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So it seems that with the help of many great people and advice…we are getting our trip in order.
Flying into Liberia, getting a shuttle and making our first stay in either Hermosa or Taramindo, where we will rent a car and work our way north for a few days. After that we will come to meet our [b]new friends Bill & Donna in Samara [/b]and stay for a week or so to get a good idea of Samara as well as the surrounding towns. We haven’t decided if we’ll turn in the keys at Samara or drive as far as we can get to Tambor, we’ll see how we feel about that when we get there. We plan catch a quick flight (from where ever we can) to the Central pacific side to make our way through Jaco and Manuel Antonio. Not sure how far south we should go with us coming in a couple weeks and we know that many roads are not great this time of year. We will end our month or so excursion by flying out of San Jose [b](Scott, this one’s for you!)[/b]If anyone has any advice or knowledge of roads to take or avoid; hotels that are friendly, nice and clean; know of places
(such as markets, restaurants, gas stations ect.) in these areas that we should stop in let me know. Perhaps you have a friend or know good people that we can talk with and meet, keep in mind that we will have our 8 year old daughter so we wont need any of the nightlife, however, she does enjoy music 8)Look forward to getting down there and thanks to everyone here on this forum. My emotions have gone from anxious and nervous to exictied and anticipation. 😀
[quote=”gzeniou”]”Chances of being Mugged??”
Lets see now?
Perhaps if you pick a good time and place your chances will be great, pick a dark night in a very isolated area, perhaps by the coke cola main bus station in San Jose. Of course you should fill your pockets with dollars, you may want to have a couple hanging out of your pocket book so they can be seen. You should carry dollars as colonies take up too much room. And don’t forget to dress up like an ugly American. I would estimate your chances of being mugged at 79.75%. but then again I would say do the same in Charlotte NC and your chances are probably higher.Sorry I just couldn’t help myself :lol:[/quote] Oh so I see that you got jokes…No worries, I can take a joke.
I appreciate your sense of humor; however, I’ve had money fall out of my purse and a stranger passing pick it up and hand it to me, but that probably happens there everyday, Right?.Honestly, I really feel much better than I did earlier. The truth is that having a forum such as this to be able to place concerns or questions and be able to get a response in the same day is quite nice from people that are actually living there is quite special.
[quote=”costaricafinca”]One of the main things to check when you visit the beach towns is the availability of fresh produce, especially on the peninsula.[/quote]
Is there a lack of fresh produce in the beach town markets?[quote=”GreciaBound”] Much of this boils down to: what do you think are your daily plans if you move here. Will you and fiance be working somehow? Will you be traveling much? What do you mean by strong community? Focusing on location is important, but what other items are important?[/quote]
Daily plans, probably wouldn’t be much different than our daily plans here…Sunny days by the pool or beach, grocery shopping, finding a teacher to home school our daughter, yard work…ect. As for work, we are retired and as you are aware we wouldn’t be able to work legally in C.R. until we recieve permanent residence so that isn’t an issue for the first 5 years. As for what I mean by Strong Community, is that I would like for us to be somewhere that is friendly, that the neighbors look out for eachother. Somewhere that we are able to be involved with locals and other expats live.My fiance really wants to live on or near the Pacific coast. We have map of C.R. and he circled the Guancaste & Gulf of Nicoya area for his first choice for us to visit. It’s every town from Golfo de Papagayo all the way down to Tambor.
I circled the San Ramon, Atenas, Grecia, Palmares towns and for the coast Jaco, Play Hermosa, Manuel Antonio but I do like what I’ve read and seen of Samara Beach also.
Now knowing that all of you have your choice areas; with that said, if anyone has any advice on areas and towns that I can mark off the list or ones that are better than others that would be great. Obviously, we will not be visiting every town on the Pacific but as far as beach towns, my focus is finding one with a strong community.[quote=”DavidCMurray”]costaricabill makes many good points and, while I don’t agree with some of them, they’re well worth careful consideration.
Three quarters of Costa Rica’s population don’t live in the Central Valley for no good reason. That’s where you’ll find the more temperate climate, the better amenities, etc. But take crb’s advice and think carefully about what’s really (really) important to you . Then seek it out.
Sra. Jenny is dead wrong that most people who move to Costa Rica based on an initial visit return to their home country within a year. In my limited circle of friends and acquaintances, I know a number of families who moved here on the basis of a single exploratory trip. It can be done and it can be done successfully. Furthermore, as characterizes all other discussions of how many people move back home, she bases her assertion on no data whatsoever. It’s hearsay, conjecture and nothing more. Care to dispute that? Show us the hard data . . .
We first came to Costa Rica in 2005 with the express intent of ruling it out as a retirement destination. Spent two weeks in-country and couldn’t find a reason not to move here. (Our needs were simpler than those of some others inasmuch as we have no children to educate.) During those two weeks, we made an offer to purchase property (which fell through, so we had to return later to find something else.
It has worked out fine . . . just fine. In five years, we’ve been back to the U.S. four times to visit friends and family, shop, etc, but we have never considered moving back there permanently. We live outside Grecia, but we could have been equally comfortable in or around any of the other small cities in the Central Valley.
Take costaricabill’s advice and spend the time necessary to figure out what is really important to you. Then go find it. If you succeed, great! If not, at least you know one place to avoid.[/quote]
Mr. David, I have had a lot of people suggest Central Valley area. I am looking online to see what is available for us to rent and have come across some really lovely looking homes in Atenas. Are you familiar with Atenas? I am looking on the propertiesincostarica.com is this a reliable website? Some of these homes look a little [i]too good to be true[/i]. Not to mention, I’m not seeing the bars on windows and I was under the impression that bars were necessary in most homes and areas?So I have recieved some really great information from some very delightful people, (special thanks to Bill Knight & Lou & Family) I can say that the communication with everyone, offering their 2 cents and experiences has really made me feel very good about Costa Rica.
San Ramon looks like a great area, we would like to live close to the beach, I have been looking at a very well done website http://www.samarabeach.com This looks like a very gorgeous area along with a lot of ammenties we would find in the States.
Have any of you lived or visited this area and what are your thoughts?Any other suggestions of great communities is always welcomed.
The reason I am enlisting advice on the areas first rather than our daughter’s education is because I am more concerned with our family’s safety. We have no problem hiring someone to homeschool our daughter as that may be what we end up needing to do regardless. She has special needs and our original thoughts were to hire someone to homeschool her if private schools were not close enough or met the needs that she requires.
I would like to give my sincere appreciation for everyone who has made suggestions and replied to my post. It really means a lot.
Thanks,
OliviaThank you for your replies; as I stated in my original post we are making a trip for a month to visit and see how we feel about different areas, check out the schools and begin to get a feel for where or if Costa Rica is our choice. We do not plan on buying real estate for at least a year, we would rather rent until we are better acclimated with the country and then buy something. So again, if anyone knows of a nice, safe home in a great community that is for rent or willing to rent we would love to hear more about it. Thank you all again.
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]Costa Rica has eleven different climatic zones and hundreds or thousands of cities, towns, barrios, etc each of which has its own unique characteristics. Until you think through what some of the critical issues are that will determine where you will live, no one can give you any meaningful advice.
How do you expect to educate your child? Public school or private?
What sort of climate do you aspire to? Hot and humid? Cool and damp? Sunny or overcast much of the year. Beach? Mountains? Central Valley?
Are you looking for an urban environment, a small town, or a rural setting?
How important are amenities such as shopping, medical care, transportation, etc to you?
How will you support yourselves? (You understand, I hope, that it is illegal for non-residents and temporary residents — [i]pensionados[/i] and [i]rentistas[/i] — to work. And Costa Rican wages are ridiculously low compared to whatever you’re used to. And can you even qualify for legal residency?)
To be of any help at all, you need to give us some hints . . .[/quote]
Mr. David, I’ve been reading your posts and actually made a list of items from which you “wish you would have brought with you”, very helpful.
As for the answers to your questions: A small town seems to be a good compromise; rural areas do not have the infastructure within a reasonable distance that we would prefer; however, the large cities seem to have more crime. We would prefer to be within 100km of the ocean (beach). We would enlist our daughter in a private institution for education and We qualify as a rentistas.Thank you. We have researched all of the residency requirements. We are focusing on CR now. Because it is much larger, with so many more cities and areas than Belize, it’s really overwhelming. Also hard to tell where the best areas are for us to stay during our visit next month because everything is so widespread and everyone seems to tell you what you want to hear, rather than the truth.
