Playa Potreo

cheekimunki30 wrote:

I'm looking for a place in Playa Potreo. Anybody have thoughts on that location? Safety, friendly people, affordability, etc? Thanks.

Hola Cheek,

As most people living here will tell you, "you" need to spend a bit of time there and make that decision for yourself.  What one person may like in an area another may not.  Personally, I'd rather drink my own bath water than live at the beach.  Waaaay too hot and most areas are too touristy for me.   At the same time you will find many, many Gringos along the coast that live there and enjoy it immensely.

Visit various areas, RENT, and find your personal paradise.   

Best of luck in your search.

- Expat Dave

Thanks for the info. That's the plan, to get there and find what area suits my dad the best, but we need to pick a place to start out at. I just wanted to see if anyone had any good info on the area. I'd rather avoid a place notorious for something bad if I can.

What does your dad like to do with his 'free time?' He could possibly find it boring  being on his own.

There isn't much in Potrero if you are not into water sports...although quite nice for a weekend away. Playas del Coco would offer him more choices. There is a short cut ( The Monkey Trail) between them, which for most of the year is accessible to vehicles, but during the rainy season, he may have to travel the  long way round from Playa Potrero for groceries, hospitals,  etc.

Buses don't use the short cut.

Keep in mind that close to the beach it will be quite hot and humid.  The higher you go in elevation it of course cools down.  Not really clear if you're saying that you're moving down with him; but, if he's going to be moving down here and living by himself, you may want to consider being close to a more Gringo retirement area - there are many throughout the country.

- Expat Dave

This time of year playa potreo is very dry,with temps in the low 90's,and high 80's. Windy,which gives the beach a natural fan.I dig the weather here.Shorts,tank tops,and sandals are the wardrobe.Rainey season is nice because the showers come late afternoon and cool things down.More humidity during the Rainey season for sure.Playa Potreo is awesome,nice place to live.

Surffeaver wrote:

This time of year playa potreo is very dry,with temps in the low 90's,and high 80's. Windy,which gives the beach a natural fan.I dig the weather here.Shorts,tank tops,and sandals are the wardrobe.Rainey season is nice because the showers come late afternoon and cool things down.More humidity during the Rainey season for sure.Playa Potreo is awesome,nice place to live.

Here is the perfect example.  Surffeaver enjoys the area a lot as many Gringos do.  I on the other hand would pretty much hate every minute of life there.   

Anyone considering a move to CR needs to experience various areas on their own and find what "they" like.  Many choices in CR - beach, mountains, dry, wet, high humidity, relatively low humidity.  Very small country but many choices.  You can find paradise in Costa Rica; however, you have to find "your" interpretation of paradise.

- Expat Dave

Thanks, all. This is the kind of stuff I want to know. Temp not a huge prob as my Dad is coming from Florida where he works outside. He likes fishing, snorkeling, and site seeing.  I'm not moving there, just helping him to settle. I'll be visiting of course!

Biggest questions for me is safety, access to bus line, and groceries. Thanks again!

I live about 10 minutes away from Potrero/Surfside.  I assume you are talking about Potrero, since Potreo is not a place I've heard of.  In my opinion, this little community is probably the best in the area.  You're close to the beach where many people fish from shore, the beach is good for walking or swimming, and there's an abundance of trees in the area for good shade.  Also, housing prices are reasonable (for this area).  There are also a few good restaurants and bars in the area.

Somebody said you would have to go Coco for groceries which is crazy.  Tamarindo has 3 grocery stores in the area 15 minutes away(including Auto Mercado!) and, although there is no hospital in the area, the clinics here are very well-equipped with good doctors. 

On the downside, without a car, you would be bound to stay in Potrero for all of your needs, which means buying groceries at supers.  I can't comment on buses as I've never taken one.   It doesn't look like a pleasant experience to me.  It's definitely a residential community.  Also, there are lots of break-ins in this area, like any beach community.

Thanks, TheWizz. 

So there's no bus that picks up in Potrero? Are there taxis?

cheekimunki30 wrote:

Thanks, TheWizz. 

So there's no bus that picks up in Potrero? Are there taxis?

The buses here go pretty much everywhere, so there's lots of buses going through Potrero.  There are also pirate taxis to take you anywhere.   No official taxis here.

I said that the 'buses don't use the short cut' to get to Playas del Coco...not that there was no bus service.

And yes, I suggested going to Coco for groceries, totally forgetting that one could go to Tamarindo in the other direction

It sounds like your dad and Portrero could be a good fit, since he is someone who likes being out in the noon day sun.... 

For my own information I read up on the bus service offered from Portero - Tamarindo, and saw that it could take an hour and a half to get there, due to having to change buses...so suggest the cheekimonki3o searches this out further.

I agree with all the comments from thewizz. We have a condo (since 2010) at the north end of Potrero. It is a great location because it is generally quiet, yet you are a short distance from the more touristy areas, if you need that once in a while. We are 10 minutes from Playa Flamingo and 20-25 mintues from Tamarindo. The beaches are very nice and have very few people on them even during the busy/holiday periods. Playa Penca is a great swimming beach (7 minutes walk for us) and Playa Prieta (15 minute walk) is great for boogy boarding. I don't consider Playa Potrero as a great beach because it is comprised of brown, finer sand, but it is great for walking. Restaurants are generally very good. Real Estate prices have certainly dropped over the last few years and prices really never did recover from the downturn back in 2009-2011.
There are a number of good real estate companies that are trustworthy (big plus) and the odd one that is not. We use Summercoast Realty and they also manage our rentals.

For us the location is the big selling point for the area and so far we have not been hit with too many issues with water supply. Other communities north and south of Potrero have had water supply issues for years, but it appears the government may finally be addressing water shortages along the coast.
Potrero is very protective of there water supply.

Thank you for the information.