My mom always told me that travel insurance was very important. Throughout my teen and early adult years, I traveled a lot and often ignored her advice. My brother did as well and it wasn’t until he broke his arm in Mexico and landed himself a hefty hospital bill that I realized the error in my ways. I had always been told that Mommy’s always right and I should have been listening to her all along. Since then, travel insurance has always been on my pre-travel to-do lists and I just assumed that most people were like me and that they were also buying travel insurance. Apparently, I was wrong. Over the past year of working at the Blue Surf Sanctuary Hotel in Santa Teresa, I have been surprised to learn that many of our guest do not purchase travel insurance before heading down here for a vacation with us in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. Wow, really? Travel insurance when visiting Costa Rica could be a life-saver and here are three reasons why:

1. Emergency Evacuation

This one is particularly important when you are traveling to Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. Santa Teresa is located in the southernmost tip of the Nicoya Peninsula and although it gets many visitors every year, it is in fact quite remote. If you are to have a serious medical emergency while you are on vacation here, the closest International Hospital is 6-hours away in San Jose. Why worry or take the chance while you are on vacation. Relax and have fun knowing that you are safe and covered in case anything unexpected happens.

2. Medical Insurance Coverage

Santa Teresa is a town that most visitors flock to for adventure and adrenaline. If you expect to rent an ATV, surf, zip line or participate in any of the many fantastic outdoor activities available to you when you visit Santa Teresa, you should consider buying travel health insurance before you arrive. Sometimes the unexpected happens when you are on vacation and it can end up costing you a fortune. It is hard to think about medical emergencies while you are on vacation but they do happen from time to time so why not let your travel insurance worry about that for you. There are two clinics in Santa Teresa that both accept travel insurance and they can handle most basic medical emergencies. There is another larger clinic in Cobano, just 30 minutes away.

3. Baggage & Trip Protection

When I think about travel insurance, I usually think first-and-foremost about medical coverage. However, travel insurance is also a great idea to cover you in all aspects of your trip. Although I don’t think that this third point is nearly as important as medical insurance and emergency evacuation coverage, you may decide that you want to these two options to your travel insurance plan. Baggage Protection usually covers such unexpected events as lost baggage or emergency cash and assistance getting a new passport if you wallet or passport are stolen. Trip Protection covers canceled flights, trip interruption and more.

So, what is my advice? I strongly urge anyone that is to buy travel insurance when visiting Costa Rica before you leave your home country. It usually doesn’t cost that much and it could mean peace of mind and security while you travel. Get covered and I’ll see you soon!

Allianz is a travel insurance company we are affiliated with and have personally used ourselves. Click the logo for more information.