Is Costa Rica Safe?

I get this question probably more often than any other question, and I understand why.  Safety is a big concern and it should be. Compared to the USA, Canada and other big countries Costa Rica has very little serious crime.  Like any city or country, there are good parts and not so good parts, so it depends also a lot on where you live.  San Jose is a major city with over 3 Million people.   Anytime you have that many people in one place there will be crime.  But statistically violent crime is very low in Costa Rica; it is usually what they call property crime or crime of opportunity.  I hate when they use the term Petty Theft, because when someone steals your $1,000 laptop that isn’t petty. 

Not a surprise to those of us living here that Costa Rica is the most recommend travel destination by travelers who have already been here.

The ten most recommend travel destinations 

1. Costa Rica
2. Austria
3. Israel
4. New Zealand
5. Italy
6. Japan
7. Croatia
8. USA
9. Norway
10. Canada, Greece, UK

Here is a link to the original Article from the Daily Mail out of the United Kingdom

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2654050/Most-recommended-travel-destinations-Costa-Rica-Austria-list-Indonesia-China-bottom.html