Top 3 Cooking Classes in Costa Rica

1.Cooking and Salsa Dance Lesson Combo

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 90 reviews · 3 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $74Our pick

Spend about three and a half hours cooking a Costa Rican meal, eating what you helped prepare, and learning salsa, merengue, cumbia, and bachata. Guides including Kathy, Katherine, Jennifer, and Jenny lead the evening, which starts at 5:00 pm and includes hotel transportation. Expect a friendly, open-air setting and plenty of hands-on work.

“How fun!!! We got to make a delicious Costa Rican meal with Jennifer, who was so helpful and knowledgeable in local cuisine. Kathy was an excellent salsa and dance instructor, we had such a fun time! Highly recommend!!!”

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2.Sloth Tour in La Fortuna and Tortillas Cooking Class

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 88 reviews · 2 hours (approx.) · from $38Best value

Walk a forest trail with guides such as David, Sergio, Jaime, or Jason while searching for sloths, frogs, birds, bats, and lizards. Use a spotting scope for close views, then press sugarcane and make tortillas with cheese and local toppings. The two-hour tour costs $38, with morning and afternoon departures.

“This was the perfect sloth walk. The group was small and felt personal. Our guide, David, was extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and made sure we all got great pictures of the animals we saw. We encountered sloths, many birds, frogs, lizards, and an agouti. There is no way we would have spotted the sloths without David’s expertise! My kids had a blast pressing sugar cane to make juice and learning to make handmade tortillas after the walk. “Best tortillas I ever had” - my 9 year old son. Highly recommend this family run business.”

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3.Cooking Class “Cook Like a Local” La Fortuna

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 75 reviews · 2 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $63

This 2.5-hour evening class takes you from La Fortuna to a covered riverside kitchen near El Salto waterfall. You’ll mix a sugarcane-liquor cocktail, prepare casado with picadillos, tortillas, rice, beans, and salad, then eat what you make. Instructors have included Kathy, Katherine, Jenny, Linda, and Eli. Hotel pickup, dinner, and recipes are included.

“We had a good time, four of us went together and there were five more there. We all help in the preparation. It would have been nice if the tables were set in an Lshaoe so we could have all been together during the preparation instead of separating us into 2 groups.”

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