October 4, 2024 in Tips for Buyers, Tips for Buyers, Life in Costa Rica

Expats moving to Costa Rica often find that integration into local life involves embracing both the laid-back culture and the unique ways in which Costa Ricans (known as "Ticos") approach social interactions, work, and daily life. 

February 9, 2024 in Tips for Buyers, Discover Costa Rica, Life in Costa Rica, Tips for Buyers

Embark on a journey of joy and prosperity in the heart of paradise! As we cruise through 2024, our team at Osa Tropical Properties is thrilled to share a curated collection of 24 essential tips for living a life of happiness and success in Costa Rica.

May 13, 2023 in Discover Costa Rica, Discover Costa Ballena, Life in Costa Rica

Do expats actually love living in Costa Rica in 2021? We asked the internet and found more than a few expats who had a number of things to say about why Costa Rica is right for them.

This is a topic that we cover over and over in our weekly blog (sign up below this article to stay up to date) and it’s one that keeps coming up on expat forums all over the internet: why do people love living in Costa Rica and what’s keeping them here?  People not only want to know what brought others to Costa Rica.They also want to know if the hype lives up — and we all know how much hype there is about Costa Rica today. Picture perfect beaches, green jungles filled with waterfalls, and the pura vida attitude are enough to fill anyone’s dreams of a better life. But those who have yet to take the leap of faith want to know how much of their dreams can actually make it to reality. We gathered some of the most helpful responses from friendly people on the internet answering why they love living in Costa Rica. Here they are, straight from the expats’ mouths.

IMPROVING LIFESTYLE

Many retirees, solopreneurs, and young families have moved to Costa Rica in 2021 to get away from bad habits and routines they no longer enjoy. The last two years have changed the way people see their futures and they want to seize the moment now to make a more permanent change in their lives. So many more people today are capable of this big step but there are many with concerns about not learning the language fast enough or having trouble integrating with people. They want to know things like what daily life will be like, or what school will be like for their kids, and if their pets can come on the journey, too. Todd from Massachusetts now lives near San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. He says there are a number of international schools where English is the language of instruction. He says that the key is to “seek housing in a known area where there are bilingual high schoolers” if that is one of your priorities in moving here. However, he continues to say that English is not the only option because “the people here are really, really nice. I have found Ticos to be sincerely nice people. Kids will be fluent in under 6 months if they attend a local school and everyone communicates to them in Spanish. You will be surprised how fast you can learn a language when you listen to it constantly and you are forced to speak it.” Linda from the Central Valley says that it helps to “smile, be adventurous, embrace the changes, be open-minded and eager to learn, and you’ll discover the opportunity for an amazing life here.” Graham is a high school teacher in the Central Valley of Costa Rica. He says that he sees a lot of expat children integrating well with Costa Rican kids. “The level of English for teens today is generally excellent. A lot of the private school kids speak better English than a lot of native speakers. Spanish is a challenging language, but if you immerse yourself in it when you arrive you will pick it up so quickly!” Many expats choose Costa Rica because new experiences help us grow and learn more broadly. Some parents may still choose to keep their children integrated with their home country’s school system through programs like Costa Rica International Academy, which offers accredited programs.  Online school is more and more easy, especially with the increasing speed of the internet throughout the country. Nikki is a mom whose teens are enrolled in high school online. “We do online and love it. If my kids had been in grade school, I would have put them in the local Spanish school just so they could learn Spanish.” And when it comes to our furry family, Kaz reassures newcomers that pets are no problem to bring into Costa Rica. “Pets will be fine. If you do all the necessary paperwork to the letter you will have no worries bringing them into the country.”  “However,” she says. “Do find tick protection for your dogs especially as ehrlichia is easy to contract from local ticks and it can be deadly if not treated. Cats don’t suffer as much since their grooved tongues can pull them out.”

POLITICAL STABILITY

Costa Rica is so popular because of how welcoming it is to foreigners. And it can afford to be welcoming because it is so politically stable. This is a country where rule of law is well established but more importantly people are cultured and respectful of each other’s needs, putting healthcare, education, nature, and family at the forefront of policy and decision making. And the expats who are most attracted to life in Costa Rica are those who can accept this type of system with a strong social safety net built in. Lillian is from the U.S. and lives in Costa Rica because of the people and their culture. “As an Indigenous woman, I strongly believe in the protection of the environment. Water, trees, and animals need our protection as they are sacred in my culture as well. I want to live a simple life because that's how I was raised. I advocate for world peace and the protection of women and children. I live and dream about Costa Rica everyday.”

COST OF LIVING

We keep reading that one place or another is less expensive than Costa Rica. Sometimes, it’s just plain untrue. Other times, people are not taking the full picture into account. One such “cheap” expat haven that is often referenced in comparison to Costa Rica is Thailand. What many fail to consecutively mention is that in Thailand, you cannot own land as a foreigner, only the structure that sits on the land. Ray, who lives in Nicoya, knows that cheap isn’t necessarily good, and good isn’t necessarily cheap. “We came to Costa Rica for the standard of living. If cost of living is more important then you're right; there are cheaper places to live. But that’s not necessarily what most people are looking for. We want ease, stability, and peace of mind in our day to day lives.”

FRIENDLY PEOPLE

One of the most common refrains from expats about Costa Rica is how friendly the people are. Costa Ricans are proud of their country because of the amazing ethics here and they absolutely love to share that pride with those who visit and want to move here. They appreciate those who appreciate Costa Rica! Debbie is an expat in Ojochal who learned this about Costa Ricans. “I chose Costa Rica because the people are so friendly and caring. They are very happy and content with what they have and live life in the present.” Jairo is a proud Costa Rican married to a U.S. native, who he says loves the pura vida motto.  “My wife loves our pura vida motto, and how after saying thank you, we reply with ‘con mucho gusto’ literally equivalent to ‘with much pleasure.’ Our nation, in general, is very chill, so, our peace of mind usually comes first, even before our word.” He suggests that this is a big reason why Costa Ricans are so happy.

CLIMATE

Costa Rica is known to be a tropical country. But it may not be evident to all that there are twelve different microclimates found all over the landscape and there is different weather in each of them. Due to its latitude, most parts of Costa Rica are warm for most of the year. But rain variance and elevation play key roles in the climate and people choose which part of the country they move to based on these factors. Rebecca says she loves living in the Southern Zone, “where the mountains meet the sea.” She says, “we live in the mountains, just ten minutes from beautiful, warm beaches and we don’t need to use AC in our home.”

NATURE

To many of us, it’s the wildlife that keeps us absolutely enthralled with life in Costa Rica. Many expats have homes outside of the cities and big, residential enclaves. We prefer to live side-by-side with nature, surrounding ourselves with tall trees and flowering bushes that invite all sorts of wildlife to our doorstep. Julie, who lives in Dominical, is one of these nature aficionados. “I love Costa Rica because the culture is friendly and in tune with nature. I am seduced by the natural world and Costa Rica is as good as it gets. You have such a variety of climates and scenery. When you settle down, you can take short trips to other climates and scenery to enjoy everything Costa Rica has to offer. It is a magical place to many who visit and live here. The variety never ends in Costa Rica.”

REMOTENESS/ADVENTURE

There are many places around Costa Rica that are tranquil and feel “away from it all,” and yet they are still quite close to important services and amenities. Many of us move here for the “away” feeling but don’t necessarily want to go on a mission to do daily or weekly tasks. That’s why places like the mountains above Uvita are so popular with expats.  Sarah, who is originally from Colorado, loves living in Uvita and says, “I feel like we live in a pretty remote area, but Uvita has restaurants, stores, banks, pharmacies, and we are only 35 minutes away from a larger town of San Isidro (Perez Zeledon) where we can find just about everything we need.” 

May 13, 2023 in Discover Costa Rica, Discover Costa Ballena, Life in Costa Rica, Tips for Buyers

A bigger driver for moving to the tropics is a better opportunity for sustainable living in Costa Rica. Find out why in this week's article. Standing at the edge of my shaded second story veranda, I feel the energy of the approaching rain as it cuts through the sky in gentle slopes and taps on the variously shaped leaves of the jungle below. The air feels heavy and thick with water droplets catching in the gentle wind. I feel as though I’m being held by a viscous medium. I watch as toucan after toucan glide from tree to tree; their starkly contrasting, glossy black feathers with bright yellow accentuating lines punctuating the verdant green backdrop. They bounce through the air - you will rarely see them flap - and feed on baby birds and fruit, looking resplendent all the while. Many of us who reside in the South Pacific have chosen to live in Costa Rica because we love being amongst the vibrant nature of this ecological navel of the planet and coexisting with it in its many forms. Six and half percent of earth’s total biodiversity resides in this tiny strip of land that binds the two Americas. More than fifty percent of this country is forested. Twenty-five percent is protected by national reserves and parks and 23% is untouched, primary forest. We know this. We love this. And we choose to have nature in our daily lives. We don’t have to be perfect beings to love nature and love living amongst it. People who move to Costa Rica love to live and let live - an ethic that merges seamlessly between how we feel about nature and our place in it. Feeling the ground while walking with our bare feet is an awakening of our inner connection with the earth and everything. It creates a sense of belonging that goes deeper than an address.

What sets Costa Rica apart ecologically?

People who come to Costa Rica feel like they have arrived and walked through a portal to a world where things are done differently. The way of life here is so fascinating and so different from what is happening in the modern world. It is so mind-blowing that we feel called to share it. Tucked inside the tropical jungle, humans in Costa Rica’s South Pacific live and work together in a different dimension. Home to hundreds of varieties of plants, including vegetables, fruits, nuts, and herbs, those who inhabit this land are passionate about living in harmony with nature and indulging in its offerings wherever possible. Costa Rica is an undisputed leader in climate action in Central America, having established a goal to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The country has set targets for all newly built commercial, residential, and public buildings to be energy-efficient and climate-resilient. Costa Rica is both small in landmass and population, but it is politically and economically stable with a relatively high standard of living. It has long been a leader in ecotourism, and its leadership and citizens have been bold in pursuing sustainable development across many sectors. Costa Rica stands as a model of a country that has built its brand around its environmentalism. In 2020, the country met its 2030 goal of operating its electric grid with 100 percent renewable energy. Significant opportunities for energy efficiency still exist, but now renewables are often the cheapest and cleanest first approach to change.

What are the current strains on the environment in Costa Rica?

According to environmental protection group Tree Triage, in 1990, forests occupied 31.6% of Earth’s land area. By 2016, the proportion of land occupied by forests was about 1% lower at 30.7%. Tropical regions around the globe are losing an area of forest equivalent to the size of a football field every six seconds in 2019.  Five countries are home to more than 50% of the global forests, and 66% of the global forests are located in ten countries. Costa Rica is the thirty-fifth most forested country, at almost 54% forest cover, 24% of which is classified as primary forest, the most biodiverse and carbon-dense form of forest. Costa Rica had 241,000 ha of planted forest.  Since the arrival of multi-national fruit farmers until 1990, Costa Rica was losing 0.08% of forest cover every year. However, this has changed significantly over the last 30 years with private and government intervention resulting in a doubling of forested area. Costa Rica has since become one of the most rapidly reforesting countries in the world.

What can we do to live more sustainably in Costa Rica?

As with anywhere in the world, sustainable living in Costa Rica requires a mindset shift. The remoteness of our region means that mass quantities of goods and services have not reached us yet. Impulse buying is easy to avoid and we can spend more time qualifying a product; to see if we need it, if it was made fairly and sustainably, and if the people selling it are earning an appropriate income. This is made easy in Costa Rica where there are ample options for alternatives to modern conveniences that are made locally, by locals, with local ingredients.  Practicing ego-minimalism in Costa Rica is an apt way to combat the habit of hyper-consumerism. America’s favorite past-time is shopping (it is often misquoted as baseball). People in the US and Canada go to stores to see if there is anything that they could buy, rather than going because they need or even want something specific. The stress of keeping up with a first-world lifestyle leaves people with a scarcity mindset, where their needs feel unmet and their brain sets out to hoard what it can. In Costa Rica, we learn to replace our bad habits with better ones. We save energy by living outdoors more. We tend to eat less meat and eat more local fruits and vegetables, even growing some of our own food in this conducive climate. We use renewable resources, including a growing trend towards solar and taking advantage of the abundant natural sunlight. It’s easy to save water by collecting rainwater during the rainy season. And locally-produced, fair trade products are sold in every town in boutique stores and farmer’s markets.

Final Thoughts on Sustainable Living in Costa Rica

Sustainability and regenerative living are high aspirations for solutions to the modern ways of life that are destroying natural systems. So many people are experiencing stress, fear, tense, unhealthy, anxious and depressed, perpetuated by the digital dimension of living that our brains are having trouble handling. 2020 made us question if this is the way we are supposed to live. Costa Rica’s Southern Zone is a perfect place to reconnect with yourself. Sometimes we have to lose ourselves in the forest to actually find ourselves there as well. Almost everyone comes here with a similar goal of bettering ourselves. 2020 was also a call to action and Costa Rica is committed to receiving people who are ready to be stewards of the earth.