Three Reasons Why You’ll Fall in Love with Costa Rica’s Southern Zone

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Dear Reader,

On Monday, colleague Ronan McMahon told you about a financing deal in Costa Rica’s Southern Zone. He gave you the lowdown on the new highway, plans for an international airport, and how you could buy a lot with a 20% down payment, and the remainder spread over three years. It all makes perfect logical sense.

Today, I’m leaving that logical sense to one side—and giving you three reasons why you’ll fall wildly in love with this unique area.

The first is the towns.

You won’t find mega-malls, drive-through burger joints, or faceless condo towers in the Southern Zone. Instead, you’ll come across small friendly towns and villages, with a scattering of art galleries, and a surprising variety of restaurants.

My favorite town is Ojochal. Ojochal feels quite cosmopolitan. Instead of the usual tiny restaurants serving local fare like rice and beans, or fried fish, Ojochal has tiny restaurants serving French, Italian, Indonesian, and organic food. You can buy fresh bread and bakery goods, homemade cheese and yogurt, or enjoy a crisp pizza from a wood-fired oven. A coffee shop offers quality coffee, espressos, and specialty sandwiches. A little delicatessen stocks imported cheeses, wines, champagne, cigars, and other treats. Ojochal’s out of the way, but you’ll still find life’s little luxuries here.

The second is the beaches.

The beaches along the coast are pristine and mostly deserted. My favorite beach is Playa Uvita, which is typical of the region. It ranks as one of Costa Rica’s top beaches, with miles of wide tan sand. Swimming conditions are near-perfect, with warm, calm waters. Mountain ridges and slopes, covered in lush emerald rainforest, backdrop the beach, and a distinctive sandbar at the northern end of the beach forms the shape of a whale’s tail at low tide. Sunsets here are spectacular, and well worth waiting for.

The third is the national parks.

More than two-thirds of the land in the Southern Zone is preserved. Encompassing 263 square miles, Corcovado National Park is the crown jewel of Costa Rica’s national parks and reserves. National Geographic describes it as “the most biologically intense place on Earth”. If you’ve ever dreamed of an Indiana Jones-style adventure in a remote and rugged wilderness, you should visit Corcovado.

The park has thirteen major ecosystems, from cloud forest to freshwater swamps…and an abundance of wildlife: tapirs, otters, sloths, jaguars, scarlet macaws, harpy eagles, red-eyed tree frogs and white-faced capuchin monkeys. The trails in the park are relatively good, although you should take a guide with you.

The parks’ twenty-three miles of deserted beaches and numerous waterfalls are perfect for a quick dip. Just make sure that none of Corcovado’s exotic wildlife is too close…

While Ronan’s case for property investment here is a good one, the case for enjoying a rich and rewarding lifestyle is even better. You’ll find the combination of towns, beaches, parks (and wildlife) in Costa Rica’s Southern Zone hard to beat.

Margaret Summerfield

P.S. If you want to see this part of Costa Rica for yourself, why not join one of our chill weekends in the Southern Zone? For $250, you’ll spend four days exploring this unique place…and checking out the best real estate project in the area. The trip includes accommodation, meals, and airport transfers from San Jose. It presents the perfect opportunity to check out the Southern Zone’s towns, beaches, national parks…and lifestyle…and see if it’s right for you. Click here to discover more.