The southern Nicoya Peninsula is a land of beauty and one of opportunity. This region contrasts with any other in the Guanacaste- it is different in its natural habitat, climate and lifestyle. Hosting three natural park reserves, all home to unique species of wildlife, the southern Nicoya stands alone. There is a micro-climate in this area producing mild tropical conditions with fresh ocean breezes throughout the year. From November through April, the dry season prevails with low humidity and mostly hot and sunny weather. Early May and continuing through October is the rainy season, usually with rain in the late afternoon or evenings, increasing to torrential downpours toward the end of the season. Everything is green and lush during this time of year. Temperatures in the southern Nicoya range between 75 and 90 degrees F. year round. In terms of lifestyle, this area is home to a large and growing international community with a variety of interests including artisans, health therapists and sports enthusiasts. There’s a strong yoga foundation on both sides of the peninsula and world-class surfing on the western shores of Mal Pais and Santa Teresa
Each developing town in the southern Nicoya attracts its own type of visitor, likewise its own type of year round resident. It may all boil down to a choice of whether you are a sunrise or a sunset person that makes the difference where you buy property in this region. Sunrises over Montezuma are stimulating and electrifying, as are the sunsets over the western waters of Mal Pais. Whichever is your fancy, you can certainly have the best of both worlds. Some properties listed here are located on high hilltops, allowing just that, a taste of both: sunrises over the waters of the gulf and sunsets over the vastness of the Pacific. This region is unique in the sense that you have this option due to the topography of the peninsula.
AFFORDABLE PARADISE
The buying fever is building and ever more buyers are coming to look at real estate here. The communities of Montezuma, Mal Pais and Santa Teresa are growing and bringing in foreign residents at a steady rate. Ocean front sunset properties in Mal Pais and Santa Teresa are rapidly being bought up by foreigners for permanent residency or commercial intentions. Cliff properties in Montezuma with commanding ocean views are in high demand. The Costa Rican government has provided a detailed plan of what has been named the “Ruta de Sol” project, or Route of the Sun: a huge road development project which will link the Inter-American highway from Liberia to paved roads from Tamarindo all the way to Mal Pais and on to Tambor. This is a long awaited event and will surely transform this region, but it’s anybody’s guess as to when this inevitability will actually happen.
It is hard not to catch “the buying fever” when visiting the southern Nicoya. True, one might feel like a pioneer driving on unpaved, pot-holed roads, dodging cows and horses, but it is evident that the area is gearing up for the leap into the future with fiber optics, asphalt and text messaging. The time to buy real estate in this area is now as properties with spectaular views and incredible building sites are relatively affordable and still available. John Howells, author of Choose Costa Rica for Retirement sums it up the best: “Costa Rica doesn’t have more enthusiastic or optimistic supporters than those property owners on this part of the Nicoya Peninsula. I feel it’s worth a trip here for the prospective property buyer”. Grab this opportunity to buy a bit of paradise now at an affordable price.
Real Estate Areas Map of the Southern Nicoya Peninsula
