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Hi – we are in the early stages of planning a move to Costa Rica from the US. We are looking for a higher altitude area with cooler weather as we are from the high country in Colorado. We have been looking online at some property in the San Ramon / La Paz area, and we have family who lives in the Lake Arenal area. Anyone with any info on different mountain areas and the climate would be really appreciated. Thanks 😆
If you haven’t yet visited these areas, you really should do this …or any areas… preferably for an extended time, before deciding to purchasing any property.
Good website for additional information regarding the [url=http://www.costaricalaw.com/Immigration-and-Residency/residency-general-information-and-summary.html]legalities of living here.[/url]I have property in San Ramon. Compared to most of the residential areas I have visited around Arenal, there is more altitude in San Ramon, hence, a more comfortable climate as far as temperature is concerned. I found Arenal to be quite warm during the day…and I am used to the heat in Miami.
Another place I found to be way too warm for me is Atenas. It is not far away from San Ramon, but Costa Rica has micro climates. Drive 10 from one area and you may find quite a change in temperature and rainfall. It is essential to spend some time in whatever area you are considering.
Unless you [i]like [/i]these specific conditions, I don’t recommend the area north of San Ramon as it tends to get VERY foggy …right down to the ground for days at a time…and windy there due to the cloud forests and mountains north of town.
Although it is considered to be good for orchids….:roll:
Everytime I have driven out of San ramon towards San Lorenzo and the Arensl area, that route has been a foggy but beautiful drive. I can’t imagine having to drive that area on a daily basis. Of course, locals do just that so I suppose one can get used to anything. But there will be plenty of other challenges which you will have to address without making frequent driving on a foggy mountain road one of them.
It is important to understand that when in a more rural, higher altitude, there [i]may[/i] be less access to some of the amenities you want or need.
[quote=”costaricafinca”]It is important to understand that when in a more rural, higher altitude, there [i]may[/i] be less access to some of the amenities you want or need.[/quote]
I am at 3200 feet and centered within 15 minutes of three good sized towns, one of which is San Ramon. The day time temperature rarely exceeds the low 80’s and at night it drops to the 60’s.
The few times I stayed at Arenal, the daytime heat required air conditioning. At Quepos by the Pacific, 95 plus degrees was normal. I really do not know how people put up with that heat unless they are spending a small fortune on air conditioning….PLUS, in both of those areas, there is far less infrastructure than the mountains around the San Ramon area have.Yeah, if anyone wants to see people wearing winter coats in daylight in a tropical country while driving in truly spectacular beauty and dangerous countryside, take route 141 south from Quesada to Zacero.
The Nuevo Arenal area is terrific for temperature. Seldom higher than 85 during the day and down to 65-70 at night for pleasant sleeping. We have friends who moved here from Colorado and love it. Great sense of community here as well with lots of activities.
About 200 expats live in the Puriscal area, great climate at an ave. of 3200 feet in elevation. Puriscal is up in the beautiful inland mountain range, located some 45 km ( 30 miles) west-south-west of San Jose. Here, you can have the best of many worlds: a comfortable spring-like climate all year round, close to the Pacific Ocean beaches. In Spanish, a “puriscal” is the flower of the common bean. http://www.puriscaltimes.com
Thanks for much for all the input! While we do plan on spending some time in the area we choose before buying we are trying to narrow down the areas to concentrate on. We are looking for (hopefully) daytime temps in the 70’s for the most part – and being rural is not really a problem for us – more of a perk. Any information you can give is much appreciated 8)
To find temps of 70’s during the day will be very hard to find. You must be at a [i]very[/i] high altitude for this.
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