Sustainability

ST Costa Rica is a socially and environmentally responsible company, certified by the Costa Rican Tourism Board. Become a responsible traveler while you're in Costa Rica:

• Participate in Costa Rica’s local culture and traditions. Learn and respect Costa Rican lifestyle, customs, and laws.
• Save water during your trip. Good examples include: informing hotel staff that you don’t need your sheets changed daily, taking short showers, and turning off the water while brushing your teeth.
• Save energy: turn off all lights and appliances, and lower the heat or air conditioning when you leave your room.
• When taking a tour or engaging in activities within protected areas, follow all recommendations made by your tour guide and/or area staff. These are intended to protect both you and the environment.
• Whenever possible, buy local products. This contributes to the communities you visit.
• Avoid purchasing items made from animal parts such as shells, feathers, bones, and endangered woods.
• Use eco-friendly products, those with biodegradable, reusable, or at least recyclable contents or containers, and preferably without excessive packaging.
• Avoid feeding wild animals. Human food can harm them, create dependency on unnatural food sources, and disrupt their natural role in the ecosystem over time.
• If you need to dispose of any items, look for the appropriate container or ask your tour guide about the best way to do so.
• ST Costa Rica upholds the Code of Conduct, a program dedicated to combating the commercial sexual exploitation of minors. If you witness or suspect any such activities or illegal substance use, please report it immediately to our staff or local authorities.

Follow these guidelines when visiting an indigenous community or one with unique cultural or social characteristics. This will help you fully enjoy the experience while ensuring the community benefits from your visit.

• Respect their way of life: They usually have their own dialect, ways of conducting themselves, expressing themselves, working, dressing, and eating, and sometimes even their own government. Enjoy getting to know them, learning from them, but respect them.
• Intellectual property: They often have unique and captivating cultural expressions, such as masks, dances, games, art, and more. These are deeply rooted aspects of their identity. If they offer you the opportunity to purchase a product they made, support them by buying it, ask about its significance, but do not attempt to replicate it. These are cultural aspects that belong to them.
• Enjoy getting to know other cultures: These cultures are very different from your own, unique in many ways. Enjoy learning about them, but avoid any form of discrimination.
• When in doubt: Ask your guide about any cultural or experiential aspects of the community you are visiting if you have any questions.
• Take your waste with you: Try not to bring disposable items or generate a lot of waste in these communities. Sometimes, they have inadequate waste collection systems, and leaving your waste behind only increases the problem. It’s better to take your waste with you and dispose of it in the proper containers on our transport units or at the next hotel you visit. Both have waste treatment systems approved by the government.