[jreeves]

Our house is 30 min south of Jaco. I will say the drugs/prostitution are there day & night if you’re looking. If you’re not looking, you’ll mostly be left alone. We do eat out there at night on occasion, but try to be back home before 9pm.

We prefer to do most of our shopping/banking in Parrita, as someone else mentioned. Jaco has a better medical clinic & dentist so we head there for those services.

I like the Herradura area very much. I wouldn’t let what your friends think of Jaco influence your decision – personally, I’d rent for a while in the area & then you can make your own decisions!

[jreeves]

We have virtually 100% participation in our HOA & almost everyone lives outside of Costa Rica. Most people pay in full by 1 wire transfer for the year sometime in January. A handful wire half in January & the other half in June. Anyone coming for winter vacation simply hand delivers the money (usually in December/January). We do not accept monthly transfers as we felt it would be cumbersome to keep up with the accounting.

Jessica

[jreeves]

http://www.costarica-embassy.org/consular/visa/country-selection.htm

Many can only stay a maximum of 30 days, depending on the country of origin. The link above will let you choose a country to see the maximum length of stay.

Jessica

[jreeves]

Thank you for all this good info! We may be relocating from the beach to the Central Valley in the coming months & this will definitely help us make our decision about schools!

Jessica

[jreeves]

David,

From what I have read in multiple posts on the ARCR forum from Ryan Piercy, you are correct in your reading. ARCR’s interpretation right now is that the 90-day extension WILL NOT apply to anyone who already receives a 90-day visa. If this ends up being true, I am not sure anyone knows what the protocol will be for perpetual tourists with a 90-day visa already in hand.

Jessica (thankfully a rentista & not having to worry about this mess!)

[jreeves]

UPDATE – Ok, the Wi-Fi enabled Blackberry works! I have turned off the mobile option so I’m just on my wi-fi connection in my house. I’m able to call to the US & receive calls from the US on the cell phone without roaming/international charges. Thanks for the tip on this guys, I am stoked!!

Jessica

[jreeves]

I am definitely logged into my network – when I look at my usage summary, I can see that they are logged as “hot spot” calls but they are still deducting from my minutes. From what I’ve read, I think I need the $9.99 unlimited hot spot calling plan & then it will not deduct my minutes. I signed up for a very low minute plan since I work from home & get most of my calls when in range of my router, so the $9.99 plan will be a must for me I think.

[jreeves]

T-Mobile…I’ll update what all I’m able to do with this. I’ll be in Costa Rica on June 11 for 4 months so I hope to have this thing fully figured out by then!

[jreeves]

Lotus – Thanks for the guidance on this. I went to T-Mobile yesterday & went with a wi-fi enabled Blackberry. I’m leaving on June 11 & won’t be back in the US for over 4 months so I’m hoping it works out!

Jessica

[jreeves]

I’ve actually had a Skype number with a Florida area code for 2 years now & am a member of Skype Pro. It works really well for us – my family can call the number as a local call for them & I get free incoming. I bought a Philips Skype phone & only wish I had bought an additional handset for it.

I do need to be able to be reached with my cell number while I’m in Costa Rica. I may try the call forwarding, although I like the idea of having a Wi-Fi capable phone since that would allow me to use it when traveling & I wouldn’t have to boot up my laptop so often!

Thanks for the info guys!
Jessica

[jreeves]

awesome – i am going to head to t-mobile today then. i am constantly looking for ways to improve my telecommuting & this is a HUGE step in that direction (usually when i am in costa rica, i leave my US cell phone with one of my employees & they answer it for me – not ideal, but no matter how many times i give out my skype number some clients always call my cell).

jessica

[jreeves]

ATTN LOTUS – ATTN LOTUS – ATTN LOTUS

Hope I got your attention 🙂 Will you e-mail me off the board about your T-Mobile service? reevestribe @ comcast dot net I am in Playa Bejuco, just a bit south of where your property is at. We get ZERO signal with our Costa Rica cell phone in our house/neighborhood but if a WI-FI enabled US cell would work that would be even better for purposes of my business…I do have internet at my house with a wireless network setup.

And for those asking about Skype, I bought a Philips cordless Skype phone & it works perfectly. I bought a 904 area code (local to where my family lives in Florida) & all of our family can call it on a regular phone as a local call to them. We get free incoming calls with the Skype Pro & it is 6 cents a minute to call within Costa Rica & 2 cents a minute to call back to the US (all US calls are free when I’m in the US visiting).

Jessica

Edited on May 20, 2009 05:43

[jreeves]

If you were booked on a round trip ticket then they wouldn’t ask. If you are leaving the US on a one-way ticket to Costa Rica, then you need to show them you have a way out of Costa Rica (like with a bus ticket) after 90 days or you will be required to buy a round trip ticket.

Jessica

[jreeves]

Unless you have a cedula in hand, you will need a way out of Costa Rica or they will require you purchase a round trip ticket. There are ways around this – like buying an open ended bus ticket to Nicaragua – but as far as I know you cannot fly to Costa Rica one way any other way. We tried this before we had our cedula, with just our residency resolution, & the airlines wouldn’t accept it.

Jessica

[jreeves]

I think you have to be a first-degree relative of a Costa Rican citizen to gain this type of residency, so only the parents of your grandchild would qualify for permanent residency. You would have to apply under a different status (pensionado, rentista, investor).

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