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Greetings,
Many WLCR articles and forum posters comment about how wonderful it is to live in higher elevations in CR because of the climate. They are correct, as the climate at higher elevations in CR is very pleasant!
However, I feel that the climates at/near the beaches get a lot of poor/unfair press, thus this post…
Just a few things to consider:
1. Many people like to live on a hill looking out over the Pacific and watch the sun set on the water many nights per year.
2. Living near the Ocean is warmer than living in the mountains, but if you are perhaps 300+ feet elevation you may well get breezes that will take care of the heat and the mosquitoes that show up at dusk for an hour. Also, many can not get enough heat!!!
3. You can not surf, sail, scuba dive, or swim from a beach in San Jose.
There is no right or wrong decision about where to spend your time/life in Costa Rica, so travel around and find the place that is right for you!
I live at a beach in Miami but at sea level. After 3 years, I am tired of the heat.
1) at 300 feet altitude, it is still friggin hot and humid.
2) Bugs are fact of life south of the 25th parallel but near the beach around the 10th parallel, you are going to see some mammoth sized insects and at high population levels .
3) Dengue is much, much more prevelant near beaches at low altitudes.
4) crocodiles
5) air conditioning is expensive
6) there is much less infrastructure along Costa Rican coasts. Medical care is part of this calulation.
7) coastal towns are so much more shabby looking that the mountain towns in Costa Rica.
8) Gravity. Pollution from the interior travels down stream and empties into the ocean.I love the sea. I love beaches. I am an avid sea kayaker. When I want to paddle my kaytak, I can simpley drive th ehour or so to the Pacific from my mountain property. No need to live at sea level in the tropics.
Absolutely!
We all have our preferences and some people do prefer to live by the ocean. When I lived in Grand Cayman, I lived about 50M from the Caribbean and had two balconies with awesome sunset views and oh! What coral reefs!
But now I prefer the cooler climates of the Central Valley myself and having moved into the city, I LOVE being able to walk practically anywhere. I can walk to Teatro Nacional in 30 minutes
Don’t forget Puccini’s Turandot (opera) is on at Teatro Melico Salazar at the end of February – That’s about 27 minutes walk away for me now…
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.compweisel1, In my opinion, there are beach people and then there are the non-beach people. I’m from Tampa, Florida and spent most of my summers in the beaches from Mobile, Alabama to Key West, Florida. Florida is hot and humid from May through the middle of October (usually). I’ve been living near Playa Conchal, in Guanacaste now for a little over two years. I moved here because: 1) I could not afford to live a 10 minute walk to quality beaches in Florida. 2) If you like the beach, you probably enjoy things like fishing, diving, snorkeling, surfing or my favorite, nothing at all except enjoying the breezes and sounds of the beach and you expect it to be hot. Some people like it and some people don’t want anything to do with it. Things I like about this area include all of the above plus, no traffic, car horns and the feeling that I’m in Costa Rica and not just another city with all the things that come with living in a city. The heat is not like Florida (at least where I live) and until this week we used our A/C as needed. December and most of January this year were great! My point is, don’t let people who don’t live at the beach discourage you if you have a passion for the beach. I personally need to be near the water, but that’s me. Take Scott’s advice and spend time in many different areas and decide for yourself what is best for you. Hope this helps.
This is killing me. It is very cold here in the northeast and you posted a message about living 300 feet above sea level to get the cool ocean breezes Sprite…..you seem to be quite the expert on CR…but you live in Miami…..What gives with this…….. FYI…..I love your postings and follow this sight regularly. Scott, are you hiring?
The heat along the Central Pacific coast is WORSE than south florida where I have lived for the last 30 years. Winters are great in South Flotida. Summers, not so great. Be sure you can deal with humidity and extreme heat nearly all the time before deciding to spend all your time there.
I hate the cold more thanI hate heat. I would NEVER consider living anywhere where snow might fall. The perfect climate for most people is found high up in the Central Valley. If you need to see the ocean from your porch, then the price you will pay is humidity and heat…and bugs…lots of bugs. Try it out for several months or longer before buying to be sure and the compare it with mountain living. WHat’s the rush? Take your time.I’m afraid the bugs don’t care whether or not they live at the beach or in the Central valley. They’re everywhere!
My Manhattan apartment building on West 72nd street had more cockroaches than any home I’ve had in Costa Rica
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comSprite I have to disagree about South Florida. We spend quite a bit of time in Playa Hermosa/Jaco and my wife used to work in South Florida, my sister currently does. At Hermosa the mornings and evenings are very nice sometimes “cool” where I will put on a long sleeve cotton shirt or am comfortable wearing jeans into Jaco at night for dinner. The humidity at nigt and in the mornings really is not that bad at all either. 1-3pm yes it is HOT if you are in the sun, but step under a palapa and it’s quite nice.
Now south Florida is unbearable from March-October no one leaves the air conditioning, at 6 am you walk outside it’s like stepping into an oven. Let’s have David Treadway chime in here…
You are correct about night temperatures in South Florida during the summer months. They are almost as unbearable as the day. Winters are very nice, though, which Costa Rica sea level climates will NOT have.
Perhaps it is also the crowding in S. Florida that makes the heat and humidity even more unbearable for me. When I visited the Central Pacific area around Quepos, I sweated way to much for my comfort and could not wait to get back to the clean cool mountains. To each his own. I love the beach and the sea…for about four or five hours at a time. But for pure comfort and pura vida, give me the lush mountains of the Central Valley. I know exactly what I want and that is all I am recommending here. Everybody loves the sea and the beautiful sun rises and sunsets. Just make sure you absolutely love the heat before buying beach property.
debate or discussion …personally, I’d like one small home in the central valley up in the steep hills of Los Angeles of San Ramon … and a bloody concession to build my place in beautiful, hot, humid, secluded, pristine, buggy, cowy, monkey…y Palo Seco … anyone got any info or updates on the status of concessions in the Central Pacific!!?
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