VacationSelector
The Teatro Amazonas, Manaus
ManausThe Teatro Amazonas
The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa RicaThe Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose

Photos: Manaus by Jardelsliumba, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0.

Manaus or San Jose, Costa Rica?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Manaus for

  • beaches
  • live music and the arts
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Manaus’s own page.

Choose San Jose, Costa Rica for

  • day trips
  • families
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on San Jose, Costa Rica’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Manaus 38, San Jose, Costa Rica 12: Manaus leads by 26 points.
Food & drink. Manaus 56, San Jose, Costa Rica 42: Manaus leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Manaus 46, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: Manaus leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Manaus 42, San Jose, Costa Rica 40: Manaus leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Manaus 86, San Jose, Costa Rica 78: Manaus leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Manaus 12, San Jose, Costa Rica 52: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 40 points.
Good for families. Manaus 35, San Jose, Costa Rica 44: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 9 points.
Getting around. Manaus 27, San Jose, Costa Rica 30: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 3 points.
Shopping & style. Manaus and San Jose, Costa Rica are level on 36.
Affordability. Manaus 63, San Jose, Costa Rica 54: Manaus leads by 9 points.
Live music & performing arts. Manaus 54, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: Manaus leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Manaus 20, San Jose, Costa Rica 28: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Manaus and San Jose, Costa Rica.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Manaus
43match

Wins on beaches and live music and the arts with your weighting.

San Jose, Costa Rica
41match

Wins on day trips and families with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Manaus in July

33 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
74 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
12 hdaylight a day

San Jose, Costa Rica in July

28 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
173 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ManausSan Jose, Costa Rica

Where the figures come from

San Jose, Costa Rica's station stands 241 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Manaus: 1991-2020 normals, Manaus (1.7 km from centre). San Jose, Costa Rica: 1991-2020 normals, Juan Santamaria (16.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureManausSan Jose, Costa Rica
Official languagePortugueseSpanish
CurrencyBrazilian Real (BRL)Costa Rican Colon (CRC)
SocketsCN60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-4UTC-6
Emergency numberPolice 190, ambulance 192, fire 193911
Elevation92 m1,161 m
Main airportEduardo Gomes International Airport (MAO)9 km from centre21 non-stop destinationsJuan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year14 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureManausSan Jose, Costa Rica
City population2,303,732335,007
People per km²2027,511
Museums within 10 km139
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Manaus or San Jose, Costa Rica somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.