Manuel Antonio (Quepos) weather by month
The best time to visit Manuel Antonio (Quepos) is January to March — 88/100 in February, 28°C and 20 rainy days. The best season is the dry season, December to April (79/100 on average).
The worst month is October at 53/100 — hot, soaked, clean air. See October →
Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis
Planning the wider trip? Best time to visit Costa Rica →
Best season: December to April (79/100 on average) · worst October (53/100)
- Days
- 28°C
- Nights
- 23°C
- Wet days
- 20
- Sun
- 10.7 h
- Humidity
- 84%
- Daylight
- 12 h

Manuel Antonio, month by month
Comfort score out of 100 for the kind of trip Manuel Antonio is best for, the average high, rainy days and hours of sun a day from the climate normals, and how busy it tends to be.
What's on in Manuel Antonio through the year
Festivals, natural spectacles, holidays and the seasons to watch out for — curated and sourced. The month pages carry the detail.
Crowds in Manuel Antonio in February
How busy the place itself is — school and mass holidays, the months an editor tagged, and how sought-after the weather makes them. Never part of the comfort score.
Peak crowdstravelers describe it as peak season, Dry season
Sourced from traveler notes: “…ungle, occasionally hotter right on the beach - and call it peak season for good reason, with humidity staying high (70%+) under bl…” — Tripadvisor community
Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet
Good to know before you go to Manuel Antonio
Real experiences from travellers' own write-ups, quoted with a link to the original.
Wildlife
We bought our park tickets online two weeks ahead after reading they sell out during peak season and aren't available at the gate, and arrived right at the 7am opening to beat both the heat and the crowds. Hiring a local guide at the entrance made an enormous difference, spotting sloths, monkeys and a well-camouflaged snake we'd have walked straight past on our own. We carried reusable water bottles and left snacks in the car after learning single-use plastic and food are banned inside the park. Bringing ID that matched our online reservation was the one detail we almost forgot but turned out to be checked carefully at the gate.
Traveller notes on Manuel Antonio
What people who have been say about the place — the year-round notes first, then month by month.
Forum posters name February as the hottest month of the year here - typically 90-97F in the jungle, occasionally hotter right on the beach - and call it peak season for good reason, with humidity staying high (70%+) under blue skies dotted with big white clouds. Posters describe February as Manuel Antonio's driest month by local standards, though this is still a rainforest climate with real, near-daily rain even at its driest - the honest framing is 'least wet' rather than genuinely dry, since afternoon showers remain a common feature even in February, just shorter and less frequent than the region's true wet season (May-November). Posters are also emphatic that online weather forecasts for this area are essentially useless - conditions shift too fast and locally to trust anything beyond the broad seasonal pattern.
Manuel Antonio's forum describes a fairly consistent August rhythm: clear, pleasant mornings, thunder rolling in over the mountains by early-to-mid afternoon, and rain arriving anywhere from 4 to 6pm that can continue into the night or clear up fast - though posters admitted the exact timing varies day to day and forecasts aren't reliable. The first half of the month tends to be somewhat less rainy than the back half. It's hot, humid and genuinely one of the wettest stretches of the year here, but the payoff repeated by multiple visitors is how lush and green everything gets - worth planning mornings for outdoor time and afternoons for a siesta.
Add your own note from Manuel Antonio's card on the map.