May is the month Costa Rica’s landscape shifts.

The dry months leave behind a country that’s beautiful but, in parts, scorched. When the rains return — gradually at first, then with intention — the land answers. Rivers fill. Canopies deepen. Waterfalls reappear. The whole territory recalibrates.

This is the Green Season. And it’s one of the most misunderstood periods in Costa Rican travel.

The misunderstanding

Most international travelers assume Green Season means weather problems — canceled plans, muddy roads, gray skies from morning to night. That version exists, but it’s incomplete.

In Costa Rica, rainy season follows its own logic. Mornings are typically clear. Afternoons bring showers — often short, intense, localized. By evening, the air has settled. The sky opens again.

The rain is not the obstacle it’s assumed to be.

Why it matters when you fly private

For road travelers, Green Season brings real complications. Unpaved roads become difficult. Routes to the coast — particularly toward the Osa Peninsula, the Caribbean, or the Northern Zone — can double in travel time.

For private aviation, the calculus is different.

A charter flight doesn’t negotiate with roads. It doesn’t recalculate routes based on a washout. It departs from where you are and arrives where you need to be — regardless of what’s happening at ground level.

Green Season doesn’t close access for private aviation. In many cases, it makes private aviation the only access that holds.

What you gain

May through November is when Costa Rica is most itself. Fewer visitors. Landscapes at peak intensity. Wildlife more active. Destinations — particularly remote ones — at their most private.

The Osa Peninsula in June. The Nicoya Peninsula before the crowds return. The Northern Zone just as the jungle becomes fully itself.

These are the versions of Costa Rica that exist precisely because the road is difficult.

Private aviation is the key.

The operational reality

Flying in tropical conditions requires a specific kind of expertise. At Prestige Wings, our pilots operate with deep knowledge of Costa Rica’s microclimates — the localized weather patterns, the routes that avoid convective activity, the windows that make for a smooth, efficient flight regardless of the season.

This isn’t adaptation. It’s preparation.

Green Season doesn’t slow us down. It’s simply another version of the terrain we know.

How to think about May

If you’re planning travel to Costa Rica between May and November, the conversation about private aviation isn’t a luxury upgrade. It’s a logistical one.

The question isn’t whether you can get there by road. The question is whether you should.

Prestige Wings.