so im heading to costa rica for like 3 weeks in february and obviously bringing the mavic 3. ive been trying to figure out the rules there and its kind of a mess honestly. from what i can tell you need to register with DGAC which is their civil aviation authority but the actual process online is a nightmare, the website kept timing out on me.

has anyone actually flown there recently and gone through the whole registration thing? also curious about flying near the national parks because thats mostly where ill be. i heard some of them are totally off limits but others you can fly outside the boundaries? not sure how strictly they enforce any of it

went last march, did the whole DGAC registration thing. took me like 4 days of trying because yeah the website is garbage but eventually got through it. print everything out and keep it with you because nobody ever asked to see it but still. the national parks are a hard no pretty much across the board, rangers there actually know what drones are unlike some places ive been. i just flew beaches and private property mostly and had zero issues. monteverde cloud forest area has some sick shots if you can find a spot outside the reserve boundary

not costa rica but i did panama last year which is similar situation. just dont fly anywhere near the canal zone, that ones obvious, but also just be chill about it and read the room. if theres a ranger or official looking person nearby just put it away. most of my best shots were early morning before anyone else was around anyway