Properties in Costa Rica

Costa Rica Investments

2011-05-14T06:08:00.000-07:00

Investing in Costa Rica is being done from a number of different industries. The latest large investment is coming from a number of different large hotel chains. There are also some food chains and supermarket. There is a $300 million dollar project going up in Guanacaste and also another luxury hotel in Santa Ana.

The Guanacaste investment is coming from the hotel chain Sol Melia which will be uplifting a 381 room 5-Star eco-luxury hotel in the Paradisus Papagayo Bay. The Santa Ana new luxury hotel will be an 81 room hotel under the name of "The Studio Hotel" which will gear it's marketing to business execs and also Costa Rica medical tourism.

Along with the Costa Rica vacation industry seeing some investment there are other industries with Wal-Mart opening a number of new stores this year in Costa Rica and even Papa John's Pizza which will now be competing with Pizza Hut and Dominos as Central America's best slice of pizza.

Costa Rica Real Estate Investing

These are just a short list of names you might be familiar with that are investing in Costa Rica. There is much hope for the economic future here in Costa Rica. Along with all of this the sale of Costa Rica beach real estate is seeing an increase from what it has been in the last two years. It still seems like a great time to get in on the fun. If you are looking for a vacation home in Costa Rica or just a solid investment, buying in Costa Rica is still one of the best options.

So if you are looking to spend a luxurious Costa Rica vacation or invest in some Costa Rican real estate now might be better than ever.

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Future Money in Costa Rica

2011-05-09T06:37:00.000-07:00

There is always some money to be made in the industry of tourism in Costa Rica with many people looking for adventure, biodiversity, or just a relaxing Costa Rica family vacation. There is also the solid investment of real estate which happens to be and always will be one of the safest investments because at the end of the day you will own a piece of paradise.

This blog entry is about a different type of investment that ultimately involves land also. It is the jatropha plant of Costa Rica. When looking at this plant, it does not look like much compared to the beautiful plants of the tropics. However, it might just hold the answer to Costa Rica being one of the larger exporters of biodiesel. United Biofuels of America (UBA) is heading the idea for making an attempt of a million gallons of jatropha a day. This will be a challenge, but if it works, it will surely "bear the fruits" for the Costa Rica economy. Biofuels often face critics who say they are too expensive to produce. Another criticism is that growing food for fuel takes food away from the people that need it most. The jatropha turns out to be a plant that is not edible and will not take on as many critics as others. UBA is considered by other energy companies as one of the top 25 entrepreneur companies in the world.

It is quick bits like this in the news and the idea that Costa Rica's leaders of state will be hosting a conference this June 14th - June 16th for all to attend (those that will pay the $800 ticket price) to listen to some of the ideas for the future of the economy with the theme being "Accelerating the Shift Towards a Low Carbon Economy".

Source: The Costa Rica News

Costa Rica Green Building

2011-05-06T07:57:00.000-07:00

With the so called "green-movement" becoming more and more a part of everyday lives it is without question a part of the developing and construction sector of Costa Rica. Costa Rica is a country that is known for having some of the most lush tropical biodiversity on the planet that almost everyone can agree is worth protecting. For this reason it has become a destination for ecotourism family adventures and vacation home real estate.

Well it turns out you do not have to be living in a vacation home or visiting Costa Rica and staying in an ecolodge to experience living green. There are more and more technologies making their way into the market for everyday living and building. The new science of biomimicry is one of the fastest growing trends that architects feel will take living green to the next level. The biomimicry is basically designing homes and other parts of society around some of the concepts of nature.

Costa Rica is the perfect country to take on the new challenges of developing in a sustainable and green form as the country has a number of sources of clean-energy, a booming ecotourism market, and the desire to be carbon neutral by 2020.

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Costa Rica Vacations

San Jose: Top 5 Best of the Future

2011-05-05T12:29:00.000-07:00

In the British magazine of "Foreign Direct Investment" it listed San Jose as one of the top five cities of the future, making it the only city from Central America to make the top five. This was based on which cities they felt had the best opportunity for business expansion, economic development, and inward investment.

This study was based on a total of 405 cities from the America's. The top cities were New York and Chicago and Mexico has four cities in the top 10. The cities of Alajuela, Heredia, and Santa Ana (suburbs of San Jose) were also high on the list for being what is called the top Micro-cities. The micro-city is referring to smaller populations.

This is a positive compliment for the city of San Jose that each day it begins to look more and more like a capital city that people from all over the world are starting to discover.

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Liberia Airport Costa Rica

2011-04-14T05:35:00.000-07:00

Guanacaste is the spot that has seem to put Costa Rica on the real estate map in the last decade. Through tough economic times and a number of other worldly test it seems Guanacaste is not settling down and the most obvious sign would have to be a $27million dollar expansion to the Liberia Airport.

A good sign for the Guanacaste area because this means the 900 passengers that fit in the airport before will now fit 1500 and even some room for a coffee shop and food court.

From looking at this from a real estate perspective it can only mean good things to come. If the infrastructure is improving starting with the airport and roads which are all pretty much improvements of the past then the sky is the limit for those that want to invest and give this "gold coast" a try.

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IPhone 4 in Costa Rica

2011-04-09T05:27:00.000-07:00

If you have ever owned an Apple anything you will know that they have some of the best customer service on the planet. Well it looks as if Apple is going to take the gamble and let ICE represent their customer service on the new IPhone 4. If you want an IPhone 4 it was stated in La Nacion that ICE will be distributing them and also giving the customer service.

This should be interesting and personally if I was an owner of one of the new IPhone 4's which someday would be nice I would probably get on line or call one of Apple's 800 numbers. Nothing against ICE but do you really think the customer service of an IPhone 4 fits into the daily agenda of the many things ICE has going on?

I will say though on a bit of a more positive note for ICE I have always been impressed how the tech support in your local ICE office has quite a bit of knowledge of the many different brands and types of cell phones that come their way. I am a blackberry guy and they have been able to do everything needed so I guess we should give them a chance with the I Phone 4 before we make any assumptions that it might be too much for them.

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Messi in Costa Rica

2011-04-01T06:16:00.000-07:00

Many of us watched the opening ceremonies to the new stadium in San Jose which much anticipation of seeing the most decorated soccer player on all the planet. Lionel Messi from Argentina and his national team were invited for a friendship game in San Jose in the new stadium against Costa Rica's "La Sele". To the surprise of many Messi did not even play in the game but spent his time on the bench watching the second string team of Argentina battle for a 0 - 0 tie game against Costa Rica.

Why did Messi not Play?

I am not your average sports daily writer but with the buzz around Costa Rica of why Messi did not play I thought I would break it down to simple economics. If you were watching the game you noticed before the game even started that there were commercials for "Real Madrid vs. Barcelona" which is a very important game that is being played in Spain next week. Unless you live on Mars you probably know that Messi plays for Barcelona and Barcelona pays Messi a lot of money. Just to give you an idea of why Messi did not even for a second consider playing you might want to take a look at these numbers of what he was making during that game for sitting on the bench.

Barcelona Pays Messi:

Daily Pay: $49,600

Hourly Pay: $6,204

Paid per Minute: $102

This is what we call a serious investment and by Messi not playing Barcelona was just protecting their investment like any good business would do. It is unfortunate that we did not see Messi play against "La Sele" but when you deal on the professional level as Messi does you have to realize that: professional is defined as - engaged in a specific activity as one's main paid occupation rather than a pastime.

Don't worry thought I think Costa Rica will beat Argentina in the next world cup in Brazil and I am sure Messi will play then.

Properties in Costa Rica

North Face Costa Rica

2011-03-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

If you have been to the Multi Plaza Mall recently you might want to make your way down to the very end of the new section. Here you will find one of the most fastest growing brand names that has arrived to Costa Rica. The store of North Face is in the Multi Plaza Mall now and it is doing very well.

The North Face brand is one of the more common outdoor brands in the USA and produces quality clothing, bags, and shoes. You can even buy a tent if you are looking for one or just get a rain jacket for the soon to come rainy season here in Costa Rica.

There are many new stores in Costa Rica and this is one that the country of Costa Rica was missing. Being a place of outdoor beauties they were lacking the outdoor apparel stores which Columbia is now also competing for the market with North Face. The Multi-Plaza Mall is located in Escazu and the North Face store is located on top floor at the exit of the new extension of the mall.

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Raft Pacuare River Costa Rica

Best time to Visit Costa Rica

2011-03-09T06:15:00.000-08:00

You might know that one of peoples first question is when is the best time to visit Costa Rica. If you are shopping for real estate in Costa Rica you will want to come see it during it's best moments and on that note you also might be interested in what your property looks like in the so called rainy season of Costa Rica.

Here in the tropics you will have a pretty solid dry season from January to April and then after those months you are looking at a 2 hour shower in the afternoon. The heavy rainy months are during September and October.

These rainy months can vary depending on what part of the country you are looking at. The Guanacaste area as become one of the more popular areas because of it's lack of rain. This gave everyone the idea of beautiful beaches and lots of sunshine.

In recent years though with the construction of the new highway and the improvement of the coastal highway many investors have decided to make the central and southern zone down by Dominical their area of searching for real estate. You might get a few more inches of rain a year but having evergreen plants as compared to deciduous plants of the Guanacaste area is worth to many the sacrifice of just a few less days of sunshine throughout the year.

If you are interested in shopping for Real Estate just let us know and we will try and give you the best idea of the many different micro-climates of Costa Rica and it's tropical weather. All in all what you hear most is that Costa Rica is the eternal spring and if you are coming for a Costa Rica family vacation or to shop for some real estate the enternal spring is hard to beat.

Buying Property in Guanacaste

2011-02-21T06:43:00.000-08:00

If there was ever a better time to buy property Guanacaste I think many that know the area would say it is NOW! The tourism has gone up by 23% from last year which is an astonishing number. What is happening is there are still people that have some pretty good deals for sale in Guanacaste and now is the time to make that investment before everyone catches on to the idea that Guanacaste might be getting it's second wind.

Where to buy in Guanacaste

It all depends what you are looking for when you are deciding what to shop for in Guanacaste. There are a number of different places you can shop. The airport of Liberia lets not forget is just less than an hour on good roads to the town of Tamarindo. The Tamarindo area is a bit crowded and very developed and is often used as a place for people on their Costa Rica family vacation. It is still a great spot and great investment if that is the vibe you are looking for. Also you can find a number of beaches that run along the peninsula of Guanacaste such as Playas del Coco, Playa Potrero, Playa Conchal, and Playa Flamingo just to name a few. All of these beaches are beautiful in their own way

Costa Rica Airport Expansion

2011-02-17T07:36:00.000-08:00

If you have visited Costa Rica in the last few months you know that the San Jose Airport Juan SantaMaria is a little different than it was a few years back. There has been a long awaited expansion of the already modern looking airport. During the last year the airport has really been working hard on making this expansion a reality. This expansion will benefit all visiting Costa Rica for business purposes or coming for a Costa Rica vacation.

The expansion has made the airport larger and also the line at customs move more smoothly. With the hard work that has been done with the Juan SantaMaria they were voted "the most improved airport" in all of Central America and the Caribbean. This also put them on the list of the 3rd best airport in the region only behind Cancun, Mexico and Guayaquil, Ecuador. This was according to an article in the TicoTimes.

It is nice to hear about the plans for projects like this and even nicer to see the benefits play out after much hard work to get it done. Maybe the airport in the south of the country is just around the corner. If you are interested in getting ahead of the game and buying some property in the south of Costa Rica before the airport is built then let us know.

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Living in Costa Rica

2011-02-08T09:00:00.000-08:00

Many people often wonder what it would be like to live in a different country. I have lived in Costa Rica for 10 years and my parents retired down here to live in Costa Rica around 4 years ago. One of the main things people come looking for when moving to Costa Rica is the lifestyle.

This lifestyle includes a few different things. The first for my retired parents was the weather and tempature. They are located at around 6,000ft with beautiful mountain air of mid 60's all year round. YES, ALL YEAR! That was the selling point. My parents are from the New York area and as most know it gets cold there. They then moved down to Florida and to make up for not getting very cold it gets blistering hot in FL. What they found here in Costa Rica is that being this low in the tropics at around 9 degrees above the equator the tempature only fluctuates between 2 degrees all year.

The second big selling point for myself and my parents is that anything and everything is close. If you want a capital city to go to the theatre, a beach to relax in the sun, or a mountain cabin to enjoy the cool fresh air. All of these can be within 1 hour of each other. The country lends itself to living the way you want to live. If you want to live in a community that will take care of all your house needs you can now find that.

With this blog entry I could literally talk for hours about the many positive benefits of living in Costa Rica. You might see every once in awhile that somebody is complaining about something that happened in this laid back culture but all and all more people are happy with Costa Rica which means more people will be moving down. I like to see this that even if the Costa Rican lifestyle is not for you atleast you made a good investment if you decide to buy some land.

What are some of your favorite parts about living in Costa Rica?

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Positive Sign for Real Estate

2011-02-05T05:23:00.000-08:00

The numbers are in and as some might not believe according to the TicoTimes Costa Rica set a record in 2010 to the number of tourist arriving to Costa Rica. The number was over 2 million tourist. This is great news for the Costa Rican economy and also something everyone interested in Real Estate wants to hear.

This is an exceptional amount of tourist considering the economic crisis of 2009. This is a great sign for Costa Rica Real Estate because as most of you know the more people that come to see Costa Rica the more will want to buy real estate. Also to have this many visitors or people that find an interest in Costa Rica for whatever the reason might be is going to help property value hold firm.

This is an excellent sign for anyone in business in Costa Rica not just real estate. It surely means a lot for those people that work in Costa Rica tourism industry also but you can be in any business and be glad that there are positive numbers of Tourist arriving in Costa Rica .

Costa Rican Business in USA

2011-02-02T04:57:00.000-08:00

We have all heard about doing business in Costa Rica and the benefits of investing in Costa Rica or giving a business a chance. But what we do not hear too much about is a Costa Rican business taking their sales to the USA. The Costa Rican's are very tech-savy and very educated people. If I were to guess I would have said that a small tech company was giving it a go in the USA. Well it turns out I am way off. I guess I should stick to Costa Rica real estate blogging and Costa Rica Vacations.

The company that just recently opened up in the State of Florida in Palm Beach is Pops. If you have lived in Costa Rica or visited a few times you might be familiar with Pops. This is a small ice cream chain that is owned by Costa Rican's and have spread themselves all over the country. They seem to be all over and sometimes I feel their are more Pops than ATM's.

According to La Nacion the investment was done with $300,000's and a contract to employ 12 employees. If anyone is in business in Costa Rica you know this is a very big difference than what you would pay to start a business here in Costa Rica. It will be interesting to see how they do and what they charge for ice cream. It is said that they will have local Costa Rican flavors but the most sold is the brownie.

Whatever happens and we hope for the best it is still a great thing to be proud of for all small business owners in Costa Rica and also says that with an economy still not completely on it's feet in the USA that a small Costa Rican company can afford to go give it a shot and test their luck in the USA. So now if you are thinking of visiting Florida for a vacation and you are from Costa Rica you can have yourself a little taste of home.

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Medical Tourism & Costa Rican Economy

2011-01-29T04:11:00.000-08:00

Medical Tourism continues to go rapidly here in Costa Rica. It is a reason why so many poeple come to visit Costa Rica and sometimes even end up buying real estate here in Costa Rica. There are three hospitals that have really helped in attracting people looking for lower price medical care. These three hospitals are approved by the international agency of "Joint Commision International" (JCI) which is an organization that develops care standards around the world.

They are the Clinica Biblica, La Catolica, & CIMA Hospitals, all in the San Jose area.

I was thinking about a recent article in the TicoTimes and you begin to see the importance of medical tourism to the economy of Costa Rica. The fact that medical tourism is growing at a very fast rate just means good things to come.

In 2009 there were an estimated 30,000 medical tourist and that is not including a good number that went to smaller private clinics and were not registered in one of the large three JCI approved hospitals. With each tourist that comes lets take into account that at sometime during their care they have one companion. The total now is 60,000 related medical tourist per year as of 2009. You might be thinking that the 60,000 medical tourist only make up 1/20th more or less of the total tourist who visit Costa Rica each year that come through during the Costa Rica dry season. Although the medical treatment is much cheaper here in Costa Rica each medical tourist is spending a good chunk of change more than per person on a Costa Rica Family Vacation.

Medical Care Numbers in Costa Rica

The medical tourist traveling for dental purposes which might be dental implants or crowns might spend $700 - $1000's (About the same as an eco-tourist) here in Costa Rica for treatment and dental patients make up only 36% of the medical tourist. What tops the list is the Orthopedic surgeries to get back into that active lifestyle which might be a $12,000 knee replacement (In the US a knee replacement cost $50,000). This is a very large investment into the economy if more and more medical tourist are coming each year and spending this kind of money it really begins to add up quick just as it has from your average eco-tourist, Costa Rica adventures, surfers, and now your big spender medical tourist.

So you can see the importance of the medical tourism to the economy of Costa Rica. Although you do not see the numbers up in the millions for how many medical tourist visit each year it is the ratio of the amount of money they are spending. All you ever here is how cheap medical care is which is true here in Costa Rica but you have to take into account when you look at these patients as tourist they are "Big Spenders". Just an interesting way to look at medical tourism industry and get excited about the economy of Costa Rica. If you have visited Costa Rica for some medical treatment maybe now it is time to visit Costa Rica a second time for some Real Estate shopping.

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Stats & Numbers taken from recent TicoTimes Article Jan. 28th 2011

Costa Rica and Japan

2011-01-27T04:21:00.000-08:00

With two very important visitors from Japan this week celebrating the 75th anniversary of good relations between Costa Rica and Japan there is much to celebrate about. The visitors are Prince Akishino and his wife Princess Kiko. Japan had done a lot in recent years for Costa Rica and it looks as if they do not plan on slowing down.

Japanese Contributions to Costa Rica

Three reasons for celebration were mentioned and environmentalist I have a feeling where celebrating also. The first reason was a $9 million dollar agreement with Costa Rica's Institute of Electricity for a project on solar power. Let's not forget that Costa Rica still plans to

be the first carbon neutral country by it's 200th year anniversary 2021. The second w

as an $8 million dollar boost to work on preserving more forest areas. Last but not least which I can imagine will only help the future of Costa Rican real estate and just overall development of the country is a $130 million dollars for the Central Valley sewer project.

There are a number of other things the Japanese have helped with in recent years but these were some of the big contributions that will surely leave a positive impact on all of Costa Rica for years to come. All of these just give more reasons to invest in Costa Rica.

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Hospital Clinica Biblica

2011-01-19T15:39:00.000-08:00

Costa Rica has been known for health care and in recent years it has been booming with rapid growth of it's health care system. One main reason for this rapid growth is visitors looking for health care because of rising cost in the USA or lack of coverage. The public and private hospitals of Costa Rica offer care at a very affordable price with some expertise that is par with the USA health care system. According to a recent certification by Joint Commision International (JCI) no other hospital in Costa Rica has stepped up to the rapid growth better than Clinica Biblica in San Jose.

Clinica Biblica Costa Rica

This is the second time the Clinica Biblica has been awarded this prestige honor and it will last until 2013 when they will be up for certification again. In a recent article by the TicoTimes they state that the certification of the JCI is based on: better patient care and safety; cost reduction and increased operational efficiency; growth in public confidence; continual improvement of sanitary conditions; education and best practices; increased employee satisfaction and recruitment.

One of the interesting parts I noticed is that they offer education and best practices. What the hospital does is offer education and free talks on how to take better care of yourself and live better. Now that sounds like a hospital that really cares.

With a recent operation from a private hospital in Costa Rica I could not have been happier with the service and care they gave me which was most important. After the service and care I was able to then enjoy the fact that the operation was a total of $5,000's as compared to the $20,000's I was quoted in the USA. Maybe I will take the $15,000 that is left over and look for some Costa Rican real estate.

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Coffee in Costa Rica 2011

2011-01-17T04:15:00.000-08:00

If you notice early in the morning you see families getting ready for a day in the fields of picking coffee. Every cup that is drank here in Costa Rica on our way to work or during our 3pm "recreo" it came from one of these workers in the fields. It is that time of year to start to harvest the coffee here in parts of Costa Rica. According to a recent article in the ticotimes the harvest this year will be much lower than it was last year. This is due to the heavy rains that Costa Rica had this past rainy season.

The good part though about this coffee harvest is that the value of coffee on the market is up an incredible 88%. Farmers are hoping that the rise in value of coffee will offset the low harvest due to rain.

Coffee here in Costa Rica is a crop that the "Ticos" take quite a bit of pride in and they have every reason to. It is a crop that has brought much economic growth to the country. The beauty of coffee in Costa Rica is that in almost all cases it is owned by Costa Rican's on a small level. Farmers set up "cooperativos" which might be a group of 200 farmers with a total of land of 1,000 hectares. Together all of these farmers will form their own large coffee company allowing everyone to get a piece of the pie.

Enjoy the scenery of the beautiful coffee plantations this time of year and if you get a chance just stop for a minute and enjoy the view and the workers in the field. It is quite a humbling and peaceful experience to just watch the fields being worked on.

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A New Tax in Costa Rica

2011-01-13T04:39:00.000-08:00

If you have ever purchased a car, house, property, or business in Costa Rica chances are you have been involved in an Sociedad Anonimous (S.A.). Basically here in Costa Rica it is just a corporation like in the United States used for dealing with business.

The S.A. has become the main way of doing business and almost everyone in the country has at least one if not more. The government looks to pass a new bill that would tax every S.A. in the country $200 per year. This is a sm

all amount but with the number of S.A.'s that exist this could be a nice boost to government spending.

The $200 extra dollars a year from each S.A. is a tax that the government plans to use to boost security in and around the country. The security has taken giant leeps in the last couple of years with more police, cameras in cities, and an improving legal system.

So for anyone thinking of doing Real Estate do not get alarmed a small $200 fee each year if you decide to do your business in an S.A. will go to a very good cause.

Costa Rican Sports

2011-01-11T04:21:00.000-08:00

It is not all about soccer here in Costa Rica. If you visit La Sabana park on a Saturday or Sunday you will notice that Costa Rican's are open to almost any type of organized sport. The La Sabana park has everything from basketball, gymnastics, boxing, speed skating, and much more. Costa Rica in the recent months is home to two athletes that have not only put themselves on the map but are making a name for Costa Rica in sports other than soccer.

If you have not heard the names already they are a young man named Nery Brenes and a 27 year old women from Limon named Hanna Gabriel. Nery is Costa Rica's fastest person being a track and field dominance on an international level. Hanna is one girl who you do not want to get in road rage with or a bar fight. She is Costa Rica's world championship boxer and she surely fits the profile.

Hanna Gabriel

Hanna Gabriel comes from a family of athletes. Her father is a promoter of boxing and she only got into boxing to try and lose some weight and she ended up being the world champ. Her brother plays in Costa Rica's professional soccer league. She holds a record of 11 wins and 1 tie. Her weight clase has here competing at around 155lbs. They are starting to televise here fights on TV here in Costa Rica and it is quite the treat to watch this women fight. She looks as if she is in perfect shape and is a very beautiful young lady who might have a career in modeling after she finishes punching people in the face.

Nery Brenes

Nery Brenes is a 25 year old also from the province of Limon who competes on the international level of track in field running the 400 mts which is one of the most competitive events on the planet. Nery's running has taken him on a tour around the world visiting Germany, Puerto Rico, Japan, China, Spain, and many more on the list to come. He has won gold on numerous events and has the Olympics in sight to run with the world's fastest.

With many young Costa Rican's and a country that enjoys staying active you can be assu

re that many more athletes will be making big news from Costa Rica in the future and remember don't just focus on the soccer ball there are many more sports that can put these young Costa Rican's on center stage.

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Vacation Home for Active Lifestyles

2011-01-07T06:01:00.000-08:00

One of the reasons for buying a vacation home in Costa Rica is to just sit back and relax. Another reason is that you might want to get out of the city go hiking, whitewater rafting, surfing and get into an active way of living for you or the kids.

Costa Rica lends itself to being a perfect spot for all of these reasons. If you are looking for a vacation home in Costa Rica and you want to keep an active lifestyle there are a number of places you might want to look depending on what type of activities you are looking for.

Areas of Active Living

1.) Guanacaste - This area in the north Pacific of Costa Rica has become a great spot for surfing and a number of options of places to live in from Condos, houses, and large pieces of land. The activities in the area can be more than just beach activities. You can go hiking in the tropical dry forest or make your way up to an area called Borinquen Hotel which is around 2 hours from the area and there you rise in elevation and can experience an amazing zipline, mud-baths, hiking to Rincon de la Vieja volcano (4 hour hike) in a very lush green forest. (Guanacaste Real Estate)

2.) Jaco - Here is an area in activities that are similar to Guanacaste. Many activities are located at the beach. You can also take the quads out and ride many of the nearby trails. For the nature lovers visiting the Carara National Park is an easy hike on flat surface. There are also a few ziplines in the area with gandola trams. (Jaco Real Estate)

3.) Lake Arenal - This places has to be second on my list for activities to do in the area. First of all the lake is one of the top places on the planet for wind-surfing and kite-surfing during certain months of the year. Also in the town of La Fortuna is home to the La Fortuna waterfall and you will notice that there are some adrenaline tours of rafting the Rio Toro or going canyoneering on some of the many nearby canyons. There are an endless amount of trails to hike one of them being to the Cerro Chato volcano or the Arenal Volcano National Park. Living at the Lake you are outside of the large touristy area of La Fortuna but still close enough to enjoy all of the activities. (Lake Arenal Real Estate)

4.) Dominical - This is the place that I have to vote for the person that wants to stay active during their vacation or just living an active lifestyle as the top spot. You will notice with the new coastal highway that once you start heading south of Jaco and Manuel Antonio the mountains start moving closer to the shore. This geological form means you travel less to get into the mountains. Very common to hear that this means in the Domincal area the mountain meets the see. You can literally raft some big rapids and just take your raft or kayak into the ocean on the same river. There are jungles all over and hikes to some of Costa Rica's most beautiful and remote waterfalls excellent for rapeling adventures. You head inland and you can experience the activities of San Isidro and the nearby Chirripo National park. The Savegre River is nearby and is one of Costa Rica's best rivers for rafting. Biking is another option because you can be mountain biking in the morning and spend your afternoon surfing. Along with all these activities you have the Corcovado National Park and Cano Island for hiking and snorkeling. (Dominical Real Estate)

Let us know if you know of places where you live in Costa Rica that lend itself to activities and an active lifestyle. We would love to hear you comments?

If you are interested in looking for the perfect piece of property in Costa Rica for an investment, a place to relax, or an area that you want to get you into an active lifestyle than please give us a call at:

Properties in Costa Rica

www.propertiesincostarica.com info@propertiesincostarica.com

Toll Free: 1-888-607-6772

Boats in Costa Rica

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For a country that has two coast you can imagine that boats are pretty common here in Costa Rica. Now it all depends on what type of boat you might be interested in but you can find everything from the local fisherman in the Puntarenas area, the fancy cruise ships arriving to Limon, or even some of the finest private yachts docked at the Los Suenos Marina at the Marriott in Herradura.

With the popularity in Costa Rican Real Estate along the Pacific coast boaters have found interest in owning a piece of land or those that own a piece of land have found interest in becoming a boater. There are different clubs you can join if you have a boat and there is even a club out at the Lake Arenal in the northern part of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica Marinas

Marinas have also become an important part of investors along the coast. There are plans for Marinas to go up in different places and there are some that are already built. For a complete guide to Costa Rica Marina's visithttp://www.costaricahomepages.com/travel_and_tourism/marinas/index

Even if you do not own a boat sometimes owning a piece of land with views of a sailboat making its way through the waters of the Pacific on it's way down to the Panama canal might be all the adventure you need.

Interested in ocean view property in Costa Rica?

Properties in Costa Rica

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Guanacaste Beach House

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Take a look at one of Costa Rica's prime beach areas called Hermosa which translates to Beautiful in English and certainly fits the the description. This house in the video is a perfect description of being surrounded by the jungle and still having a view of the ocean.

Playa Hermosa is in the Guanacaste area and located just a short drive from the Liberia International airport.

Thinking of Real Estate in Costa Rica?

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Dining in Costa Rica

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It is funny to me when you hear people that think of Costa Rica as just rice and beans along with a few fried plantains as the cuisine. This might be true for the traditionalCostaRican meal but you have to take into consideration that Costa Rica is a small country that has had visitors from all over the world. These visitors have been attracted by the nice people, natural beauties, and lifestyle of "Pura Vida".

When you combine visitors from all over the world, business from all over the world, a developing capital city of San Jose, and more and more people moving to the beaches for their vacation homes it does not take long before you see the many different types of international restaurant not only in the San Jose area but also along the Pacific Coast.

Restaurants in Costa Rica

There are many books one can read when looking for different places to dine around Costa Rica. If I had to give a quick personal opinion I would say that the Grano de Oro Hotel ha

s one of the best restaurants in the Central Valley. When traveling to the Pacific you might want to check out Kapi Kapi (Indeginous name which means "welcome"). The Kapi Kapi restaurant is located in Manuel Antonio. These are just two of many places to eat in Costa Rica. For more information on places to eat you can find books in any souvenir shop on dining in Costa Rica.

We are interested in places that you might know of that are good places to eat. Working in the real estate business it is always of interest to us to show our clients a great meal. Let us know some of your favorite places in Costa Rica to eat we would love to hear?

Properties in Costa Rica

Toll Free: 1-888-607-6772

info@propertiesincostarica.com

Costa Rican New Year

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The holidays are coming to an end and Costa Rica is one of the best of taking time off, celebrating the break, and bringing in the New Year. If you are from Costa Rica chances are you might have spent the Christmas holiday in your homes with your family and then made a trip to the beach for New Years to enjoy some of Costa Rica's natural beauties.

Some might ask each other what the New Year of Costa Rica might bring to the economy. I happen to spend the New Year in the town of Tamarindo and looking at it from a tourist point of view the place was happening, hotels were full, and people were spending. I then came back to the town of Heredia to see the new expansion on the mall of Paseo de las Flores. For those of you that are familiar with the mall Multiplaza in Escazu well Paseo de las Flores in Heredia is doing everything it can to stay right with it as Costa Rica's top malls. I found everything from Kenneth Cole to Nautica shops in a town that just a few years ago all it had was a central market. The money here in Costa Rica is making it's rounds and it could be a very positive economic year for the Costa Rican economy.

Costa Rica Real Estate 2011

With the Real Estate industry I feel that good things are to come. All of these signs of more tourist, more people spending, and an already rise out of the recession at the end of 2010 should be a good indicator that 2011 has some good things to bring in the market.

From the company of Properties in Costa Rica we wish everyone a very Blessed New Year!

Thinking of Real Estate in Costa Rica?

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Toll Free: 1-888-607-6772