About 14 months ago I wrote an article about the experience of giving birth in Costa Rica. Costa Rica Hospitals & Healthcare – Giving Birth

Kian Zachary was born in San Jose, but we live at the beach in Guanacaste, and more specifically near Playa Conchal.

Being first-time parents is a learning experience. I don’t know what it is that Kian likes the most at this ripe old age of one. He keeps busy doing all those things that one-year-olds love to do–run, talk, laugh, play and get into trouble. He loves to run errands to the grocery store with mom. He refused to wear shoes up until recently–which makes us think he knows he’s a beach baby.

Speaking of the beach, he absolutely loves it. We take him to the beach a few times per week. Kian loves to play in the sand, run from the waves as they hit the shore and chase them as they go out again. He likes to try his swimming skills with his dad in refreshing Pacific Ocean.

I know that Kian is lucky–not only to grow up in a beautiful place amongst nature, but also to be growing up in a bilingual environment. I had a similar experience, but I grew up in the states. He will have an advantage over me growing up here. He is just starting to talk. He says a few Spanish and English words. “Hi, bye-bye, sit, hola, gracias, Oso and Lilly” round out his growing vocabulary.

Before you know it he’ll be telling me all sorts of things and he’ll speak perfect Spanish and English with no accent in either language. Lucky boy.

You may be surprised to know that there are many younger American, Canadian and European families living in our beach areas. There is a Mom’s group that meets every week in Tamarindo, and the moms come from the surrounding beach areas of Langosta, Avellanas, Grande, Brasilito, Conchal, Flamingo and Potrero.

The Mom’s group is completely International – and one of the best group of people I know. The woman are from Costa Rica, the States, Canada and Europe. We meet up at different locations and take the kids to play at the beach or at the pool. We do many of the same things that ‘typical’ mom’s groups do up north. Kian LOVES mom’s group and enjoys swimming and playing with the other children.

The locals love kids. The Tico culture is such that the family unit is everything. Our nanny is awesome and she treats Kian like her own. She helps us during the week while we work and we would be lost without her!

I have flexible schedules, so even though we have full time help, we make an effort to be home as much as possible. I would NEVER be able to afford a full time nanny in the states, so I would add ‘inexpensive help’ as one of the many benefits as living in Costa Rica.

In case you are wondering, the legal minimum wage for a nanny is around $550 per month. We also pay her CAJA (social security/medical) as required by law.

What you won’t find at the beach are “Gymborees”. We spend most of our time outside, so it’s not an issue for us. Life for a child at the beach is much more laid back than being in the city. There is no McDonalds or Burger King.

There is no indoor playground. The nearest movie theatre is located in Liberia. I actually see those as positives. We do have a lot of dirt roads, which could be viewed as a negative my many. It keeps lots of traffic off the road, which is nice, when you are walking your baby. I deal with dirt roads by the investment I made in a great off-road jogging stroller. Kian LOVES going for walks.

The one thing that is more tricky is medical service. Kian’s pediatrician is in Liberia – about an hour away. The quality of care we receive here for him is great – but not everything is close. There are 24-hour medical clinics ten minutes from our house in the town of Huacas, but these clinics are here to deal with non-emergency issues.

They do offer ambulance service in case your child needed emergency service transport. In Tamarindo there is a medical clinic that now has lab services and specialists (including a Pediatrician) from CIMA San Jose that come every month. So, slowly but surely, there are more quality medical options available to those of us who live at the beach. There are also plenty of pharmacies in the area.

There are some great options for pre-school in our area. I plan on putting Kian in a part-time pre-school program when he turns two. The school I am looking into is called Educarte and is centrally located in Huacas. The program they offer is great, and the education they offer to the children is completely bilingual, which is what I would like for my son.

Beach living may not be for every family, but for ours it’s a great fit. When we feel that ‘itch’ to escape to the city, we go visit our family outside of San Jose. After a few days, we come home and we are reminded why the beach community works for us.

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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.