WORTH of me in COSTARICA how is job market over there? [email protected]

rohitkapr, to legally settle in Costa Rica requires that you become a legal resident. Basically, without being a retired person on a fixed income of $1000 or more, the only way is to buy your way in with a $150k deposit in the bank or invest a certain amount of money in a business. The Assoc. of Residents of Costa Rica still has the best info on this. (Google it.)

They eat food that is very different from Mexican food. While beans and rice are a staple they eat black beans as opposed to Mexico's pinto beans, and they eat their beans and rice mostly mixed together in a form called "Gallo Pinto" (guy-yo peen-toe).

They also eat a lot of chicken and fish and seafood and of course the usual meat.

The climate varies depending on location. At 4000-5000 feet it can get downright cold at night while on the coast it can be extremely hot and humid even at night. So Costa Rica is very much an area of micro-climates. The weather can be drastically different from one side of a town to the other. Take San Ramon for instance. To the north side it can be very rainy and windy and cold at night due to the way the mountains are situated, the elevation and being near a cloud forest area. While on the southwest side of town where our property is, at 2800 feet it is much less rainy, less windy, not too cold and not too hot most of the time. So a difference of just a few miles can really lead to a different climate experience!

So the answer to your question about climate is that it can range from something like 30 degrees Fahrenheit to 105 degrees Fahrenheit depending on where you live, especially depending on elevation.

As to your last question, like any country, there are millionaires and people who are destitute. I would say that an average high income would be $3,000/month. You could live very well on that in Costa Rica. I'd say you could live well but not super well on $1500/month. And I'd say that it would be difficult to live on less than $1000/month. Of course these are just figures I pulled out of my - hat - and could be disputed, but that's my opinion.

The main thing you should know is that it is difficult to work in Costa Rica legally unless you work for a company that needs you to work there or if you start a business that is approved and employs Ticos, etc. Otherwise working there is mostly illegal. As mentioned in another thread the requirements needed to work or get legal residency in Costa Rica is not my area of expertise so refer to the ARCR as mentioned earlier for more details on that.

Hello samramon,

Thanks you for all your relevant messages and wonderful contributions! Keep going Very useful posts & messages indeed!


From Expat.com Team