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From what I have researched and read, towns on the Pacific side of C.R. seem to be more developed, giving means to hospitals, shopping, gocery, schools, law enforcement, community with English speaking Expats, banks, ect.
What are your thoughts and experiences for locations and towns on the Caribbean side? My Mom is looking for real estate for us now as well (from North Carolina) and find a great looking house in Limon. What are your thoughts, suggestions? We just want to find a Safe, Great Community in C.R. with health care and great people and children close by.
Any advice, suggestions are welcome. Thank you in advance!
1. At the moment, there are no hospitals on the Pacific coast or the Caribbean coast that you would be comfortable going to in the case of a real emergency!
2. Some towns on “… the Pacific side of C.R. seem to be more developed” compared to the Caribbean coast maybe but, they’re all 20 years behind San Jose…
3. The best doctors, surgeons, dentists and any other medical professional – and all the best hospitals – can be found in or very close to San Jose.
4. The last time I checked, murder rate in Limon itself is 19 per 100,000 inhabitants, in San Jose it’s only 11 and San Jose’s rate is high compared to most parts of the country ….
5. The southern Caribbean area is much more peaceful than Limon but it’s not everyone’s “cup of tea.” .
How much time have you spent in Costa Rica?
Scott
Scott is right but biased toward San Jose, for all it’s advantages I can see as many or more disadvantages – the traffic, the noise and bustle, the diesel fumes, the living so close to neighbors etc….. While the costal areas both sides are charming to visit the weather is hot and humid and with ever rising electricity costs – expensive.
So, being equally biased toward the mountains in the Arenal, Tilaran area, suggest you check it out. There is a great Gringo community, the weather is fresh and cool (if somewhat windy at times), we do have our petty theft problems that seem to run in cycles when gangs from Liberia, Limon and other areas move in but fortunately move on when things get too hot for them around here. If you would like to contact me directly for more information please do so.
[quote=”rf2cr”]Scott is right but biased toward San Jose, for all it’s advantages I can see as many or more disadvantages – the traffic, the noise and bustle, the diesel fumes, the living so close to neighbors etc….. While the costal areas both sides are charming to visit the weather is hot and humid and with ever rising electricity costs – expensive.
So, being equally biased toward the mountains in the Arenal, Tilaran area, suggest you check it out. There is a great Gringo community, the weather is fresh and cool (if somewhat windy at times), we do have our petty theft problems that seem to run in cycles when gangs from Liberia, Limon and other areas move in but fortunately move on when things get too hot for them around here. If you would like to contact me directly for more information please do so.[/quote]
I understand there are maps showing fault lines for Escazu/Santa Ana and probably other areas. Are they a useful predictor of future seismic activity from anyone’s experience? If so where do you find these maps. I know Escazunews site use to have such maps for that area but not sure about other locations
I found a fault line map of Costa Rica online somewhere a while back. Basically, what it reflected is that if you’re anywhere in Costa Rica, you’re not far from a fault line. Geologic faults are a fact of life everywhere on the Pacific rim. We might as well just get used to the idea and to plan for the likely prospect that one day we’ll be affected.
There’s a bit of information for private schooling on this site.
http://ojochal.com/bb/index.php?topic=95.0
Nice area with a new hospital only 15 minutes away.Please come to visit, it would be nice if you could come and visit Costa Rica before moving here. Visit the various areas and talk to people living in those areas. Almost everyone who jumps up and moves over here, move back home with in a year or less.
Many of the small B&B owned by Canadians or N. Americans know people in the community that will gladly share their experiences with you. Moving is very costly and nothing really is better then your personal experience.
Hi Olivia –
Thank you for your kind words, and let me add to the other posts you have been receiving by saying you are getting some great advice from some very caring people.
Unfortunately, as others have stated, I think you have been getting a bit of biased advice as well but I don’t think that is unusual because almost all of us that live in CR are biased toward the area where we decided to live – that is how we validate our decision to live where we do!
As simple as it may sound I suggest that you sit down and make a list of the things that are most important to you (education for your daughter, climate, healthcare, proximity to hospitals, airports, malls, grocery stores, restaurants, etc.) and then prioritize those items top to bottom. Then, as you research or hear about a town or area, add a column for that town and fill in all the information you can on that matrix, adding new items to the list and any comments you may want to add at the bottom. This is a simple way to determine which areas you want to visit when you make your trip (good advice, Jenny – I have already told Olivia the same thing in a PM), and just as important (if not more important) which areas you don’t need to visit because one or more of the essential, critical items that you need for your family may not be available in that area. I don’t think you can use this algorithm to determine where you want to live, but it can certainly be used to determine where you do not want to live.
As I mentioned before, there are many great areas in CR including those great little towns surrounding and near to the Central Valley (Atenas, San Ramon, etc.), up in the mountains (Tilaran, Fortuna), in the southern zone (Ojochal), Guanacaste (Tamarindo, Flamingo, Coco, Samara, etc.).
What I would be careful about is taking “advice” from someone that has a monetary interest in helping you make a decision. Although we fly in and out of San Jose more than Liberia (which is closer to our home), we often drive to/from San Jose on the day of our flight rather than stay in the Central Valley to avoid many of the things that Scott may consider as “benefits” of living in that area.
Contrary to Scott’s comparison of the Pacific Coast being “20 years behind San Jose”, I would have to say that is definitely a biased over generalization. Arguing in the same vein, I guess I could say that the Central Valley is several thousand years behind the Caribbean and Pacific coasts when it comes to living on or near the beach, beach restaurants & bars, great sunsets, lower stress, cleaner air, healthier lifestyle, etc.
What matters is that the area you choose has the goods and services that will allow you to live comfortably. Not all of us need the same things to survive and be happy. Like many others, you may find that many of the things that you think you may “need” (malls, big box stores, movie theaters, cultural events, concerts, etc.) are really not “needed” at all. It may be nice to have them accessible (1 – 2 hours away) but there are also benefits to not having them right around the corner. Where I do agree with Scott is that the Pacific communities are HOPEFULLY at least “20 years behind San Jose”. And I’ll add Escazu & Santa Ana to the Scott’s list as far as traffic gridlock (can’t be denied), everyday fuel fumes that cause your lungs to burn and eyes to water (can’t be denied), sleepless nights (I guess if you sleep like a rock you can deny some of these) due to routine gunfire, sirens, hundreds of dogs barking all night, loud trucks and motorcycles, etc. Plus, living where every store and most homes must be protected by razor wire and/or an armed guard isn’t (as Scott remarks) my “cup of tea”.
As the old saying goes “The central valley may be a nice place to visit, but I’d hate to live there!”
Many of us are just as content (maybe more so) to have to go to 2-3 of the local grocery markets, the meat market, the fish market, the bakery, the pharmacy and the vegetable stand on the side of the road, etc., to find everything we need rather than fight the traffic to get to HyperMas or MultiPlaza. Some of our beach communities enjoy having an Auto Mercado in town, but most still have 2-3 smaller family markets where you can get almost everything you need.
Likewise, most of our beach communities have at least one bank, and at least one local doctor in addition to a Caja medical facility. And Liberia has an absolutely spectacular dental facility and great little hospital with trained professionals including doctors, nurses, Cat Scan and MRI facilities, etc. In fact a friend of mine who is an oncologist in Houston at M.D. Anderson had occasion to take his 18-month-old daughter there for an emergency concussion following an accidental “bump on the head”. He told me the care was great and the costs was absolutely low. He said the costs of the MRI was 10% of what he would have been charged in Houston “just to turn on the lights” in the exam room!
Plus, although it may be a year or two before it is available, it looks like CIMA is proceeding on their new hospital near the Liberia airport. Think that may attract a few doctors and other medical professionals out of San Jose, Scott?
Anyway, back to the point –
Olivia, take your time, make your list of priorities, research every area that may be of interests, eliminate those towns that don’t meet your top priorities, and then go see the other areas during your trip. While in each area, go see the local doctor and school and interview him/her as to your specific needs, go sit in popular restaurants and you are sure to meet and have the opportunity to talk to other expats.
Read and record as much as you can and then file it all away as “background information”. Do your final research “on the ground” and then don’t look back! If you decide to make the move then treat it as an adventure, day to day. There is no shame if you find out living outside the States is not for you – even after the move you can always go back. It is better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all.
Are you going to hire a Costa Rican tutor or an ex-pat? Realize that one must/should hire a teacher that has legal residency and a right to work.
And as someone else stated, home schooling is not accepted here for any accreditation.
The smaller towns of Naranjo, Grecia and Palmares are nice town in the Central Valley. I live in the interior of Guanacaste and use many facilities in Liberia.
But a month long visit for what you require is really too short for the searching you need to do.
Limon is not a place I would choose or recommend, either.costaricabill makes many good points and, while I don’t agree with some of them, they’re well worth careful consideration.
Three quarters of Costa Rica’s population don’t live in the Central Valley for no good reason. That’s where you’ll find the more temperate climate, the better amenities, etc. But take crb’s advice and think carefully about what’s really (really) important to you . Then seek it out.
Sra. Jenny is dead wrong that most people who move to Costa Rica based on an initial visit return to their home country within a year. In my limited circle of friends and acquaintances, I know a number of families who moved here on the basis of a single exploratory trip. It can be done and it can be done successfully. Furthermore, as characterizes all other discussions of how many people move back home, she bases her assertion on no data whatsoever. It’s hearsay, conjecture and nothing more. Care to dispute that? Show us the hard data . . .
We first came to Costa Rica in 2005 with the express intent of ruling it out as a retirement destination. Spent two weeks in-country and couldn’t find a reason not to move here. (Our needs were simpler than those of some others inasmuch as we have no children to educate.) During those two weeks, we made an offer to purchase property (which fell through), so we had to return later to find something else.
It has worked out fine . . . just fine. In five years, we’ve been back to the U.S. four times to visit friends and family, shop, etc, but we have never considered moving back there permanently. We live outside Grecia, but we could have been equally comfortable in or around any of the other small cities in the Central Valley.
Take costaricabill’s advice and spend the time necessary to figure out what is really important to you. Then go find it. If you succeed, great! If not, at least you know one place to avoid.
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]costaricabill makes many good points and, while I don’t agree with some of them, they’re well worth careful consideration.
Three quarters of Costa Rica’s population don’t live in the Central Valley for no good reason. That’s where you’ll find the more temperate climate, the better amenities, etc. But take crb’s advice and think carefully about what’s really (really) important to you . Then seek it out.
Sra. Jenny is dead wrong that most people who move to Costa Rica based on an initial visit return to their home country within a year. In my limited circle of friends and acquaintances, I know a number of families who moved here on the basis of a single exploratory trip. It can be done and it can be done successfully. Furthermore, as characterizes all other discussions of how many people move back home, she bases her assertion on no data whatsoever. It’s hearsay, conjecture and nothing more. Care to dispute that? Show us the hard data . . .
We first came to Costa Rica in 2005 with the express intent of ruling it out as a retirement destination. Spent two weeks in-country and couldn’t find a reason not to move here. (Our needs were simpler than those of some others inasmuch as we have no children to educate.) During those two weeks, we made an offer to purchase property (which fell through, so we had to return later to find something else.
It has worked out fine . . . just fine. In five years, we’ve been back to the U.S. four times to visit friends and family, shop, etc, but we have never considered moving back there permanently. We live outside Grecia, but we could have been equally comfortable in or around any of the other small cities in the Central Valley.
Take costaricabill’s advice and spend the time necessary to figure out what is really important to you. Then go find it. If you succeed, great! If not, at least you know one place to avoid.[/quote]
Mr. David, I have had a lot of people suggest Central Valley area. I am looking online to see what is available for us to rent and have come across some really lovely looking homes in Atenas. Are you familiar with Atenas? I am looking on the propertiesincostarica.com is this a reliable website? Some of these homes look a little [i]too good to be true[/i]. Not to mention, I’m not seeing the bars on windows and I was under the impression that bars were necessary in most homes and areas?I’m not familiar with the website you mention, but I do caution you to be a little skeptical of any listing you encounter. Of course the renter will make it sound good.
While security bars are common here, they’re not universal. There are lots and lots of homes without bars, with no high fences or walls, with no concertina wire, and they’re perfectly secure. Do burglaries happen? Of course they do, just like everywhere else in the populated world.
We don’t have bars. Our neighbors don’t have bars, our friends locally don’t have bars . . .
Many homes have bars because they are set up right beside the road, especially in towns.
We have bars on some windows with wooden shutters on others and we have been robbed.
I tend to agree with [b]jenny[/b] as I have mentioned before, and I know many ex-pats that have returned, but not necessarily with-in the year. One of the moving companies had mentioned that indeed, many of the people they have moved to Costa Rica, have used them to return their household goods, with-in the year.
On another CR forum, there was ‘talk’ just this past week where two young families, one couple that moved prior to having a baby so they will automatically get Permanent residency and the other with a young baby, but both seem to be ‘on the fence’ whether they will stay.
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