December marks the beginning of the high season for tourism in Costa Rica, and despite the fact that prices are higher than usual this time a year (averaging $211 USD a night), hotels already report 84 of every 100 rooms reserved for the holidays according to the Hotels Chamber of Costa Rica.

The probe was done in the past few weeks and it shows that Puntarenas is the province with the biggest occupancy at this point with a 100% of the rooms booked.  The region of San Carlos follows closely with a 90%, Guanacaste is third with an 87% average occupancy the South Pacific shows 86% and finally the Caribbean with an average of 82% of the rooms booked.

San Carlos has the highest average price with $253.00 USD while the South Pacific hotels are charging close to $240.00 USD. The lowest rates are found in the hotels in the Central Valley due to the fact that during this time a year the occupancy actually goes down since most travelers come on vacation and not business.

Beach and mountain hotels stated they expect to reach a full occupancy within the next few days, “I can assure that by the end of the year the occupancy will be of 100%”, said the president of the Hotels Chamber Gustavo Araya, while the president of the Tourism Chamber of Guanacaste, Priscilla Solano mentioned that in that Guanacaste had an 85% demand during the month of October which was unusual for that month.

The demand in the Northern Region has increased in comparison with 2015, the hot springs and the Arenal Volcano are the main attractions in this area.

If you are planning on vacationing this end of the year in Costa Rica you better hurry and book your hotel soon or as an alternative check out the options for vacation rentals available in the country.