Liberia

I have a small condo in Tamarindo, which is about a 45 minute drive from Liberia.  The temperature is very consistent (hot!) and the people are friendly.  Quite a few Canadian and American expats here.  This is a beach town on the Pacific side - you can manage here quite nicely without a car; walk to the beach, the stores, restaurants.  Real estate can still be purchased quite affordably if you are content with a smaller apartment/condo, but prices are rising.  Rentals are cheaper during the tourist down-time.   The rainy season is about May to October, but the rain here is once every few days for an hour or two in the afternoon or evening - doesn't much affect the temperature.  Generally 28 - 34c. (80-90 F) all year round. 

Cost of food in grocery stores is not much cheaper than at home.  The farmer's market once weekly is a good place to buy fish, fruit and vegetable, which is all I really need.  About $10 a day covers it for me.  Restaurant meals can be as expensive as home if you go to places that cater to tourists on the main drag.  But if you wander around to the smaller places, it  is much more affordable. The water is clean here and you can feel safe drinking it right from the tap anywhere here.

If you wanted to come here for a month or so, it's easy to walk around and find a cheap hotel to stay at until you get your bearings.  It wouldn't be fancy, but no need to book on some internet site and pay much more than is necessary.

Liberia is the nearest airport, although Tamarindo has its own little airport where you can get a flight to Liberia or San Jose.  Liberia is fine, and has the usual city-living stuff, but no ocean!

Wherever you choose, it's a good idea to spend a bit of time and see how a place fits for you  There are cheaper places than Tamarindo, but, again - if you get a bit familiar with Tamarindo and rent a car with GPS, you can drive around and look at various small locales and see what you think.  The roads in Costa Rica are not what you are likely accustomed to - a lot are narrow and unpaved and full of holes.  Even the main highways are single lanes and curvy with a maximum speed of 80 k - about 50 mph.  On the other hand, where would you be going in such a hurry?  If you just relax and expect that going anywhere is an all-day event, it works.
That's about all I can think of - Tamarindo is my choice and I love it here.

Liberia is a good starting point, but I don't think it is a place where you would chose to stay for three months. Condos in the actual town of town of Liberia are few and far between, so you would need to look for a furnished house. Most are VERY close to their neighbors but it isn't far to the popular beach towns, where everything is more expensive.

Expect the temps. to remain in the 90's so you need to take this into consideration.

Thank you Joan. Tamarindo sounds more of what I'm looking for so going to start researching that place too. Since its only 45 min drive from Liberia I can visit when I'm there sometime in Feb. Are you planing on living in Tamarindo permanently or just short term?

Hi, Vince. There's nothing near spectacular to see in Liberia, except if you crave for a Big Mac or a Whopper. Tamarindo is expensive, as much as Paris if not more. I lived around there for two years. Guanacaste province is hot, very hot, beach towns are more like beach villages for the most part. If you are planning on moving to a beach town I recommend Samara, Carrillo or Playas del Coco/Playa Hermosa, against Tamarindo. Of course they all lack of something whether it is a good supermarket  or a Walmart type store, movie theaters,etc. If a town has one it doesn't have the other. But there are expats living on all those towns, from Liberia to Tamarindo and other beaches  and some are happy where they are. Hard to tell what you prefer.Most towns though are relative safe but I have known and heard of house breaking, muggings, even murder in every town, just about.

Thank's MauroN, My preference is a beach town that I don't need to have a car to get around. I don't need a Walmart or movie theaters just some kind of night life and beach life. As far as crime I do understand crime happens in ever part of the world but if I'm going to move anywhere I want to feel reasonably safe for my property and self. Thank you for the information and will add the places you mentioned to my research list. As for me being in Liberia it's only because a friend that speaks Spanish is going there and I figure I'll tag along with them making it a perfect opportunity to start my hands-on research. Thank you again.

We sometimes 'shop' in Liberia and it is often in the low 100's F and can't wait to get out of there...

Right now Liberia, there is major roadworks hppening, which can make it difficult to manouvre around in.

Many areas around Liberia are presently suffering from extreme drought conditions

Hi, Vince;

I haven't yet made up my mind as to whether to stay here full-time or just part time. I'm just mulling over the issues with healthcare and whether  or not I want to abandon my Canadian healthcare benefits. That would really be the only factor.

At the moment, my plan for the rest of this year and next is to be here about half  The time.

I figured that if I stay here all of November, December, and January, that would  allow for about 10 days in each of the other months that I could be here. Or if I stayed  November through February,  then I could be here for about a week and each of the other months. Six months is the magic number to stay in Canada in order to maintain health care benefits. But I am just making inquiries as to how much similar healthcare would cost here. 
Anyway, you will find many different  opinions here about the ideal lifestyle. These things are, of course, entirely subjective and your plan of visiting various places for a month each is a good one.   As for nightlife,  there are lots of places you can go. My preference is live music, and I'm just beginning to find music that I like and friends that I can go to listen with.

Thank you Joan, I can understand the healthcare issue you have which that would be one I have to look into once I decide where to move permanently. It dose get overwhelming researching this stuff and everyone has a different opinion as you said all being subjective. Thank you again for the input.