Costa Rica is a popular country in Latin America for digital nomads. Though it’s still not as cheap as Thailand or Mexico, iCosta Rica is close to the US and Canada, has great weather and tons of nature.
Before settling down into the pura vida lifestyle, there are many things you need to know and here is our guide to being a digital nomad in Costa Rica.
Note: All prices are in USD.
Popular Towns for Digital Nomads
If you’re going to be a digital nomad in Costa Rica, you’ll want to thoroughly research where in the country you want to live. Depending on your style of living, standards and needs, you’ll be able to narrow down the best place for you. Here are the popular towns for digital nomads in Costa Rica.
Most digital nomads in Costa Rica stay for 3 months to 1 year. Or they will come yearly for 2-3 months to escape the winters up north as Costa Rica’s summer time is Canada and USA’s winter time (Summer in Costa Rica or dry season is December – April).
Puerto Viejo de Talamanca in Limon
This funky little town in the Caribbean is popular with digital nomads who like the laid back beach life. It’s also great for those who like wildlife as this area is teeming with sloths, toucans, monkeys and all sorts of birds. In Puerto Viejo, you won’t find any high rise buildings but you will find all the basic services such as banks, pharmacies, laundry, etc.
Pros: Small expat community so easy to make friends, a party town so always something going on, beautiful beaches, wildlife, easy to get around without a car. Able to find cheap places to rent ($300 USD for more rustic cabina up to $900 USD for a house).
Cons: Far from the San Jose International airport, closest local airport is 1 hour away, known for having a higher crime rate, not as many luxury or upscale places. Fast internet is not everywhere. Rainier and more humid.
Jaco in the Central Pacific
A popular surfing town in the Central Pacific, Jaco attracts digital nomads who want to be close to San Jose, don’t have a limited budget and don’t mind crowds. For those who like luxury or having the same conveniences as North America, Jaco is the place to be. Read what it’s like to live in Jaco.
Pros: Many luxury and upscale housing options, only 1 hour from San Jose, lively nightlife, great variety of fine dining, easy to get around without a car, wildlife, great surfing, 4g common
Cons: Jaco is a party town so more prostitutes, crime and drugs, expensive rent, gets super crowded on weekends, not a very pretty beach but good for surfing. Able to get good internet.
Playas del Coco in Guanacaste
A small fishing village, Playas del Coco is now one of the most popular beach towns in Costa Rica. This town is also ideal for someone who has a family as Coco is very family friendly.
Pros: Easy to meet other foreigners, easy to get around without a car, wide variety of housing options and budgets, only 25 minutes from Liberia International Airport, one of the sunniest places in Costa Rica
Cons: Food is expensive, limited restaurant options, mostly retirees and snowbirds, pretty quiet, lack of water
Tamarindo in Guanacaste
For digital nomads who want to be around other young digital nomads or expats, Tamarindo is an excellent option. Tamarindo attracts a younger crowd than Coco due to the incredible surfing in the area and better options for backpackers.
Pros: Wide variety of restaurants, excellent surfing, huge population of foreigners, good nightlife, has its own local airport, gorgeous sunsets
Cons: slow Internet in town, expensive rent, more foreigners so not a lot of local culture in town, touristy, theft and house robberies more common, not easy to get around by bus. It is easy to just stick to English speakers so if you want to learn Spanish, it can be hard since there are more foreigners in town than locals (hence the nickname Tama-gringo).
San Jose
Though most people prefer living at the beach if they’re going to be a digital nomad in Costa Rica, some people like the city and want all the conveniences of city life. There are several neighborhoods in San Jose that are great for foreigners like Escazu, Barrio Esclanate and La Sabana.
Pros: San Jose international airport, wide variety of housing options, access to all the services, easy to get around by bus, excellent weather, lots of malls and movie theaters, easy to experience local culture, excellent variety of food, more fast Internet options
Cons: Lots of traffic, downtown San Jose is not the safest place, traffic, super crowded, roads and sidewalks are not in good condition and did I mention the traffic? San Jose is also not a very beautiful city so don’t expect to have sweeping panoramic city views like Hong Kong or Bangkok.
Dominical/Uvita in the South Pacific
This part of Costa Ballena is for people who want a more nature, less touristy experience. Most of them live up in the mountains so it’s very quiet and peaceful and they can get a great view of the ocean. You can read our Dominical and Uvita guides here.
Pros: Not a super popular area for digital nomads/expats so quieter than Guanacaste towns, close to lots of natural landmarks, stays green most of the year since it’s really humid, excellent hiking, lots of wildlife, good surfing in Dominical
Cons: 4g is not common, hard to get around without a car, 4×4 is required since most houses are up in the mountains, far from the San Jose Interpolate airport, closest local airport is Quepos or San Isidro de Perez Zeledon. Not a huge variety of housing options, also can be harder to meet people since there aren’t as many digital nomads/expats.
Santa Teresa
Santa Teresa, the laid back remote surfing beach town in the Nicoya Peninsula has gotten more popular with digital nomads the past few years. This area is great for anyone looking for a more “rural” beach experience, wants to be close to surfing beaches, enjoys yoga and wellness and doesn’t mind being very far from city life.
Pros: Excellent weather, tons of foreigners including young digital nomads and entrepreneurs, great surfing, beautiful beaches and sunsets, lots of food options, many hostels and rentals, very big spread out beach community so it doesn’t feel like as crowded as Tamarindo or Samara
Cons: Super dry, dusty and hot. Lots of foreigners, not much local culture. Only one ATM in town and Santa Teresa is a cash community. Far from the international airports, major hospitals and other places of interest. Can be hard to get around without a car so most people rent long term an ATV.
Manuel Antonio
I know more people who do work exchanges or volunteer in Manuel Antonio than live there as digital nomads. Since Manuel Antonio is very touristic, there are many opportunities for foreigners to do some sort of work exchange. Many of them work in a hostel in exchange for free rent or volunteer. About 3 hours from San Jose International Airport.
Samara
For those who love the beach, yoga and surf. Though the popularity of Samara is growing a lot, it is still a fairly mellow, laid back beach town attracting many yogis and surfers. The town has many vegan/vegetarian and organic options. It’s 2 hours from Liberia International Airport.
Monthly Expenses
Since the goal of a digital nomad is to make enough income to sustain their travel lifestyle, they want to keep their monthly expenses as low as possible. However, this is one of the reasons why most people don’t stay in Costa Rica very long. Unfortunately the cost of living in Costa Rica is not as super cheap as one may think. It’s nothing like Chiang Mai or Canggu.
Here is an infographic of the breakdown of an average monthly expense for a digital nomad. Remember, this greatly depends on where you live and your standard of living.
There are other expenses I didn’t factor in like clothes, travel, books and others. This is an average for the basics. I also didn’t add in electricity since this varies depending on where you live. If you live on the coasts, you’ll be using AC a lot. You can spend up to $300 USD a month on electricity for a small 70 square meter condo running 1 AC all day.
Internet
If you noticed one common con in the towns listed above, it’s the Internet. Internet is getting better in Costa Rica though! It isn’t quite as expensive as it used to be a few years ago.
It is more common to find high speed internet and fiber optic in Costa Rica now.
What to Know About Internet in Costa Rica if You are Renting
If you rent an apartment, you will likely have to put Internet in yourself. Or if internet is included, it is the bare minimum and the slowest possible speed! Something else to know is that which provider you use depends on your location. Not all providers will be present in an area.
For example, when we used to live in Playas del Coco, we used Tigo (which is awful and so slow) as it was the ONLY available provider in our condo complex, even though the houses down the street had Kolbi!
In Tamarindo, we used CableTica at our first apartment because Kolbi didn’t reach us. That worked fine actually even though we only had 10 mbps speed but it was consistent. Then after a few years, we moved to a neighborhood across the street from our first apartment and put in Kolbi fiber optic as it just arrived to the area.
One other thing to take note of is that in rainy season, it is quite common for electricity to go out for the rains. So if you need to be connected as much as possible, we recommend to get a battery back up for your modem and router.
So when you are trying to find a place to rent, make sure to ask about the Internet!
Costa Rica Internet Cost and Providers
There are several internet providers in Costa Rica. Kolbi, which is the main telecommunications company is a government organization. Tigo, Cable Tica and Claro are other Internet providers.
Public Wi-Fi and Co-Working Spaces
When it comes to public Wi-Fi and co-working spaces, it’s grown a lot. WeWork is now in San Jose and you’ll see a few co-working spaces here and there. There are more co-working spaces in the popular beach towns like Tamarindo and Santa Teresa.
Cafe culture is nearly non existent in Costa Rica. Many restaurants have their own Wi-FI but refuse to share the password as they don’t want customers to linger. They want people in and out so it’s rare to see people working on their laptops in public places.
We have stayed in a few condo towers in San Jose that have dedicated co-working and meeting rooms which was nice. Selina is actually a hostel more than digital nomads so that’s a good place to start looking for where to stay that offers good internet and coworking spaces.
Sim Cards
Sim cards are super easy to get in Costa Rica. A pre-paid sim card is the way to go for digital nomads since you can buy a chip for as cheap as $2 then you can load credit as you go. Most companies have data + calling plans.
Unfortunately, don’t expect lightning fast data speed on your phone. 4g is in Costa Rica but coverage is not everywhere, even with Kolbi the government telecommunications company.
Also make sure to ask your renter which provider you should get for a prepaid SIM card. For example, in Golfito, only Claro worked for us, not even Kolbi or Movistar. In Bajos del Toro, only Kolbi worked. When we lived in Playas del Coco, I switched from Movistar to Kolbi because I had absolutely no service in our apartment with Movistar.
Housing
This is what will take a huge chunk of your monthly budget: housing. Most towns have a variety of housing options but you need to keep 3 super important things in mind is how you are going to get around, when you plan to stay and how long you are going to stay.
You are most likely not going to buy a car during your time in Costa Rica so it’s best to live in town so you’re within walking distance to everything. And like they say, what’s the most important factor in real estate? Location, location, location.
Our Experience in Tamarindo area (2016-2019)
For example, during this period of time we lived about 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) away from Tamarindo. Our apartment was not super big with 1 bedroom/1 bathroom and 1 bedroom we converted into an office/storage. We didn’t have a pool, laundry, yard, furniture, a guard or even a working oven. No shelves, closet or cabinets so we built our own. It came with only 1 very old, almost broken down air conditioning unit. We bought all our furniture including a stove, sink, closet, bed, sofa, refrigerator, etc. Since we worked at home with lots of computers, we bought our own air conditioning unit for the office.
It was a very “Tico” place to live, which means nothing fancy. It was also very old with major issues as it had absolutely no maintenance. For this, we paid $375 USD a month plus utilities. We found this place by driving around Tamarindo and Villarreal and calling all the phone numbers on “se alquila” signs.
If you’re looking at Tamarindo downtown, apartments and houses can run from $600-2000 USD a month easily. The increase in price is due to the location and time of year. For example, one of our friends lived in a small studio in Tamarindo for $600 USD a month plus utilities for a 6 month contract. Another friend lived in a 1 bedroom apartment for $800 a month plus utilities.
If you plan to stay short term during the high tourism months starting December – April, prepare to pay more. This is the busiest and most expensive time to visit and stay in Costa Rica. Owners in touristic areas prefer to rent short term stays to tourists because they can make more money. When we looked for a place in Tamarindo starting in January, I couldn’t find anything for less than $1000 USD a month and this was for a small studio with no parking. If you start looking around May, June, September and October for a long term rent, you will get a much better price.
Our Experience in Jaco (2015)
When we lived in Jaco, we lived in a gated condo complex. It was at the north end of town in a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment. Our rent was $725 USD plus utilities (we paid 6 months in advance so we got a discount, original price is $850). Our friend who lived on the beach paid $2500 USD a month for his 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom, ocean view, very spacious condo.
We found this condo through a friend who also lived there.
How Much Will You Spend?
How long you’re staying will also greatly affect how much you spend on housing. A digital nomad staying 1 week will have a very different experience compared to someone staying 3 or 6 months.
Short term stay (less than 3 weeks)
Your options are hostels, couch surf or apartment rentals. If you plan ahead, you may even be able to find a house sit that works for you. However, this takes a lot more work since you need to constantly be looking. Competition is high for house sitting in Costa Rica.
Hostels in Costa Rica generally are clean and have a shared kitchen with a communal area. However, many of the communal areas aren’t conducive for working as they don’t have a designated working space and you can get distracted easily. Wi-Fi is usually available although not the fastest. Some hostels have their own restaurant which you may be able to use as a working space since you are a guest. Selina Hostel is an excellent option with a co-working space.
Something important to take note of is that air conditioned businesses are not common. Most of the restaurants in Costa Rica are open air which can be a problem for your equipment. We run heavy programs on our computers and have lost a few laptops due to the intense heat, saltwater and humidity here. Take note of this particularly if you plan to stay close to the beach because the sand and saltwater is horrible for equipment.
Mid term stay (1-5 months) and long term stay (6+ months)
Airbnb and local listings are the way to go. You can also go to a real estate office but generally those can cost more because of the agents commission and they normally list the fancy places. In touristic areas, they usually only have the very expensive luxury houses or condos.
If you find a place you like on Airbnb that you want to rent for long term, contact the owner directly and see if they are willing to negotiate a long term contract.
Facebook is also your best friend. Each touristic destination has their own real estate and rentals group like Tamarindo Rentals, Puerto Viejo Rentals, etc. There you can post your request for an apartment and find available listings. I highly recommend putting notifications on them as rentals go fast, especially in high season.
Transportation
Costa Rica’s public transportation system can take you all around the country from San Jose or Liberia. However, routes are long. The upside is that it’s cheap!
As a digital nomad, you’re probably only planning on staying in one area. Then taking day trips or traveling at the end of your stay. Most likely you will find a place where you can walk to everything during your stay. Then you can think about getting a bike or renting a vehicle for some days.
As for ride shares, Uber is in many places in Costa Rica such as San Jose, Jaco, Quepos, La Fortuna, Grecia and Liberia but do not rely on it as your sole method of transportation.
Food
Food isn’t the cheapest but you can eat cheap in Costa Rica. To eat cheap, your best options are sodas (traditional Costa Rican restaurants) or bakeries. A typical lunch of rice, beans, salad and meat on average is $6 USD at a soda in a non-touristic destination.
With the huge influx of immigrants the past several years, you can find more variety of food thankfully. Italian, Mexican, Argentinian grill and American are the most common international cuisines. Sadly good Asian food is nearly impossible to find outside of San Jose (and even the ones in San Jose are so-so). Expect to pay $$$ for anything not Costa Rican, especially in touristic places. A personal pizza is easily $15, Argentinain grill $40-50 per person not including drinks, dessert or appetizers.
Groceries
Thankfully, fresh vegetables and fruit are everywhere. Many towns have a feria (farmers market) every weekend where you can get local produce and specialty items. Not only do you help local farmers, but it’s usually a bit cheaper.
2 dozen eggs cost around $2, a kilo of tomatoes is $3 and two kilos of onions are $3. Mangoes, pineapples and cantaloupe are very cheap since they are grown here. But not all produce is cheap. Anything they import is expensive such as asparagus, cherries and Hass avocados.
Meat can be expensive in Costa Rica, depending on the cut. I love dark meat chicken which is super cheap in Costa Rica but white meat isn’t. Good quality beef can be expensive here.
Entertainment
One of the reasons why digital nomads choose Costa Rica as a temporary home base is the myriad of fun activities to do. Spend your weekends hiking in the national park or chasing waterfalls, end your day with happy hour on the beach. Surf in the morning, party at night. The options are endless!
Bars
In touristic towns, particularly the beach areas, bars are everywhere so take advantage of the happy hour. Some bars have happy hour from 11 AM -7 PM! Local beer (Pilsen, Imperial, Bavaria and Rock Ice) is around $2 and mixed drinks start around $5. Craft beer also starts around $5.
Craft beer is growing a lot in Costa Rica so if you love beer, you’ll have lots of options as pretty much all restaurants and bars in touristic destinations now offer craft beer.
Beach
Many digital nomads prefer to live by the beach because there are so many things to do and plus, who doesn’t want to experience the beach life in Costa Rica? Depending on which beach you’re at, you can fish, surf, SUP, swim or snorkel.
Tamarindo, Jaco and Dominical are surfing beaches whereas Coco is a fishing village. Puerto Viejo has beautiful beaches nearby with good snorkeling and surfing at Cocles. Samara is great for surfing, kayaking and swimming.
If you’re in the Central Valley cities, you can grab a bus or Uber to popular spots like Poas Volcano National Park. From San Jose, you can bus to every main town so you can easily go on weekend getaways to the Caribbean, Arenal, Guanacaste or Manuel Antonio.
Tours
Since Costa Rica is a touristic country, there are a ton of things to do. Go ziplining, horseback riding, canyoning, white water rafting, hiking, surfing, cave exploring, sunset sailing and more.
Tours can be expensive but I highly suggest setting aside a part of your budget for them because they are crazy fun. Go ziplining in the cloud forest, horseback ride on the beach, SUP to a white sand beach, sail back under the sunset – you can’t do any of those things if you don’t go on a tour.
Tours prices depend on what the activity is and if you need transportation. A ziplining tour costs around $75, a sunset sailing tour is $85 and white water rafting is $100.
For exercise, gyms in Costa Rica are around $50-70 a month for a membership and classes are $5-10 per session. Lots of yoga classes, crossfit, and those kinds of classes. If you surf, you can look for a used board which can run around $200-400 depending on the board and condition.
Networking
The best way to network in Costa Rica is to join the Facebook groups like Expats in Costa Rica or finding the Facebook page of the town you’re living in and seeing what’s going on that week. Networking works largely through the events put on for tourists which makes it easy to meet people.
Costa Ricans are very outgoing and friendly people so even if you know a little bit of Spanish, it’s not too hard to meet locals. And when you meet one local, they’ll introduce you to everyone they know. We highly recommend learning a bit of Spanish before coming to Costa Rica so you can get to experience the local culture more.
If you stay in touristic places like Samara, Tamarindo or Santa Teresa, it’s easy to just stick to English speakers which honestly won’t let you experience much of Costa Rican culture. Try to visit the surrounding small towns and villages to experience more culture and local life. Also, learning to surf is a great way to meet locals!
Visa
USA and Canada passport holders can stay in Costa Rica for up to 90 days on a tourist visa. Digital nomads in Costa Rica do a visa run every 3 months and most people pop over to Nicaragua or Panama for a short visit. You can do a one day visa run.
What to Bring and Other Important Things
It is very important to bring extra electronic equipment because it is hard to find in Costa Rica and expensive. Here are our recommendations.
- Bring extra battery packs. It is common in rainy season for the power to go out. A surge protector is not a bad idea either because of this reason.
- If you have an iPhone, bring extra charging cables. Bring extra USB-C cords if you use them.
- Voltage is 110 in Costa Rica so bring several convertors/adapters if you need to as they’re not super common.
- Extra SD, CF and memory cards. Bring two CF card readers as they’re so hard to find here. External hard drives. Memory card readers.
- Waterproof laptop case.
Take extra care in your electronics and don’t lose them!
Health
This is something incredibly important many digital nomads gloss over. As much as we’d like to think nothing will happen and that we won’t ever need it, it’s important to make sure you are covered for your health in case of accidents, death, sickness, hospitalization, etc. And now, pandemics.
In Costa Rica, their health care system is a universal health care system. If you go to any public hospital or clinic, the doctors have to see you whether you have insurance or not and whether you are a citizen/resident or not. There are also private clinics available.
Depending on your required treatment and which type of facility you visited, you will have to pay but the cost of healthcare in Costa Rica is very low compared to the USA. You can read more about the Costa Rica medical system here.
Overall
Costa Rica may not have an impressive city skyline or a cheap cost of living compared to other countries, but we have breathtaking waterfalls, volcanoes, beaches, rivers, mountains and jungles. Instead of working inside a 50 story skyscraper, you get to work in the jungle surrounded by toucans, monkeys and sloths.Live on the coasts and your only traffic is the herd of cows in the middle of the street.
Wake up every morning to monkeys howling outside your window, catch waves in the afternoon and end every day watching the sunset on the beach. Get your fill of Vitamin D with nearly year round sunny weather. Hike through jungles to hidden waterfalls, trek through the cloud forest for stunning tree top views.
The beautiful nature, peacefulness and tranquility of Costa Rica is what attracts people the most to this country.
Thinking about moving to Costa Rica permanently? Check out my living in Costa Rica stories!
I hope this guide helps you gain more insight into the life of a digital nomad in Costa Rica and gives you a better idea of how much you’ll spend. It is definitely a country for those who don’t mind a slower pace of life, aren’t on a crazy tight budget and want to escape city life.
I absolutely love that we can surf/hike in the morning, work all day and then relax in our hammock at night. Or watch the sunset from our favorite hill. Or go to one of the dozens of beautiful beaches nearby on our day off!
San says
Hi, thank you for the excellent comprehensive info. I’m planning on spending 3 weeks in June 2022 in Tamarindo in a furnished condo across from Playa Tamarindo, and will be working remotely where zoom calls will be the order of the day. I checked with the condo office – they said they have reliable high-speed internet (didn’t share the speed), but no generator or back-up for power outages. How worried should I be about power outages and internet quality? I believe June is somewhat rainy, so should we expect frequent power outages? Also, is it simple and inexpensive to buy a battery/power bank and data stick? Or should I set up a power invertor for the duration of my stay? Please advise. Thanks!
Sammi says
I would bring your own battery back up, power outages can be common when there is hard rain or a storm so I highly recommend bringing your own back up
Katya says
Hi Sammi! thanks a lot for this blog, it’s really fun and helpful! Me, my husband and sister are coming first time to CR from Moscow 1 September. We are all working online, so we do need good internet and nice place to live for 3+ months (at about $1200). is it real?) I got the impression that we should look somewhere in central valley considering wi-fi connection, prices, and not too hot weather for work). We also highly appreciate relatively quite environment with some cultural life (meaning arts not night bars)), easy to get around (not always with a bike or car), availability of beach and wildlife. Do you think such place even exist?) First thought is SJ but we are coming from Moscow and don’t really want to change one big city to another… or maybe some parts of SJ are not that crowded and noisy? maybe there are some places on the beach that correspond to our hopes? Will appreciate any recommendation from you. all the best!
Sammi says
If you’d want the city then San Jose is the best place with good Internet and easy access to everything, you can even check out the other GAM cities like Heredia, Alajuela or Cartago, doesn’t necessarily have to be San Jose proper since all those cities are so close. Also since the cities are small, you can also find places up more in the mountains or outskirts of the city, the only thing to think about is getting around if you don’t plan to rent a car but there are places that are outside the city up more the mountains but close enough that you can still find Ubers/food delivery/etc. If your budget is $1200 USD a month, you can find a very nice place to rent.
Ruud says
Hi, about the Internet speed…..
I´m Dutch and live in CR for over 20 years. I have a 20Mb fiber optic subscription with Kölbi.
Within CR I have a pretty good and stable 20Mb download and 5 Mb upload.
So far, so good but here comes the problem……
When I connect to a / any server in Holland or any other country in Europe my best connection is about 7 Mb download and 2 Mb upload. It depends on the time of the day.
Keep in mind the time difference 7 (winter time) or 8 (summertime) hours.
The problem is not with the provider but with the Atlantic under sea connection to Europe.
Hope this helps a bit with understanding the “slow Internet” problem.
Greetings from Pura Vida country.
Ruud
Jonathan says
You say that “Costa Rica’s summer time is the Northern Hemisphere’s winter time.” Not true — Costa Rica is in the Northern Hemisphere! During the Northern Hemisphere summer, Costa Rica (coastal) is very hot! During the North American winter, Costa Rica has a more moderate temperature. I think you forgot that Costa Rica is not in South America. It’s all good.
Sammi says
Oops yes you’re correct, we are not in the Southern Hermisphere. I was trying emphasize the point that because we do have the dry and rainy season which we refer to as “verano” and “invierno” here so when it’s winter up in the Canada/US, it’s our summer in Costa Rica here, so I was trying to make that distinction for those who don’t know but you are correct that we are not in the Northern Hemisphere!
Jani says
Hi! Thank you for this excellent breakdown. I’m wondering how is internet for Zoom calls? Have you experienced those since being in Costa Rica for the pandemic? I do a lot of that for my business and am looking to go to CR or Mexico for Jan-March.
Sammi says
It will depend greatly on where you are. In some places, there is pretty decent and stable Wi-Fi but if you will be in more remote areas, it may not be as stable or strong. We personally have fiber optic at our house (we live outside Tamarindo) and Zoom/video chat works very well for us but fiber optic is not that widespread or common since it is expensive. Most hotels and vacation rentals will have basic internet with 2-5 mbps speed. High speed internet is more common in San Jose and there are more workspaces there.
Sammi says
I would try to contact the Airbnb host directly and ask about internet speed and see if they are offering longer term rentals. If you already know where you want to stay, on Facebook, you can check the rentals group of the town. For example, in Tamarindo, we have a group that is Tamarindo Rentals and Real Estate and there is also one for Jaco, PUerto Viejo, etc. etc. and you can join the group and check in there.
Also a quick note you are coming right at high season, the most expensive time of the year so it’s not going to be super cheap!
Yasmin says
Hi Sammi,
Thank you so much for sharing all these. We are planning to try working remotely from Costa Rica from mid December to mid February. I was looking at the places that are available on Airbnb but it’s hard to know if their Internet is good or not. Also the prices on Airbnb are much higher than what you had mentioned on your blog of course. Would you happen to know a place to recommend to us? We are pretty flexible as long as it’s a nice clean private place close to water and nature.
Rita Poll says
Hello Sammi,
Have just discovered your blog. It’s great! I was born in CR and my mother is also Costa Rican but my father was originally from Italy, although he met and married my mum in CR and we lived there until we immigrated to Australia! Would I qualify for citizenship as I was born Costa Rican as was my mother? I’m now in my 50s and last visited CR almost 20 years ago! (Quite expensive and very far to travel from Australia, especially the West coast!). Anyway, any information would be most appreciated. Btw, still speak quite good Spanish 🙂
Sammi says
Hi Rita, I’m not an immigration expert so you’d have to double check but as far as I know, the only option you have is naturalization but you have to be living in Costa Rica for at least 7 years straight or married to a Costa Rican, even if you were born in Costa Rica since naturalization restrictions ends at the age of 25 if your parents never applied you for citizenship.
Sammi says
Hi Pepe, I don’t know too much about it but as far as I know, if you are older than 25 years old and your parents never applied you to get Costa Rican citizenship, your only option is naturalization but you have to be living in Costa Rica for at least 7 years or married to a Costa Rican. If you don’t plan on living in Costa Rica for 7 years then getting citizenship wouldn’t work unless you’re younger than 25. I am looking into naturalization since Yeison is Costa Rican and we are getting married here soon and those were the requirements.
Pepe says
Hola Sammi, I was born in Puerto Viejo, Limon but I moved to Germany a few years later where my parents are from and haven’t been back since. Now I’m traveling through Asia working as a freelancing software developer. I was thinking about getting a Costa Rician citizenship (using my birth certificate) to solve my tax problem since Costa Rica operates a territorial tax system. I’m just not sure if that would actually work for me because I’m not planing on staying there, I want to keep traveling through Asia. Do you have any suggestions about that?
Desiree Zink says
Hello,
are you still in Costa Rica? I want to know more abut DNs. Are you willing to meet me for a short interview or do a Skype Call?
I want to know more about your story,your work, your employers,… 🙂
Your blog is helping me a lot!
Please conact me if you are interested 🙂
I will be in CR until Christmas!
Greetings,
Desi
Sammi says
Hi! Yes I’m still in Costa Rica, you can read about our blog in the “about us” or start here sections 🙂
Mari says
Love your blog. What is the best way for self-employed people like myself to have access to reliable Internet for business? I am thinking of transitioning to an Internet-based business but want to make sure this is possible to continue in Costa Rica, even if the Internet is slower than in the U.S.
Sammi says
You will need to live somewhere close to a good Internet connection or tower and check what companies are available in that area. We used to use Tigo which was the worst service in the world, but when we lived in Coco it was the only company that reached our apartment so we were stuck with it unfortunately. We barely got 5 mbps and it went in and out all the time. When we lived in Jaco, we used Kolbi which was decent, it was slow but stable as we couldn’t afford a higher plan a few years ago. Now near Tamarindo, we live right next to a tower and use CableTica who has a direct line to our apartment so we get great Internet. It’s not cheap but it’s worth paying more to get good Internet, which is a rarity in Costa Rica.
You won’t be able to live somewhere far off like in the mountains or in less developed areas to get good Internet, it needs to be a more developed area. Unfortunately it’s just difficult and quite expensive to get good Internet. We finally were able to get 20 mbps with Cable Tica and it costs around I think like $80 a month.
Brian Herten-Greaven says
Hola Sammi, Been following your excellent blog. My wife and I are currently in CR visiting our son who will be marrying a Tica girl . We are looking to find a place my wife and I can visit next year and beyond to stay for 90 days (Dec-Feb) at a time. We are retired and in our 70’s, so a quiet, nice beach area would be nice. We think a slightly more in-land location (i.e. from expensive beach life) would be good but within a few minutes drive from shops and restaurants. I make fashion and costume jewelry as a hobby and would love to set something up with a store to supply my exotic pieces. Is there a place that comes to mind that you would recommend we visit that would meet these requirements.
Sammi says
Hi guys, I would check the small towns in the Central Valley like Grecia or Atenas. Those are the most popular towns for foreigners who want to retire in Costa Rica, it has great weather, they’re up in the mountains and in a local CR town.
Raymond says
Overall, Costa Rica doesn’t seem like the ideal place for digital nomads. Slow internet and difficult conditions make it unattractive. As for the beaches, it sounds like they’re super touristy and dirty. I was thinking of going to CR, but now I’m probably not. There are better beaches / living conditions elsewhere it seems. Or am I missing something?
Sammi says
The beaches are actually gorgeous and super clean. The downsides are definitely internet, it’s expensive and bad infrastructure which makes it not ideal for digital nomads but it’s a trade off for lots of nature and wildlife and a very laid back lifestyle.
Vivian says
Hola Sammi,i just spent hours reading your blogs, i love them,and feel very lucky to find this website today. I am Vivian, i am Chinese and currently working in China in medical profession, i have a costa rica bf (well should be called fiance since few month ago 🙂 )as well,and we are planning to move to CR this autumn. So i was thinking to enroll into an university to learn Spanish,and then get a job or i dont know,some business,but i found that its very difficult to find a job there for chinese people specially my career…i feel kind of stressful of how to settle myself down in CR,can you give me some advices of how and what can i do there or any information ？ muchas gracias!!!
Sammi says
Hi Vivian, well first I’d see if how you guys like living in CR together if you’ve never been there before or have not spent long periods of time there before. That’s the most important thing. Second, it is definitely best to learn Spanish because to get a legal job in CR, it is necessary. If you are planning on getting your Costa Rican citizenship after you get married, it’ll be easier for you to get a job since you won’t need to apply as a foreigner, but it will be required to be fluent in Spanish to get a job here. Good luck and congrats!