Hello from California

Shmooze wrote:

We are looking at visiting the Tamarindo area in July to look for future retirement opportunities. I retired just over a year ago (retired early - late 50's). My partner has about 2 years left. We visited Panama last year so we want to check out CR since we have been told it is more expat established. Would appreciate any realtor recommendations for the Tamarindo area. Or if anyone has location recommendations , that would be appreciated as well. We wanted to be on/near the ocean, within about 45 min to an airport, not too touristy but not out in Tim Buck Too.  Appreciate anyone's time and suggestions. 

Thank you,

Hola Shmooze,

Welcome to Expat.com!

I would first encourage you to read through as many of the previous Forum posts as you can handle.  You gain a lot of insight from these posts.  Note the dates on the posts as some may be older and things may have changed.

Next, PLEASE do not buy a house until you have lived here at least a year.  You will find that the vast majority of us that live here will advise you of this.  Living here is nothing like living in North America or Europe.  I very much like and enjoy living here but it is not for everyone.  I'm also a Northern Californian and it was an adjustment for me.  I had traveled extensively prior to my move and there were still things that I did not anticipate.

You need to spend as much time in various areas and determine what might work best for you as a starting point.

As to realtors, be advised that they are not licensed, no requirement of training, education or knowledge of any kind.  Yes, there are good realtors, just be very wary and make sure that you speak face-to-face with Gringos that have personally used them.

If you want to be near the coast and an airport, I would suggest that you explore outside the Liberia area and Quepos.  My personal preference would be somewhere outside of Quepos.  Quepos itself is very touristy in the summer but if you're outside of town a ways it has very nice areas.  Quepos will also be wetter than Liberia in the winter/rainy season.  Again, just depends on what you prefer.  I like jungles and a lot of wildlife (as in animals.)  Another one you might want to explore is the Golfito area in the Southern Zone.

Best of luck on your search and hope you have a great adventure in the process!    ☀️🌴

- Expat Dave