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JASON HOLLAND
ParticipantIt’s out there but not widely available. Vendors at farmers’ markets will have raw milk, yogurt, and cheese, including products made from goat milk. Sometimes producers will also travel around neighborhoods with stuff for sale or sell from their farm. It’s basically a matter of finding out who’s selling it from local expats or your neighbors.
ParticipantHi Jillian,
Music, dance, sports, art, theater… usually these schools offer a wide-range of extracurricular activities.
ParticipantHi!
As a wine lover, you might have a tough time in Costa Rica. 🙂
The average Costa Rican just doesn’t drink wine and that’s reflected in what’s available.
The most widely available wines, the ones you’ll find in the regular grocery store, are from Chile and Argentina – most are mid-range or below as far as quality. The price isn’t horrible for those. $6 – $8 and up for a bottle of mass produced but drinkable stuff.
But if you’re into nicer wines from Spain, Italy, France, California… etc… you’ll end up in a specialty shop or grocery store specializing in imported foods (generally in and around the capital San Jose) and there won’t be much selection compared to what you can find in North America. And the price will be about $12 for a decent wine and it just goes up from there.
So in general, less selection and higher prices – though not out of control.
ParticipantHi Nicholas,
Great question. Costa Rica is an accepting, tolerant place. Very live and let live. And a lot of gay and lesbian expats make their home here with no issues. Manuel Antonio, on the Central Pacific coast, especially has been known as a destination for gay travelers and expats for years. You are right most couples stay pretty low key though, as in many other Latin countries.
ParticipantHi Jillian,
Great question. The most international schools are found in the capital, San Jose, and its suburbs like Escazu and Heredia. Tuition is about $500 – $1,000 a month and up for a quality accredited school (often accredited in the U.S. so that credits transfer easily). But these days there are also good schools all around the country, including beach communities like Jaco, Tamarindo, Flamingo, and Playas del Coco, and they’re usually cheaper than in San Jose. Some are bilingual, some English only. You can find a list here of the some of the top schools (scroll to the bottom of the page):
https://internationalliving.com/country_clubs/costa-rica/moving-to-costa-rica/
Also, worth a mention are two schools in the mountain community of Monteverde.
The Friends School: http://mfschool.org
Cloud Forest School: http://cloudforestschool.org
There are also many many small, independent bilingual schools throughout the country. Very reasonable tuition. But the level of education isn’t as high as the larger ones, in my opinion.
February 22, 2014 at 12:23 am in reply to: How to access funds from U.S. banks while in Costa Rica #550151ParticipantHi Jane,
U.S. debit and credit cards work all over Costa Rica. One option is to withdraw money from the ATM, of course you’re limited to a certain daily amount. So that could be a lot of trips. Another option is to go into the bank and speak with one of the folks at the counter to arrange an advance. They swipe your card and can give you a couple of thousand dollars at a time, withdrawn from your account back home for a small fee. Again, each bank has a certain limit and check with your bank in the U.S. to make sure they allow this.
You should also check with your bank in the U.S. to see if they have any other options available.
But keep in mind that most medical offices in Costa Rica do take credit and debit cards. And again your card from the U.S> will work just fine. So you may not need to pay in cash at all. It’s probably safer that way, rather than carrying around large amounts of cash.
ParticipantHi Elizabeth,
I would recommend you make at least a reservation for your first night in each of your destinations, Arenal, Central Valley, the Southern Zone. That way you have a place to go when you first get into the area but then you’re flexible to change locations during your stay.
In Arenal you’ll find plenty of hotels near the town of La Fortuna and also around the lake, and there are several places along the coastal highway in the Southern Zone, especially around the towns of Dominical, Uvita, and Ojochal. But the Central Valley isn’t really a tourist area at all, so there are a lot hotels in and around San Jose, the capital, or near the airport. Those are easy to find. But the ones in the rest of the Valley are more spread out and harder to find. That’s where you might want to do some extra planning.
May is the start of the low season, so you shouldn’t have much trouble with places being fully booked in any location.
ParticipantHi Thomas,
So the election resulted in a “tie” between two candidates, Luis Guillermo Solis, a former diplomat who hasn’t held any public office, and the former mayor of San Jose and member of the party who previously held the presidency, Johnny Araya. They both got around 30%.
Araya is kind of viewed as the establishment candidate and Solis more left-leaning. The run off is in April.
I’m not a political commentator or expert, so I can’t really speculate about what this all means and what the impact will be on the country. I will say that it shows that Costa Rica does have a strong democratic system – the elections went off without a hitch basically. And I don’t think whoever gets elected will have much impact on expats. The political leaders usually have much more pressing concerns. And it’s the bureaucracy most expats deal with day to day.
ParticipantHi Cindy,
The FastTrack Costa Rica conference will take place July 21 – 23 in San Jose, the capital, at the Intercontinental Hotel. It hasn’t officially launched yet. But when it does you should receive an email and you can also check back here for updates: https://internationalliving.com/2013/04/fast-track-costa-rica/
I’ve spoken at this event the past two years so I can give an idea of the topics. Basically, we have speakers – all experts and/or people working in that field right now – on everything you can think of. Health care, insurance, banking, residency, culture, language, real estate, shipping your household goods, it’s all covered. We also go over in-depth each region of Costa Rica. All of us experts are available for questions after sessions or in many cases at any time during the event.
If you’re planning to attend keep in mind that there are organized real estate tours before and after. You can, of course, also set up your own tour with other providers.
ParticipantHi Luda,
An import broker I know highly recommends working with a lawyer to complete all this paperwork due to the complicated nature of this process. But I would check with the broker you’re working with and get his/her opinion as well.
ParticipantHi Luda,
I’m double-checking with an import/shipping broker to make sure, but I believe you can do the car registration yourself, although considering the need to navigate a complicated bureaucracy it is recommended you use a lawyer, especially if you don’t speak Spanish.
I’ll get back to you with further info.
ParticipantHi Jane,
The FastTrack Costa Rica conference will take place July 21 – 23 in San Jose, the capital, at the Intercontinental Hotel. It hasn’t officially launched yet. But when it does you should receive an email and you can also check back here for updates: https://internationalliving.com/2013/04/fast-track-costa-rica/
I’ve spoken at this event the past two years so I can give an idea of the topics though. Basically, we have speakers – all experts and/or people working in that field right now – on everything you can think of, just about. Health care, insurance, banking, residency, culture, language, real estate, shipping your household goods, it’s all covered. We also go over in-depth each region of Costa Rica. The cool thing is that it’s not all speakers on a stage. All of us experts are available for questions after sessions or in many cases at any time during the event.
ParticipantHi Kym,
Are you speaking about property within the maritime zone – i.e. beachfront? Such property has restrictions on foreign ownership and concessions are usually not transferable. Concessions are kind of like leases with the government and are granted on a long-term but temporary basis.
But I’m not an attorney – so I would suggest contacting a local lawyer experienced in real estate to help you with this issue. They can look up the property and figure out what’s going on.
But right now, you can review the status of a property in the Registro Nacional/National Registry:
http://www.rnpdigital.com/index.htm
Roger Petersen’s law firm (they speak at IL conferences) has a great guide to using this online database here:http://www.costaricalaw.com/Real-Estate-and-Property-Law/costa-rica-online-access-to-public-records-at-the-national-registry.html
ParticipantHi Jim,
Definitely take Highway 34,the coastal highway. It’s quicker, easier, and newer (at least parts of it) than the mountain road. It’s a pleasant drive that should take you about 3.5 hours. Overall the coastal road is in good shape.
The mountain road is actually the PanAmerican Highway but picture a winding road, lots of switchbacks, and drops of thousands of feet. Not necessarily dangerous but that kind of driving can take a lot out of you. And the drive takes about two hours longer than the coastal route. You actually pass by the highest point in Costa Rica on the mountain road – 11,000 ft+.
Jason
January 8, 2014 at 9:09 pm in reply to: Need furnished 2-3 bedroom rental in Escazu April May and June 2014 #546047ParticipantHi Jane,
Great to hear about your visit.
Escazu is a nice area. To get your oriented geographically, Escazu is actually split between three towns:
-San Rafael de Escazu is the closest to the highway, lowest in elevation, and closest to CIMA Hospital, the Multiplaza Mall, and other shopping and services. This is what most people think of when they think of Escazu.
-San Miguel de Escazu (better known as Escazu Centro) is the most historic and has a traditional Tico town center with park, church, shops, and farmers’ market on Saturday. It’s up the hill from San Rafael but within a quick cab or bus or medium walk.
-San Antonio de Escazu is way up on the hillside, offering great views of San Jose. More of a “country” area but still a 10 minute bus ride from San Rafael and its services.
Escazu is crisscrossed with bus routes that will get you just about anywhere quickly and easily. Cabs are also readily available.
Real estate in Escazu is some of the most expensive in the country because it’s where the upper class Ticos live and there are many luxury developments and condos catering to that market. But there are still deals to be had.
Try these real estate sites and be sure to call them as well for further listings:
godutchrealty.com
American-european.netAnd believe it or not Craigslist is good too: http://costarica.en.craigslist.org (this is where I found my last house, which was in Escazu Centro)
Jason
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