General Info

Greetings,

I am considering taking a vacation next February/March time frame with my kids and Costa Rica is on my short list. No mongering activities are planned, unfortuantely. It'll be strictly a family vacation.

I've never been to Costa Rica but have heard that it is a wonderful country.

Can any of you recommend places to stay?

There will be three kids, ages 14, 12 and 5. Someplace with a nice pool, clean and gringo friendly. Near the beach would be nice and with outdoor activities, hiking, rafting, swimming, snorkeling, etc. available.

I'm thinking that either a bungalow or house type arrangement might be the best option.

Your suggestions and recommendations are greatly appreciated!

And, I'm not limiting this to Costa Rica so if you know of someplace else that would be good for a family vacation that time of year in central america or Mexico, please let me know.

You can post a response here or PM me.

Thanks!

TD

T.D.,

The Quepos/Manuel Antonio area on the Pacific should provide everything you may require for a family vacation. Too many places to list so just plug into your browser: Costa Rica Pacific Hotels etc. You will probably find thousands of links and websites. Almost all of the hotels and resorts can set you up with everyting from fishing to horseback riding to rainforest activities.

PAX,

Nipster

P.S. You might also try doing a search here in the archives, I'm sure there is plenty of information.

any suggestions on areas for [url=http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord118][CodeWord118][/url] ?

Beansed,

What are you looking to do? There are several places with boating/fishing including Golfito, Quepos, Jaco and northwest parts of the country. There are also islands in the gulf that are nice to see. If I knew what you want I could help more.

Tyler,

I see you have many posts here so I assume you are not new to travel but I am not sure why you would want to come here with a family. Yes Costa Rica has some beautiful things to see but that is limited. The main attraction here is the girls. If you are looking for a beach type place why not the islands, beaches can be beautiful here but getting there is difficult as the infrastructure is awful in this country, no signs or directions, the roads are just a series of potholes and the drivers here are the worst most inconsiderate I have ever seen in the world (by far). Most beach towns are not developed, Jaco is the main one and even that is not not great. It is overpriced and full of working girls in the streets.

It is also not cheap here by any means, restaurants are the same as in the US and more expensive if you want to eat in a American style tourist place. I can think of little here that offers fun stuff for families. Some may have a different opinion but I have been living here for over a year and its all about the puss.

I'm a software engineer and I could literally do my job anywhere in the world. Ar e there any ex-pats out there that freelance or work in Costa Rica.

Any one need web application work or Java development?

I'd appreciate any input. Thanks.

Going to Costa Rica on short notice. I'll be in San Jose for 4 days.

What are the best sight seeing destinations? Any dangers as far as picking up girls? I assume San Jose is the best spot to find girls?

I'd really like to see some mountains, a valcano, and some jungle.

I'm a bit paranoid about mosquito bourne disease and snakes.

Is a tour guide needed or is it relatively safe to trek down the trails?

Fellas:

Normally post in the Thailand section but I am gatheirng some information. I would like to relocate closer to the USA. With proper investments I have saved a nice sum of money. This is my question: the Mongering scene aside as this is not any reason to move to any country, how far would US3-4000per month go in CR? I am looking for a retirement type or master planned community in CR where foreigners live. A place with a golf course, swimming pool, exercise facilities ie... Do they exist in CR? If not, are there places like this in Central America or Mexico that fit this description. Thanks for your help.

Samus Aran

Samus,

You would live like a king in Costa Rica for $3000-4000 per month. But you will need to either buy property outright with cash, or rent. Secured Mortgages are not too easy to come by.

Excluding your housing costs, you could easily do it for $2K/month.

I've been looking at doing the same as you, and I recently got back from a trip to CR. The best possibilities for the type of community you are seeking, are living on the Pacific coast, either near Jaco/Heradura, or further north on the Nicoya Peninsula near Guanacaste.

May be an old timer to SJO can help me. I lost the contact info for Liz Beth (Old timers know who she is!). Can someone PM me her current telephone or email. THANKS I am visiting SJO from Dec/27 to 30. Anyone wants to hook up - send me PM.

Samus A.

With 3 to 4K per month you can live as a king like 2041 said. You can rent a great place (2500 to 3500 sqft) with large lot in Escazu (very upscale) with a great view for approx $1000/mo. Food is so inexpensive is a joke. You can hire a live in maid for less than 350/mo. Health care is very affordable too(100/mo). Transportation will run you less than 150/mo (dedicated chofer). Girls are inexpensive.

When I stay in CR for a month I spend less than staying home.

I have gringo friends that live in CR with less than $1200/mo everything included.

Happy huntings

As mentioned 3-4K is a lot there. That being said, one must also utilize the local products and economy. To eat a large Rib Eye steak, or sushi 3-4 times a week, and similar accompanyments, will be costly. But to eat great, but with local products is easy, and delicious.

PS video games are no special deal there.

migrant

I was recently in San Jose and encountered a problem. No cell phone service for my US issued cell phone. I need to be able to recieve calls from the US and same thing to call with my phone to the US.

Has anybody resolved this.

Personally, if you like peace and quiet, I'd recommend going outside of San Jose a bit. The traffic here is pretty bad (not Jakarta bad, but getting worse every year), and the real estate prices have risen astronomically. Perhaps Grecia, or 20-30 miles out would be okay.

To get a nice house in a good area, you'll spend 100-200k. For more value, I'd probably head to Nicaragua.

You will not have any luck with U.S. Cell Phones. Costa Rica's telecom is a government-run monopoly, and you will need to use a CR-based cell phone.

The reason that Costa Rica costs more than Nicaragua is that it is more desireable than Nicaragua, especially for things that retired Americans look for in a home, including:

Stable governement without ethnic or political strife,

Excellent education system and highly literate populace,

Excellent and affordable healthcare system,

Full property rights and easily fulfilled long term residency requirements for ex-pats, especially from the U.S. who are bringing dollars with them.