so im heading to Costa Rica for three weeks and obviously bringing the mini 3 pro. ive been reading about their drone laws and honestly its a bit confusing. from what i can tell you need some kind of permit from DGAC but some people say they just flew without one and were fine, others say they got stopped by rangers in the national parks.

mostly want to fly around the beach areas and maybe some jungle shots if i can find open spots. anyone been there recently and actually dealt with this firsthand? dont want to have my drone confiscated on day one of the trip

went last year, flew around Manuel Antonio area without any issues but i did NOT try to fly inside the national park itself. rangers there are pretty serious about it. the beaches outside the park boundary were fine, nobody said anything to me. just keep it low key, dont be hovering over crowds or anything obvious and youll probably be alright. the DGAC permit thing i looked into and it seemed like it was mainly for commercial operators, recreational was more of a gray area. that said im not a lawyer and rules change so dont take my word as gospel

the jungle shots are gonna be so hard anyway lol, canopy is just way too dense in most places. i tried to get some footage near arenal and basically just got treetops. beach flying is where its at there honestly