High Season, Green Season: A Year of Occupancy on the Gold Coast

A month-by-month look at how vacation rental demand rises and falls in Playas del Coco and Ocotal.

Costa Rica occupancy rates on Guanacaste's Gold Coast follow a predictable annual curve: packed calendars from mid-December through April, a healthy second bump in June and July, and a real dip in September and October. Owners who plan and price around that curve, instead of expecting even demand, come out well ahead over a full year.

We manage 60+ vacation rentals in Playas del Coco and Ocotal, so we watch this curve play out on real booking calendars every single week. This post walks through a typical year, month by month, and explains what drives each rise and fall. We describe the pattern qualitatively here. If you want current numbers for a specific property type, just ask us.

Why does occupancy swing so much in Guanacaste?

Two forces stack on top of each other: weather and school calendars.

Costa Rica has two seasons, not four. The country's official tourism board describes the dry season as running from mid-December to late April, with the green (or wet) season covering May through mid-December. Guanacaste sits in the driest corner of the country. According to Costa Rica's national meteorological institute (IMN), the North Pacific's dry period from December through March receives only about 4 percent of the region's annual rainfall, while September through November delivers roughly 46 percent of it, with September and October the wettest stretch of all.

Layer North American travel habits on top. Our guests come mostly from the United States and Canada. They travel at Christmas and New Year's, during winter escapes from January through March, over spring break, and again in June and July when kids are out of school. Those windows line up almost perfectly with Guanacaste's best weather, which is why guanacaste vacation rental seasonality is so pronounced compared with destinations that draw a more even year-round crowd.

What does a typical year look like, month by month?

Mid-December through April: high season

This is the stretch that pays the bills. The two weeks around Christmas and New Year's are the strongest of the entire year: well-managed properties fill months in advance, minimum-stay rules hold firm, and rates sit at their annual peak. January through March stays strong behind it, driven by snowbirds and winter-break travelers, and Easter week (Semana Santa) brings a final surge of both international guests and Costa Rican families headed to the beach. Bookings for this window start landing months ahead, and the best weeks are often spoken for by early fall.

May: the first quiet gear-down

The rains typically establish in the second half of May, per the IMN, and demand cools with them. May is a genuine shoulder month: pleasant mornings, green hills returning, softer rates, and calendars with real gaps in them.

June and July: the green season bump

Occupancy climbs again in June and July. Two things drive it: North American summer holidays, and a Guanacaste weather quirk called the veranillo (little summer), a drier spell that the IMN notes tends to arrive between July and August as the trade winds strengthen. Guests get green landscapes, warm seas, and lower prices than high season. For many of our owners this is the most pleasant surprise of their first year.

August: sliding toward the low

August starts reasonably and softens as the month goes on. Families head home for the school year, and the second rainy period is approaching. Costa Ricans celebrate Mother's Day in mid-August, so domestic weekend travel gives beach towns a modest lift, but international demand keeps easing. It is a good month to schedule small repairs between bookings before the deep green season arrives.

September and October: the low season, honestly

We will not sugarcoat this: September and October are slow. They are the wettest months on the North Pacific and the quietest on our booking calendars, and no pricing trick fully changes that. Some owners block these weeks for their own use or for maintenance. Others keep listings open at reduced rates and pick up digital nomads, surfers, and flexible travelers who love having the beach nearly to themselves. Both are valid strategies, and we help owners choose based on their goals.

November and early December: the ramp back up

November is a transition month toward the dry season, and demand recovers with the weather. Thanksgiving week brings a noticeable bump of US travelers, and by early December the calendar is filling for the holidays. This is also when we finish deep cleaning, repairs, and refreshes so every property enters high season ready.

How should owners price around this curve?

Flat pricing is the most common mistake we see new owners make. A single nightly rate all year leaves money on the table in January and sits unbooked in October. Instead, we recommend thinking in tiers:

• Peak weeks (Christmas, New Year's, Easter): premium rates and longer minimum stays.
• Core high season (January to April): strong rates, booked well ahead.
• Green season bump (June and July): moderate rates aimed at summer families.
• Deep green season (September and October): meaningful discounts, relaxed minimums, or owner use.

Occupancy alone is also the wrong scoreboard. A property can post a lower annual occupancy percentage and still out-earn a busier one if its high-season weeks are priced correctly. Revenue per available night matters more than a single occupancy figure, which is one reason we are cautious about headline Costa Rica occupancy rates quoted without context.

What does this mean for your income projections?

If you are evaluating a condo or home as a rental investment, build the curve into your math from day one. Assume the bulk of your revenue arrives between mid-December and April, treat June and July as a solid second act, and let September and October carry little weight in your projections. Anything those months produce is a bonus. We cover the ownership side of the equation in our guide to why Costa Rica attracts real estate investors, and if you are still choosing your travel dates rather than your investment, our post on the best time to visit Costa Rica looks at the same calendar from the guest's side.

Management makes a measurable difference across every one of these seasons: photography, dynamic pricing, guest communication, and fast maintenance all show up in the calendar. We wrote about what separates good operators from bad ones in our post on choosing the right property management company in Costa Rica.

Ready to see how your property would perform?

We live here, we manage these calendars year-round, and we are happy to share what we currently see for properties like yours in Coco and Ocotal. Browse our current listings, learn more about our property management services, or send us an inquiry and we will walk you through a season-by-season outlook for your specific situation.

Frequently asked questions

What months have the highest vacation rental occupancy in Guanacaste?

Mid-December through April is the strongest stretch, with the Christmas and New Year's weeks and Easter week at the very top. June and July bring a solid secondary peak driven by North American summer holidays and Guanacaste's drier veranillo spell. Well-managed properties often see their best weeks booked months in advance.

Is it worth keeping a rental open in September and October?

It depends on your goals. These are the wettest, quietest months on the North Pacific, so income is limited no matter how you price. Some owners discount and capture flexible travelers and digital nomads; others block the weeks for personal use or maintenance. We help owners weigh both options honestly.

What occupancy rate should I expect from a rental in Playas del Coco?

There is no single honest number: results vary widely by property type, location, pricing, and management quality. Annual occupancy also matters less than revenue per available night, since high-season weeks earn far more than green-season ones. Ask us for current, property-specific data from our Coco and Ocotal portfolio.

Cover photo: Mariordo (Mario Roberto Duran Ortiz), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons · Photo: RDNE Stock project, Pexels