Real Estate on Costa Rica's Caribbean Coast is on The Move

If you travelled to Costa Rica more than five years ago, chances are you consulted your guidebook and decided to skip the Caribbean side. Like most travelers--including myself--you probably went straight for the crowded Pacific.

“There's nothing over there…no infrastructure…bad roads...it takes too long to get there.” Those were the Caribbean stereotypes of the time. But as any successful overseas investor knows, negative stereotypes are the property-buyer's best friend.

Why?

Because the stereotypes can be slow to die despite the changing times, holding the prices down until word gets out to the mainstream that things are different.

This is the case with the Costa Rican Caribbean. The truth is that it's now less than 2.5 hours from the capital of San Jose on a new, modern highway. The international airport re-opened in 2006. Serious investors are buying coastal land, and the first luxury resorts and residential developments are springing up.

Limon is at the center of the current boom.

The Caribbean town of Limon, north of Cahuita National Park, is fast becoming a boomtown. Take a look at some of what's happening:

In January 2007, the Costa Rica Tourism Institute decided to invest $5.7 million in the local tourist infrastructure. A short time later, the Construction Chamber of Commerce announced that there was a staggering 122% increase in new construction in Limon. But the big news came just a few weeks ago when the World Bank agreed to extend a huge $72.5 million loan for the purpose of revitalizing this port city. The government claims that the 250 cruise ships that now arrive annually will double over the next five years. No doubt about it, the “Caribbean side of Costa Rica” is on the move.

Caribbean Links:		Local Weather
Things to Do	Cahuita	Puerto Viejo	Tortuguero
Places to Stay	Cahuita	Puerto Viejo	Tortuguero
Places to Eat	Cahuita	Puerto Viejo	Tortuguero