Help Needed to Find Safest Place to Live in CR

Would love to help... but need to know if you are hell-bent on a 'type' of area.  We don't want to waste your time if the 'country' or the 'mountains' or whatever... doesn't interest you.

Give us some hints and a little lifestyle needs and wants...

Safe EXISTS here.   I have no bars on windows or doors, no fence around my property, some windows have been open for around 5.5 years; doors are rarely locked etc.  No cameras, no alarms, and no cheesie signs from the hardware store that are 'supposed' to scare off burglars who probably can't read anyway.

I think a few garden tools have 'walked'... but I was stupid for leaving them sitting out where the 'invitation' was visible from the street.  Also... I don't leave; I have pets; so I'm a fixture.  And...  I know my whole village and they know me.  We look out for each other and even the 'bad hombres' who live here.... they go outside the village to do their 'thing'... or else they would end up dead; by the hand of their own families.

So, let us know what you're looking for... Cows? Monkeys? Surf? Cool mountain air? village, town, city, north, south, etc.

Open to different areas for sure.  Have travelled most of the country and there are spots where I don't think I would settle.  What you have described is what I'm looking for.  Mountains are fine as I like the temperatures.  Have stayed on the coast for short time and found it too hot (great for a holiday but not for a long stay).  Coming from North America, of course, think being in gated community is safer BUT this could be a magnet as I find locals THINK us North Americans are rich so not certain I would go back into gated.  Did visit a town a few years back called San Vito and really liked it there.  Would like to stay about an hour from SJ airport though.  Thanks for your input.

@cratedivision

I've been to San Vito... maybe there are more than one???   It was just a stone's throw from Panama.  Very far from Everything.

Anyway... one hour from SJ International Airport ... distance? or driving time???   Hahahahahaha!!    The trafffic on that highway that goes east (to city) and west (to San Ramon + ultimately Puntarenas) can move like a snail; if not, slower. 

The NW suburbs and exburbs (Grecia, Sarchi, etc) have some altitude for excellent living temps (imagine never using AC) and are close 'enough' to the Capital to benefit from proximity to the many amenities there... including good healthcare, shopping, BETTER FOOD options, and of course... the airport.  Expats are spread out all over that area, but not usually clumped into gated enclaves.  You can still have some English speaking friends, but you don't have to 'hang' with them constantly.  there are various altitudes for good temps, even close to Poas Volcano.

A little further west... Naranjo.  Naranjo is a coffee region; the hills and mountains around the town have really great vistas.  Town isn't too big... but has amenities and probably 25 buses a day going either north to Quesada; or south towards the airport and ultimately into SJ.  North of Naranjo, and higher up, is Zarcero... also known as Little Switzerland.  The town is know for vegetable production.  Never do I not see the steep hills around there 'dotted' with the white hats of people working in the fields with their hands.

A bit Further west is the really good sized town/small City of San Ramon.  Again... great public transit options to and from the airport and SJ, as well as regional buses to surrounding towns, and 5 buses per day up to La Fortuna.  San Ramon has a hospital, a univiersity, and everything else you would need.  Very pretty central Park.  Good shopping and for some reason, great icecream. ??  And lots of restaurants, etc,  Outside of town is a plethora of options for living 'rural' but not remote... you could walk to town, ride a bike, or a quick drive/taxi.  West of town are higher hills where some expats live ... they can actually see the Gulf of Nicoya from their homes... high up and surprisingly cool.  The entire area around SR is hilly and full of interesting nooks and crannies where you could be happy.

Straight east of SJ metro area is Cartago.  Good sized small city... has all amenities.  Cooler temps... it is actually popular with Ticos who return from living abroad to retire.  Good sized Univ. Campus and thus... lots of youth and all that comes with an active population.  Further east and you get lower and have to deal with the heat and humidity that comes off the Carrib.  The area has a lot of big, busy, agriculture towns, and some of them can have crime.

Are you signed up for the STEP program with the State Department??   You should sign up... they send regular updates (usually from the Embassy in SJ) regarding safety, travel, protests, Passport renewal, long distance voting, etc.  It was good to be updated by them during the Pandemic.   They explained travel, vaccines, etc.   I never felt isolated.

I'm not well versed on the areas south of SJ... but it is mountainous.   Further south is San Isidro General... good sized town with Hospital and most amenities... between the south pacific beaches and the 'big' mountains that run down the center of the country.  But not 'one hour' to the airport... probably 3???

I am west of Quesada; and south of La Fortuna... I live in a village of 150... no crime; cheap real estate, Great People, and there is a bus stop with 5 daily buses to San Ramon, ciudad Quesada, and La Fortuna... so not isolated and plenty of easy, half-day shopping trips keeps me well stocked and clothed.   Hahaha!!!   The area has towns and villages scattered over an immense valley... with Quesada on the east, La Fortuna up at the NW... and nothing but mountains south and west of us.  Lots of critters.  We have towns in the foothills with somewhat cooler temps... but most 'life' is in the big valley... that has numerous rivers and streams so water is everywhere; locally produced produce, meat and dairy is easy to get and reasonably priced, and of course... it is western San Carlos... so it is wet... really wet during the rainy season.  It rains practically every day from sometime in May... thru October... and lingers to the New Year.  I came here because I really wanted to see what it was like to live where it rains that much!!   It isn't too bad... usually hot and sunny in the mornings; clouds roll in after lunch, and then boom... deluge!!! most afternoons and into the evenings.  It is almost ALWAYS cool at night... even in June/July !!  It is green and lush and the rain keeps things clean.  Lots of nature!!   Growing season is 365.   I never get tired of any of it (well... maybe the ants... but the Ticos are great at joking about them... so I'll be fine...)   I can get to the airport in 3 hours, or 5.  Depends on traffic.   It wasn't on my 'needs' list... I haven't left since 2019... except to go to Colombia when my visa ran out ( my residency hadn't started yet), and for a bucket list vacation to Peru.

I hope you get other hints and suggestions.   I think you'll have to do some researching and a few short vacations to various areas to check things out.

Best of luck.

Thank you so much for all this information - Wow!  You may want to consider doing expat tours - LOL.....I will take my time checking into some of these area for sure.  Some of them I am very familiar with already but quite a few I'm not.  Thanks again and if I ever get settled, I will let you know.

@cratedivision

Cool...   glad to help, even if it was sort of random.

Expat Tours...  Yep, I could definitely do that... but I'm a home body... I would need partners; and meds.   

My only major issue would be dealing with people who, unlike you, believe they can get a really nice house just a few 'feet' from the beach for a steal... as if this place hasn't already been discovered.  Once I start bursting their bubbles and dashing their false hopes, I would be, according to them, the worst 'tour' operator in the history of mankind.   I honestly think that the flight down here goes through some sort of vacuum that sucks 'common sense' out of people's heads... and they land without a clue.  As if, their entire 'life experience' was washed from their souls.   

Anyway... you sound  like a 'solid' thinker; so I'm certain you'll land on 2 feet here.  If you haven't started with Spanish learning... Start Today!!!    I personally like Duolingo... it is free and it gets 'better' with time.

Once again, best of luck... or, Buena Suerte!!

We've lived on the side of Volcan Poas, outside Grecia, for nineteen years. Grecia has a lot to be said for it. In our barrio, there is almost no crime, but nothing's perfect. About ten years ago, there was a string of ten or so daytime house burglaries. Turned out, it was the same guy who was apprehended making a second "visit" to one of his favorites. Cops were summoned and the problem was solved.

We lock the doors at night and when we're away. Otherwise, they're open as are all the windows 24/365. Our Belgian malinois barks a lot, but he also makes friends with everyone, including strangers. We wouldn't have it any other way.

Grecia has most of the amenities you'll need, a fairly large expat population, and is about an hour from Juan Santamaria International airport and about an hour and a half from downtown San Jose (which we hate). Like rainagain, we have no security systems. No walls, gates  or fences, no alarms, no menacing signs, no alarm system or private police force, no etc. Breaking into our home would be child's play, but it hasn't happened yet.

If Grecia interests you, maybe we should get together.

As an aside, whether here or in the U.S., crime statistics are notoriously inaccurate. Don't believe what you read.