Costa Rica, a country known for its breathtaking natural beauty, has become a favorite destination for adventurous travelers seeking a unique experience. While popular spots like Manuel Antonio and Arenal Volcano often steal the limelight, there are hidden treasures that offer an off-the-beaten-path experience. Dominical and Uvita, located along the southern Pacific coast, boast stunning landscapes, vibrant biodiversity, and a relaxed atmosphere. Let’s embark on a virtual journey to explore the captivating tourist attractions of Dominical and Uvita in Costa Rica.

Marino Ballena National Park:

Marino Ballena National Park, nestled in Uvita, is a pristine marine park renowned for its magnificent natural formations. The park derives its name from the Humpback whales that migrate to the area between December and April, offering a unique opportunity for whale watching. Visitors can also explore the park’s iconic Whale Tail, a sandbar formation shaped like a whale’s tail during low tide. Snorkeling, scuba diving, and swimming in the clear turquoise waters surrounded by vibrant coral reefs are a must for ocean enthusiasts.

Nauyaca Waterfalls:

Prepare to be mesmerized by the Nauyaca Waterfalls, a tropical paradise just outside of Dominical. Surrounded by lush rainforests, these cascading falls offer a refreshing retreat from the tropical heat. The falls consist of two tiers, with the upper falls plunging over 45 meters into a natural pool. Hiking trails through the jungle lead visitors to these impressive waterfalls, making it an excellent opportunity to immerse yourself in Costa Rica’s rich flora and fauna.

Alturas Wildlife Sanctuary:

For wildlife enthusiasts, a visit to the Alturas Wildlife Sanctuary is an absolute must. Located near Dominical, this sanctuary is dedicated to rehabilitating and protecting injured or orphaned animals. Take a guided tour to learn about the conservation efforts and get up close to fascinating species like sloths, monkeys, toucans, and scarlet macaws. It’s a chance to witness the country’s incredible biodiversity while supporting a worthy cause.

Corcovado National Park:

While technically not within Dominical and Uvita, Corcovado National Park is well worth a visit for nature lovers. Located on the Osa Peninsula, this remote park is often called “the most biologically intense place on Earth” by National Geographic. Its diverse habitats are home to an astonishing array of wildlife, including jaguars, tapirs, monkeys, and countless bird species. Hiking through the park’s trails will immerse you in the wonders of Costa Rica’s untamed wilderness.

Ventanas Beach:

Ventanas Beach, just south of Uvita, captivates visitors with its unique sea caves carved into the cliffs. During low tide, explore the tunnels and passages that lead to hidden beaches, rock formations, and natural wonders. The interplay of sunlight and shadows inside the caves creates a magical atmosphere. Make sure to check the tide charts and plan your visit accordingly to fully experience the beauty of Ventanas Beach.

Conclusion:

Dominical and Uvita may be hidden gems in Costa Rica, but their allure is undeniable. These two coastal towns offer a perfect blend of natural wonders, adventure, and tranquility. From the awe-inspiring marine life at Marino Ballena National Park to the captivating Nauyaca Waterfalls and the wildlife haven of Alturas Wildlife Sanctuary, these areas will leave you with lasting memories. And if you’re up for a thrilling journey, don’t miss the opportunity to explore Corcovado National Park and venture into the heart of Costa Rica’s untamed wilderness. Dominical and Uvita beckon

When our clients come to Dominical to look at properties for sale in Southern Costa Rica, they are also usually looking for things to do in the area. Nauyaca Waterfall is one of the best, and well worth the trip. Not only are there two falls stacked one on the other, but beneath the lower falls there is a huge natural swimming pool filled with water that is cool enough to be refreshing, without being cold.

The entrance to the road leading to the falls is just 10 minutes from Dominical by car, right on the highway leading from Dominical to San Isidro. You can easily drive in your rented car, take a taxi, catch the bus at just the right time, or join a tour group.

If you drive yourself, just head up highway 243 to San Isidro and in about 10 minutes watch for the office on the right. If you’re paying attention, you cannot miss it – there is a big, bright sign over the office.

If you want to join a tour, there are any number of offices in Dominical that will be happy to help you. One is the Dominical Info Center. To get to it, once you enter Dominical, turn left at the T and look for it on the right.

Catching a bus is tricky because they don’t adhere to a strict schedule and a return bus might not be timed right for you. Check bus schedules at the info center or ask someone when the bus goes from Dominical to San Isidro.

However you get to the office you’ll have to pay an entrance fee of about $10.00 and get a wristband. Then there are several ways to get to the falls, which are a little under 3 miles away: Hike, ride in the back of a stake bed truck or ride a horse.

The truck and the horse rides require a reservation and have fixed departure times. Hiking offers the most flexibility if you are in shape for it. If you’re in your own car, your best bet is to park it in the secure parking area down the hill from the office. That also gives a bit of a head start on the trail if you’re going to be hiking.

If you are with a tour group and they are hiking, the tour company may be able to get you even closer before you start hiking.

The hike is beautiful, with the river below you on one side and forested hills all around. Just keep in mind that there are some steep climbs as you go upriver to the falls. Young children will almost certainly be clamoring to be carried, and you’ll be sweating. Take plenty of water, allow plenty of time, and enjoy it as part of the experience. An adult starting at the parking lot, walking a steady pace and not needing to stop for rest breaks can do it in something like 45 – 60 minutes.

When you arrive at the falls, you can choose the upper ones or the lower ones, and if you have enough time you can do both. The big difference is that the lower set offers a gigantic natural pool where you can swim right up to the cascading water, as well as climb up on the rocks and jump off into the pool. It’s beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

They recommend you not climb on the rocks without there being an employee there to help you.
Company guides will set up a rope you can use for stability while climbing, and a guide can help you with foot placement in places where you can’t see because the water is cascading all around you. If you take the plunge, make sure you have a photographer because it makes for gorgeous pictures.

Depending on when you go, there could be a lot of other people there. Don’t worry: it would be hard to diminish the setting and beauty of Nauyaca. Plan to enjoy it however you get there, with whomever you meet there.

For more information about costs and reservations, here is the place to start:
http://nauyacawaterfallscostarica.com/ If you want a tour company to arrange it for you, they will do so for the same published prices, and they get paid from a commission for setting it all up.

Buying real estate in Costa Rica is pretty parallel to how you would do it in your home country, with a
few differences.

1.) Find a property you love. To do so, look on local websites rather than just doing a scattershot online search. There is no MLS in Costa Rica, so listings get shared around and some agencies are better at keeping their websites up to date. Instead of “Real Estate in Costa Rica” try something like “Real Estate Agency in (name of town or region). Hint: You will always do better by selecting one agent in the area of interest and sending any interesting listings you find to that agent. Otherwise, you’ll waste time on expired listings, overlapping listings, and listings that haven’t been updated.

2.) Make an offer that works for you. It is very hard to find “comparables” in our markets, so pricing is plus or minus. Assume there will be some negotiating with the Seller in order to arrive at a price acceptable to both of you.

3.) If you reach an agreement, your offer will be formally turned into a Sales and Purchase Agreement. If you are from North America, you might think of this as the “Earnest Money Contract” that your agent would do for you as part of their service, but here an attorney does it and you pay for it.

4.) While these things are happening, you will need to open an Escrow account. This is probably the hardest part of the process for new Buyers to understand. In order to comply with money laundering laws, the escrow company is obligated to gather a “ridiculous” amount of information about your finances. The whole point is to be very sure that you are legit and the source of your funds is legit. It’s just something that you have to do, so meditate for 30 minutes, take a deep breath, and walk through it step by step.

5.) You may also want to have your attorney create a Costa Rican corporation to “own” the property for you. This has advantages in terms of liability, so it’s something you should at least discuss. It only takes a week to ten days to do this, so it is easily finished by the time you go to closing if you start early.

6.) Once your SPA has been signed by both parties, you will typically send a 10% deposit to your Escrow Company. That triggers the Due Diligence period.

7.) Due Diligence will be coordinated by your attorney and done by several people that may include surveyor, home inspector, agent, municipality and others. It needs to be done well, and if you decide not to do parts of it, you should do so with your eyes wide open. At the end of the Due Diligence, you will be given a report that allows you the opportunity to accept the results or reject any part of them. If there is a “fatal flaw,” you can simply withdraw from the deal and get your deposit back.

8.) If you accept the Due Diligence, your deposit will go hard (nonrefundable) and you will send the balance of your payment to your escrow company. Then you will close within a few days and your property will be recorded in your name in the National Registry.

9.) Once you own the property, it would be wise to make sure you understand what your obligations are and how to fulfill them. Write down how to pay your utilities and taxes, and make sure you understand how much, when, and how to pay your corporation taxes. You may need to set up a bank account to make this simpler, especially if you will not be living at your property full time.

That’s it! Follow the steps and you will end up with peace of mind about a beautiful property.

With one exception, foreigners can buy property in Costa Rica with the same rights and obligations as Costa Rican citizens. The exception is in the Maritime Zone.

Along the coasts and any portion of a river that is affected by tides, the first 200 meters of land is owned by the government and cannot be owned by anyone else. (There are a few small exceptions that were grandfathered in as titled land.)

The first 50 meters may not be developed. They are for public use. The next 150 meters are usually available for development if you get a long term use permit, or “concession.”

You get a new concession by hunting for a property that doesn’t already have one. Of course, such properties are hard to find now, but if you get lucky, you can apply for a concession at the appropriate municipality. This is best done by an attorney who specializes in such things because it can be tedious and complicated. In the process, you have to specify what you are going to do with it. Private residence? Hotel? Restaurant? Resort?

One very important difference between the Maritime Zone and titled land is that no foreigner can hold the controlling interest in any property in the Maritime Zone until that foreigner has had legal residency in Costa Rica for at least 5 years. Until then, at least 51% must be held by a Costa Rican citizen.

Obstacles to getting a concession would mainly be environmental. Any areas that are wetlands or have mangroves growing on them are automatically off-limits. Other areas might have forests or wildlife that can’t be cleared or disturbed. Some users might be rejected if they don’t fit with the municipalities’ zoning plans.

In response to your application, the municipality will either deny the concession or approve it. If they approve it, it will be valid for 20 years and they will attach a value to the proposed development of the property so they can levy an annual use tax, known as the “canon.” That would be in lieu of a property tax but can be quite a lot higher because it is a specialized property.

Once you have a concession, you have 2 years to do the development or lose the concession. If you do the development, pay your canon as required, and do not violate any of the laws or restrictions on the property, renewal should be straightforward as long as you do it on time.

Those are the basics for getting a new concession. Realistically, however, you would most likely be buying a concession that is already established, rather than starting from scratch. So how does that work?

Until you have been a legal resident for 5 years, assume you will be buying shares in a corporation in which you are not a majority shareholder. When you buy the concession, the appropriate number of shares will be transferred to you. That is something you need to check thoroughly so you are comfortable with the arrangement. A good lawyer can help you sort it out.

If you are buying undeveloped land, you need to know what use and value the concession permitted because a) you will need to build that and b) your canon will reflect that. If you don’t build on time, you can lose your concession.

If you are buying an existing business or home, you need to make sure all of the laws and restrictions have been followed. There have been cases of homes being bulldozed or businesses being shuttered because laws were broken or the concession’s requirements weren’t followed. For example, if a wall or pool infringes on the 50-meter restricted zone, you could be required at some point to remove it!

In summary, there are extra concerns to research when you buy concession property here. Do your homework. There are some great concession properties available for purchase, and there are some that will pretty much be a series of migraine headaches. Don’t ever let an agent fast-talk you into thinking “It will all work out.”

Do the Due Diligence and hire someone who specializes in concessions to protect you. If you do that, you could end up with one of the most desirable properties in the country. If you don’t do that, you could end up with nothing but regrets.

By Ron Snell.

When we’re showing properties to people who want to buy real estate in Costa Rica, sooner or later an inevitable question comes up: “Are there earthquakes here?”

The short answer is, “Yes.” But there’s a much longer answer because the real question is, “Do I need to worry about earthquakes in Costa Rica?” And the short answer to that is “No.”
Costa Rica, and therefore every property in Costa Rica, is on the “Ring of Fire.” Take a second to Google “Ring of Fire map” and you will see images of a map with a bright red line that runs right down the western side of the western hemisphere, including Costa Rica.

There are a few good things to point out here:

First, that’s part of what makes Costa Rica topography so amazing. It’s why I’m writing this in a home near Dominical that’s 1,100 feet above sea level but I can see and hear the surf. A long time ago some massive plates under the sea starting pushing toward each other just like if you and a friend put your hands on a rug from opposite ends and pushed toward each other. Do it slowly and you can watch a mountain range push up between you. Put some luxury homes on one side of that mountain range and you have… voilá… the Southern Pacific Coast of Costa Rica!

Every once in a while those plates still get a little uncomfortable and need to move a bit.

When they do, we feel a gentle shake that simply reminds us we are on active earth that supports our beautiful forests and animals and homes. We feel those shakes every few weeks, usually so slight that we aren’t sure if it’s something we did or something the earth did. Once in a while they are a little more powerful and we can hear a little clinking of wine glasses or see a bit of jiggle, but that’s not common.

Second, our soils don’t liquefy in an earthquake. When you buy land, you will be required to get a soil test done before you can get a building permit. In our area, I’ve never heard of a building project being rejected because of a bad soil sample unless it’s due to uncompacted fill or accumulated rubbish in the soil).

In other parts of the world, soils are the opposite of that magic mud you made as a kid.
Remember how you suspended cornstarch in water? When it was just resting or moving slowly, it was like a liquid. When you slapped it, it was hard. Those nasty soils in other parts of the world, on the other hand, are solid when they are stationary, but turn liquid when they are shaken, causing a lot of damage. Ours aren’t like that, so earthquakes don’t affect their
supportive strength.

Third, Costa Rica is picky about construction, and especially foundations. When I was a real
estate broker in Texas, it was unusual to show a house that didn’t have at least a little cracking because of movement in the foundation.

Here in Costa Rica, I can show you 50 homes in a row with no structural cracking (we might notice some hairline surface cracking of the exterior plaster, but it’s cosmetic rather than structural).

Before you can build here, you have to submit your plans to the College of Architects and
Engineers. They go over the plans with sharp eyes to make sure there is enough concrete and reinforcing bars. When they put their stamp on the plans, you can be sure that your home will be well built because your architect or engineer is responsible to visit the project regularly and ensure that it is built according to the plans.

So that’s my longer answer to two questions: Do we have earthquakes here? Yes. Do we worry about them? No.

I’m writing this in February, a very dry month in Costa Rica. It’s “summer” here, which is what
they call December through April because there is so little rain and the temperatures are a bit
higher.

For the rest of the year, there is rain. During a typical cycle, rains start in April and are pretty
tame until August. They usually get themselves organized later in the day, rinse off all the dust,
bring the wildlife to life.

From September through November, rains are the main events. The whole world gushes under
a daily deluge. Thunder and lighting provide celestial spectacles. Creeks and rivers rise, springs
spring, trickles turn into waterfalls, and frogs all think they’ve died and jumped to paradise!
According to Karl Kahler, writing in the Tico Times on October 3, 2015, if you total it all up,
“Costa Rica receives enough rain to supply an average of 22,000 gallons to each of its 5.1
million inhabitants every day. That’s a lot of water — enough to supply every person on the
planet with 15 gallons of water a day, year-round.”
So why is water such a big deal? Because the collection and distribution of the water has to be
managed, or it all ends up in the ocean where it doesn’t do you much good when you want to
brush your teeth at night.

For many years the laws have stated that for residential purposes, it’s not enough to just have
water. It has to be “authorized” water. There are only three sources of authorized water: 1. The
federal government’s AyA* water system, available mostly in cities and towns; 2. A registered
neighborhood or community ASADA** water system, available in many rural communities; 3. A
legally obtained concession allowing you to use a spring, creek, well, or river for your water
source.
The law has been that without one of those three sources of water, you cannot get a building
permit. Unfortunately, this law hasn’t been enforced with any regularity and many building
permits were granted without authorized water. Many people bought land with the
expectation that water wouldn’t be an issue when the time came to build.

Oooops. In the past few years, the first one municipality, then another, then another began to crack
down and enforce the law. They began to demand documentation before issuing a permit.
Imagine the irony: This has left many land owners huddled under big umbrellas by roaring
creeks in gushing rains unable to sell their land or build because they have no authorized water.
There is a lot more that could be said about this. It remains to be seen how it will all get
resolved, because many people are affected: owners, attorneys who specialize in real estate,

municipalities that lose revenue from building permits, architects, contractors, and of course
real estate agents.
In the meantime, be aware of the issue. If you are looking at buying undeveloped land, always
ask, “What about the water situation?” If the answer is that the property has water, ask for
documentation before you make an offer, because having water isn’t the same thing as having
water rights, right?
If the answer is that the water authorization is in the process, be skeptical about promises
regarding the timing. It can take two years to get a concession, and sometimes more to hook up
to an existing system if the property you are looking at wasn’t included as part of the system.
The one answer you should never accept is, “Don’t worry about it; it will all work out.” That was
true for many years, but it is no longer a good answer. No trustworthy agent these days will
encourage you to move forward on the basis of “thoughts and prayers” when it comes to water
rights.

In the meantime, consider coming to see Costa Rica during the heavy rainy season,
euphemistically referred to here as “green season” as opposed to “the season when sometimes
you can’t tell if that’s rain or if someone is emptying their pool on your head.”
We who live here love the rains. So do the flora and fauna, and so will you.
*AyA is short for Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados, roughly meaning “Costa Rican Institute for water
delivery and sewers.”
**ASADA is short for Asociaciones Administradoras de Los Sistemas de Acueductos y Alcantarillados, roughly translated as
“administrative associations for water delivery and sewers.”

-By Ron Snell.