The closest beach areas to San Jose are Punta Leona, Herradura and then Jaco. The time to get there is in the 2 hour range - a bit less from the airport if there are no traffic issues.

The Los Suenos Marriott is in the Herradura area.

Jaco has all sorts of accomodation options.

raquel

Thank you so much guys what is the best way to get to these place?

Is it worth renting a car or just cab or will the hotel proved a transfer?

A driver (which you can arrange through your hotel or on your own) will stop anywhere you want on the way down -- such lunch, grocery store, the bridge on the Rio Tarcoles to see the crocs, etc. Ask for an English-speaking driver if you don't speak Spanish and want to learn about the areas you will be driving through. Unless you want to sight-see on your own in the area, you don't really need a car. Any tours (to Manuel Antonio, hanging bridges, etc) will include a pick-up at your hotel. And, you can always arrange through your hotel to rent a car or atvs for the day.

I am interested in this question too. We will have all day Sunday until 8 PM to do something. We plan to go to the central market on Saturday afternoon and the National Theater. If there is a nice beach or fun town nearby (1.5 hr not to much), I would love to do that. What ideas do you have? Thanks. Marlyne

Punta Leona is the closest, and has nice beaches, but is a gated/private community. I'd suggest calling them and asking if they will allow a day pass. I've found that if you really want to do something just about anywhere, you can make it happen, especially in Costa Rica where people are so nice and accomodating.

If this isn't possible, maybe Villas Caletas for a spa/beach day, or further south to the Marriott Los Suenos. At Los Suenos, call ahead for a day pass, or just tell the guard at the gate that you're having lunch there. That's what we did the first time we visited, and as a result have stayed there many times as a result. The beach bar has good nachos and salads.

I am interested in buying a vacation property and am considering Costa Rica, I hear it is the new hot spot. I am wondering where the best place to buy would be. It seems that San Jose is the preferred airport and I am wondering what beach community would be the closest to it. I have heard about Jaco on several travel shows, don't know how close to San Jose it is. Please help with any info.

This is a travel forum. What you need is an investment and relocation forum like http://forums.arcr.net or dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/CostaRicaLiving However, I'll offer a few quick answers to some of your questions.

SJO is the main airport. It is "preferred" by most ex-pats because it is located UP in the Central Valley, where most expats live, and by many tourists because it is centrally located to all parts of the country. But if beaches are your thing it is not the closest airport to beaches. The closest beach area to SJO is Jaco, which is the main reason that beach area is so popular. However, it is still 2 hours away from the airport and considered by many if not most people who know CR to be far from being the nicest beach CR has to offer. Is Jaco "hot"? Well, temperature-wise it certainly is. From a real estate perspective, I'll just say that it is DEFINITELY a buyers market. In fact, you can now buy properties there for a fraction of the price that the current owners paid just a couple of years ago. Is that what you had in mind or make it "the best place to buy"? You tell me.

The alternative international airport is in Liberia (LIR) in the northern Guanacaste province. That airport got its international status just a few years ago and has been a HUGE factor for the explosive growth of the many beach areas in that part of the country some of which are less than an hour away from that airport. The other big factor driving growth up there is that it is also a much drier (less humid and rainy) part of the country than Jaco and points south. Of course, you have lots of overdevelopment up there too.

CR the "new hot spot" for investing in real estate? I'm not so sure if I'd say that. If by "new" you mean at least 5 years ago, then yes. And if you got in back then, you may have gotten some good deals. RE prices have been exploding in the most popular areas until this recent downturn in the world economy. Some might say it overheated. It certainly got way ahead of itself, just like RE did back in the US, and more recently prices have been dropping in the most popular areas. However, I'd say the long term prospects still aren't too bad and, of course, if you don't mind living in the areas that are less well known or popular with gringos (ie away from SJ and away from the major beach areas) you can still find some reasonably priced property. Besides overpriced real estate, there are other recent factors that have helped cool down the enthusiasm for this "hot spot", those being rising local prices for everything else (relative to neighboring countries) and alarmingly rising crime. Do you still want to invest in CR vacation property?

Of course, these are all just my opinions. Others may have a different take and, of course, you'll have to decide for yourself. However, I'll offer the single best piece of advice that you CAN take to the bank. Any one who is talking about buying property in CR before they've even gone down to CR to see what its like for themselves is REALLY putting the cart before the horse. If you need to even ask questions like these, then you're nowhere near ready to even think about investing in property.

-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-

This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.

To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html

We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.