Why Guanacaste?

Guanacaste is the Pacific coast of Costa Rica — a 200-kilometer stretch of surf breaks, white-sand beaches, and dry tropical forest that draws more North American buyers than any other region in the country.

It's where the infrastructure is, where the international airport is, and where the most established expat communities have taken root.

The region covers a wide range of lifestyles and price points. Gated resort communities like Reserva Conchal and Hacienda Pinilla sit alongside surf towns like Tamarindo, boutique areas like Playa Flamingo and Langosta, and the raw, quieter beauty of Playa Grande and Avellanas to the south. Most buyers find their niche within the first visit.

Costa Rica is part of the world's five Blue Zones — regions where people live measurably longer. The Nicoya Peninsula, which borders Guanacaste, is one of only five such areas on the planet. It's not just marketing. The lifestyle here — clean air, fresh food, lower stress — has documented health outcomes.

Why the Smart Money Is Moving Into Guanacaste

I've been watching this market closely for years, and what's happening right now in Guanacaste is unlike anything I've seen before. The caliber of investment coming into this region — the names, the capital, the brands — tells you everything you need to know about where this market is headed. These are not speculative bets. These are organizations that conduct years of analysis before committing hundreds of millions of dollars to a location. When they move, it means something.

Questions Worth Asking Yourself

Most people do a lot of research on properties before they do any research on themselves. These are the questions that actually matter before you start making decisions.

Before We Start

• This is an orientation, not a listing sheet. For each area: what it is, how long the drive is, what the roads and beach access are like, what kind of housing exists, and what kind of rental market it has. No prices — those come later, against specific properties.
• Drive times are dry-season approximations, measured from Liberia airport (LIR) and from Tamarindo. Add time from May to November, and add more on anything unpaved.
• All Costa Rican beaches are public. Access to them is not — a gate, a grade or a river crossing is the difference between beachfront and beach-adjacent.
• Conditions vary lot by lot: water availability, road surface, title type. Those get checked per property, not per area.

The Same Seventeen, Sorted Another Way

Fly Into Liberia

Guanacaste has its own international airport — Daniel Oduber Quirós (LIR) in Liberia — with direct flights from a long list of U.S. and Canadian cities. Use it.

San José (SJO) is the airport most people know, and it's the wrong one for this coast. From SJO you're looking at four to five hours of driving on mountain roads. From Liberia, you're on the coast road in twenty minutes and in most beach communities inside an hour and a half.

Times assume dry-season conditions and normal traffic. Add a little in green season.

Transport from the Airport

You have three realistic options when you land.

Rental Cars — Get the 4x4, and Ask for the Big One

Two pieces of advice that will save you a bad week.

Rent a 4x4. Not optional.

Some of the best properties on this coast sit at the end of dirt roads. In green season those roads have ruts, water, and the occasional river crossing. A sedan or a small two-wheel-drive crossover will keep you from seeing half of what's worth seeing — and it'll do it at the worst possible moment.

Specifically request a larger vehicle.

"4x4" on a rental website covers everything from a tiny Suzuki Jimny to a full-size Land Cruiser. Ask for the larger class by name — a Toyota Prado, Fortuner, or 4Runner, or equivalent. The extra ground clearance, the ride quality on washboard roads, and the room for luggage and people are all worth it. Call or email the agency and confirm the vehicle class, not just "SUV."

Buying a Car in Costa Rica

Getting a car sorted is one of the first practical things you'll deal with once you're spending real time here. There's a right way to do it, and it isn't the obvious way.

Don't import one.

It is possible to import a vehicle — and there's a tax exemption available to residents that can waive the import duty, which is one of the reasons I personally drove a vehicle down from Wisconsin. I would not recommend it. But if you want a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, it's something you'll never forget. Import duties on vehicles here are significant — typically 52% to over 80% of the vehicle's declared value depending on engine size and age — and the paperwork is its own project.

Buy in San José, not on the coast.

Vehicles in the Central Valley are in better condition — better roads, less salt air, less dirt — and the selection is many times larger. You'll also pay less than you would buying the same car on the coast. It's a four-hour drive to go look at a car, and it's worth it.

Where to shop.

Facebook Marketplace is the biggest used-car market in the country. CR Autos (crautos.com) and Encuentra24 are the two main listing sites. Filter by San José, be patient, and expect to message sellers on WhatsApp. Toyota holds its value here better than anything else and parts are everywhere — a Prado, Fortuner, Hilux, or RAV4 is the safe default for a reason.

Get it inspected. I have a guy.

Before you commit to anything, have an independent mechanic go through the car and produce a written report — engine, transmission, frame, electrical, signs of flood damage or accident repair. I have a mechanic I send clients to who does exactly this and generates a full report you can make your decision from. It costs a fraction of what a bad car costs. This step is non-negotiable.

Have the money in the country.

Private sellers in Costa Rica expect to be paid by local wire or SINPE at the moment of transfer. An international wire from the U.S. or Canada takes days to clear and most sellers won't hand over a car on the promise of one. If you plan to buy a vehicle, have the funds sitting in a Costa Rican bank account first — one more reason to open one early (there's a section on this in the Living Here chapter).

Take possession of the title with your lawyer.

Vehicle ownership transfers here are done through a notary attorney and registered at the National Registry — the same registry that handles real estate. Your lawyer verifies the seller actually owns the car, checks for liens, unpaid fines, and that the annual road tax (marchamo) and technical inspection (Dekra) are current, then executes the transfer document. Money changes hands when the transfer is signed, not before. Never buy a car here without a lawyer in the room.

Foreigners Own the Same as Locals

Costa Rica's constitution grants foreign nationals the same property rights as Costa Rican citizens.

There are no restrictions on what you can own, where you can own it, or how you hold title. You don't need residency. You don't need a local partner. You can buy in your own name, in a corporation, or in a trust.

Fee Simple vs. Concession

Concession properties can be excellent investments, but require additional due diligence. The concession must be current, the municipality must approve any transfer, and foreign buyers cannot hold more than 49% of the concession without a Costa Rican co-holder — unless held through a qualifying corporation.

Your Name or a Corporation?

You can hold property in your personal name. Most buyers here don't — and for good reason.

The standard structure is a Costa Rican corporation — a Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada (S.R.L.) or Sociedad Anónima (S.A.), the local equivalents of an LLC and a corporation. The S.R.L. has become the more common choice because it's simpler to administer. Either way, the corporation owns the property and you own the corporation. It's common, fully legal, and it's what I recommend to nearly every buyer. Here's why.

The trade-off

A corporation carries an annual corporate tax of a few hundred dollars and a handful of mandatory filings — the shareholder transparency registry and the corporate tax return chief among them. Your attorney or accountant handles these for a modest fee. Missing them carries real penalties, so it needs to be on someone's calendar from the beginning. That's your attorney, not you.

Property Taxes

Tax rates are subject to change. Consult a Costa Rican tax attorney for your specific situation.

Annual Filings

Costa Rica requires annual filings for both property ownership and corporations. If your property is held through a corporation — which is standard practice — your attorney or accountant needs to keep those filings current. It's not complicated, but it needs to be on someone's radar from the beginning. Factor this into how you structure your relationship with legal counsel here. The Residency & Taxes chapter covers what a local accountant does and what it costs.

U.S.-Style Mortgages

Most buyers arrive in Guanacaste assuming they'll need to pay cash or tap a HELOC back home. That assumption has changed.

U.S.-style mortgage financing is now available in Costa Rica — 30-year fixed-rate loans, denominated in U.S. dollars, for primary residences, second homes, and investment properties.

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Seller Financing

Seller financing is far more common in Costa Rica than in the U.S. or Canada, and on the right property it can be the best financing available.

Some sellers — particularly on higher-priced, unique, or slower-moving properties — will carry a note. For a seller it means a faster sale, a stronger price, and interest income. For a buyer it means financing without a bank, without a foreign-credit underwrite, and on terms you negotiate directly. I've structured a number of these and they close smoothly when they're set up correctly.

How it typically works

• Down payment of 30%–50% is the norm. Sellers want real equity in the deal.
• Term of one to five years, usually with a balloon — the buyer refinances or pays off at the end.
• Interest in the 6%–9% range, fixed. Everything is negotiable, including interest-only periods.
• Security is either a mortgage (hipoteca) registered against the property in the National Registry, or a guarantee trust (fideicomiso de garantía) where a trustee holds title until the note is paid. Your attorney structures whichever fits the deal.
• Everything in writing, in the purchase agreement and in the registered instrument. Verbal side terms don't exist.

Seller financing also works well as a bridge: carry the note for two years while you establish the property's rental history, then refinance with a conventional lender on a stronger footing.

Other Financing Options

How a Purchase Works

Buying real estate in Costa Rica is straightforward — but it works differently from the U.S.

There's no MLS with complete inventory, no standardized contracts, and the closing is handled by a notary attorney rather than a title company. Here's what to expect.

Closing Costs — Who Pays What

Unlike the U.S., the cost split in Costa Rica is relatively standardized. Buyers typically pay closing costs; sellers pay commission. This is the norm across the market.

Total buyer closing costs typically run 2.5%–4% of the purchase price. Budget accordingly.

One thing buyers are often pleasantly surprised by: you don't pay the real estate commission. In Costa Rica, commissions are paid by the seller out of their proceeds. As a buyer, you get full representation at no cost to you.

Your Attorney Does Everything

In the United States, a title company handles most of the mechanics of a closing. In Costa Rica, your attorney does all of it.

They conduct the title search, draft and negotiate the purchase and sale agreement, hold escrow, perform due diligence, and execute the closing before a notary public. There is no title company in the middle. The attorney you choose is doing everything — and the quality of that work varies significantly from one lawyer to the next.

A great real estate agent and a great attorney working together is the combination that gets deals done well here. Neither one replaces the other. This is not a place to cut corners on either front.

Due diligence is not one-size-fits-all

Every attorney approaches due diligence differently. At the minimum, a competent lawyer will pull the title at the National Registry, confirm there are no liens or encumbrances, verify property boundaries, and check for any outstanding municipal taxes or permits. That's the baseline. The best attorneys go well beyond that — and the depth of their work is often what separates a clean closing from an expensive surprise.

The best lawyers start before you're under contract

Most buyers think of their attorney as someone who gets involved after an offer is accepted. The best attorneys get involved earlier — and that head start is where a lot of value gets created.

A good lawyer will come with you on property showings. Not every showing, but the serious ones. Walking a property with legal eyes before you've made an offer changes the conversation. They'll spot things — a structure built too close to a boundary, a concession title where you expected fee simple, an unpermitted addition, a shared access road without a recorded easement — that will absolutely come up during due diligence. The difference is that you find out before you've signed anything, which means you can negotiate those issues into your offer price or your PSA terms, rather than discovering them 45 days in and scrambling for leverage you no longer have.

Here's a real example. I had a client purchasing a million-dollar condominium inside a gated community. Their attorney went beyond the standard title search and read through the full HOA meeting minutes going back several years. What they found wasn't on the balance sheet yet: a significant special assessment had been approved by the HOA but hadn't been formally billed. It wasn't disclosed in the listing. It wasn't in the financials the seller provided. Without that review, my client would have had no idea.

Because we caught it before making the offer, we built the protection directly into the original PSA — language stating that any assessments approved but not yet reflected in the books at the time of closing would remain the seller's responsibility. The seller accepted it. That one clause, written into the first offer, saved my client a material amount of money before they ever signed anything.

Water — What Every Buyer Needs to Know

Costa Rica has no shortage of water. The issue is never the water itself — it's the legal infrastructure to access and distribute it.

The country receives abundant rainfall, sits on major aquifers, and is one of the most water-rich nations in the Americas. Guanacaste is the driest province — the dry season is real — but the underlying supply is there. This distinction matters enormously when buying property, and it's one of the areas where buyers get caught off guard most often.

You can drink the tap water

One thing that surprises most buyers: the tap water here is excellent. Costa Rica consistently ranks as having the cleanest drinking water in Central and South America. I've been drinking the tap water for years and have never gotten sick from it. The ASADAs — the local water associations that manage most rural and coastal systems — are extremely diligent about monitoring quality and keeping their systems clean. One note: the water is naturally calcium-rich, which can affect the taste and leave mineral deposits on fixtures. A simple under-sink filter takes care of that and is worth having. But this is not a place where you need to live off bottled water.

The water letter

If you are purchasing land with the intention of building, the single most important water-related document is the carta de disponibilidad de agua — the water availability letter. Without it, you cannot obtain a building permit. Full stop. It doesn't matter if there's a spring on the property, if the neighbor has water running, or if the seller assures you it's fine. No water letter, no building permit.

Water letters are issued by one of two authorities — AyA or a local ASADA — and are typically valid for 6 to 12 months. Always verify one exists, and verify what type it is, before releasing your deposit.

AyA vs. ASADA

Wells

In areas where neither AyA nor an ASADA has infrastructure, property owners may drill a well. A permitted, machine-drilled well with a registered water concession is a legitimate path — but it is more complex and takes longer. If a property relies on a well, make sure your attorney verifies the concession is properly registered and the usage rights match your intended use. If you're purchasing an existing home with an active water meter, verify the account is current and transfer it to your name after closing.

Surveying — Why It Matters More Than You'd Expect

In the U.S. and Canada, property boundaries are generally well-documented and rarely disputed. In Costa Rica, particularly in rural and coastal areas, the situation is more nuanced — and a professional survey before you buy can save you from significant problems.

Historically, many properties were surveyed by hand using methods that weren't always precise by modern GPS standards. When the National Registry undertook a large-scale digital mapping effort — overlaying satellite data against older hand-drawn cadastral maps — discrepancies emerged. Boundary lines that made sense on paper didn't always match where physical markers sat on the ground. The result in some areas has been overlapping claims, encroachment issues, and title flags that require correction before a property can transact cleanly.

This doesn't mean every property has a problem. Most don't. But the only way to know for certain is to have a licensed surveyor (topógrafo) physically verify the boundary markers on the ground and confirm they match the registered plano catastrado — the official survey map on file with the National Registry.

What a survey catches: fences or structures built over property lines, access roads that exist on paper but not in reality, boundary overlaps with neighboring parcels, and discrepancies between the registered size and what's actually there.

Buy or Build?

A meaningful share of my clients end up building — because the lot they fell in love with didn't have a house on it, or because nothing on the market was exactly what they wanted.

Building gives you control: the orientation, the views, the layout, the finishes, and a home designed for this climate rather than adapted to it. It also takes longer, carries more decisions, and requires you to trust people you've just met with a lot of money. Most of the horror stories you'll hear about building in Costa Rica come down to one of three things: a lot that couldn't be permitted, a contractor who was paid too much too early, or nobody independent watching the work. All three are avoidable.

The Building Process

What It Costs

Construction costs here are quoted per square meter of built area. For the kind of homes my clients build — concrete and steel, quality finishes, imported fixtures where it matters, designed for the climate — plan on roughly $1,500 to $2,500+ per square meter ($140–$230+ per square foot). You can build for less, and it shows. Pools, terraces, landscaping, retaining walls on sloped lots, and driveways are often quoted separately and add up quickly.

On top of hard costs, budget for design, permits, surveys, and a contingency of 10%–15%. Everyone intends to stay inside the number; a contingency is what keeps a change of mind from becoming a problem.

Architects

The single most important hire in a build. Beyond design, your architect produces the permit set, coordinates the structural and electrical engineers, and — if you set it up this way — supervises construction on your behalf.

What to look for

• A portfolio of homes actually built in Guanacaste, not just rendered. This climate — heat, humidity on the coast, strong dry-season winds, salt air, intense sun — punishes designs imported from somewhere else.
• Passive design as a reflex: orientation to the prevailing wind, deep overhangs, cross-ventilation, shaded glass. It's the difference between a house that's comfortable with the doors open and one that runs air conditioning all day.
• Willingness to supervise. An architect who visits the site weekly and signs off on milestones is your quality control and your protection on payments.
• Clear communication in English, and a process you understand before you sign.

Contractors

Good builders exist here, and the best ones are busy. Vet them the way you'd vet anyone you're about to hand a seven-figure budget.

• Walk their finished homes and talk to the owners — including one that finished a year or more ago. How a house holds up through a rainy season tells you more than a showroom.
• Confirm they're legitimate: registered as a business, with their workers enrolled in the national social security system (CCSS) and covered by workers' compensation insurance (INS). This is the law, and it's also what keeps a workplace injury from becoming your liability.
• Insist on a complete, priced scope tied to the drawings, and a payment schedule tied to milestones.
• Never pay a large deposit. A modest mobilization payment is normal. Thirty or forty percent up front is how people get burned.
• Keep someone independent on site. Your architect or a third-party inspector verifying each milestone before it's paid is the cheapest insurance in the whole process.

Building from abroad

Many of my clients build while they're still living in the U.S. or Canada. It works when the reporting is disciplined — weekly photo and video updates, a shared budget tracker, and someone on the ground who answers the phone. I keep eyes on my clients' projects, and I only refer architects and builders I've seen deliver.

The Short-Term Rental Market

Guanacaste's rental market is strong by regional standards. Year-round demand, high occupancy in dry season, and a North American audience that already knows Costa Rica create favorable fundamentals for investment buyers.

A shift worth paying attention to

One of the clearest trends in the Guanacaste STR market right now: larger homes — five bedrooms and up — are outperforming smaller condos, even when those condos are closer to the water.

The reason is straightforward. Traveling in groups has become the norm. Families, friend groups, and multi-generational trips are all sharing costs across more people, which means they can afford to pay a higher nightly rate for the right property — and they will. A five-bedroom home at $1,500 a night splits to $300 per room. That's a strong value proposition for the guest, and a compelling income number for the owner.

These larger homes also command premium rates when they're built around a hospitality experience — not just beds and a pool. Game rooms, home theaters, saunas, outdoor kitchens, sports courts — the properties that think like a boutique hotel rather than a vacation rental consistently outperform on both occupancy and nightly rate. Guests aren't just booking a place to sleep. They're booking the experience, and they'll pay for it.

When evaluating a short-term rental investment, location hierarchy matters more than almost anything else. The top-performing properties in this market rank roughly in this order: beachfront, walk to beach, ocean vicinity. The more of those boxes a property checks, the stronger its rental foundation. Everything else — size, amenities, design — builds on top of that location base.

That said, community amenities can be a meaningful performance multiplier. Properties inside developments with their own beach clubs, golf courses, pickleball courts, restaurants, or concierge services carry those amenities into the listing — and guests book the full experience, not just the house. But strong performance is absolutely not limited to gated communities. Some of the best-performing properties I've seen are standalone homes that simply have great management, great presentation, and a great location.

If you're evaluating a property as an investment, the conversation about what to buy has shifted. A smaller condo steps from the beach is no longer the obvious answer. The math increasingly favors scale, amenity, and community — and the buyers who understand that are acquiring the properties that outperform.

What to Know Before You Buy for Rentals

Property Management — Your Most Important Business Decision

If you're buying for rental income, your property manager is your business partner. Full stop.

The quality of that relationship will determine whether your investment performs or underperforms more than almost any other factor — including the property itself.

A great property manager handles everything — truly A to Z. Guest communications and vetting, check-in and check-out coordination, cleaning and maintenance, paying the utility bills and municipal taxes, managing your listings across Airbnb, VRBO, and other booking platforms, and handling whatever comes up in between. You shouldn't have to think about the day-to-day. If you are, you have the wrong manager.

The best management companies also use dynamic pricing tools — software that adjusts your nightly rate in real time based on local demand, competitor availability, seasonal trends, and booking lead time. This alone can meaningfully increase annual revenue compared to a static pricing approach. Ask any prospective manager what tools they use. If they can't answer that question specifically, keep looking.

Standard property management fees in Guanacaste run approximately 20% of gross rental income. That's the market rate for full-service management, and it's worth every dollar when you have the right company in place.

Why Most People Really Buy Here

The rental income is real. The returns are real. But if you talk to most buyers who own property in Guanacaste, you'll find that the income was never the primary reason they bought.

They bought because they wanted to be here. The rental income is what makes it sustainable — it offsets the mortgage, the HOA, the management fees, the carrying costs — so they can enjoy the property without it feeling like a financial burden. The asset pays for itself while they're not using it. That's the model most buyers are actually working with, whether they articulate it that way at the start or not.

That framing matters because it changes how you evaluate a property. A buyer optimizing purely for yield will make different decisions than someone who wants a place they'll actually use 6–8 weeks a year and rent the rest. Neither approach is wrong. But knowing which one you are will lead you to the right property faster.

What I've found, consistently, is that the lifestyle is the driver. The income is the justification. And when both work together — when you own something you genuinely love that also generates meaningful revenue — that's when buyers tell me they feel like they made the best decision of their financial lives.

Multi-Unit & Long-Term Rental — An Underrated Segment

Most buyers who come to Guanacaste are thinking about vacation homes and short-term rentals. That's the visible market. But there's another segment that rarely gets talked about — and in some ways it's the most interesting one: multi-unit income properties built around long-term tenants.

Guanacaste has a growing resident base of expats, remote workers, digital nomads, and Costa Rican professionals who need quality long-term housing and will pay well for it. Monthly rental demand in communities like Tamarindo, Flamingo, and Coco has expanded significantly alongside the general growth of the region. A well-run multi-unit property in the right location can produce stable, year-round income with none of the seasonality that comes with short-term rentals — no platform fees, no vacancy between guests, no management headaches around turnovers.

The economics look different from STR, but for the right investor they can be more predictable and easier to operate remotely. Long-term tenants take care of a property differently than a rotating parade of vacationers. And because this segment gets far less attention from buyers, the competition for good deals is lower.

A deal worth knowing about — Monte Alto Apartments

One of my recent notable sales illustrates this segment well. Monte Alto Apartments is a fully remodeled income property in Villareal — about 5 minutes from Tamarindo Beach — that I sold for $1,200,000. The property includes 12 fully furnished apartments (10 two-bedroom, 2 one-bedroom) plus 2 standalone two-bedroom houses, all on a single 16,400 sq ft lot across two titled parcels. Pool, BBQ rancho, covered parking, gated and fully fenced. The entire complex was gutted and rebuilt in 2023 — new appliances, tile, cabinetry, lighting, and hot water throughout.

26 beds. 14 baths. A turn-key operation with documented income from day one. For a buyer looking for an asset that produces real cash flow in a market most North Americans never think to look at, this is exactly the kind of deal that moves quietly and rewards the people who are already in the conversation.

I've also sold multiple boutique hospitality properties in this market, including L'Avventura — a six-room boutique hotel in Tamarindo that was cash-flowing net $160,000 a year with a cap rate north of 10%. That number would be exceptional in any U.S. market — and increasingly difficult to find. Here, those deals exist. You just have to be connected to the right people to hear about them before they're gone.

The Mindset Shift

One of the first things you notice when you arrive in Guanacaste is what's missing.

There are no Lamborghinis parked outside restaurants. Nobody is trying to impress you with their watch, their car, or their zip code. Back in LA, there's a constant low-level pressure to signal success — the right car, the right neighborhood, the right everything. Here, some of the most successful people you'll ever meet are the ones you'd never guess. A retired Fortune 500 CEO I met at a bar in my first year was wearing board shorts and flip flops. Out here, the flex is a Toyota with an upgraded suspension and all-terrain tires — and honestly, that's a flex that actually means something when you're navigating the roads.

People here, locals and expats alike, simply aren't interested in that game. It's one of the most quietly liberating things about living here.

Not being plugged into local news from a big city where difficult things are constantly happening makes a difference too. The baseline stress level here is lower. That's not an accident — it's a byproduct of how people choose to live.

The Community

It's a small town. You see the same people everywhere, and the thing is, you actually like them. Because everyone who made the decision to move to a foreign country already has something significant in common with you. It takes a certain kind of person — curious, open-minded, willing to bet on themselves — and that filters the crowd considerably.

The networking here is next level. You'll meet entrepreneurs, investors, remote workers, retirees, and people reinventing themselves from every corner of the world. The connections you make tend to run deeper and faster than anything you'd build at a formal event back home. It's a close-knit group, and that's a feature, not a limitation.

Pura Vida — What It Actually Means

Pura vida is more than a phrase. It's the operating system here — and it took me longer than I expected to fully understand what that means.

The literal translation is "pure life." But that doesn't begin to cover it. Pura vida is hello. It's goodbye. It's thank you, you're welcome, everything's good, no worries, and — depending on the context and tone — it can even be used to tell someone off. It's a Swiss Army knife of an expression, and you'll hear it dozens of times a day once you're here. At the grocery store, on the phone with your contractor, in a business meeting, at your kid's school pickup. It's everywhere, across every community, every income level, every corner of the country. This is not a tourism slogan that got plastered on a t-shirt. It's ingrained.

When I first arrived, I assumed it was something created for visitors — a hospitality shorthand designed to make tourists feel welcome. After doing serious business here at a high level, I realized how wrong that assumption was. Pura vida is not a brand. It's a value system. It predates the tourism industry and runs deeper than any marketing campaign ever could.

What it really represents is a slower, more deliberate pace of life — one that prioritizes people, community, and the present moment over output, achievement, and performance. It's not laziness. It's a conscious reordering of what matters. And it's tied to something real: the Nicoya Peninsula, which borders Guanacaste, is one of the world's five Blue Zones — a region where people live measurably longer. The lifestyle that produces that outcome and pura vida are not unrelated.

The best way I can illustrate what it actually looks and feels like in practice is with a story from my first year.

I went to the bank to complete an important wire transfer. After waiting in line for what felt like forever, I was told the person who handles wire transfers wasn't in and I'd need to come back another day. My instinct — the one I brought from LA — was to push for a resolution, escalate, make it happen. Instead, I took a breath, said pura vida, and turned to leave. By the time I reached the door, the bank manager appeared from the back and personally helped me complete the transfer.

I watched other expats in that same bank lose their patience that day, and it made everything harder for them. The mentality you bring from where you came from — the urgency, the expectation that things should work a certain way — can work against you here. Making the effort to speak even a little Spanish, and genuinely embracing the pace of life, gets you further than any amount of pressure ever will. I believe this shift in mindset is genuinely better for your health.

Food & Health

There is no McDonald's within an hour and a half of where I live. That's not a complaint — it's one of my favorite things. By default, you're not eating fast food or heavily processed food. Fresh fruit grows everywhere. Local markets are stocked with vegetables, fish, and grass-fed beef at prices that would seem impossible back home. Without even trying to eat well, you eat well.

One of the most underrated rituals in Costa Rica is a fresh coconut in the morning. You crack it open, drink the water, scrape the meat. It never gets old, and it quietly reminds you every day that your life has changed.

Add surfing, pickleball, hiking, or golf on top of that baseline diet, and you'll feel the difference within weeks.

The Environment

Costa Rica runs on approximately 99% renewable energy — hydroelectric, geothermal, wind, and solar. This isn't an accident. Environmental stewardship is embedded in Costa Rican culture in a way that's rare anywhere in the world. The air is clean, the water is clean, and the land is actively protected. It's one of the reasons this place feels different from the moment you arrive.

Education

I moved here with two young kids. Before I came, the school question was one of my biggest concerns. What I found on the other side was one of the biggest surprises.

Both of my kids started in a Costa Rican preschool. Within a little over a year, they were both fluent in Spanish — picked it up the way kids do when they're immersed: naturally, quickly, without any resistance. Spanish is the second most spoken native language in the world. My kids have it.

The schools here that cater to expat families are accredited to international standards and can feed into Ivy League universities. My honest assessment, having been through the school system in the US and now here: the education my kids are receiving is better. Smaller classes. Teachers who know your child. A rigorous curriculum.

What surprised me most was the parent community. Everyone is connected, everyone helps each other, and the welcome you receive when you arrive is genuine. It's the kind of school community that's harder and harder to find back home.

One more thing: my son's school took the kids out on a boat. They watched whales breaching and dolphins swimming alongside. Something I could never have imagined as a child is now a regular field trip for him. That says a lot.

Seasons

Guanacaste has two seasons: dry season (roughly December through April) and green season (May through November). During dry season, you get the classic postcard Costa Rica — brilliant sunshine, calm water, perfect beach days back to back. Green season brings afternoon rain, usually for a couple of hours, and then it stops. The land turns lush and vivid. The tourists thin out. The prices drop. If you're a full-time resident, green season is one of the best-kept secrets here.

Neither season is bad. They're just different. Most people who live here year-round come to prefer green season.

Activities

Pickleball has taken over the world, and Guanacaste is no exception. Courts have appeared across the region — at resort communities, private clubs, and standalone facilities — and the community around it is active and welcoming to newcomers.

Golf is well represented. Reserva Conchal runs a Robert Trent Jones II course that's among the finest in Central America. Hacienda Pinilla offers a well-regarded oceanview layout. Peninsula Papagayo features the Cacique course within the Four Seasons complex. Each draws a mix of residents and visitors year-round.

Beyond that: surfing at some of the most consistent Pacific breaks around, sport fishing offshore, whale watching, zip-lining through the jungle canopy, ATV and side-by-side tours, yoga, open-water swimming, hiking in protected reserves, and more. You will not run out of things to do. The challenge is fitting everything in around the rest of your life here — which, it turns out, is also pretty good.

Weekend trips

Guanacaste is ideally positioned for weekend exploration. Rincón de la Vieja and Hacienda Guachipelín are less than two hours away — a volcano national park with hot springs, zip lines, and horseback riding. Nosara is a quick drive down the coast for a completely different vibe. La Fortuna and Arenal Volcano are a half-day from most parts of Guanacaste.

And for longer trips, Colombia, Peru, and Mexico — Medellín, Cartagena, Mexico City — are all short flights. The geographic positioning here makes Central and South America feel accessible in a way that's hard to fully appreciate until you're living it.

Staying Connected

WhatsApp is the primary form of communication in Costa Rica. Businesses run on it. Contractors respond on it. Your landlord, your cleaner, your kids' school — all WhatsApp. Download it before you arrive and get comfortable with it. It's not optional.

Facebook groups are equally important for getting plugged in. Every major community has a local group — Tamarindo Chitchat, Nosara Expats, and similar groups for other towns. These are where people share recommendations, ask questions, and connect with locals and long-term expats. When you arrive somewhere new, they cut months off your learning curve.

There are also numerous WhatsApp groups organized around specific communities, activities, and interests. Once you're here, you'll get added to the relevant ones quickly — that's just how it works.

Amazon & shipping

I'll be honest — same-day and next-day Amazon Prime is one of the things I genuinely miss about living in the States. That convenience doesn't exist here, and there are moments when you feel it. That said, I wouldn't trade what I have here for two-day shipping. Not even close.

There is an Amazon.co.cr, but the product selection is limited and pricing runs significantly higher than what you'd pay in the US or Canada. For everything else, most expats use a package forwarding service. You get assigned a US mailing address — typically in Miami — and ship your orders there like any US address. The forwarding company brings the packages to Costa Rica and delivers them to your door, with fees based on weight. It takes a bit longer than you're used to, and there may be import duties on certain items, but it works reliably.

One company I can personally point you to is LM Express — a Costa Rica-based forwarding service that delivers directly to Tamarindo. I work with a few of these companies and can connect you with whichever makes the most sense for your situation.

Services & Cost of Living

Manual labor, housekeeping, landscaping, and general maintenance are meaningfully more affordable here than in North America. Reliable household staff are accessible at rates that make full-time help realistic for many buyers for the first time. For investment property owners, this significantly improves the economics — your cost base for upkeep is lower, and the quality doesn't have to suffer for it.

Groceries at local markets are inexpensive. Dining out at local restaurants is cheap. The things that tend to cost more are imported goods, certain electronics, and vehicles. But the overall cost of living for someone who adapts to how people actually live here — rather than trying to replicate a North American lifestyle exactly — is dramatically lower than most of the US or Canada.

Utilities, Payments & Banking

Electricity & solar

In Guanacaste, electricity is provided by Coopeguanacaste, a regional cooperative — not ICE, the national provider that serves most of the rest of the country. You can pay your electricity bill online through your Costa Rican bank account or in person at local grocery stores and payment points. If you're managing a property remotely, your property manager handles this for you.

Solar is becoming increasingly popular here, and for good reason. With year-round sun and relatively high electricity rates, the economics of rooftop solar make strong sense. Many homeowners install systems that dramatically reduce or eliminate their monthly electricity costs, and some properties operate largely off-grid by choice. Payback periods are meaningfully faster than in North America. If you're building or renovating, factor solar in from the start.

Water bills

Your water bill goes to your local ASADA rather than a national utility. Most ASADAs now offer online payment via SINPE Móvil, and some accept payment at local offices. Amounts are modest — water costs here are a fraction of what North Americans are used to. If you own a rental property and aren't living here full-time, your property manager should be covering this as part of their service.

SINPE Móvil

SINPE Móvil is Costa Rica's national instant payment platform, managed by the Central Bank. Think of it as Costa Rica's version of Zelle — but more deeply embedded into daily life. Over 76% of Costa Ricans actively use it. You pay vendors, contractors, your ASADA, your housekeeper, and essentially anyone else by sending money from your bank account using their phone number. Transfers are instant, free, and available 24/7. Setting up SINPE Móvil requires a Costa Rican bank account — and if you're spending meaningful time here, it's one of the first practical things to do.

Costa Rican bank account

You don't need a local bank account to buy property here. Many buyers close on properties and receive rental income entirely in USD through international transfers. But if you're planning to spend regular time here — or relocate — a local account makes daily life significantly smoother. It's how you access SINPE Móvil, pay local bills, buy a car, and function like a resident rather than a visitor. The process can be straightforward or frustrating depending on which bank you approach and how you go in. I've been through it at all the major banks and know which ones work best, and most of the heavy lifting can be done over email when you know the right people.

Healthcare — Better Than You'd Expect, and Far Less Expensive

Healthcare is one of the most pleasant surprises for North Americans who move to Costa Rica. The system is strong, the cost is dramatically lower, and the quality at private facilities is genuinely good.

To put the cost in perspective: the US spends roughly $14,885 per person annually on healthcare. Costa Rica spends approximately $1,935. Yet Costa Rica's life expectancy is higher. That comparison says something about both the efficiency of the system here and the lifestyle conditions that support health in the first place.

La Caja — the public system

The backbone of Costa Rican healthcare is the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social — universally known as "la Caja." It's a universal public system that has been in place since the 1940s and covers 100% of medical expenses, prescriptions, surgeries, and hospitalizations for enrolled residents. Monthly contributions are income-based and generally run well under $200/month for most expats. Once you obtain residency, enrollment is mandatory — and most residents consider it one of the better parts of the deal. The tradeoff is wait times for non-urgent care. For emergencies, the system works well.

Private healthcare

Most expats use a combination of the Caja for coverage and private care for convenience and speed. A private doctor visit runs $50–$110. A specialist is around $100. Diagnostic tests — blood work, ultrasounds, x-rays — are typically under $100. A knee replacement that costs $50,000+ in the US runs around $12,000 at a private hospital here. Private health insurance is available at a fraction of US premiums, and many doctors in private practice are trained in the US or Europe and speak English.

Costa Rica ranks first in Latin America for Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation — the same global standard used to certify hospitals in the US and Europe. The quality is not a compromise. And the Nicoya Peninsula next door is one of the world's five Blue Zones. Healthcare costs less here, but the conditions that keep you out of the healthcare system in the first place are arguably the bigger story.

Crime & Safety — An Honest Answer

This is the question every buyer asks, usually quietly, near the end of the first conversation. It deserves a straight answer.

Costa Rica has been a stable democracy with no army since 1948, and it remains one of the safer countries in Latin America. It is not crime-free, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. Here's what the picture actually looks like.

What the numbers say

Costa Rica's national homicide rate rose over the last several years and sat around 17 per 100,000 in 2025 — close to the Latin American median — with 2026 trending down. The overwhelming majority of that violence is tied to disputes between drug-trafficking groups, and it is concentrated in specific areas: parts of San José, the Caribbean port of Limón, and Puntarenas. Some coastal districts of Guanacaste saw an uptick in 2025 for the same reason — groups settling scores with each other over routes that run along the coast. Foreign residents and tourists are not the targets, and are very rarely the victims.

What actually touches residents

Opportunistic property crime. Things left visible in a parked car. A bag left on the beach while you surf. An unlocked house. A vacation home that sits visibly empty for months. This is the risk that's real for you, and it's the risk you can almost entirely manage.

• Never leave anything visible in a vehicle — anywhere, for any length of time.
• Lock the house. Most burglaries here are walk-ins, not break-ins.
• Cameras, a monitored alarm, smart locks, and good lighting are inexpensive and effective. I put them in every rental property I'm involved with.
• If the home will sit empty, have a caretaker or property manager visit regularly and keep it looking occupied.
• Know your neighbors. In most communities the neighborhood WhatsApp group is the neighborhood watch, and it works.
• Many communities fund private security through a neighborhood association. Gated developments include it in the HOA.

My family and I live here full-time. Day to day, I don't think about safety more than I did in Los Angeles — I think about it less. That's not naïveté; it's what living here with reasonable precautions actually feels like. If you want to talk through a specific area, ask me. I'll tell you what I know.

Bringing Your Pets

Dogs and cats come in easily. There's no quarantine, no import permit if the animal travels with you, and no waiting period beyond a valid rabies shot.

What you need

• A health certificate issued by a USDA-accredited veterinarian (or your country's equivalent) after an exam within 14 days of travel, endorsed by USDA APHIS. The endorsement is digital now, but allow a few business days.
• Rabies vaccination valid on the day of arrival, for any animal over three months old.
• Core vaccines current — distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus, and leptospirosis for dogs; the standard feline trio for cats.
• Internal and external parasite treatment within 15 days of travel, recorded on the certificate with product and lot number.

Requirements can change, so have your vet confirm against Costa Rica's current SENASA requirement sheet before you fly. If the animal ships separately as cargo, a Costa Rican customs broker arranges an import permit in advance.

The airline is the hard part

Small dogs and cats fly in the cabin. Large dogs fly as cargo, and most carriers refuse animals when the temperature at any airport on the route is above 85°F — which rules out summer departures from much of the U.S. Fly direct into Liberia, travel in the cooler months if you can, and if you have a big dog, a pet relocation service is often worth the fee. Note that several airlines won't carry snub-nosed breeds as cargo at all.

Life here with a dog

Veterinary care is excellent and inexpensive. The beaches are a dog's dream. The things to manage are heat, ticks, and the occasional loose dog in town — standard prevention handles all three. Most long-term rentals and nearly all private homes are pet-friendly.

The Three Main Categories

Costa Rica has one of the most welcoming immigration frameworks in Latin America.

As a foreign buyer, you can own property here without residency — but if you're thinking about spending significant time or relocating, understanding the residency categories is an important part of your planning. Regardless of which category you apply under, you'll enter as a temporary resident for three years, after which you can apply for permanent residency. The transition is essentially an administrative process.

What You'll Need to Apply

Income Tax

Costa Rica taxes income earned within Costa Rica. Foreign-sourced income — pensions, investment income, rental income from properties outside the country — is generally not taxed here. This is one of the more favorable aspects of the tax structure for foreign residents.

Income earned here — most relevantly, rental income from your Costa Rican property — is taxed here. The specifics depend on your situation, and this is not tax advice. U.S. citizens continue to file at home regardless of where they live; the two systems generally don't double-tax the same income, but you want someone on each side who knows the other exists.

Accountants — Small Cost, Real Peace of Mind

Accounting services here are a fraction of what you'd pay in the US or Canada, and a good local accountant keeps you out of trouble you wouldn't know to look for.

Here's what a local accountant actually does for a property owner:

• Corporate filings. If your property is held in a corporation — and it should be — there's an annual corporate tax, a shareholder transparency registry declaration, and a tax return, even for a company that does nothing but hold a house. Missing them triggers fines and can freeze the company.
• Luxury tax. Homes above the construction-value threshold file a luxury tax declaration, updated every three years. Your accountant calculates and files it.
• Rental income. If you rent the property, your accountant registers the activity, files the monthly VAT (13% on short-term stays) and the income tax return on net rental earnings, and coordinates with your property manager so the numbers match.
• Payroll. If you employ a housekeeper, gardener, or caretaker directly, they must be registered with the social security system and paid legally. It's inexpensive and it protects you.

For a simple holding company with no rental activity, expect a few hundred dollars a year. For an actively rented property, somewhat more. Either way it's a small line item — factor it into your annual budget from the start.

Why I'm Giving You All of This for Free

You might be wondering — if this guide covers everything you need to know, why would you need to talk to me? I've spent years collecting this information. Some of it came from experience, some from mistakes, some from conversations with attorneys and accountants and developers that most people never get access to. Why share all of it without asking for anything in return?

Because that's how I've chosen to operate.

My grandfather used to tell me that the greatest feeling a person can have in life is the feeling you get when you're in the process of helping someone else. Not after. During. That stuck with me. I genuinely believe it.

The most successful people I've met in business — and I've been fortunate to meet some exceptional ones — share a common trait. They give freely. They make introductions without asking what's in it for them. They share connections, share knowledge, share access — not for a referral fee, not expecting reciprocity, just because they want what's best for the person in front of them. That mentality pays back in goodwill a hundred times over. Call it karma. Call it reputation. Call it whatever you want — it works, and it compounds.

That said — there are nuances in here that a guide can't fully address. You'll probably have questions about things specific to your situation: your budget, your timeline, your family, your goals. Some of the most important conversations I have with buyers happen before they've made a single decision. If you'd like to talk through any of it, I'm happy to schedule time. No agenda. No pitch. Just a conversation.

— Josh

The People Who Find Their Way Here

The clients I work with don't fit a single profile. What they share is a curiosity about a different kind of life — and at some point, the decision to do something about it.

Before, During & Long After Closing

A lot of my clients have never set foot in Costa Rica before they purchase a property here. That might sound unusual, but it's become one of the things I'm most proud of — because it means they trusted me enough to be their eyes on the ground.

When someone is seriously interested but not ready to get on a plane yet, I'll go to the property myself. I'll walk through it, shoot video, give them an honest assessment of the area, the condition, the neighbors, the road in the rainy season — everything they'd want to know if they were standing there themselves. I do this because I genuinely believe it's part of the job, not an extra favor.

For clients who do come down to look around, I offer what I call a Lay of the Land tour. Over two to three days, I'll take you through all of the main areas and investment hot spots across the coast — not just the properties on your list, but the full picture. The neighborhoods, the beaches, the infrastructure, the differences between communities that don't show up in any listing. By the end of it, you'll have a level of clarity that would take most buyers months to develop on their own.

What I've found over the years is that the clients who feel most confident in their purchase are the ones who felt informed every step of the way. Not just shown properties and handed a contract, but actually educated on what they're buying, where they're buying it, and what life looks like on the other side of closing.

And then there's what happens after closing — which is where a lot of agents disappear. I don't. Whether it's connecting you with a property manager, helping you navigate a renovation or a build, sorting out a question with the municipality, or just answering a call about something you didn't expect — I'm still there. My clients know they can reach me, and they do. That's not a burden. It's the whole point.

I believe this is why so many of my clients come back, refer their friends, and stay in touch years after their purchase. The transaction is the beginning of the relationship, not the end of it.

More than real estate

Buying property in a foreign country involves a lot of moving parts that have nothing to do with the property itself — and that's exactly where most buyers find themselves on their own. I've made it my purpose to be the person you call for all of it. From the moment we start working together, I'm your local connection on the ground in Guanacaste: the legal structure that makes sense for your purchase, the right immigration attorney for your residency application, the accountant, the architect, the mechanic who inspects your car, the bank that will actually open your account.

I moved here with my family from Los Angeles. I've been through the process myself — the uncertainty, the logistics, the moments where you wonder if you're making the right call. I know what it takes, and I know what it feels like on the other side. The peace of mind that comes from having a real local connection makes all the difference between a stressful experience and a great one. That's what I'm here for.