Life in Quepos is easy and the people are friendly. It’s like living in that 1950s “Small Town America” that most people back home can now only dream about. The simple answer to your question is: Yes, it’s possible to live here on under $1,000 a month, but you would be limited to a basic lifestyle.
In a simple and direct answer: Yes. You should be able to pay rent on a small place and provide food for yourself, pay basic utilities and still have a little left over for spending money. But it also depends on how you live.
One of the most important questions expats need to ask themselves, especially someone nearing or having reached retirement age, is: “Can I be happy with the healthcare in my new country?” I can answer “yes” when it comes to Costa Rica, after living here for nearly 11 years.
When people come to visit me in Costa Rica I’ll often jokingly say, “Be careful, you’ve been bitten by the bug and the symptoms will keep growing on you.” By the “bug,” of course, I mean the desire to be in Costa Rica as much as possible once you’ve set foot here once.
I first came to Costa Rica in 2003 on vacation. A couple of friends in Sarasota (where I lived) kept bragging about the beaches and the fishing, particularly in the southwest quadrant of Costa Rica and, more specifically, in Quepos and Manuel Antonio (QMA), and I felt compelled to investigate.