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I own my home on a 3 acres
to maintain it full time caretaker.
25 hours of maid service
two cares (no car payment) one is luxuary.
Private school
$800 a month in resturants and lquor and entertainment
Car insurance
expensive international medical insurance
caja insurence
utilities
property taxes
maintainece
I spend $5,000 a month
I can’t duplicate that in the US.
And the women? Ha!
Don Diego might not be envious but all my friends back home are…
Where is Don Diego? I miss the provacatuer…
[quote=”maravilla”] taking a local bus (which is free if you are over 65) and taxis are still a cheap alternative to owning a car.
We are visiting CR for the first time this November. Should we rent a 4-wheeler (about $1200) or just use taxis? What do taxis cost and do they service limited areas?
David, the answer to your question depends entirely on where you will be traveling. Most main roads are totally passable without four-wheel drive. Most Costa Ricans get along just fine driving small sedans. So four-wheel drive is only a necessity if you plan to head for the boondocks.
Too, while taxis are plentiful and inexpensive, don’t let what you hear or read about Costa Rican drivers deter you from renting a car and driving yourselves. They’re no worse than the drivers around any American or Canadian city. Ever been to Toronto? Boston? Detroit??
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]David, the answer to your question depends entirely on where you will be traveling. Most main roads are totally passable without four-wheel drive. Most Costa Ricans get along just fine driving small sedans. So four-wheel drive is only a necessity if you plan to head for the boondocks.
Too, while taxis are plentiful and inexpensive, don’t let what you hear or read about Costa Rican drivers deter you from renting a car and driving yourselves. They’re no worse than the drivers around any American or Canadian city. Ever been to Toronto? Boston? Detroit??[/quote]
Thanks David – appreciate your quick reply – we do plan on travelling around and seeing as much as possible besides the central area because we are contemplating retiring in CR. When you say ‘boondocks’ are you referring to areas like Jaco, Esterillos, San Isidro & Dominical? We would prefer an area where the temp is constant and not too far (30-45 minutes) from town.
I have not traveled extensively in Costa Rica, so what light I can shed is mostly firsthand hearsay. We’ve known folks who went to the more remote beach communities and found the access roads to be pretty awful. Since you’re coming in November, late in the rainy season, and if you’re headed for some of the boonier areas, then four-wheel drive would probably be good insurance.
Depending, too, on just what you mean by an area “. . . not too far (30-45) minutes from town.”, you could be looking in some pretty inaccessible places where four-wheel drive is pretty much mandatory. Of course, depending on just what shape the roads are in, a thirty minute drive might only be a couple of kilometers.
In general, temperatures, day and night, are governed by altitude. The higher the cooler; the lower the warmer. The beaches and nearby low-lying areas will be pretty warm year ’round. Where we are, at 4,100 feet above sea level, our temperatures range between 72 and 78 degrees F about ninety-five percent of the year, day and night. We have neither heat nor air conditioning, never run the fans, and never close our windows.
[quote=”DavidCMurray”][quote=”maravilla”]30-45 minutes from WHAT town???????[/quote]
That was my question, maravilla.[/quote]
Hello to the people who will be visiting CR in November. I have traveled all by myself all over Costa Rica in April, May, Sept. October and November over the last 5 years. I found that having a 4-wheel drive works best, whether you are close to any town or not. Close to town does not mean you cannot get stuck in mud. A regular car might not do if you want to visit different beaches or mountain towns. Taxis work well when you are staying in town (whatever town that is). But to go from one area to another, a taxi would not work all that well. Buses can take you just about anywhere in the country, but you have to know their schedule. Having a rent-a-car allows you to depart whenever you want, and you go wherever you want. Yes, it’s more expensive but the freedom that it gives you is priceless.
Hey, DavidMarsden:
I think whether you rent a 4-wheeler or not depends not only on where you’re traveling but also when.
We were in CR in late April/early May. We rented a 4-wheel-drive because we thought we’d need it, but it turned out we could have gotten away without it. We drove all down the Pacific Coast, from Guanacaste province all the way down to Manuel Antonio Park. The roads were really quite good everywhere – there were only 2 EXCEPTIONS – the road to the Riu Guanacaste where we stayed in the north was TERRIBLE – didn’t matter that we had a 4 wheel drive – it was a dirt road and you could not travel more than 10 or 20 km/hr as it was so pothole ridden.
In the south, we stayed in Esterillos Oeste at this lovely apartment/hotel in town. The gravel road to get to it was fine – until it rained – and then it was really slick and a 4-wheel-drive came in handy. So if you’re going in rainy season I would say a 4 wheel drive is a must.
Otherwise, we were plesantly surprised with how good most of the roads were.
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]
In general, temperatures, day and night, are governed by altitude. The higher the cooler; the lower the warmer. The beaches and nearby low-lying areas will be pretty warm year ’round. Where we are, at 4,100 feet above sea level, our temperatures range between 72 and 78 degrees F about ninety-five percent of the year, day and night. We have neither heat nor air conditioning, never run the fans, and never close our windows.[/quote]
Thanks again David. We have planned to explore Grecia and we will probably settle on a higher altitude location such as yours. What other features about your location do you like? We have rented a home in San Ramon for the 4 weeks we will be there. Are you still satisfied with where you live, or, now that you have been there a while, is there another area that you would have settled in if you had know about it? Sorry if we are bombarding you with questions – if we are being pests pls let us know. David & Lynn
i live in san ramon and i love it. although i loved it more 5 years ago before the big influx of gringos. oh well.
Hello David, We have been in Costa Rica several times, last year 3 months – Feb thru April, mostly in the Central Valley area – Puriscal, Atenas, Grecia, San Ramon, although we also took trips along the coast to Jaco and all the way down to Drake Bay and Puerto Jimenez. The point being – we did fine without a 4-wheel drive. Of course, we were not there in rainy season, and the only problem we had was getting up some very steep inclines in the mountainous areas, especially on dirt or gravel roads.. But we made it – and it’s a lot cheaper than the four-wheelers.
[quote=”SheilaQ”]Hey, DavidMarsden:
I think whether you rent a 4-wheeler or not depends not only on where you’re traveling but also when.
We were in CR in late April/early May. We rented a 4-wheel-drive because we thought we’d need it, but it turned out we could have gotten away without it. We drove all down the Pacific Coast, from Guanacaste province all the way down to Manuel Antonio Park. The roads were really quite good everywhere – there were only 2 EXCEPTIONS – the road to the [u]Riu Guanacaste where we stayed in the north was TERRIBLE – didn’t matter that we had a 4 wheel drive – it was a dirt road and you could not travel more than 10 or 20 km/hr as it was so pothole ridden. [/u]
In the south, we stayed in Esterillos Oeste at this lovely apartment/hotel in town. The gravel road to get to it was fine – until it rained – and then it was really slick and a 4-wheel-drive came in handy. So if you’re going in rainy season I would say a 4 wheel drive is a must.
Otherwise, we were plesantly surprised with how good most of the roads were.[/quote]
I think the Artola pot holes are charming. 😛
[quote=”davidmarsden”]
Are you still satisfied with where you live, or, now that you have been there a while, is there another area that you would have settled in if you had know about it? David & Lynn[/quote]
We are very comfortably settled here outside Grecia. There is no reason that we would seek to move. That’s not to suggest that Grecia is the single best place for us or for anyone else, for that matter, but it’s a comfortable, convenient place to live and we have no plans to look elsewhere.
I am convinced that, within reason, home is where you make it. Might we have become equally comfortable in San Ramon or somewhere else? Sure, but Grecia is where we are.
David and Lynn:
This forum is exactly the place to “bombard us with questions”. Most of us received immense kindness and generosity of forum members when we were researching a move to Costa Rica. We have now been living here in Atenas for a year and traveled extensively in Costa Rica for nine years previously.
We live at a lower elevation than David and do get a few days during Summer when the middle of the day can get a little “toasty”, but we love the town, its proximity to the beach, the airport and Escazu.
As to the cost of living here, we have lots of friends and family in the States that have been hammered by cost-of-living increases (food, fuel and more) in the last couple of years. We would NOT have been able to enjoy the lifestyle we have here on our retirement income had we remained where we were. You can see that many folks on the Forum have different expenses and incomes here in Costa Rica. But I think that the point is that most of us are really enjoying our lives regardless of our respective incomes. That said, I believe that it is important to have at least $2K per month income to cover emergencies that may arise. I know folks here living on much less, but they have literally no safety net.
We also really like San Ramon and have good friends there! I hope your trip is wonderful! Sue
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