Clean up potential hiding places, like wood and junk piles, and keep your corridors free of stacked “things” where they can hide. Keep the area around the home well mowed and check areas with a snake stick before weeding and chopping.

The most dangerous snake in Costa Rica is the fer de lance (bothrops). The venom this snake packs is lethal, strong enough to cause serious harm to the unlucky victim. The bushmaster and neotropical rattlesnake are also incredibly dangerous snakes in Costa Rica and should be avoided at all costs.

The yellow-bellied sea snake (Hydrophis platurus) is a venomous species of snake from the subfamily Hydrophiinae (the sea snakes) found in tropical oceanic waters around the world except for the Atlantic Ocean.

22 species
There are 22 species of venomous snakes in Costa Rica, and the Clodomiro Picado Institute, a leader in snake-bite research, estimates that the country has at least two deadly snakes per hectare.

“When these animals are in their natural habitat they don’t tend to be aggressive, they’ll just swim away. If you pick them up they will tend to bite, but looking at them is probably fine.” Although sea snake venom is highly toxic, the animals have small mouths and they rarely bite people.

There are about 300 snakebites a year in Costa Rica, but very few deaths – some years, none. According to the institute, Costa Rican antivenom saves the lives of 10,000 to 20,000 people worldwide each year.

Symptoms of envenomation include muscle pain and stiffness, drooping eyelids, drowsiness and vomiting, and a serious bite can lead to total paralysis and death.

Sea Snakes live in the waters off the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica (not along the beaches). Although feared for their extremely potent neurotoxic venom, the Sea Snake has very limited ability to bite a human because of its small mouth and rear fangs.

While most of the dangerous species in Costa Rica are members of the viper family, there are also some elapid snakes — the family that includes coral snakes as well as cobras and mambas — that pose a significant threat.

300 snakebites
There are about 300 snakebites a year in Costa Rica, but very few deaths – some years, none. According to the institute, Costa Rican antivenom saves the lives of 10,000 to 20,000 people worldwide each year.

Range: Hydrophiinae family sea snakes are mostly confined to the warm tropical waters of the western Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean. And few species found into Oceanic also. Sea snakes do not occur in the Atlantic Ocean and Red sea. These can be found in several parts of Costa Rica including Riu Guanacaste.

Sea snakes have been sighted in huge numbers. For example, in 1932, a steamer in the Strait of Malacca, off the coast of Malaysia, reported sighting “millions” of Astrotia stokesii, a relative of Pelamis; these reportedly formed a line of snakes 3 m (9.8 ft) wide and 100 km (62 mi) long.

Sea snakes are a monophyletic group (Hydrophiinae) that diverged from the front-fanged Australasian venomous snakes (Elapidae) about 10 million years ago. The yellow-bellied sea snake is a part of the rapidly radiating Hydrophis group.

The yellow-bellied sea snake, as the name implies, has a distinctive bicolor pattern with a yellow underbelly and brown back, making it easily distinguishable from other sea snake species.