VacationSelector
The Iguazu Falls in the green jungle, Puerto Iguazu
Puerto IguazuThe Iguazu Falls in the green jungle
The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa RicaThe Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose

Photos: Puerto Iguazu by Muhammed Ballan, Pexels License; San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0.

Puerto Iguazu 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 Puerto Iguazu for

  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors
  • families

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

Choose San Jose, Costa Rica for

  • live music and the arts
  • culture and sights
  • nightlife

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. Puerto Iguazu 5, San Jose, Costa Rica 12: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 7 points.
Food & drink. Puerto Iguazu 28, San Jose, Costa Rica 42: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Puerto Iguazu 9, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 29 points.
Nightlife. Puerto Iguazu 14, San Jose, Costa Rica 40: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 26 points.
Nature & outdoors. Puerto Iguazu 95, San Jose, Costa Rica 78: Puerto Iguazu leads by 17 points.
Day trips. Puerto Iguazu 33, San Jose, Costa Rica 52: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 19 points.
Good for families. Puerto Iguazu 55, San Jose, Costa Rica 44: Puerto Iguazu leads by 11 points.
Getting around. Puerto Iguazu 54, San Jose, Costa Rica 30: Puerto Iguazu leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Puerto Iguazu 17, San Jose, Costa Rica 36: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 19 points.
Affordability. Puerto Iguazu 48, San Jose, Costa Rica 54: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Puerto Iguazu 7, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 31 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Puerto Iguazu 34, San Jose, Costa Rica 28: Puerto Iguazu leads by 6 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Puerto Iguazu and San Jose, Costa Rica.

Your match

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

Puerto Iguazu
33match

Wins on getting around and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

San Jose, Costa Rica
Best match
41match

Wins on live music and the arts and culture and sights with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Puerto Iguazu in July

22 °Cdaytime high
11 °Cnight-time low
103 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
11 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
Puerto IguazuSan 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. Puerto Iguazu: 1991-2020 normals, Iguazu Aerodrome (17.8 km from centre). San Jose, Costa Rica: 1991-2020 normals, Juan Santamaria (16.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePuerto IguazuSan Jose, Costa Rica
Official languageSpanishSpanish
CurrencyArgentine Peso (ARS)Costa Rican Colon (CRC)
SocketsCI220 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC-3UTC-6
Emergency number117 or 911911
Elevation162 m1,161 m
Main airportCataratas Del Iguazú International Airport (IGR)18 km from centre8 non-stop destinationsJuan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasurePuerto IguazuSan Jose, Costa Rica
City population54,903335,007
People per km²-7,511
Museums within 10 km09
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 Puerto Iguazu 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). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

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.