Christmas in Costa Rica: How Ticos and Expats Celebrate the Holidays in Paradise

A local guide to tamales, posadas, beach fireworks, and joining the holiday season in Playas del Coco.

Christmas in Costa Rica runs from early December through the first week of January. Ticos celebrate with tamales, nativity scenes, and a late family feast on Christmas Eve, while beach towns like Playas del Coco add fireworks over the bay, bonfires on the sand, and a full calendar of community events.

We have spent enough Decembers in Guanacaste to know the season has its own rhythm. This guide covers how Ticos celebrate, what happens in the busy week between Christmas and New Year, and how newcomers can take part without feeling like spectators.

When does the holiday season start in Costa Rica?

Early. By the first week of December, shops in Playas del Coco, Liberia, and San José are playing villancicos (Christmas carols) and families are assembling their nativity scenes. Two things kick the season into gear:

• The aguinaldo. Every employee in Costa Rica receives a mandatory year-end bonus equal to one-twelfth of the gross wages they earned from December 1 through November 30, and by law it must be paid within the first 20 days of December, per this guide from Costa Rican law firm AG Legal. That extra paycheck funds gifts, travel, and a great many tamales.
• School vacation. The Costa Rican school year wraps up in December, so kids are off and families have the month together.

San José's Festival de la Luz, the big night parade that has opened the season for nearly 30 years, takes place in mid-December. The 2025 edition ran on December 13 with a new route around La Sabana park and closed with a drone show, as The Tico Times reported. From there the season rolls straight through New Year, and many families keep the celebration going into early January, when the three kings finally arrive at the nativity scene for Día de los Reyes.

What are the main Tico Christmas traditions?

Tamales and the tamaleada

Ask any Tico what Christmas tastes like and the answer is tamales: corn masa filled with seasoned pork or chicken, rice, and vegetables, wrapped and boiled in banana leaves. Families make them by the hundred in a group cooking session called a tamaleada. Everyone gets a job, from the grandparents seasoning the masa to the kids tying the string. Neighbors trade tamales all season, which is why December conversations here so often turn into a friendly debate over whose grandmother makes the best ones.

La Noche Buena

The main event is the night of December 24, La Noche Buena. Many families attend Misa de Gallo (midnight mass), then sit down to a late feast: tamales, roast pork leg, rice with chicken, beet and potato salad, and rompope, a spiced local eggnog. Gifts are traditionally opened after midnight, and fireworks crackle over every town in the country.

El portal

In many Costa Rican homes the nativity scene, called the portal, matters more than the tree. Some are small tabletop displays. Others take over a corner of the living room with moss, sawdust hills, and generations of hand-me-down figures. In Guanacaste you will spot portales with seashells and palm fronds worked in, and in most homes the baby Jesus figure is only added on Christmas Eve.

What happens between Christmas and New Year?

Costa Rica does not slow down after the 25th. In the capital, the Fiestas de Zapote fill the week: the 2025 edition ran from December 25 to January 4 with around 30 carnival rides, food stalls, free concerts, and the famous Tico-style bull events, where amateur riders dodge and leap over the bull and the animal is never harmed.

December 26 brings the Tope Nacional, the national horse parade held on National Horseman's Day. It was a San José fixture for decades until 2025, when it moved to San Ramón de Alajuela for the first time in its history, with more than 3,000 riders expected. Check the local news each December for that year's route.

Then the whole country heads for the coast. The week between Christmas and New Year is the busiest of the year on Guanacaste's beaches, ending with bonfires, fireworks over the water, and, for the brave, a midnight dip in the ocean for good luck.

What is Christmas like in Playas del Coco?

Coco is at its best in December. The rains taper off in late November, and by Christmas the dry season has settled in: sunny days, warm evenings, and the first of the Papagayo breezes. Around town you will find:

• Community tree lightings and holiday craft markets
• Charity tamale sales that support local families and schools
• Fireworks over the bay on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve
• Beach gatherings that mix Tico families down from the Central Valley with expats and travelers from everywhere

We will be honest about the tradeoff: this is peak season. Restaurants fill up, the beach road moves slowly, and holiday-week accommodation books out months ahead. If you are planning a December visit, reserve early and expect company. Our post on the best time to visit Costa Rica breaks down the seasons, and if you are weighing towns, here is what makes Playas del Coco different.

How can expats join in the local traditions?

The best way to experience Christmas in Costa Rica is to participate. A few ways to do it well:

• Say yes to the tamaleada. If a neighbor or friend invites you to help make tamales, go. Nobody expects skill, only willing hands, and it is the fastest way we know into the heart of the season.
• Attend a posada or the Misa de Gallo. Even if you are not religious, the processions and the midnight mass are moving cultural experiences, and the churches around Coco are welcoming.
• Give back. December is full of toy drives, school fundraisers, and animal rescue events in the Coco area. Ask around; there is always a list that needs one more volunteer.
• Pay the aguinaldo if you employ anyone. A housekeeper, gardener, or caretaker who works for you is legally entitled to the year-end bonus described above, paid by December 20. We are not attorneys, so confirm the calculation for your situation with yours.

Why do expats love the holidays here?

For many people who move here, Christmas in Costa Rica is the season that confirms the decision. There are no icy roads and far less shopping frenzy. The season centers on food, family, and neighbors, which is easy to embrace even when the neighbors are new. Many North Americans warm up for it with Thanksgiving as an expat in Costa Rica a month earlier.

It is fair to say a first tropical Christmas can feel strange. Carols in 90-degree sunshine take adjustment, flights home are at their most expensive, and some people genuinely miss the snow. Most of us find the trade works out: you swap the blizzard for a beach bonfire and video-call the family from the sand.

Thinking about spending next December here?

We celebrate the season in Playas del Coco ourselves, and we are happy to share what we know. If Christmas in Costa Rica sounds like your kind of holiday, browse our current listings in Coco and Ocotal or send us a question through our contact page. And if you already own a home here, our property management team can have it ready, and rented, for the busiest weeks of the year. Feliz Navidad y Pura Vida.

Frequently asked questions

What do Costa Ricans eat at Christmas?

Tamales are the centerpiece: corn masa with seasoned pork or chicken, rice, and vegetables, wrapped in banana leaves. Families make hundreds together in a tamaleada. The Christmas Eve feast usually adds roast pork leg, rice with chicken, beet and potato salad, and rompope, a spiced eggnog served after midnight mass.

Is December a good time to visit Playas del Coco?

Yes, with a caveat. December opens the dry season, so you get sunny days, warm water, and holiday events all month. It is also peak season, so hotels and vacation rentals for Christmas and New Year week book out months ahead and prices are at their highest. Reserve early.

What is the aguinaldo and does it affect expats?

The aguinaldo is Costa Rica's mandatory year-end bonus: one-twelfth of the gross wages an employee earned from December 1 through November 30, paid within the first 20 days of December. If you employ a housekeeper, gardener, or caretaker, you owe it too. Confirm your exact obligation with a licensed attorney.

Cover photo: Vlad Podvorny, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons · Photo: Karina Aguilar Picado, CC0 1.0, via Openverse