Tips on how to go about moving to Costa Rica

@Daveg350z

Hello and welcome on board !

I suggest that you read the Costa Rica Guide and that you open your own thread on the Costa Rica forum to seek advice from members.

All the best

Bhavna

@Bhavna

Than k you!

Any tips on how to go about moving there would be fantastic.

Big decision and move to leave Canada, but we are looking at the more relaxing lifestyle and living less in the rat race.

Here you go, Dave !

This is your new thread. I hope members will guide you soon.

Regards

Bhavna

@Bhavna Any question will be my pleasure helping you!

We brought everything we owned except the "cold-weather" stuff in a shipping container. If you have a vision of staying here, as we did in 2005, we strongly recommend bringing everything you own in a container. It will be easier and cheaper than taking pennies on the dollar in a garage sale or giving everything to Goodwill.

No matter what, use a Costa Rica-based container shipper, not one from North America. The local guys know all the local ropes that no North America-based firm can possibly know. Either way, the cost will be the same.

Also, strongly consider importing your own vehicle. If you use a 40-foot container, pack carefully and the vehicle can come freight-free (but NOT duty-free).

Here's a great comprehensive resource for anyone considering the move: ***

@Sdaigle...Please no relocation services.They are a dime a dozen like all the yoga brujos...

@edwinemora I don't know where you got the idea it was a relocation service. Obviously you didn't click on the link. It's just what I said it was, a comprehensive guide.

@Sdaigle...What link ? It has already has been disabled.

@Sdaigle

Hello, please note that the link will not be approved as it is a commercial product and members have to pay for this guide.

Regards

Bhavna

Hi Dave.

I hope you get lots of advice and testimonials from others on how they approached such a 'life-changing' move.

Here's how I initially approached it:

I came down here on an 11 day 'self-guided tour'... I planned ahead to get a glimpse at as much of the country as I could.  I hired a Tico driver so I could look out the windows!!  hahaha!   He turned out to be great and of course, his Spanish was everything.  I paid him well, as well as paid for all over-night accommodations and food and travel costs.   We started in Limon (carrib.), then down to Porto Viejo... then over to San Vito (panama border) and on towards the pacific to Golfito.  I had a list of needs and wants and paid more attention to the 'needs' so that I wouldn't fall in love with a future nightmare... like the tiny house in Golfito that was actually built out 'over' the water... ???   like... a house IN the pacific ocean...  We continued north to see some of the south pacific beach towns, and then inland to San Isidro-General.   I kept that particular area on my list... big town with amenities and resources, as well as being somewhat close to the beaches as well as mountains.   We continued north and ferried it over to the Nicoya Peninsula which is HEAVEN... but too remote if you are old and don't want to drive in mud half of the year. some of the Nicoya beaches were too beautiful for words.  Continued north to Pacific Beaches of Guanacaste... not for me, and hot!!!  Hotels and resorts and tourists and gated gringo communities where nobody speaks spanish...yuck.  But the Pacific is beautiful there. 

Then inland to the Lake Arenal, Arenal Volcano, town of La Fortuna, and surrounding area.  Wow!!   The 'wants' check-list was easy to fill; and the needs check-list filled quickly as we went south of La Fortuna into the giant Valley that sits just west of ciudad Quesada.   There was a plethora of small towns and villages that were almost all within a 45 minute car ride to good sized towns/small cites with hospitals and everything else.  Some were lower, hotter, and more tropical.  But the foothills of the mountains surrounding 3 sides of the valley offered cooler temps and good vistas.  I was sold... and actually found my future (with a lot of work) home sweet home there... and just 5 hours before my departure flight to return stateside.

It may sound like i went overboard on my search... but this was going to be the rest of my life... I couldn't afford to take a micro look.. I had to go big and see it all.   So very glad tat I did.   I always thought that I would be living in a tiki hut with a hammock just fotsteps from a lazy beach with much younger friends and a monkey instead of a dog.. boy was I dreaming!!   I still have a hammock.. but mountains instead of beaches, natural hot water thermals instead of salty ocean water, a dog!!, lots of birds and really nice neighbors that happen to be cows.

Pura Vida.  enjoy the adventure.  Make those lists and don't forget... you will get older; so use some of that wisdom that you've spent a lifetime accumulating.   Peace.

We did take a tour designed for aspiring expats. Sadly, that opportunity is no longer available. And before our first visit, we established a relationship with a self-appointed real estate agent who was very willing to answer many, many questions via email.

Two things about coming here: first, you're going to need the services of an attorney/notary more in your first year here than in your entire life to date. So make the effort to find a good one.

Second, you're going to need a helpful "guide" who you can consult with to learn what you'll need to actually settle in and how to do it. That can be an experienced expat or a bilingual Costa Rican. Things are different here than in the U.S. or Canada. Those "things" are not necessarily better or worse, but they are different.

Daveandmarcia...   just a thought...

considering there are so many people with so many questions about making the move down here... maybe starting a full-service 'introduction to CR' tour service would be a really great idea for somebody.  ???   

It could include small 'meet and greets' with realtors, residency agents, an English speaking lawyer, a health insurance person who knows the ins/outs of private vers. Caja; etc.  There could be a tiny gathering/cocktail party where your clients could meet and mix with expats that have already been here... 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or more.

Do a trip (small bus.. 10-15 clients) that visits various beach locations; another one that hits the Central Valley and possibly the La Fortuna area; etc.   

Show them that we actually have supermarkets here, and farmers markets (ferias); a typical concrete house with garden and pool; eat at a couple of sodas; etc.   Stop at a few points and give them a free day or two to relax... etc.

It sounds like something that so many people on this site are in need of.

I wish I knew somebody that had the time to do this...  My friends in the states are needing the same kind of intro...but I don't want to be their guide... I'm just a homebody and I lack patience with in-person conversations if the other person even 'hints' at being not so bright.

I think it would be a profitable business; and the person could make their own schedule. 

Or, be the organizer; and pay a Tico who speaks excellent English to take the group out on tour.

Just a thought.   I've looked at other forums... all the same questions... 

Peace

@rainagain.....That full service intro to Costa Rica with the all encompassing seminars, networks to get it done for those with'Costa Rica Fever' has already been done and reinvented.......You get to see one of the most foremost relocation experts for this,implode(see on YouTube---it is rife)....It was classic because it was just too typical of another disastrous partnership that falls apart,beyond frequency in Costa Rica...

Edwin,

I understand.   I'm thinking of a service that is more for the pure 'satisfaction' from helping others, rather than something where the underlying motive is the sale of a condo, or building lot/new house.   

I think it could work. 

It could almost be like a vacation... except that one would come away with a clearer idea of what moving to, and living in, CR is really like.  Also...  a refreshing change for some, because you would spend less time 'guessing' in a foreign place which can sometimes plague a trip abroad; and you wouldn't have to make every single decision along the journey... which we all know can lead to some 'disagreements' between travel partner(s).

Give them direction, information, and some free time.   Not hand-holding...  but 'sharing'.

Or...  bottle some of this friggin delicious water than oozes from the hills and mountains of this magical place... and sell it stateside.  It's closer than France (Evian Water) and Fiji  (Fiji water)...  My family and friends that have visited (usually, un-invited) still, STILL !!  comment to me about how much they loved the water here.   Who knew!!?!

@rainagain......That is your job !....Most come stubbornly into Costa Rica looking to get hand-fed with information and still do a good of destroying themselves financially and in every other way possible.....It is a revolving door of this type of crazy-cake into Costa Rica that never ceases...

Hahaha.   Yes... crazy cake is a good analogy...  if the 'ingredients' aren't correct, nor measured accurately, the cake will be memorable for all of the wrong reasons.

If you know your way around a 'kitchen' ... then baking can be an adventure!!

PV