First things first; I believe most people truly realize that we are all different and have different taste, needs and wants. It doesn’t matter if you’re comparing Gringos to Ticos or Gringos to Gringos. Not everybody likes the same things. I like pizza and you may like tuna salad. Quien sabe?

I live in Guanacaste and I’ve read things from different people on different sites who say negative things or give their personal reasons for not wanting to live in Guanacaste, sometimes with a condescending context and I’m completely OK with that, because we all have individual qualifications when choosing where to live. I just want to examine a few misconceptions about this incredible Guanacaste region.

One thing I want to let people know is that, to me, Guanacaste is a beautiful treasure of Costa Rica year round, for several reasons. One common complaint I’ve heard people say about Guanacaste is that it’s, “brown, dusty and dry..”, kind of implying that it is this way year round. Yes! It is brown, dusty and dry, but this time of year the trees slowly change with the season and kept the green until after the New Year holiday.

After they loose all the green, several species of trees here have beautiful flowers that bloom. I love it when I’m driving through the hills and see trees that display colors ranging from yellow, orange, purple or white and yet these trees are without leaves.

My family and I were in the states when Costa Rica and Nicaragua got pounded with rain from this years first tropical storm in the area. We were in the states for ten days and when we left it was brown, dusty and dry, but when we arrived home, the green was already taking over. In only ten days. It was an incredible transformation.

Within the past few months, the rain has been consistently appearing shortly after lunch and either clearing around dinner or continuing to drizzle throughout the night. But lucky for us, the mornings have been blue skies, cool breezes and a reminder of what we wait for in January and February.

Costa Rica Living in Guanacaste Video: To watch this short video, please click on the small black triangular Play button below and allow a few seconds for the video to begin.

It’s two climate extremes that transform one season to the next, so smoothly, it’s almost not noticeable. Go to sleep one night with a brown backdrop and wake up the next day with a green one. An exaggeration, yes, but you get the idea.









Other things I hear about Guanacaste are, “it’s too expensive, too crowded, bad roads, no services”, and so on. All these things I don’t believe to be true. My community near Playa Conchal which is a ten minute walk to the beach, has lots priced as low as $40,000.

The roads are 100% better than when I moved here two years ago. As far as the services, I only go to San Jose to see family, the occasional medical specialist and indulge myself with a fast food fix or a similar craving that I know I shouldn’t have.




Guanacaste is not for everyone, but for me, I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else in this incredibly beautiful and diverse county.

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Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.