where we couldn't drink the water was the Osa peninsula, and they provided us with filtered water. We've gotten sick in Mexico, and it's not fun, but no such problems in Costa Rica.

We've drunk tap water all over the country and never thought a thing about it. Never a problem. Same with fruits and veggies. I don't think you have to worry at all. We HAVE gotten sick in Mexico. We've always considered CR to be quite sanitary. It's a pretty clean little country.

I admit I've got quite lax on trips to CR but so far so good. I drink the water, brush my teeth, eat the veggies & fruits etc. Only problem ever had was (I think) from drinking a mango con leche and that's as I never drink milk or milk products.

Agree with the above. We had absolutely no problem in MA - tap water and all, but we weren't camping or out in rural areas either. The only thing we were told to avoid was cerviche, but we avoid that at home (the States) too!!!

The answer is - it depends.... One of my guys got sick there. I (and I am very sensitive) did brush my teeth in the hotel (I was staying at a Marriott with a bottled water system), but I still stay away from drinking water from the tap, or using ice in anything (unless, it's a frozen alcoholic drink.... You don't mention where you're going to be traveling, and I don't know where you're from - but the "bugs" there are different from the "bugs" in many places in the US. Having had the stomach problems before, I'm careful everywhere I travel in the world - even in many cities in Europe..... Just use your common sense - and have a good time - Costa Rica is beautiful!

Everyone in the group I went to CR with got sick. I suspect it was from either water or seafood from a beach front restaurant near Jaco. Raw sewage flows into the Tarcoles river and ocean near there.

My husband was very ill in the Dominican Replublic. I didn't have any issues at all. Stay totally away from any Seafood. That is key so I think. I don't know about CR but just stay away from seafood and eat yogurt for a few weeks prior to going.

Hi Alexa, some people will get sick eating fish, (ceviche) but I found out in my many years dealing with visitors to our country, that some people are terrified about getting sick and they gat sick!

Please relax, is a clean country and water is ok to drink. And if you do not trust it, drink water from bottles and avoid fish.

Rocio

Alexa, please don't let any stories scare you away... people get sick while traveling all the time for various reasons (including stomach viruses). That incident in Jaco sounds like it might have been related to a restaurant problem (food poisoning), which unfortunately happens right here in the states.

I have a pretty sensitive system... I so much as look at a map of Mexico and I get diarrhea! In Costa Rica, however, I was filling up my water bottle twice a day straight out of my hotel taps (in Manuel Antonio, Monteverde, Arenal)and not one problem. My mom is the same as me and she didn't have any problems either. Apparently (as above posters have mentioned), if you visit the Osa, that's when you need to do bottled water.

I'm a vegetarian and it stinks if I can't eat salads or fresh fruit or veggies (like in Mexico), but I'm in heaven in Costa Rica since it's all safe to eat. And it's great food! You'll have a blast... just go and don't worry.

I didn't have any problems with water, fruit or green salads but I sure had a problem with a seafood dish that contained steamer clams. One of the clams didn't even open but like a dummy, I ate the ones that did. That night and the next day was ugly, but I blame myself. I don't think you can expect steamers to be very fresh in Costa Rica. In the Pacific Northwest, we rake and eat steamers all the time so I didn't stop to think about it.