My mom always said, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” This is why San Jose has found a special place in my heart. San Jose has some of the most popular restaurants in all of Costa Rica. You can find a wide variety of restaurants from Benihana’s to Church’s Chicken, but what I love even more is finding hidden treasures. In Sabana Norte you can find a Lebanese restaurant called “Beirut”. This Lebanese restaurant is located in a small shopping center, so small in fact if you were walking on the street you might just miss it. When you first enter the restaurant the owner who speaks Spanish, English and Lebanese will greet you Read more
A Visit to Tabacon Grand
One big reason people love to visit Costa Rica is to go to hot springs. You can find a wide variety of locations for hot springs and pricing. Entries to enjoy hot springs can run anywhere from six dollars to sixty dollars depending on what kind of experience you are looking for. In my opinion Tabacon Grand Spa offers some of the best hot springs in all of Costa Rica. People from all over the country come to Tabacon to enjoy the lush beauty of their gardens and relaxing affects of the natural hot springs.
When you first arrive to Tabacon you will have a decision to make. You can purchase just an entry to the Read more
Finally! A real mall in Costa Rica!
When I first arrived to Costa Rica and people said, “Would you like to go to the mall?” I found what I was thinking is completely different than what they were thinking. I was thinking of a two or three story building with tons of stores and a movie theater. What they were thinking of was three mom and pop stores right next to each other in an outside plaza. So when someone told me about Escazu Multi Plaza Mall I thought it was just going to be another compilation of mom and pop shops. I was so pleasantly surprised when I arrived.
In the Multi Plaza you can find a wide variety of shops. Read more
The Cost of Starting a Costa Rican Corporation
In counting the cost for starting a Costa Rican business, which is a necessity if you want to work in Costa Rica, there are many factors you need to take into account. The first of which, is finding a lawyer to help you get things set up.
If you do a quick internet search for lawyers in Costa Rica you will surely find a large number, and when asked for price quotes for starting a basic corporation, they will range from $300 to over $1000 dollars. You shouldn’t, however, have to pay more than $350 to establish a basic, bare-bones corporation.
The lawyer fees serve to register the name of your corporation, obtain tax books, and register your corporation Read more
Working and Starting a Corporation in Costa Rica
Work, work, work! It is always on our minds. Costa Rica is a virtual paradise and this includes the permitting of foreigners to work in the country. Obviously as a foreigner we can’t work at a grocery store or a bank, but what you can do is start a corporation. If you have a certain skill and would like to charge for your services, you can setup a corporation in which your clients can pay for the services received. This, of course, is perfectly legal.
There are two main types of Costa Rican corporations: an Anonymous Society and a Limited Corporation. An Anonymous Society or S.A. in general is used starting a large business, like importing and Read more
Aparotel La Sabina in San Jose
“I love apartotels” is what I said after I had my first experience staying in one. I had never heard of anything like it before I arrived in Costa Rica. Basically they are little apartments inside a small hotel. These are a great way to live it up in Costa Rica or travel on a budget. Some apartotels offer free wifi , breakfast, kitchenets and much more. The price range for a room can range from $40 a night to $375 a night.
The first apartotel I stayed in (the name I can’t remember) had a nice king size bed and hot shower. It didn’t have any air-conditioning or Wifi in the rooms which was a Read more
Tips for Gringos using Bus Travel in Costa Rica
Buses are one of the most popular ways to travel around in Costa Rica, and most definitely the main form of transportation for Ticos. They are, in fact, a great way to travel! They are cheap, and reliable, meaning they always run, not that they always run on the same time!
When you travel by bus always make sure to head to your bus stop just a little early because a bus might arrive five minutes early and take off… or it might be five minutes late. When on a bus always keep your luggage with you or in your line of sight (preferably with you, but this isn’t always possible). Sometimes depending on how much luggage Read more
GPS in Costa Rica… Why not try PPS?
“Where in the world am I?” If you don’t have GPS this is a question you will be asking yourself time and again as you travel around Costa Rica. Costa Rica, like many foreign, countries doesn’t really have many street signs, especially out of town, so then the question arises: how do you find your way around?
We use a system developed in Costa Rica called PPS (People Positioning System). To use this system, if you have rented a car you will first need to pull over where you see a group of people standing around and ask. (Don’t worry, throughout Costa Rica you will be able to eventually find someone that speaks English.) In general Read more
Moving to Costa Rica with Pets
If you’re planning on moving to Costa Rica and you want to bring your pets along it is important that you have all the correct paperwork in order. The following is the basics on what you need to do to bring your pets to Costa Rica. Before you come, however, it is best to check with the Association of Residents of Costa Rica to make sure that the rules haven’t change. (Get in touch with them no later than 3 weeks before you are set to arrive!)
Cats and dogs coming into Costa Rica do not need to be quarantined upon arrival. You do, however, need to make sure that you get a certificate from your vet Read more
Retirement Tours in Costa Rica
George Lundquist is a retirement and relocation guide who knows what he is talking about. He spent a whole year researching Costa Rica from the States. He toured with Real Estate agents, he joined the ARCR. It was all helpful, he says, but it did not introduce him to what would eventually become his life in Costa Rica.
So now, George has developed tours to help real people relocate to Costa Rica. His no nonsense tours show people what it is like to live in Costa Rica. One of the reasons why George’s tours are so great is that he shares his firsthand experiences from living there.
He can answer the most common questions about the country: electricity, the Read more
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