Looking for a calm, safe, semi-rural area in CR

I would suggest that come and visit in person, to check out your friends recommendations.
Yes, the Turrialba Volcano is now active and is having repercussions in some areas surrounding the town, which would certainly make me think twice about living there.

Do you know much about the eastern Nicoya peninsula where the Puntarenas port is located?  Punta Morales is in that region.  I spoke with my friend last night who warned me about Punta Morales.

The town of Puntarenas is exactly that, a port town. Not a place where many expats tend to live...so that could be what you are looking for or not.
Nearby, there is a small inland town, El Roble that is quite nice.

I know nothing about Punta Morales, however we went to look at  Playa de Pájaros and were very disappointed.

Calm safe semi-rural is 75% and easy to find in CR.

el Roble fits the bill, but ticos will giggle when you say you live in El Roble, jajajaja

La Reforma is in Roble, and the worst one for the worst ones,

I recommend town in my area: San Ramon, Atenas or Palamares where I live. But there are others as well. Some beach towns are alright, but after living in several for almost 9 years, I would change my town for one of those. Come visit, see for yourself. Shout me a holler when you are in the area.

Thanks!!

What is La Reforma?  Is it a political group in CR?

Thanks!!!

holisticdoc wrote:

What is La Reforma?  Is it a political group in CR?

No, it's a prision

An all-inclusive resort...

Have you visited? How long did you stay and did you enjoy yourself?

Not sure who you were asking for further information and on what town, but there are many nice towns that 'fit the bill' around the country.
I proposed El Roble since you seemed to be interested in somewhere near Puntarenas.   We have walked the town a few time since this is a 'pick up' point for incoming mail that requires the use of customs agents.

You really should check out prospective towns on your own, before making any decisions as we all having different requirements.

MauroN wrote:

I recommend town in my area: San Ramon, Atenas or Palamares where I live. But there are others as well. Some beach towns are alright, but after living in several for almost 9 years, I would change my town for one of those. Come visit, see for yourself. Shout me a holler when you are in the area.

I second these recommendations.

Haven't been there in years but Puriscal was another one that at least used to be nice.

And I'll beat Pebbles to it, check out Heredia, but it's kinda near San Jose, not exactly rural. Semi-rural?
From what I understand though it does get cold there. I just talked to someone who grew up there and that's what they told me. Not Chicago or NY cold, but colder than much of Costa Rica.

Some people like it colder. So there are also colder areas around San Ramon up in the hills.

In fact as you are looking around put an altimeter app on your phone and check the altitude of the places you go.

Sea Level: HOT (if you're at this level you better be AT the sea so you can jump in throughout the day)
1500 feet: Less hot but still hot
2500 feet: Moderate (hot sometimes, cool sometimes)
3500 feet: Cooler weather
4500 feet: Gets frickin' cold sometimes

Again that's just my own take on it. One man's cold is another man's (or woman's) "fresh and cool".

Thanks that is very helpful info and descriptive too!  The altimeter idea is awesome.

After the rainy season, come the 'Christmas winds' which affects the higher altitude areas of the country, making it necessary to have some kind of heat in your home. This lasts from Dec-March....and it can get pretty cold.

kohlerias wrote:

After the rainy season, come the 'Christmas winds' which affects the higher altitude areas of the country, making it necessary to have some kind of heat in your home. This lasts from Dec-March....and it can get pretty cold.

kohlerias, glad you said that; now I don't feel so bad. People sometimes look at me like I'm nuts when I've said it gets cold at night up in the mountains here, sometimes.

Years ago before we moved here my wife and I went and stayed at some cabins at around 5,000 feet altitude. The cabins were poorly made and had gaps between the wood that made up the walls.
So the wind came whistling through the cabin and at night and early morning it was frickin cold!

So cold we went into town the next day and asked all over town for a heater. We were willing to buy one because we were staying there for a month and I hate being cold, and I had money back then! LOL.

Well people in town practically laughed at us when we asked where we might buy a heater! Or others looked at us in disbelief! They must have thought "Crazy gringos!" But no one knew where to buy one! So we put the oven on for awhile each night and morning as if we were baking bread.

That was years ago and maybe more gringos have moved in the area because now some stores do have heaters and yes I bought one! Costs a fortune to run but I gotta have it! But I almost never have to run it during the day, just a couple hours sometimes at night when the sun hasn't been out all day or it's windy.

A friend of mine who used to live in San Ramon, actually asked on a forum website, where they could find a wood stove to heat their home, during these winds..and after getting their residency, they  decided to move to Mexico.
We have many friends who live around the Nuevo Arenal area, and nearly every one of them have a fireplace in their home, that is not there, solely  for decoration. I remember other friends who live in Escazú telling me that they have to wear thick socks to bed...

I just met a woman from Heredia who was born there and she was telling me how terribly cold it gets there, colder than San Jose apparently, and to me it gets too cold in San Jose.

We bought a place in Samara in 2014 with the plan to move there in 2019.  What I love about Samara is that it's a pretty small town (about 1500 or so population), lots of undeveloped areas around it yet it is only about 30-40 minute drive to Nicoya and an hour and a half or so to Liberia airport.   amenities like health care and shopping are within a reasonable distance.

Warned about What?

I am looking for a small finca with small livable cabana plus a stream.  Do you know anyone personally who is selling, preferably a Tico?

***

Hello. It happens I looked yesterday at a 5 hectares finca in the San Ramon Area. It has a spring that never dries, a small two-story cabin, most of the property is on a hill. The clearest river I've seen in CR goes in front of the property, just crossing the street. The owners are asking 250K USD or $5/m2, not bad, I think. The reason I went to see the property is that I am trying to rent a property with a spring, but the owners want to sell it, not rent it.

I wonder if it is the same property I saw listed on a website.  The one I read online was across the public road from the property.

Holisticdoc, strongly suggest you rent in the area you are interested in, preferably for an extended time, prior to making a land purchase. For instance, some areas in San Ramón is often very wet and foggy.

Property is very easy to buy...very difficult to sell.

Do not know. This property is located in Piedades Norte

kohlerias wrote:

Holisticdoc, strongly suggest you rent in the area you are interested in, preferably for an extended time, prior to making a land purchase. For instance, some areas in San Ramón is often very wet and foggy.

Property is very easy to buy...very difficult to sell.

100% agree with this.   

- Expat Dave

The southern Pacific region of Costa Rica is very nice, calm, rural, low crime, low stress, lower cost of living than most beach areas and with a charming expat community.  Check out Ojochal, Uvita and Dominical.  Dominical is more touristy with a more transient population but Uvita and Ojochal are just nice communities off the beaten path.  There's a new hospital in the area and the road to San Jose is nice, pretty new and takes about 3.5 hours.

We took the tour of Pacific Lots in 2010 and there were so many "private" lots for sale that had been bought while on "the tour" that it was incomprehensible to buy a listed lot.  We have been here for three years in an area that we found ourselves. Please take your time and look around!

holisticdoc wrote:

I am looking for a small finca with small livable cabana plus a stream.  Do you know anyone personally who is selling, preferably a Tico?

You never know, but there's a stereotype (and I've encountered this) that Ticos will raise the price once you show interest in their property.

I found a great piece of land a Tico offered me around San Ramon area. He said $80k. I came back a few months later and said I was interested. Now the price was $140k. LOL.

Also with Tico houses or cabanas, you may find horrible wiring and plumbing, 2 things Ticos don't TEND to do well. (Of course there ARE exceptions, but I've seen enough to say this, and if you want to call me anti-Tico or racist or whatever you can do that, but I know what I know.

So just be very careful in buying any property and if it's a Tico built place check that proper electric and plumbing were used.

One thing that surprised me about Tico construction was the fact they don't use cheap romex here. All they wiring I have seen, and had my crews install are individual wire in conduit. All of the house plans I have used and seen, call for that type of wiring. Hard to get a rats nest wiring job past inspection.