Hi Donna,
Great question. First of all, let me advise you to contact your airline first. Sometimes they won’t even let you on the plane to Costa Rica (or other countries with exit ticket requirements) with just a one-way ticket. Yes, the same airline sold you that ticket but that doesn’t seem to matter. I’ve seen people turned away or forced to buy a return ticket.
Anyway, as far as Costa Rica immigration goes, the official rule is you need to show proof you are leaving Costa Rica within 90 days, the length of your tourist visa. Stating that you plan to leave to Nicaragua or Panama won’t work. They’re getting stricter and stricter on the exit ticket requirement.
Technically, a bus ticket to Nicaragua or Panama should work. But many airlines won’t let you on the plane (you might have to speak with a supervisor). The immigration officer in Costa Rica might not accept it, preferring to see a outgoing plane ticket. (The border officials at the land borders are okay with bus tickets, but not their airport partners.) Plus, it can be tough to get bus tickets from outside the country.
Long story short, I recommend you buy an open ticket that let’s you reschedule without a fee. Or buy regular return ticket and then swallow the rescheduling fee. Better alternatives to risking not getting into Costa Rica at all. In the course, of your research you might run into stories of folks who sidestepped the requirement somehow. But they got lucky.
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