Trust
Who Writes Pura Vida Compass
Pura Vida Compass is a small, independent editorial project. Content is credited to the editorial team rather than to invented personas, because that is the truth of how it is made.
Reviewed by Pura Vida Compass Editorial TeamLast reviewed How we research
What the editorial team is responsible for
- Maintaining 31 destination profiles, 17 wildlife pages and 5 route-tested itineraries, including the tradeoffs and the "maybe skip it" sections.
- Scoring every destination across the eleven Pura Vida Index categories, consistently and relative to other Costa Rican destinations.
- Keeping drive times, seasons and budget ranges realistic, and correcting them when roads, ferries or park rules change.
- Reviewing the full data set at least twice a year — last completed August 2026.
What qualifies this site to advise you
- Every recommendation is grounded in published, checkable sources — park authorities, operator schedules and rate cards — rather than in vague consensus.
- The scoring methodology is public, so you can disagree with a score and still use the framework.
- The site is built around decisions travellers actually face: how many stops fit, which coast, whether a rental car is worth it, what a week really costs.
- Where our knowledge has limits, the page says so instead of guessing.
Independence
- Booking partners fund the site through commissions, and never influence scores, rankings, itineraries or comparisons.
- Commercial links are added after the editorial content is written, and are labelled where they appear.
Get in touch
Corrections, local knowledge and disagreements are all welcome — see contact, or read our editorial policy and how ratings work.