Coming to CR for a Month, yes planed it for the rainy season… On porpose!!!

[KIMBERLY HANNA]

Dear Jason,
My name is Kim, my Husband and i are coming to CR in the month of Oct. Landing the 5th. leaving about the 29th. Renting a car for this first trip.Have been reading most of all i can get my hands on. We are coming to look for a retirement home for us and my mother to rent. Kind of sounds like San Ramon, Griecia would be a good fit..for now? But we need to take into account Moms age for the next years. Renting so we can have what she needs and later maybe different. We have traveled a lot to scuba dive, and are very excited to be close to the barrier reef off the cost of Belize, the flying is close enough for us and still have a close Hosp. Dr. and town to go to for Coffee etc. Can you suggest any routes we should take to check out these types of city’s town’s The climate sounds good in the central valley. I wanted a beach but to $ pricy and probably to hot for Mom. So you might be getting an idea of what we have cut out for us in Oct. for 3-4 weeks of looking. Need help where to travel, were to stay, a day or 2 and keep looking. That said we like people, garden a bit, our 3 small dogs,[not on this trip] scuba, oceans, farmers markets, movies, sitting on the patio, games, cards, but for now we need to stay close to the Dr. and Hospital for mom. She loves to travel as well and loves to look around and farmers markets too, but it is getting a little hard for her so she needs help from us, and we love for her to get to check it all out, sooo… that is what i am coming to look for us and her . Can you help? …And don’t panick, i’m just a little nervous. and protective of Mother. We would like to see the move take place in the next year or two. I have seen an read your posts, and vidieo’s, thanks for them. We will be in Las Vegas for the flight down. We all live in Az. now.
Maps are on the way. Starting to learn more spanish too!
Thanks, Gary and Kim, and Mom.

[JASON HOLLAND]

Hi Gary, Kim, and Mom!

Sounds like a great trip you have planned. And good job on coming in the rainy season – You’ll get a good idea of what it’s all about by being here in October. From the needs you have as a far as a hospital nearby and a temperate climate, as well as the farmers’ markets, movies, enjoying the outdoors and such, it does sound like the Central Valley will be your best bet. Towns like San Ramon, Grecia, Atenas, and Heredia offer what you’re looking for. The towns offer everything you need as far as shopping but you are also close to San Jose and its suburbs where you have the country’s top hospitals and docs.

There are plenty of rentals in the CV. Real estate agents usually offer long term rentals on their websites. Some agents you might try include; Atenasbestclimate.com, American-European.net, and GoDutchRealty.com.

As far as where to stay, when you’re exploring the Central Valley, there are small hotels and B&Bs in those communities. Your best bet is to check TripAdvisor.com for top rated places in those towns. Alternately you could stay near the airport in San Jose at the Holiday Inn Express or Hampton Inn – it’d be a short drive to those towns and put you close to San Jose as well so you could check out the medical care and services there as well.

But if you’re down here, you might want to check out some of the beach areas too, just to get an idea. They’re not necessarily as expensive as you might think. The towns of Jaco and Manuel Antonio (and the smaller beach communities around them) are worth a look on the Central Pacific coast, and the advantage is that they are close to San Jose and the hospitals and other amenities there.

As far as exploring, renting a car is the best way to go. Be aware that the driving is a bit chaotic at some points but just keep your eyes open and you’ll be fine.

[KIMBERLY HANNA]

Dear Jason,
Thanks soo much for you reply. I am busy researching every chance I get. I was curious about how you like Tamarindo from Greica? Do you like the climate as well or is it t hot in the summer? Also are there any blogs or chat site for expat communities? Are there expat groups in most of these places to. Like do they have coffee or card games, domino get togethers, pot lucks stuff like that? we have senior centers that have events and games we can get together with and organize breakfasts or games.I just remembered, is there mosquitos and fleas on the coasts? Do we need to get shots for anything before we come? Have you been to the Caribian side on the coast? Have you heard of any available scuba diving over there? Is there a good expat community on the Carb. coast? Well that’s enough for now take care and thanks again.
Kim & Gary

[JASON HOLLAND]

Great questions. Tamarindo is totally different than Grecia. I like them both. Grecia is a market town surrounded by mountains, sugarcane fields, and coffee plantations. Tamarindo is a busy beach resort full of tourists. It’s always temperate in Grecia and always hot in Tamarindo.

There are plenty of Facebook groups for expats, like Expatriates in Costa Rica, as well as forums like WeLoveCostaRica.com.

In most areas of Costa Rica where you have expats you will find active communities that get together often for parties, card games, crafting… everything. A place like Atenas, for example, is very active. They have a chili cook off every year, for one.

There are more bugs on the coast, mosquitoes and “no see ‘ums” come out at dusk especially. As far as shots I would consult with your doctor for your particular medical history.

I have been to the Caribbean. Great snorkeling and scuba over there. Crystal clear blue waters and reefs right offshore. A funky more bohemian expat community over there. But the issue is a real lack of decent medical care. From where most expats lives it’s about two hours to a hospital with an ER. And San Jose is four hours away.

[LINDA ROSEKAIN]

Hi, we were in CR Nov. / Dec. of 2013. We spent one week in Tamarindo and one week in Atenas. Very different from each other, Tamarindo being a tourist town is more expensive and did not have the same level of friendliness that Atens did. Weather in Tamarindo was humid and it didn’t seem to be as clean of an area as Atenas. Atenas is a very small, quaint and extremely friendly town with a good xpat community. People went out of there way to make us feel welcome everywhere we went in Atenas. Anther plus is that Atenas is close to San Jose, lots of conveniences. When renting a car be sure to get a GPS, and I would be careful driving outside of town after dark as there are spots in some roads where there are huge potholes and / or 2 foot of the asphalt road sunk away for sometimes several feet. We drove in San Jose, was no different than other large U.S. cities with good hiways. I’ve been researching CR for over 2 years now, as I said, have made our first due diligence trip there and we’ll be returning next year for a month during the rainy season. I have also been checking the weather (temps, humidity and barometric pressure) daily to try to get a more accurate idea of the weather. You’ll find CR to be humid compared to Ar., but so much cooler and lushly green. If we continue to enjoy it as we have we’ll be retiring there in 2017.
Linda from Wisconsin

[CHARLIE D.]

It is good to see what others are doing. I’ve been visiting Costa Rica since 09 and will be there for the next two weeks with the Chris Howard “Live in Costa Rica Tour” and a few days of exploring on my own and already have an appointment with an attorney to get a head start on the residency application. My goal is to move by January 1. Some on the forum may be interested in my “Costa Rica Decision Process” blog started in June at http://costaricadecisionprocess.blogspot.com/ Once I move I will do a different blog about my retirement adventures in Costa Rica!

I’ll be checking this forum more after the next two weeks during my count-down to the move. I’m a 74 year old retiree, nature-lover and nature photographer now living in Nashville, TN, single again without family, which makes a move easier. I plan to start with a rental in the Central Valley for maybe a year while I explore other possibilities closer to some of the national parks, but I’m beginning to think (even before the tour) that Central Valley might be a good permanent place so I can have the best of all four directions! From past trips, Corcovado and Tortuguero were my favorites for the wildlife.

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