New Guy

Neil, first of all if you come down in September you will be right in the middle of the raining season, no matter if you are at the beach, mountain, etc. And it rains, so there will be lots of humidity.  I suggest to start in San Jose and its metropolitan area, I do not like it but some people do. Within a couple of hours you can drive to many smaller towns; I bet one of them will catch your eyes. TV, cell phone service and internet is  available  everywhere, just about.

Hola nlawrence!

You are right about weather/heat/humidity being very different in different areas of the country.  I am like you in that I do not like the humidity.  Yet I now live in the tropics and it is of course humid.  You will find a big difference in humidity at different elevations.  I am originally from Oregon and Northern Cal and I somehow adjusted to the weather here. 

The only way to discover what is good for you is to spend some time here.  You will not be able to find the perfect area on a vacation.  You'll need/want to spend "time" here.

Because you are now living in LA and with the things that you said you are looking for, I would suggest Escazu/Santa Ana areas first and then explore from there.  That area offers good restaurants, nightlife, etc. The only way to find "your" perfect adventure location is to spend time here.

- Expat Dave

What is the best time of the year to come to CR and look around for the right
location.

To be honest there is no right time.  You will want to see what life can be like in the dry season, the wet season, and the in between.  The best way to pick and choose is to come down for several visits during the different times of the year.  Many people make initial mistakes on choosing a location based on a one time visit during one time of the year.

All of the above makes sense.  What I would add is that it is very common for people who move to another country, to end up moving several times in their first couple of years.  There are all kinds of reasons for this happening, not just the weather.

I moved into one nice apartment in Greece that fit all my KNOWN criteria,  only to move out within 6 months because it turned out the street it was on was a favourite for teenagers to roar down at night on their scooters.  They like to use a long screwdriver to poke into the exhaust and damage the muffler, so that it sounds like a Harley.  At least to them it does.  LOL

A friend had to move because the landlord kept dropping in without an invitation, once or twice a week, 'to see how he was getting along'.

So this is one of the reasons why I suggest people should never buy before they have spent at least a year and preferably 2 in a place.  It's also the reason why I am not really an advocate of the 'visit and see' idea. 

Everywhere is great when you are on a vacation but that has nothing to do with how you will find it once you start living there.  The ONLY way to know if you will like living somewhere, whether that is the entire country or the area you pick to rent in, is to live there.  A visit can tell you some things but it cannot tell you "the right
location."

My advice would be to take a more laid back approach to it.  Visit if you want and check out a few places you think might suit your needs but don't take the approach of having to find the 'right place'.  Just find a 'starting place.'

People always seem to want to put this pressure on themselves to 'get it right the first time'.  That might work for some things but make no sense for other things.