Feedback on Nosara?

[rankingee]

I made my first trip to CR last month staying in Mal Pais. A great spot and beautiful beaches but I think it is getting a bit over run, expensive, with no particular development plan. I have been reading up on Nosara, north of Mal Pais, which sounds a bit more mellow with much better development planning. I like to surf also and looking for a place perhaps to buy a small home or condo for vacations and rental.

Any thoughts on Nosara out there and how does this compare with the Quepos area?

thanks,
rich

[*Lotus]

I spent six weeks there about a year and a half ago(Nosara) and yes it is beautiful. A nice break which can get sizable but easy to ride, my favorite break was Playa Guiones. The area is very spread out with homes near the beach and up in the hills. There is a large expat community that runs some great restaurants and inns such as Lagarta lodge, che olivier and La Dolce Vida to name a few. There is a long bumpy dirt road that gets you into Nosara after you leave the paved road near Samara which can be pretty impassable without a 4×4 at times. In the dry season its hot and dusty and brown!!! Real estate is very expensive with most houses starting at $250k and up into the millions, 500m2 lots seem to be about $100k. We loved it there and had rented a nice three bedroom house from http://www.nosarabeachrentals.com Two women run this and were great to deal with. I had a medical emergency and needed to get to a hospital at 12am, no doctors in Nosara and had to be driven the 2 hour ride to the caja hospital in Nicoya, just something to consider? If you are looking for something affordable here you missed it by about 10 years or so. I really prefer the central pacific overall (Play Hermosa area), Quepos is not a real pretty area and nearby Manuel Antonio is big bucks. Check out the area say from Jaco to Bejuco you can find some affordable deals still and are only 1.5 to 2 hours from San Jose and have access to good medical, shopping… as well as a beautiful area, great consistent surf, an hour up into the coolness of the mountains, good fishing, golf etc…

Edited on May 02, 2006 20:43

[rankingee]

Thanks so much Lotus for your quite comprehensive reply and knowledge of areas in Costa Rica. Actually, one area which I have been researching is Playa Esterillo, I believe just south of Bejuco where a development called “Hills of Esterillo” has just broken ground with what appears to be affordable housing. This is another area I will visit on my next trip. Would you think that a visit to Nosara and the Jaco area is doable in a 10 day visit?

thanks so much for your continued advice.

rich

[Robert]

I have spent many weeks in Nosara during the past 7 years. Yes it is a very beautiful place, good surf, good vibe and a good mix of people. You can still get a nice piece of real estate to build on under $75.000, but you will be about 15 min walking distance to the beach, or about a 6 min ride.

[rankingee]

Thanks so much for all the input. I am planning a trip, but not until next December and will check out the area of Nosara. The problem I am finding with Costa Rica is that there are so many nice places it makes it difficult to pick just one.

rich

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