March is one of the hottest months in Guanacaste, with relentless sun and effectively no rain. The good news: the Papagayo trade winds begin to die down, and as the water holes shrink, the wildlife comes to the water that's left, which makes March the best dry-season wildlife concentration of the year. The forest is bare and still flowering, and the northern whales are still offshore. Plan outings early and late, and expect peak-season prices, dust, and waterfalls at their lowest. Holy Week falls in March in some years (March 21–28 in 2027), and it's Costa Rica's busiest week after Christmas, so book early. Best tours this month: birding and wildlife in the dry forest, and a Palo Verde river cruise. Best for: photographers, birders, and couples who want a guaranteed-dry celebration.
Is March too hot? Let’s be honest.
Yes, March is hot — one of the hottest months of the year, relentless sun, effectively no rain, rivers and waterfalls shrunk to their minimum. Some locals leave in March and April. We won’t tell you it’s “perfect.”
But two things change in March that no one mentions. First, the wind dies down. The Papagayo trades that blasted the coast since December begin to fall away — sometimes for hours, sometimes for days. Second, the heat and wind can be managed; rain can’t. That’s the honest answer we give couples asking about a March wedding: you’ll be warm, but you will not have your day washed out by a downpour or a lightning storm. Heat, you solve with air-conditioning and shade. Rain, you can’t solve at all. March gives you certainty — which for a wedding is worth more than comfort.
How to enjoy the heat: out before sunrise, shade and water from 11 to 3, back out for the last two hours of light. Nobody suffers — you just run the day in the right order.
March’s secret: a dry-season safari
And here’s March’s secret: it’s a safari. As the water holes shrink in the heat, the animals have nowhere else to drink — so they come to the water that’s left. Position yourself at the right pool and the wildlife comes to you: monkeys, deer, coatis, peccaries, and the birds crowding whatever water remains. It’s the same principle that fills the Serengeti’s waterholes in the dry season, and we do it often on our dry-forest bird-watching & wildlife outings.
The forest is at its most extreme now — completely bare, and still flowering: yellow, pink and white trees scattered across the brown hills. The leatherbacks are in their last stretch at Playa Grande, and the northern whales are still offshore as the sea begins to warm and calm.
The dry forest and Santa Rosa
If you come to us for birding in the dry forest, you’re walking through something genuinely rare: the tropical dry forest is the most endangered major tropical ecosystem on Earth — more threatened than the rainforest — and Santa Rosa National Park, part of the Área de Conservación Guanacaste World Heritage Site, protects what UNESCO calls the best dry forest habitats from Central America to northern Mexico. It’s also where Costa Rica’s freedom was forged, at the Battle of Santa Rosa on March 20th, 1856 — the setting for our dry-forest birding at Santa Rosa.
Holy Week (Semana Santa)
Holy Week (Semana Santa, or Easter Week to many North American visitors) falls in March or April depending on the year (in 2027 it runs March 21–28) — Costa Rica’s busiest and priciest week after Christmas, when Tico families head for the coast. Book early, and expect company at the beach.
A heads-up: dust, fires and low waterfalls
March is peak dust — bring a buff and eye protection for open-air tours — and the season of fires you’ll see and smell. The waterfalls (Llanos de Cortés, Rincón de la Vieja) are at their lowest, so if a big waterfall is on your list, we’ll tell you honestly and plan around it.
Is March worth it?
Come if you want dry, sunny weather and the best dry-season wildlife concentration of the year — and if you don’t mind real heat. It’s still peak season on price. But for photographers, birders, and couples who want a guaranteed-dry celebration, March is hard to beat.
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By the Guanadreams team, led by Miller Contreras — naturalist guide, born and raised in Guanacaste.