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drinking tap water and ice
https://forum.costaricaticas.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=30326		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  TooShy [ Fri Aug 28, 2009 11:03 am ]
Post subject:  drinking tap water and ice
I told my doc i was going to costa rica and he lectured me on not drinking the water and avoid ice in drinks. He advise I only drink stuff from bottles. I think this is good advice for really poor third world countries but what about Costa Rica? Is the tap water safe? He also said to eat only cooked well done food.

Hate to spoil the vacation by getting sick or having diarrhea.

By the way, is the official taxi safe? Any incident of people knowing americans have a lot of cash on them from the airport to the hotel so something happening en route?
Author:  Zebra [ Fri Aug 28, 2009 11:53 am ]
Post subject: 
Tap water in San Jose......SAFE.

Official Orange Airport Cabs.....SAFE.
Author:  Prolijo [ Fri Aug 28, 2009 12:28 pm ]
Post subject: 
I would add food that is not overcooked - perfectly SAFE.

I'd actually recommend you try some ceviche while you're down there. And there are a number of places where you can get sushi where to the best of my knowledge people eat every day without getting sick. Personally, I drink bottled water while I'm down there but it is as much for the convenience of being able to pick it up and taking it with me when I go out walking on the streets and because it is refrigerated and thus colder than water that comes out of the tap. Most places serve bottled water anyway, but if I went to a place that poured iced water into a glass I'd have no problem drinking it. And I drink beverages with ice in them all the time and have never had any problem because of it.

The advice of your doc sounds like the paranoia of someone who doesn't know anything at all about Costa Rica other than just incorrect stereotypes.
Author:  KenLee [ Fri Aug 28, 2009 1:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: drinking tap water and ice
Sklb wrote:
I told my doc i was going to costa rica and he lectured me on not drinking the water and avoid ice in drinks. He advise I only drink stuff from bottles. I think this is good advice for really poor third world countries but what about Costa Rica? Is the tap water safe? He also said to eat only cooked well done food.

Hate to spoil the vacation by getting sick or having diarrhea.


DIACORT! Damn I can't believe I beat Californication to the punch! LOL
Author:  Chico123 [ Fri Aug 28, 2009 5:05 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: drinking tap water and ice
Sklb wrote:

By the way, is the official taxi safe? Any incident of people knowing americans have a lot of cash on them from the airport to the hotel so something happening en route?


As long as you are discrete about your cash you should have no issues. Just use common sense while you're down there. You'll be surprised how many gringos go to other countries and dont apply any common sense.

Just dont flash your money around. Carry what you need for the day. Dont take out a wad of Benjamins to pay the taxi driver.

IF you still are not comfortable you can always review the stickys in the Newbie section and read it over again.
:P
Author:  Puro Party [ Fri Aug 28, 2009 11:59 pm ]
Post subject: 
I posted this at least once or twice before.

We were early checking into the airport so walked across the street to the nearest soda and all the cokes were warm so they gave us ice. Both of us had the shits for the rest of the week. Yes SJO safe but when you get on another water system who knows??? IN this case it was the ice plant's system (Alajuela??).
Author:  Zebra [ Sat Aug 29, 2009 12:16 am ]
Post subject: 
Yeah......The tap water in San Jose is safe. Once you get out into the country, it could be a different story. Most of the travel guide books say basically the same thing.

I never had any problems, other than the time I ate at JR's Ribs and became terribly ill for several days. I always suspected it was the cole slaw [mayonaisse].
Author:  TexasNVegas [ Sat Aug 29, 2009 12:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Worm?.... me Whatey?
Greengo; I would guess you are currently drinking the same stuff that Hunter S. Thompson did. :roll:
Author:  El Viejo [ Sat Aug 29, 2009 9:01 pm ]
Post subject: 
Sklb, Apparently your Doc got Mexico confused with CR......
Author:  Mailforme [ Sat Aug 29, 2009 9:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: drinking tap water and ice
Despite what other people have said here, the tap water in san jose and costa rica is not 100% safe. It is generally safe, and it is low risk, unlike some other places, but it is not 100% safe.

Also be aware that unlike many municipalities in the first world, the costa rican water supply for san jose does not come from the same source, but from hundreds of different wells and sources. Thus the treatment of the water can be different, and will be using equipment of different ages (and different reliability) depending on where you are drinking it.

Most costa ricans do drink the tap water, but at the same time, most costa ricans also take anti-parasite medicine (available for free if you are part of the costa rican system, or for a minimal charge at pharmacys, like 5 usd or so), every 6 months.

My Costa Rican doctor (i live here) recommended I take this every 6 months as well. The dangers in tap water may not just come in the form of you having montezuma's revenge, but you may also get a parasite which could be quite tough to detect and cure, especially in the states/canada as the average gp has minimal experience in that area.

I live here, i don't drink tap water, but i do drink ice made out of tap water, but i also take anti parasite medicine about twice a year or so.

Just something to think about.





Sklb wrote:
I told my doc i was going to costa rica and he lectured me on not drinking the water and avoid ice in drinks. He advise I only drink stuff from bottles. I think this is good advice for really poor third world countries but what about Costa Rica? Is the tap water safe? He also said to eat only cooked well done food.

Hate to spoil the vacation by getting sick or having diarrhea.

By the way, is the official taxi safe? Any incident of people knowing americans have a lot of cash on them from the airport to the hotel so something happening en route?
Author:  Peter-Blastinoff [ Sat Aug 29, 2009 9:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Worm?.... me Whatey?
Greengo wrote:
Drink the tap water like many of my friends....and with any luck youll see an incredible array of intergalactic critters in and around your "droppings" .... in the cooling system of ones "porcelain bus"..etc..before they riddle your organs and brain with a groovy 3d tachistoscopic collage of symptoms for presentation to ones bewildered g p back in smallville...the whater in urpscale Eggscatzoo is notoriously infested with all things wiggly and wonderful :shock:..though the tons of unfiltered toxins insecticides and hormonal based growth inhibiting weed and insect killers from the truck farms above really sort out of the weak .....giving you that extra kick.. sophistication and grace as you gift fellow passengers 30 feet of pent up sulphurous stench... adorable planaria and bloody wrigglers strewn along the cabin floor during your fleeting dash to salvation..... tico medicos will tell u its safe....asking "if they would like a glass" elicits a laugh and hardly masked fear...along with.... "i never drink it" :D



Nothing a few swigs of Diacort couldn't take care of :lol:

Seriously though, it's just a good habit when we monger to drink bottled water. In a pinch you can order hot tea; very hot! Iced drinks at a known establishment.[/b]
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