The
age old question of where the best place to retire is? Well, if we are
talking about Costa Rica I feel obligated to give my opinion. I moved
here when I was 20 years old and since moved my parents down to retire,
moved an uncle down, helped multiple family friends make the move and
have lived in six different areas of Costa Rica while running a
business. I have seen more people come and go and come back again. I
feel at age 38 I could sit down with a couple looking to retire, look at
their financials, get a feel for who they are as people and give you a
layout of where and what they should do in Costa Rica. Let's just say it
has been a 20 yr schooling of Hard-Knocks University but I am still
here and I love everything about my life in Costa Rica.
I
am going to talk about three places that I mostly get asked about. They
happen to be the three places of the country where you will find great
dining, supermarkets with all the goods from home, and enough people to
speak English to keep you more informed than most locals. Two of these
places are on the Pacific coast which are Guanacaste and Dominical. The
third place is the Central Valley.
While
everyone wants the beach, mark my word that San Jose, Costa Rica is on
the verge of taking its place in future generation's history books.
While most people look at it now and see a capital city overcrowded with
cars and old infrastructure, I see the most perfect weather on the
planet along with a society on the brink leaping into the future ahead
of most if not all developed countries. In short imagine San Jose is
going to be the Elon Musk playing ground of electric cars , modern
infrastructure, and a life of modern efficiency at its peak. This will
ultimately result in San Jose becoming a global attraction not too
mention perfectly situated in the middle of North and South America
along with two coasts to Europe and Asia.
So do
I think San Jose is worth the investment, YES! Do I think it is the
right place for you to spend the next 20 years of your life, depends.
There are places of the Central Valley (San Jose) that can keep you
isolated from the hectic parts. Not too mention if you are retired you
should not be doing an 8 to 5 job commuting everyday. The valley is vast
and not all of it is hectic. My parents found themselves a small corner
of the valley with everything they needed. They had healthcare, great
food, church, modern supermarkets, and more. They only had to sit in
traffic if they needed to update something at Immigration once every
couple months.
One of the main benefits of the
Central Valley is you really will have easy access to the entire
country. My parents got to see every inch of Costa Rica. Weekend trips
were something that were doable because of our close proximity to
everything. If you want to enjoy Costa Rica for what it really is, which
is an endless amount of pockets of paradise, then the Central Valley is
where you need to be.
The other options are
similar to each other in that they are the beach but in a sense two
different worlds completely. If you compare Guanacaste and Dominical the
most obvious would be that Guancaste is dry and hilly and Dominical is
more mountainous and greener. I say green because the rain really does
not affect beach going if you live there. Your numbers of sunny mornings
outweigh your rainy mornings by a long shot.
Here
is something to consider. When I was 20, I voted Dominical as the best
beach in Costa Rica. You could surf, raft, and rappel waterfalls all in
the same day. This all sounds great but now my legs are not what they
use to be. I now visit Guanacaste when I want to go to the beach. If you
are retired my vote would be Guanacaste although if you want to just
sit with jaw-dropping views then go to Dominical. Ask yourself these
questions on factors that take an unforeseen toll on people in Costa
Rica. Try to answer the questions below before you tell yourself a
certain view, color of sand, or style of architecture will make life
perfect in Costa Rica.
How
much of my day to day life is in a car? Sounds adventurous but not
bouncy car rides take a toll on bodies even if broken up into 10
minutes. If you can walk places you will enjoy things more. If you
answer more than 5 minutes per day you need to spend less on the house
and more on a car to ease the comfort.
How far
is the nearest airport? You end up going home much more than planned
when you live abroad. If you plan to go home once a year you will be
home 2 or 3 times a year.
Don't let
"nearest hospital" be an issue. I have seen too many people base their
decision on the nearest hospital. Most cases it bumped their 3rd or 4th
choice up to first place. My dad ended up going home for his heart
procedures. Having worked on an ambulance for a summer in the US most
911 calls can have a patient in the ER in an incredible 20 minutes. Here
in Costa Rica that is not gonna happen. Although Costa Rica has amazing
health care that all of my family have used (other than my dad) it is
in a sense a mute issue to base your retirement on 45 minutes to 1 hour
911 response time and I am being considerate. The sheer change of
lifestyle in Costa Rica is likely to bump a few extra years to your time
on Earth so let that be your counter argument.
It
is because of those questions I started leaning towards Guanacaste.
Easier access to properties, closer airport, and once you find your town
the drives are short to and from things. The perfect and my favorite
example would be Nosara.
Now if you
still want to live in a paradise on steroids then Dominical is your
spot. The mountain meeting the sea makes for awe-inspiring views from
every angle and a much more jungle feel. Access is a little harder to
certain properties, the area is stretched out along the long coastal
highway resulting in longer drives, and closest international airport is
still San Jose.
