My name is Bill and my wife is Jean. We are seriously considering retiring in Costa Rica, probably the Central Valley area. We have never been there but are planning our first scouting visit at the end of November. We will be treating this as a retirement exploratory visit, not a normal vacation. We are looking for places to meet folks that have been in Costa Rica for several years and can make recommendations on where we need to go and look for.
Any advise from the expat community there would be very helpful.
Thanks
Bill
November visit to Costa Rica
MississippiBill
22 August 2012 02:42:20
38
Armand
22 August 2012 09:12:13
24785
Hi Bill!
Welcome to Expat.com!
Your post has been moved to the Costa Rica forum for better visibility.
Regards
Armand
DDTica
24 August 2012 16:19:03
93
Be careful. The end of November can get quite messy around here. LOTS of rain. How long are you staying? Everyone will give you differing opinions of living here but everything completely depends on you and your outlook on living in a Central American country. You must adapt and be tolerant. Nothing will ever goes the way you plan. Get a good lawyer (outlierlegal.com)
Good luck!
MississippiBill
24 August 2012 18:33:34
38
Thanks.. Jean and I are looking forward to the visit. We plan to take a tour then stay in different areas of the Central Valley. We hope to run into some expats and listen to their opinions and advice. Any good watering holes where expats meet and have a beer and maybe shoot a game of Pool?
TerrynViv
24 August 2012 21:33:17
622
We made our inaugural trip in November of 2010. Weather was very cooperative and we put on 2700 km. We did find the property we were looking for and purchased it in 2011. We are working towards retiring there in 2014. Best of luck!!!
Terry
DDTica
25 August 2012 16:27:16
93
The Time Out Tavern is the go-to place in Escazu for the ex-pat community. Really good hamburgers too. They can be found on Facebook.
MississippiBill
25 August 2012 16:51:34
38
Thanks - We will be sure to check it out when we get there. Any advice on finding a rental apartment/condo? We would want to rent for 6 months to a year before buying.
Aurélie
27 August 2012 08:01:46
22735
Hello Bill.
The Housing in Costa Rica section might help. You can post an advert there. 
Thank you,
Aurélie
DDTica
04 September 2012 02:19:35
93
It's not cheap. Expect to pay around $1000 for a decent furnished place. It is really tricky to get around San Jose, so try to find an area you fell comfortable in and go from there. Escazu gets all the press but San Pedro and Curribat are pretty hip places too. Try https://www.airbnb.com/ most of these places speak english too. Good luck.
MississippiBill
05 September 2012 01:43:46
38
Thanks - I doubt whether we would want to live in San Jose. We will be checking out as much as we can in our week in November...
quaz77
08 September 2012 01:10:06
3
wish I could help Bill but my wife and i are doing the same thing. Keep me tuned in if you get an interesting response. We will do the same.
MississippiBill
08 September 2012 12:55:15
38
Have you been or are you going to CR soon?
I have been systematically trying to put together questions and facts. But our November trip will be the determining factor. Once committed, we will get into high gear. The whole residency request process seems long and difficult.
I will certainly share anything we find out on our trip.
Bill
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