have been to costa rica (a few years ago though) and loved it, it seemed a friendly place - my friend wifes family told us not to go out at night but most parts of town were fine. as usual in latin america i think the perception of violence is bigger than the reality.
of course there are parts of the towns that are dodgy like anywhere and the caribbean coast can be a bit iffy (so i was told) but i didnt have any probs there. although puerto limon did feel a bit dodgy.
the pacific coast is much better in terms of infrastructure (as are the central highlands) and there were more places aimed at tourism. was wandering about and people would come and chat was pretty friendly place and laid back.
my friends lived in san jose for a few years and one got mugged at gunpoint once on a side street, they took his bag with all his students homework in - still at least he had a valid excuse for not marking it.
and on entering illegally its the only country i entered illegally - came down the river from nicaragua and the immigration shut for lunch as we landed - so i just wandered to the bus stop as couldnt be bothered to hang around for an hour or two. they didnt seem to mind (or maybe notice) when i left.
havent seen enough of brazil to compare yet.
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