April is the hottest month in Guanacaste and the hinge between the dry and green seasons. Rivers and waterfalls are at their lowest and the hills at their most golden, but the first short afternoon rains often arrive in the last days of the month, and the dry-forest trees start to leaf out even before they fall. The forest is still open, so dry-season wildlife viewing largely holds, and April is your last chance for the northern humpback whales. When Holy Week lands in April (April 9–16 in 2028), Costa Rican families fill the beaches. Best tours this month: birding and wildlife walks in the dry forest, and the mangrove canoe safari at Playa Grande. Best for: travelers who want dry-season light and the first breath of green, especially in late April.
April: the turning point
April is the turning point — the hinge between the dry season and the green one. It’s the hottest stretch of the year: rivers and waterfalls at their lowest, the hills at their most golden. And then, usually in the last days of the month, the first rains arrive — short, scattered, mostly in the late afternoon. They don’t wash out your trip. They break the heat, settle the dust, and change everything.
The forest wakes before the rain
The forest wakes before the rain. This is April’s quiet miracle: after months bare, the dry-forest trees somehow sense the coming rains and push out new, bright-green leaves before a single drop has fallen. The corteza amarilla and other trees flower on the turn. The brown hills begin, tree by tree, to green.
The smell of the zafra
The smell of the season. Through April the zafra — the sugarcane harvest — runs to its close at the El Viejo mill, and the sweet scent of cane on the wind is, for us, the very signature of this region: the smell of the trade winds, the dry season, and Guanacaste itself. You won’t find it in any guidebook, because you can’t print a smell.
Last call for the whales
Last call offshore. April is your final window for the northern humpback whales — some are seen on their way out, beginning the long migration north with their calves. The season that opened in December closes now. The leatherback nesting season at Playa Grande has closed by now, but its mangrove estuary is still ours to explore by private canoe.
Dry-season wildlife still holds
The forest is still open, only just beginning to leaf out — so the dry-season wildlife visibility of February and March largely holds. Black spiny-tailed iguanas (garrobos) bask on every hot surface; monkeys, deer and coatis still work the shrinking water holes — prime time for our bird-watching & wildlife walks.
Holy Week (Semana Santa): an honest heads-up
Holy Week (Semana Santa, or Easter Week as many North American visitors call it) falls in March or April depending on the year; when it lands in April, as it does in 2028 (April 9–16), that week is different: Costa Rica’s own families head for the coast, and the popular beaches get genuinely saturated — packed, local, festive, but crowded. This is exactly the week a local guide earns their keep. We know which beaches fill and which stay quiet, and how to route a day around the crowds to the strategic, empty places. If you’re here for Holy Week, message us and come with someone who knows how the week moves.
Is April worth it?
April is the connoisseur’s month. Hold out for the last week or two and you catch the best of both seasons — still sunny, the first cooling rains, the forest greening, whales on their way out, and (Holy Week aside) thinning crowds as high season ends. It’s hot, yes. But for travellers who want the dry-season light and the first breath of green, late April is a quiet sweet spot.
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By the Guanadreams team, led by Miller Contreras — naturalist guide, born and raised in Guanacaste.