Photos: Santa Teresa, Costa Rica by Christopher Crouzet, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Sao Paulo by Webysther Nunes, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.
Santa Teresa, Costa Rica or Sao Paulo?
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 Santa Teresa, Costa Rica for
- wellness
- beaches
- nature and the outdoors
What lies behind each score is written up on Santa Teresa, Costa Rica’s own page.
Choose Sao Paulo for
- live music and the arts
- shopping
- culture and sights
What lies behind each score is written up on Sao Paulo’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Santa Teresa, Costa Rica and Sao Paulo.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on wellness and beaches with your weighting.
Wins on live music and the arts and shopping with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Santa Teresa, Costa Rica in July
Sao Paulo in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Santa Teresa, Costa Rica's temperatures are measured 52 km from the centre, at Puntarenas.
Santa Teresa, Costa Rica has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Santa Teresa, Costa Rica: 1961-1990 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Puntarenas (51.5 km from centre). Sao Paulo: 1991-2020 normals, Sao Paulo (5.9 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Santa Teresa, Costa Rica | Sao Paulo |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Spanish | Portuguese |
| Currency | Costa Rican Colon (CRC) | Brazilian Real (BRL) |
| Sockets | AB120 V, 60 Hz | CN60 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC-6 | UTC-3 |
| Emergency number | 911 | Police 190, ambulance 192, fire 193 |
| Elevation | 19 m | 760 m |
| Main airport | Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (LIR)113 km from centre30 non-stop destinations | São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governor André Franco Montoro International Airport (GRU)21 km from centre104 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 11 days | 15 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Santa Teresa, Costa Rica | Sao Paulo |
|---|---|---|
| City population | - | 11,451,999 |
| People per km² | - | 7,519 |
| Museums within 10 km | 0 | 90 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 | 0 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | - |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Santa Teresa, Costa Rica or Sao Paulo somewhere new.