Monteverde lies within the arbitrary boundaries that we have drawn up for this section, however real estate opportunities there are limited. Much of it is protected, and because it’s been a top tourist spot for some time, most of the remaining bits are spoken for. The area’s strong expatriate presence dates back to the 1950s

Apart from the larger San Carlos – or Ciudad Quesada, as it’s also known – La Fortuna is the biggest town in the area. As it’s a touristy place, it has a number of daily services catering to foreigners, such as English-speaking dentists and pharmacies.  La Fortuna is a pretty town consisting of a well-planned

Nuevo Arenal (which will herein be referred to simply as Arenal) is a relatively pretty town on the northern tip of the lake that was built with government funding after the original town got in the way of the planned lake. The center of the town lies just up the hill from the lake and

Dominical, Uvita and Ojochal remain small towns at the moment. Ojochal and its significant French-Canadian and European immigration has probably grown into the largest community of the three, and a growing number of people are buying residences in the area. The village, which lies a couple of kilometers off the main highway south of Dominical,

Originally a fishing village of tiny houses wedged onto a narrow strip of land between the ocean and a small cliff, Tambor is undergoing a massive transformation that will probably spell the end of the village and usher in a number of large resorts, a marina, and a lot of real estate development.  It would

Tucked at the foot of a steep and wooded hillside, Montezuma is a lively but quaint tourist town. Unlike almost every other beach town on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast, Montezuma faces east, which allows residents to enjoy the sunrise rather than the sunset. The town really got its start as a popular hippy hangout. During

These two towns are located about 3 km apart on the Pacific side of the peninsula. Both towns more or less consist of a row of small hotels, cabins, restaurants, cafes, bars and houses lining the unpaved road that winds it’s way up the coast. Both places have great waves and are popular with surfers,