so im heading to costa rica for three weeks in january and obviously bringing the mini 3. ive been trying to figure out the rules there and honestly its kind of a mess to research. from what i can tell you need some kind of permit from DGAC but i cant find a clear answer on whether thats for tourists too or just commercial operators. anyone actually flown there recently and dealt with this?

also planning to hit arenal and some beach areas around the nicoya peninsula. not looking to do anything crazy just want some nice landscape shots for personal use

went in march last year with my mavic air 2. honestly i just flew and didnt run into any issues but i was pretty careful about where i launched — stayed away from obvious no fly zones near the airports and national parks. the national parks are a hard no btw, rangers there are not messing around. arenal volcano area has restrictions too because of the park boundaries so watch that.

i didnt bother with any formal permit for personal use and nothing happened but im not saying thats the right call, just being honest about my experience

not costa rica specifically but ive done a bunch of central america flying. the big thing people miss is that even if a country technically allows it, a lot of the really photogenic spots are inside protected areas where its banned regardless. so always check if where you actually want to fly is a national park or reserve, not just the country rules in general