Costa Rica as an Island: How Did We Get Here?

If you’ve ever been a long-time expat living and working in Costa Rica, then you likely know all about the "Costa Rica island myth". The Costa Rica expat and travel social media groups are always full of people assuming Costa Rica is an island, asking about "places on the island to visit" or "where's the best place on the island to live". It's been going on for as long as social media groups have existed and it still happens today.

Here at Costa Rican Vacations, it's been going on for even longer than that. We've been dealing with this misconception since 1999, and we think it's time to address it: why the confusion happens, what the truth really is, and what that means for the country. Costa Rica is a beautiful place, rich in natural resources, and we’d like everyone to see it exactly for what it is. Below, we'll look at all aspects of the Costa Rica island myth and see if we can't put it to bed once and for all. Let's get started.

When someone on social media unwittingly refers to Costa Rica as an island, we often flinch a little bit and feel sympathetic at the ongoing onslaught we know is coming. Social media can be a cruel place when you say something incorrect, but rest assured, we’re not here to do that.

Here's the thing. Unless you're a deliberate troll throwing chum into the water to mix things up, nobody intentionally calls Costa Rica an island. If you think Costa Rica is an island, there are probably reasons why. After all, you're not the first and you won't be the last. As we said, there's a real misconception circulating. We think there are two main reasons why, and we’ll also take a look at other possible factors that add to the conundrum:

Over the years, many of us in the travel business down here have taken advantage of the connection between Costa Rica and Jurassic Park. It is, after all, one of the reasons Costa Rica is an internationally famous name. For those who don't know, Jurassic Park is a science fiction novel and movie franchise that follows the creation of a theme park populated by genetically engineered dinosaurs. The park is initially a success but soon descends into chaos as the dinosaurs break free from their enclosures and begin to roam the island where they’ve been created. The story explores themes of bioethics, chaos theory, and the dangers of unchecked capitalist ambition.

The author of Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton, placed his theme park on a fictional island off the coast of Costa Rica called Isla Nublar (there are also other islands nearby in the story, including Isla Sorna). Now, although the book and film don't ever say that Costa Rica itself is an island, over the years, anyone except hardcore Jurassic Park fans have forgotten this, and all they see is Costa Rica portrayed as an island full of dinosaurs running amok. In addition, the capital of Costa Rica is called San José, but it's portrayed as a tiny beach village in the film rather than the cosmopolitan city it really is. The fact the movie was filmed in Hawai’i probably doesn’t help, either.

Could this be the reason why people think Costa Rica is an island? There’s a chance it is, but we hope this is a simple misunderstanding from the viewers. After all, everyone understands there are no cloned dinosaurs roaming around Costa Rica, so, hopefully, everyone also understands the Costa Rica portrayed in Jurassic Park isn’t real.

Costa Rica's coat of arms could well be another reason why people think it's an island, although it’s a bit of a stretch. If you've taken the time to be familiar with the country's coat of arms, then probably you know what it looks like on a map.

However, it's worth spending a minute or two on this. If you look at the coat of arms, you'll see two ships at sea, with a stretch of land comprising three smoking volcanoes between them. It looks remarkably like an island, except that we don't see either end of the land at all. This ambiguity could cause confusion if you don’t know why this is arranged the way it is.

The elements portrayed in the coat of arms all represent a different aspect of Costa Rica. The ships represent trade, and the three volcanoes represent the three main mountain ranges of Costa Rica. There's also a rising sun (or setting sun, depending on whether you're in the Atlantic looking west to the Pacific or in the Pacific looking east) in the image. The arms are enclosed by a golden frame with coffee bean beads, symbolizing the nation's coffee industry. An arch of seven stars represents the seven provinces of Costa Rica. The land looks narrow because Costa Rica is indeed a narrow country, touching both oceans.

There is also a level of misunderstanding between languages that could be adding to the problem. If you're a native English speaker and don't speak any other language, you might be unaware that in Spanish (alongside many other languages), nouns have gender inflections. This means there’s a distinction between a noun that’s feminine and one that’s masculine. Adjectives also have this characteristic, and match the gender of the noun. We don't know exactly why Spanish does this, it’s a quirk it has inherited from Latin and the other languages it came from, but it does!

Masculine nouns—generally, although not always—end with an "o," and feminine nouns with an "a"—though, again, not always. So the nouns Puerto (meaning Port) and Costa (meaning Coast) are masculine and feminine respectively. This leads the adjective—Rico/Rica, meaning Rich—to end with the corresponding letter. Puerto Rico and Costa Rica. If you’re confused, don't worry about it, we’re often confused by this too.The thing is, it’s very possible that English speakers who hear these names don’t know the meaning of Puerto or Costa, and they only recognize the similarity of “Rico” and “Rica.” This could lead to a mix-up, where you hear that somewhere that ends in “Rico” is an island, and so you think Costa Rica might be that one.

There is also the whole "island life" vibe that’s usually associated with tropical countries. Costa Rica is often portrayed as a lush paradise, and this can contribute to the idea that it's an island. Islands are often seen as idyllic and colorful, and Costa Rica is definitely that. There's a sense, especially in northern countries, that swaying palms on tropical beaches simply belong on islands, so maybe some people assume Costa Rica must be one too.

Here's an example. The late, great Jimmy Buffett, the godfather of tropical rock, made a career in both music and hospitality pushing that laid-back tropical "island life" vibe. Sun, sea, calypso, palm trees, sultry señoritas, all that good stuff. It's partly due to Jimmy that many people just can't conceive of a tropical paradise-like place not being an island. It's ingrained into the soul. And the fact that there's one of Jimmy's Margaritaville resorts right here in Costa Rica does nothing to dispel the myth.

For the more romantic among us, we suppose you could call Costa Rica an "island of Pura Vida", a haven of peace and tranquility. Now, while Costa Rica is by no means perfect (which country is?), there's something to this, and many Costa Ricans, expats, and travelers will understand.

One way to put it is this: There's never been a large need among Costa Ricans to emigrate, unlike other countries in Central America. There is no major internal military conflict or political upheaval forcing anyone’s hand. It’s a country known for being peaceful and welcoming, where most can live sufficiently well. Costa Rica is, in fact, a country many people escape to, rather than escape from.

There's a well-deserved perception of the Costa Rican lifestyle being laid-back and relaxed, and that's attractive to many, especially in a turbulent world. Many Costa Ricans truly see their country this way, and most of them wouldn't dream of ever living anywhere else.

It’s worth pointing out that the idea of Costa Rica being an oasis of calm is more than just a feeling. That feeling, that perception, that pura vida vibe—it all comes from someplace real.

It probably started in colonial times, when Costa Rica was a backwater of the Spanish Empire. It was an almost-forgotten province of the Captaincy General of Guatemala. Back then, given its geography, Costa Rica might as well have been a real island. It didn’t have any riches the Spanish were truly interested in—no gold, silver, or copper they could exploit. This isolated Costa Rica from other Central American locations where larger cities and economies had thrived, and Costa Rica was largely ignored by most Spanish rulers. That sense of being apart from the rest of Central America has never truly gone away.

Over the years, Costa Rica has taken on a path of its own, this time by choice. It abolished its army and established strong democratic practices that have, down the line, prevented many of the political conflicts that its neighbors have suffered. Costa Rica is often a country that receives refugees instead of creating them. All of this counts towards the idea that Costa Rica is an island of peace amidst a stormy sea.

As we have seen, Costa Rica is not an island. But what is it? It's time now to bring out the geographic big guns. The Encyclopedia Britannica, for example, describes the geography of Costa Rica as follows:

"Extending from northwest to southeast, Costa Rica is bounded by Nicaragua to the north, by the Caribbean Sea along the 185-mile (300-km) northeastern coastline, by Panama to the southeast, and by the Pacific Ocean along the 630-mile (1,015-km) southwestern coastline. At the country’s narrowest point, the distance between the Pacific and the Caribbean is only about 75 miles (120 km)."

As this explains, Costa Rica is a narrow country that limits north and south with land, and east and west with sea. This makes it an isthmus. An isthmus is, in short, a strip of land surrounded on two sides by water. This makes Costa Rica incredibly unique as well, having a large variety of ecosystems and topographies in a very short space.

A few years ago there was talk about Nicaragua building a new canal between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, using Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan River as part of the waterway. They would have dug a channel in that narrow strip of land between the lake and their Pacific coast. If this had happened, and with the Panama Canal to the south also in existence, then maybe Costa Rica would kind of have become an island on a technicality. But it didn't happen.

Costa Rica is many things. It's stunningly beautiful and has amazing beaches, lush rainforests, verdant cloud forests, and nature galore. But it isn't an island. Sure, there are Costa Rican islands, like the aforementioned Coco’s Island or Isla Chiquita or the Catalina Islands. These are all striking locations, but Costa Rica itself is not an island. And you know what? That doesn't matter as much as how gorgeous, exciting, and vibrant it is.

In truth, what matters most is the essence of Costa Rica. That pura vida spirit that enchants everyone who moves here or travels here. Costa Rica might not be a physical island, but it has everything that those seeking a tropical island escape hope to discover, and then some. If you’d like to learn even more about Costa Rica, feel free to contact us. We’ll gladly help you visit to check it for yourself.