Starting Sept. 1, Costa Rica will reactivate the cruise tourism for the 2021-22 season to stimulate tourism and employment in coastal areas.

As a requirement, vessels must guarantee complete COVID-19 vaccination in all crew members and 95 percent of passengers who are of age to be vaccinated.

Vaccines must be those authorized by the National Commission of Vaccination and Epidemiology, and the last dose must have been administered at least 14 days before departure. Cruise passengers also must be covered by travel insurance.

“The resumption of this tourist activity will benefit the ports of Limón, Puntarenas, Caldera, Quepos and Golfito,” said Tourism Minister Gustavo J. Segura. “Each passenger spends an average of $137 per day, which has an important impact on the reactivation of local economies in coastal communities.”

In the run-up to the reopening, Segura said nine cruise lines have included Costa Rica in their itineraries. Among the ships scheduled to call are Windstar , Lindblad, Sea Cloud, Seabourn Quest , Celebrity Millennium , Carnival Pride , Crown Princess , Diamond Princess and Seven Seas Mariner . Five of these cruise lines will arrive in Limón and the remaining ones will arrive in Pacific ports.

Four of those ships have an average capacity of 2,500 passengers, while five have an average capacity of less than 500 passengers.

“During the first phase of this reopening, most cruise ships will be luxury and accommodate smaller capacities of passengers, such as the Lindblad National Geographic Expeditions,” Segura said.

Before arriving in Costa Rica, passengers must have a complete vaccination schedule against COVID-19 and complete the epidemiological form called “Health Pass” 72 hours before arrival in the country.

During the 2019-20 season, 239,566 cruise passengers arrived in the country: 113 cruise ships arrived in the Pacific and 84 in the Caribbean. Due to the pandemic, there was no 2020-21 cruise season worldwide. In Costa Rica, the activity was suspended towards the end of the 2019-20 season, on March 16, 2020.