Pros & Cons Of Living As An Expat In Costa Rica

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Costa Rica is a rustic the place journey and affordability collide, making it an excellent vacation spot for these searching for a brand new chapter of their lives.

With breathtaking pure surroundings, gorgeous coastlines, and a tradition that beckons you to go sluggish and calm down, it’s unsurprising that increasingly persons are residing as an expat in Costa Rica, however it’s not a rustic for everybody.

Whereas there are some massive attracts to shifting to Costa Rica, there are additionally some drawbacks, which is why we’ve ready this information on the professionals and cons of shifting to Costa Rica as an expat, so you possibly can resolve whether or not it’s best for you.

Professionals of Dwelling As An Expat In Costa Rica

You is perhaps wandering why persons are contemplating Costa Rica as a vacation spot to maneuver to.

We aren’t strangers to taking dangers and shifting overseas, so we all know the attraction of making an attempt out a brand new metropolis, or nation, to spend your life in.

However for Costa Rica in Central America, there are numerous the reason why somebody may think about it as a vacation spot to settle. Listed below are among the optimistic causes to residing in Costa Rica.

1. Simple to get residency

If you happen to’re in search of a rustic the place you could possibly get everlasting residency and purchase actual property, then Costa Rica is an effective possibility.

When you may need to take a look at the waters earlier than you agree down completely, those that need the choice of having the ability to personal property can calm down realizing that when the time comes, it’s straightforward.

To acquire everlasting residency, you possibly can look into getting pensionado (for retirees), rentista, or inversionista visas.

Every class has particular monetary necessities and situations, typically involving a proof of steady earnings, funding within the nation, or property possession.

As an illustration, the inversionista visa permits people to qualify by investing a minimum of $200,000 in a Costa Rican property or enterprise.

It’s additionally straightforward to open a Costa Rican financial institution when you’ve got the suitable visa.

2. English is extensively spoken

In Costa Rica, they converse Spanish, however English is extensively spoken. You probably have youngsters, they will simply develop up being bilingual in each Spanish and English.

3. Reasonably priced price of residing

Households with children to assist can breathe a sigh of aid as Costa Rica has very low price of residing when in comparison with North America and Europe.

Whereas price of residing varies relying on issues like location and way of life decisions, typically you possibly can anticipate costs to be a lot decrease for all issues, together with lease, payments, WiFi, meals and groceries and so on.

As a ball park, a single particular person’s month-to-month bills sometimes vary between $1,000 and $2,000, masking lodging, groceries, transportation, and leisure.

In the meantime, a household of 4 could require $3,000 to $3,500 for snug residing.

4. Wonderful nature and wildlife

It’s a well-known proven fact that Costa Rica has superb gorgeous seashores, pure magnificence, and wildlife. Though it’s a well-liked journey vacation spot, Costa Rica’s nature continues to be wild, untamed and rugged, and we discovered among the finest seashores within the Southern zone of Costa Rica.

It’s additionally a spot the place the wildlife is absolutely rampant. I hope it stays that manner.

After we had been in New Zealand we dreamed of seeing toucans, and in Costa Rica, we had them in our backyard day-after-day.

Toucans weren’t the one creature we shared our lives with. We had every thing from monkeys and pizote (coati) in our timber to hummingbirds or scorpions in the home and even bats in our bathroom. It was fairly an expertise for the entire household.

5. Pura vida way of life

Costa Rica’s wealthy tradition is an irresistible perk that draws individuals to residing right here. They observe a “pura vida” philosophy, which basically means “pure life” in Spanish.

Costa Ricans like to embrace every thing that’s good for the thoughts, physique and soul. There’s this enjoyable vibe all over the place you go, and the persons are so welcoming and completely satisfied, it feeds off on you.

6. Dedication to sustainability

Following on from the pura visa mindset is sustainability. As a result of Costa Ricans worth every thing that’s pure, this additionally transpires into the setting.

Lots of the nation’s companies and houses function in a sustainable style. You’ll discover photo voltaic power is usually used right here as a type of electrical energy, and everybody recycles and reuses gadgets to cut back waste.

From resorts to cafes to colleges, sustainability and environmental conservation has been embedded within the tradition of Costa Rica for fairly a while. We may all take a leaf out of a Costa Rican’s e book!

7. Glorious healthcare

Costa Rica’s healthcare system is likely one of the finest on the earth, and even ranks as quantity 36 by the World Well being Group (WHO), and quantity 20 by the United Nations.

This places it above the USA by way of high quality and repair.

8. Simple to make connections

Whereas we had been as soon as glad to be the one expats on the town, we realized that wasn’t truthful on our children.

We had been completely satisfied to ship them to an area faculty and immerse them within the native tradition and language, however we additionally thought they wanted different English talking children to hang around with.

So, in the long run, having expat communities close by in Costa Rica helped us make our Central American expertise a hit for the entire household. If our children had been completely satisfied, we had been too.

There have been no scarcity of expats in Costa Rica, which made it very easy to seek out likeminded individuals with related cultures and mindsets to us, and we made associates with different households simply.

9. 12 months spherical wonderful climate

Costa Rica has a beautiful local weather 12 months spherical. It’s a heat, tropical local weather with two seasons, the dry season and wet season.

With temperatures sometimes starting from 70 to 81 levels Fahrenheit all year long, you’ll discover there isn’t any day of the 12 months the place you’ll want heat clothes.

The dry season, from December to March, is stuffed with sunny days, whereas April – November is taken into account the wet season.

Cons Of Dwelling As An Expat in Costa Rica

As with all nice issues, there are some downsides. Listed below are among the cons of residing as an expat in Costa Rica…

1. Too Touristy

Costa Rica has grown in recognition as a vacationer vacation spot, which has sparked debates about its “touristy” nature.

The inflow of holiday makers, significantly to well-known sights like Arenal Volcano and Manuel Antonio Nationwide Park, has led to overcrowding and commercialization.

This surge in tourism has additionally contributed to rising costs, impacting the affordability of the journey experiences and excursions for each locals and foreigners, too.

2. Too many expats

The inflow of expats in Costa Rica generally is a good factor and a nasty factor. The draw back is that the presence of expats tends to extend the worth of lodging, and in some instances gentrification, impacting native entry to inexpensive housing.

It additionally takes away from the authenticity of the place, if you stumble upon different expats whereas out searching for contemporary vegetables and fruit on the native market.

As an expat, you’ll all the time really feel considerably of an outsider and can by no means be thought-about ticos (a time period utilized by the locals to speak about themselves), which can additionally take away from the expertise.

3. Not straightforward for youths

Dwelling in Costa Rica as an expat little one can have many advantages, reminiscent of immersion into the nation’s traditions, languages, and experiences, however it additionally presents some challenges.

Except children attend a global faculty, there often is the chance that they really feel like an outcast as a result of they arrive from a special tradition and background from the opposite children.

The bonus is that faculties are free in Costa Rica, even worldwide faculties, so so long as you discover a good faculty with different expat children, that is one thing to think about.

4. Security

Central America doesn’t have an ideal popularity for security, and Costa Rica additionally doesn’t have an ideal popularity for security – although typically vacationers are protected so long as they keep on the vacationer path.

Whereas violent crime towards is uncommon, petty theft reminiscent of pickpocketing and mugging continues to be a difficulty. The homicide fee in Costa Rica was 11.5 per 100,000 individuals as of 2021, which is larger than that of the USA.

Do do not forget that the scale of Costa Rica is far smaller, and due to this fact these numbers are going to appear much more scary due to this, however the truth is crime is often remoted and never often focused at vacationers.

Nearly all of the violence is linked to territorial disputes between native drug gangs, and due to this isolation, the general crime fee is categorized as reasonable.

It’s typically protected for expats in Costa Rica however you need to all the time stay vigilant, particularly concerning belongings.

5. Not straightforward to get a piece allow

If you wish to get a job in Costa Rica, it’s not straightforward to get a piece allow until you possibly can exhibit you might have the abilities to do a job {that a} native can not.

The excellent news is that there are actually digital nomad visas, so when you work remotely, you possibly can work underneath this visa.

To make it simpler, you may also be a part of a piece or research overseas program by World Work & Journey in Costa Rica. Click on right here to study extra and use the low cost beneath if you’re prepared to begin.

Closing Ideas

Ultimately we packed our luggage and waved adios to the tree frogs and toucans of Costa Rica and moved to Queensland, Australia, which was all the time plan B.

It wasn’t as a result of there was something improper with our life in Costa Rica, we cherished it, and would say we had a top quality of life, however as our children bought older we knew that they had totally different wants and missed among the comforts from again residence.

Whereas a part of me nonetheless yearns for the journey and pleasure of Costa Rica, the opposite half rejoices that my children go to a superb faculty and are settled.

I’d love to return to Costa Rica at some point. The truth is, I’d do it another time! Who is aware of, perhaps when the youngsters have left faculty, we’ll.

Don’t overlook to test off these finest issues to do in Costa Rica if you arrive!