Retiring in Costa Rica from Australia: costs, the pensionado visa, pension and health cover (2026)

Who Costa Rica suits, and what to weigh up

Costa Rica suits you if you have a pension it accepts as paid for life (unconfirmed for the Age Pension), want somewhere mild for a long stay, and don’t mind being far from family. San José and the towns around it sit in the Central Valley, at about 700 to 1,030 metres. San José’s average highs stay between 23 and 26°C all year, and the nights drop to about 15 to 17°C.

The pensionado residence permit asks for a lifetime pension of at least US$1,000 a month (about A$1,450). That word “lifetime” is the big unknown for Australians. We couldn’t find anything official on whether an Age Pension or an account-based super pension counts, so it stays a question for Costa Rica’s embassy or immigration office.

Money is the other thing to weigh up. Our San José estimate for a couple is above the Age Pension base rate, and well above our Mexico and Thailand figures. Smartraveller advises a high degree of caution because of violent crime (more under day to day, below). Residents join the Caja, Costa Rica’s public health system, and pay into it every month.

What a month costs

Our estimate for a month in San José is about A$5,170 for a couple and A$3,660 for one person, rent included.

A month in San José	Couple	One person
Rent, one-bedroom flat in the centre	A$1,360	A$1,360
Living costs (food, transport, bills)	A$2,610	A$1,450
Eating out, local trips and extras (30%)	A$1,200	A$850
Total	A$5,170	A$3,660

How a month in Costa Rica compares

For a couple

Costa Rica, our estimate

A$5,170

Comfortable in Australia

A$6,580

Age Pension, the most paid in Australia

A$4,040

About A$1,410 a month less than a comfortable month in Australia.

For one person

Costa Rica, our estimate

A$3,660

Comfortable in Australia

A$4,680

Age Pension, the most paid in Australia

A$2,680

About A$1,020 a month less than a comfortable month in Australia.

Not built the same way: Australia's figure (ASFA Retirement Standard, comfortable, June quarter 2026) assumes you own your home and includes health insurance; our estimate for Costa Rica includes rent and leaves health insurance out. Age Pension: the most paid in Australia from 20 September 2026; living overseas for good, the base rate is about A$3,710 a month for a couple and A$2,460 for one person.

Our estimate: Numbeo’s living costs for one person (without rent) plus a one-bedroom city-centre rent, plus 30% for eating out, local trips and extras. For a couple, living costs times 1.8. Converted at the Reserve Bank of Australia’s average exchange rate for the 12 months to September 2026 (A$1 = US$0.6919). The RBA doesn’t publish a colón rate, so we used Numbeo’s US dollar figures, converted at the RBA’s average US dollar rate. Health insurance is not included. Numbeo’s San José page was last updated on 20 October 2026: US$1,005 a month in living costs for one person (about A$1,450) and US$943 for the flat (about A$1,360).

Numbeo puts Melbourne’s living costs, before rent, about 31% above San José’s (20 October 2026). Rent is what lifts the total. Numbeo has too few entries to give a full estimate for Escazú or Atenas, so we haven’t worked them out.

Against the Age Pension. After 12 weeks away, the most the pension pays is the base rate. That is about A$2,460 a month for one person and A$3,710 for a couple, before tax (rates from 20 September 2026). That leaves a couple about A$1,460 a month short of our San José estimate. One person is about A$1,200 short.

What costs more than you’d expect. Health cover is the big one, and our estimate leaves it out. Residents pay a monthly premium to the Caja, and GOV.UK says the amount is based on your income. Smartraveller says private care is expensive and usually paid up front. Then there are the costs of getting residence at all: application and renewal fees, police checks, apostilles and Spanish translations (see the visa section). Flights home always mean at least one stop.

Renting long term. Costa Rica’s rental law, Law 7527, sets a minimum lease of three years, El Financiero, a Costa Rican business paper, reported in March 2024. It also reported that a rent agreed in US dollars stays fixed for the lease, and that the tenant can pay it in colones at the Central Bank’s reference rate on the day. Rents agreed in colones can rise each year, by up to the rate of inflation when inflation is 10% or less. Before signing, the rent, what it covers, the deposit terms and who pays for repairs are worth having in writing. A lawyer in Costa Rica can read the lease with you. A furnished short let for the first month or two lets you see the street in the wet season before you commit.

Visas for Australians

Australians can visit without a visa. Smartraveller gives the limit as under 90 days, while Costa Rica’s November 2025 visa guidelines allow up to 180 days, with the border officer deciding. Living there means temporary residence, and the pensionado and rentista routes are the ones that suit retirees.

Visiting. Smartraveller says you don’t need a visa for a tourist visit of less than 90 days on an Australian passport (advice updated 12 March 2026, still current at 21 October 2026). Costa Rica’s immigration office (the DGME) put Australia in its first visa group in guidelines published on 17 November 2025. For that group, the officer at the border sets the stay, up to 180 days, and it can’t be extended unless you were given less than 90. So you may be given less than 180, and possibly less than 90. Costa Rica’s embassy can confirm the current limit before you book a long winter.

The same guidelines ask visitors to show at least US$100 (about A$140) for each month of their stay, and a ticket home or onward. Smartraveller says you might be refused entry if you can’t show you’ll go home or travel on. There’s a departure tax, which may be in your airline ticket.

Staying longer. Costa Rica’s immigration regulations have two routes that suit retirees. Both give temporary residence, renewed every 2 years.

Route	The money test (regulations, Decree 37112)	In A$ at the RBA’s 12-month average rate
Pensionado (pensioner)	A lifetime pension of at least US$1,000 a month, shown by a document from a competent authority	About A$1,450 a month
Rentista (income)	A stable, permanent income of at least US$2,500 a month for at least 2 years	About A$3,610 a month

What the application asks for. Article 100 of the regulations lists the pensionado papers. There’s a signed form and application, a US$50 fee (about A$72) and a stamp duty paid in colones. You also need two passport photos and a fingerprint record from Costa Rica’s Ministry of Public Security. On top of that come proof of registration with your country’s consulate (the consulate sets what that needs), a certified copy of every page of your passport, and the pension document. Two papers come from home: a birth certificate, and a police certificate from your own country or wherever you lived legally for the past three years. Both must be apostilled or legalised.

The regulations add three rules for papers from overseas. They must be apostilled or legalised (article 8). Unless they show their own expiry date, they must be no more than six months old when you hand them in (article 10). Anything not in Spanish needs an official translation (article 11). If you apply from inside Costa Rica as a visitor, article 40 adds US$200 (about A$290) for changing your status, apart from exceptions in the law.

Joining the CCSS. Once residence is approved, the regulations require you to join the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS), the public health fund. Pensionados show a card as insured pensioners. GOV.UK adds that you must collect your residence card, the DIMEX, within 90 days of approval.

Renewing, and what comes after. Every 2 years a pensionado renews and pays two fees of US$30 (about A$43 each) and a further fee set in the migration law. There’s also US$25 a year (about A$36) for the immigration social fund. The renewal needs unbroken CCSS membership since approval, proof the pension is still being paid, and a valid passport. Miss the renewal by more than three months and the residence can be cancelled. A temporary resident who is away for more than two years in a row can also lose it. After three years in a row of temporary residence, you can apply for permanent residence.

Working. The pensionado article sets the money test and the papers, and says nothing about working. The immigration office can say whether a pensionado may earn money in Costa Rica.

The “lifetime” question. The hard part for Australians is the word “lifetime” (“vitalicia” in the Spanish). The Age Pension is means-tested and its rules can change. An account-based super pension pays until the money runs out. We haven’t found anything official that says whether either counts. It’s unconfirmed, and it’s for Costa Rica’s immigration office or embassy to decide, ideally before you spend money on documents. Our guide to retirement visas by age compares the tests in other countries.

A partner, and the age question. The pensionado article sets no minimum age, only the pension. A spouse and children under 25 can be included as dependants, and the spouse shows an apostilled or legalised marriage certificate. The article says “spouse” and doesn’t mention de facto partners, so a de facto couple can ask the immigration office how they would apply.

Documents to get in Australia before you go. The birth certificate, police certificate, marriage certificate and pension letter all need an apostille, and the six-month rule means timing matters. An Australian Federal Police national police check costs A$57, and the AFP says most online checks arrive within a few days. One with fingerprints costs A$114 and takes 15 to 30 business days. DFAT issues apostilles for Australian public documents, and Smartraveller says processing times vary. Article 11 then asks for official Spanish translations.

We read the regulations as published by Costa Rica’s electoral tribunal; the immigration office’s own website was behind a bot check. Rules and fees change. Costa Rica’s embassy or its immigration office (the DGME), or a licensed visa agent in Costa Rica, can confirm the current amounts. Questions worth asking: whether an Age Pension letter from Services Australia is accepted as proof of a lifetime pension, how a super income stream is treated, and how much the CCSS charges a pensionado.

Your Age Pension and Medicare in Costa Rica

Services Australia says your Age Pension can keep paying while you’re overseas, and with no time limit. After 6 weeks away the Energy Supplement stops and your Pensioner Concession Card is cancelled. The Pension Supplement stops completely at 12 weeks (since 20 September 2026). From 26 weeks, if you lived in Australia less than 35 years between age 16 and pension age, you’re paid a proportional rate. For example, 10 years of residence gets you 10/35ths. Our guide to the 6, 12 and 26-week rules explains each step.

Costa Rica has no social security agreement with Australia, so you need to claim the Age Pension before you leave, while you’re living in Australia. If you move for good, you get the base rate only from the day you leave: A$29,520.40 a year single, A$44,506.80 for a couple.

Department of Social Services figures released under freedom of information show 6 people getting the Age Pension in Costa Rica at the end of 2025. They were paid an average of about A$927 a fortnight each.

Medicare never pays for treatment overseas, and Australia has no reciprocal health care agreement with Costa Rica. If you’re an Australian citizen and move overseas, you can still use Medicare for treatment in Australia, on visits home, for up to 5 years after you leave. Visits home don’t restart that clock. After that, you re-enrol when you move back. Permanent residents are different: their enrolment ends 12 months after they leave. Our guide to Medicare overseas has the detail.

Health care and insurance

Smartraveller’s summary says medical facilities are basic, and if you’re seriously ill or injured you’ll need evacuation to the United States. Its fuller advice says public facilities are reasonable in San José but limited in smaller towns and rural areas. Private facilities are well equipped but expensive, and you’ll likely pay up front and claim from your insurer. Doctors may only speak Spanish. GOV.UK calls medical care generally of a high standard, but says ambulances can be patchy in remote areas. For an ambulance, call 911.

The Caja. Residents join the CCSS as part of their residence, and keep paying to renew it. GOV.UK says temporary and permanent residents must enrol, with a monthly premium based on income. We couldn’t reach the CCSS website to confirm what it charges a pensionado; the CCSS or the immigration office can give the current figure.

What is where. San José has public and private hospitals, and Smartraveller rates its public facilities as reasonable. In smaller towns and rural areas it says public care is limited, so from Guanacaste or a small town, anything serious usually means the road to San José. Beyond what a Costa Rican hospital can handle, Smartraveller says evacuation is to the United States.

Medicines. GOV.UK tells British visitors that their prescriptions aren’t valid in Costa Rica. Costa Rica’s embassy can tell you whether a medicine you take daily is sold or allowed there. Our guide to taking medicines overseas has the Australian side.

Illness to know about. Smartraveller says mosquito-borne illnesses are more common in the wet season, which it dates from April to November (the weather service’s figures below put San José’s rains from May). It calls malaria a serious risk in Limón and Puntarenas provinces, including near the Panama border. GOV.UK lists dengue and Zika as well.

Insurance. For a winter away, the usual type of cover is travel insurance for a single long trip, and Smartraveller says it should include medical evacuation. If you live there, the private option alongside the CCSS is international health insurance. Age limits matter, and our guide to international health insurance by age explains them. If you’d like help working out where to start, book a free planning session on Zoom.

Where Australians live

There’s no official count of where Australians settle in Costa Rica, and the numbers are small. Here are four areas to compare, with rough driving times from San José.

Area	What it’s like	Getting around	Hospital	Airport
San José	The capital, at about 1,030 metres; our cost base	City traffic; buses and taxis	Public and private hospitals; Smartraveller rates public care reasonable	Juan Santamaría, in Alajuela, 23 km from the centre
Escazú	Suburb on the hills west of the capital, at about 1,130 metres	Hilly; about 8 km from the centre	San José’s, a short drive away	Juan Santamaría
Atenas	Small town in Alajuela province, at about 700 metres	Hilly; a car helps; about 1 hour by road	Limited locally; San José’s by road	Juan Santamaría, the nearest
Guanacaste coast	Pacific beach towns such as Tamarindo and Playas del Coco	Spread out; a car helps; about 4 to 5 hours by road	Limited in small towns; serious cases go to San José	Daniel Oduber Quirós, 13 km west of Liberia

San José is the base for our costs, and Smartraveller rates its public medical facilities as reasonable. The international airport is in nearby Alajuela.

Escazú is a canton of San José province, west of the city, running up to the Escazú hills. It is about 8 kilometres from the centre and part of the capital’s metropolitan area, with about 71,500 residents in 2022, Wikipedia reports. A large shopping mall and several embassies’ buildings are there. Numbeo has too little data to cost it separately.

Atenas is a smaller town in Alajuela province, lower than the capital at about 700 metres. Wikipedia describes the canton as mostly mountainous, with river canyons along its borders, and counted about 25,500 people at the 2011 census. Hospital care means the road to San José.

Guanacaste is the north-west Pacific coast. Its largest city, Liberia, is about 215 kilometres from San José and has its own international airport, close to beaches such as Tamarindo and Playas del Coco. It is drier than the Central Valley, with almost no rain from December to March.

Smartraveller suggests arriving at and leaving the airport in daylight. If you’re weighing Costa Rica against Mexico, our Mexico page works the same numbers for Lake Chapala, where foreign retirees have settled since the 1950s.

Renting or buying a home

Foreigners can rent, and GOV.UK says foreigners face restrictions on buying property near the coast. Those restrictions come from the Maritime Zone Law, Law 6043 of 1977.

The law covers a strip 200 metres wide along both coasts, measured from the ordinary high tide line, plus the islands. The first 50 metres is the public zone. The next 150 metres is the restricted zone, which is held under a concession, not owned. Article 47 bars concessions to foreigners who haven’t lived in Costa Rica for at least five years. It also bars companies set up by foreigners, companies domiciled abroad, and companies more than half owned by foreigners. In a 2024 legal opinion, Costa Rica’s tourism institute said these bans must be applied strictly and literally. A transfer that breaks these rules has no legal effect.

Property fraud is the other risk named. InSight Crime, a research publisher on organised crime, reported in 2021 that criminal networks used corrupt notaries to transfer land away from absent owners. It said absent owners, foreigners among them, were targets, and that the hot spots were the high-value Pacific coast in Guanacaste and Puntarenas. Costa Rica’s judicial police had linked at least 50 notaries to these networks, it reported. Smartraveller’s retirement advice warns that you may not have the same property rights overseas as a local, and suggests independent local advice before any big financial commitment.

The person to ask is a property lawyer in Costa Rica, who can check the title, any concession and the company behind a sale. GOV.UK points to the British embassy’s list of English-speaking lawyers; the Australian embassy that covers Costa Rica can tell you whether it keeps one too. Our guide to overseas property and visa scams covers the warning signs. For the Australian side, see whether to keep, rent or sell the family home.

Tax: there and at home

Article 1 of Costa Rica’s income tax law, Law 7092, taxes income from Costa Rican sources: income generated in Costa Rica’s territory, whatever the nationality, domicile or residence of the people involved. The residency test isn’t in that law’s text. La República, a Costa Rican business paper, reported the test in a June 2026 column: more than 183 days there in the tax year, with taxable income from Costa Rican sources, makes you tax domiciled. The column added that trips away of up to 30 days in a row still count as days in Costa Rica. We couldn’t read the Ministry of Finance (Hacienda) site, so we can’t say how Costa Rica treats an Australian pension. GOV.UK sends tax questions to the Ministry of Finance.

Australia has no tax treaty with Costa Rica: it isn’t on Treasury’s list of income tax treaties, updated 24 March 2026. A treaty normally settles which country taxes which income, so there are no treaty rules to fall back on.

At home, the ATO’s residency tests decide whether you are still an Australian resident for tax; our guide to tax residency when you retire overseas walks through them. If you become a foreign resident, you lose the tax-free threshold, so Australian income such as rent is taxed at 30% from the first dollar (2025-26), as the foreign resident tax rates show. Sell your Australian home while you are a foreign resident and, for sales after 30 June 2020, you generally lose the main residence exemption from capital gains tax, apart from narrow life events.

Talk to a registered tax agent in Australia, and to a tax adviser in Costa Rica about how it treats your pension and super, before you go.

Money and banking

Costa Rica’s currency is the colón. The immigration regulations set their fees in US dollars, payable in colones at the Central Bank of Costa Rica’s rate. A rent agreed in US dollars can be paid in colones at the Central Bank’s reference rate, El Financiero reported. The Reserve Bank of Australia doesn’t publish a colón rate, so on this page we convert US dollars only.

Your pension. Services Australia pays every 2 weeks into your Australian account if you’ll be away less than 12 months. Away longer, it pays every 4 weeks into an Australian or overseas account. Bank fees are yours. Our guide to living overseas on the Age Pension has the numbers.

The pension and the visa. The pensionado renewal asks for proof that the pension used for the visa is still being paid. Whether an Australian pension can be that pension is unconfirmed, and only the immigration office can say which document it accepts.

A local account. Costa Rican banks set their own rules for foreigners, so the bank itself can tell you what it needs.

Moving money. The main options are a transfer from your Australian bank, a currency transfer service, or cash from an ATM on an Australian card. Each charges a fee and builds a margin into its exchange rate; ask for both. GOV.UK says thieves target people using ATMs.

Currency swings. Your pension is in Australian dollars, and the visa test, dollar rents and our costs are in US dollars. At the RBA’s 12-month average rate (A$1 = US$0.6919), US$1,000 is about A$1,450. If an Australian dollar pension were accepted for the pensionado, a 10% fall in the Australian dollar would mean about A$1,610 a month to reach US$1,000.

Day to day

Language. Spanish is the language of daily life and of the paperwork: the immigration office wants official Spanish translations of anything in English. Smartraveller says doctors may only speak Spanish.

Getting around without driving. San José has buses and taxis. GOV.UK warns that thieves target bus passengers and people at ATMs and beaches.

Driving. Smartraveller says you can drive for up to 3 months on your Australian licence, and doesn’t mention an International Driving Permit. Delfino.cr, a Costa Rican news site, reported in August 2024 that a change lets tourists drive on a valid foreign licence for their whole authorised stay. It reported that the same change ended the wait before a new resident with a DIMEX can swap a foreign licence for a Costa Rican one. Costa Rica’s embassy can say which limit applies to you. GOV.UK says residents need a Costa Rican licence. It also says the standard of driving is lower than in the UK, and that the wet season brings potholes and landslides.

Safety. Smartraveller says violent crime, including carjackings and “express kidnappings”, is increasingly common. GOV.UK says muggings and theft are significant problems, particularly on the Caribbean coast, and that gang shootings happen in cities and tourist areas. It describes a tyre scam: someone punctures your tyre, then robs the car while “helping”. It also reports deaths from methanol in cheap local spirits. At the beach, GOV.UK says rip currents are common and lifeguards few, with 50 to 60 drownings a year. Crocodiles have attacked people on Pacific beaches.

Earthquakes and volcanoes. Smartraveller notes earthquakes, tsunamis, active volcanoes and a hurricane and rainy season from June to November, when landslides and flooding can happen. Volcanic ash can close airports. GOV.UK reports recent eruptions at Poás.

Weather. San José’s wet season runs from May to November, with the heaviest rain in September and October. The dry months are December to April:

Month in San José	Average high	Average low	Rain
January	23°C	15°C	9 mm
February	24°C	15°C	5 mm
March	25°C	16°C	12 mm
April	26°C	16°C	44 mm
May	26°C	17°C	222 mm
June	26°C	17°C	283 mm
July	25°C	16°C	208 mm
August	25°C	17°C	252 mm
September	26°C	17°C	325 mm
October	25°C	16°C	326 mm
November	24°C	16°C	139 mm
December	23°C	16°C	40 mm

Figures: Costa Rica’s Instituto Meteorológico Nacional, published by the World Meteorological Organization (temperatures 1961 to 1982, rainfall 1888 to 1997). Liberia, in Guanacaste, is hotter, with average highs of 31 to 36°C, and almost dry from December to March.

Public holidays. Article 148 of Costa Rica’s Labour Code sets the paid public holidays: 1 January, 11 April, Holy Thursday and Good Friday, 1 May, 25 July, 15 August, 15 September and 25 December. It adds 2 August, 31 August and 1 December as holidays where pay isn’t obligatory. In 2026 Holy Thursday and Good Friday fell on 2 and 3 April, the Ministry of Labour said.

Getting there and coming home

There’s no non-stop flight between Australia and Costa Rica (BITRE, June 2026). Expect at least one stop, usually in the United States, and a full day of travel or more. Smartraveller says you must meet US entry or transit rules even if you’re only changing planes, and a stop in Canada needs an eTA.

Costa Rica is 16 hours behind Sydney in our winter and 17 hours behind in daylight saving. It has no daylight saving of its own. A call at 6pm in San José reaches Sydney at 10am the next day in our winter.

Your first steps

One order that works, from a first visit to living there. The lifetime pension question sits near the top because the answer shapes everything after it.

1. Ask for help first. Book a free planning session on Zoom, or contact our team. Once we understand your situation, we can point you in the right direction.
2. Visit in the wet season and the dry, on a visitor stay (under 90 days on Smartraveller’s advice; the officer can give up to 180). Smartraveller suggests a temporary move first; see trying before you move.
3. Talk it over with your partner and family early. Our guide to talking to your family has ways to start.
4. Ask Costa Rica’s embassy or immigration office whether your Age Pension or super pension counts as a lifetime pension, before you spend money on documents. It’s unconfirmed, and it’s their decision.
5. Check what happens to your pension at 6, 12 and 26 weeks. If you haven’t claimed it yet, the claim has to be made while you live in Australia; see claim before you leave.
6. Find out what health cover you can get at your age, alongside the CCSS. Start with international health insurance by age.
7. Work out what happens to the house, and whether it counts for the pension while you are away.
8. Order the police check, birth and marriage certificates and pension letter in Australia, and have them apostilled within the six-month window.
9. Have the documents translated into Spanish, and apply for pensionado residence through the immigration office or a licensed visa agent in Costa Rica.
10. Some people rent short before signing a three-year lease. A lawyer in Costa Rica can read the lease first.
11. Once approved, join the CCSS and collect your DIMEX card within 90 days.
12. Tell Services Australia you are leaving, and set up how your pension will be paid.
13. Know your way back: coming home covers your pension and Medicare.

Questions people ask

Can Australians retire in Costa Rica?

Yes, if you qualify for temporary residence, for example as a pensionado with a lifetime pension of at least US$1,000 a month (about A$1,450). Whether the Age Pension or a super pension counts as “lifetime” is unconfirmed, and it’s for Costa Rica’s immigration office or embassy to decide. The rentista route asks for US$2,500 a month (about A$3,610) for two years.

Is it expensive to retire in Costa Rica?

Our estimate for a month in San José is about A$5,170 for a couple and A$3,660 for one person, rent included, before health insurance. That’s more than the Age Pension base rate for both. Living costs before rent are below Melbourne’s, but rent lifts the total.

What are the Costa Rica retirement visa requirements?

For the pensionado: a lifetime pension of at least US$1,000 a month (about A$1,450), though whether the Age Pension counts is unconfirmed. You also need an apostilled birth certificate and police certificate, fingerprints, photos and a US$50 fee (about A$72). Papers must be under six months old and translated into Spanish. Once approved, you join the CCSS and renew every two years.

Is there an age requirement for Costa Rica’s retirement visa?

The regulations set no minimum age for the pensionado, only the lifetime pension. A spouse and children under 25 can be added as dependants. De facto partners aren’t mentioned, so ask the immigration office how they apply.

Does the Age Pension count for Costa Rica’s pensionado visa?

We couldn’t find an official answer. The test asks for a pension paid for life, proven by a document from a competent authority. Only Costa Rica’s embassy or immigration office can say whether an Age Pension or super pension meets it.

Is it safe to retire in Costa Rica?

Smartraveller advises a high degree of caution in Costa Rica because of violent crime. GOV.UK reports muggings and theft, especially on the Caribbean coast, and dangerous rip currents. Read the current advice before you go, and again before you sign a lease.

Is it better to retire in Costa Rica or Panama?

Both have a pensionado route that asks for a lifetime pension of US$1,000 a month (about A$1,450), and whether the Age Pension counts is unconfirmed for both. Neither has a Medicare or social security agreement with Australia. Our estimate for a couple is about A$5,170 a month in San José and A$5,350 in Panama City. See our Panama page to compare.

Does Medicare cover me in Costa Rica?

No. Costa Rica has no reciprocal health care agreement with Australia. Smartraveller says you need travel insurance for a visit, including medical evacuation, and residents join the CCSS. Medicare still covers citizens back in Australia for up to 5 years after they move.