Coco is not the most attractive beach town with a rather scruffy appearance. Les Nunez, a real estate broker and co-owner of First Realty in Hermosa, sees it changing, recognizing it more as a “town in transition.”

Either way, Coco has always been a popular vacation spot for Ticos and, more recently, U.S. retirees living on a pension. These days the area has plenty of cheap studio apartments, though not always of the best quality.

Until recently, Coco was almost synonymous with the Mapache Group, a developer who built cheap apartments for those retirees and Tico holiday makers. They’re not to everyone’s taste, and concerns have been raised over their environmental impact and construction quality. Still, some owners have made good returns on their modest investments by renting out these apartments.

These days, several similar developments have popped up in the area, but a newer, more expensive side to Coco development is emerging, with higher end properties - such as the Jack Parker Corporation’s Pacifico resort -  under construction at the time of writing.

Coco has the advantage of a greater availability of services than the nearby growth areas of Hermosa, Playa Panamá and Ocotal. Most people in the area go to Coco for their shopping, postal and banking needs. The town also has several dentists, medical clinics and pharmacies should you need them (see below for services table.)

Coco has a reasonably large expatriate community, and plenty of investors, vacation-home owners and Ticos live in the area.