Win A Trip To Visit Costa Rica – Deadline: January 31, 2021

The Costa Rica Tourism Board is awarding 15 residents of the US and Canada (excluding Quebec somehow) an all-expenses paid vacation to Costa Rica. I don’t know what area of Costa Rica (there are 12 microclimates), but the contest prize description includes:

• Coach roundtrip air transportation for two
• Six nights of hotel accommodations
• $200 in meal vouchers
• Ground transport
• Travel insurance

Here’s the link to enter if you’re feeling lucky!

Even if you’re not feeling lucky, the cost of entry is a statement, in 200 words or less, answering, “Who Is Essential To You?”. Reflecting on that important question and committing your thoughts to writing would make a nice gift to the person you nominate – an early Valentine’s Day card to your significant other, overdue thanks to a parent or mentor, encouraging words of praise to a friend. And if you happen to win, each prize is for the nominator and nominee to travel together.

Scott and I dated while attending colleges in different cities, so we wrote lots of letters back and forth. We continue to write letters to each other throughout the year, not just for Valentine’s or anniversaries. I love receiving an unexpected note, and writing them inevitably puts me in a good mood. I imagine it fires up the same positive feelings as writing a gratitude list. If you haven’t written a love letter recently, I highly recommend it – and then enter the contest if you’re eligible!

How I would spend a week in Costa Rica

While I don’t know what locations the contest will cover, if I had my pick, I would fly into Liberia over San Jose. The Liberia airport is small so you get through quickly. It’s brightly lit and colorful. The Tamarindo Shuttle can pick you up right from there and get you to Tamarindo (or a dozen other places in the Guanacaste region) in about an hour. When we fly JetBlue from JFK, we’re on the beach in time for sunset on the same day!

Tamarindo could be your hub for the whole trip or just a couple of days, and you could hit multiple beaches from there. Playa Tamarindo is wide and calm, perfect for beginner surf lessons, walks on the beach or sunset viewing. For variety, Playas Avellanas, Brasalito, Flamingo, Grande and Potrero are a short drive away. Tamarindo has a lot of dining and shopping options, so it’s a central place to be when you don’t have much time.

You could continue south of Tamarindo to the Nicoya Peninsula which has more remote beaches and upscale lodging, yoga retreats, etc. But for contrast, I would visit the more temperate central part of Costa Rica, the Caribbean Coast (Tamarindo is on the Pacific Coast) and/ or the even wetter Southern Zone.

Where I would spend my $200 on food

Most of our time in Costa Rica has been spent in Tamarindo, which caters to tourists and is therefore more expensive than you might expect. Most of our favorite restaurants in Tamarindo would cost $20-30 per meal for 2. When we spent a month in Costa Rica, sticking largely to Tamarindo with a four-day trip to the Caribbean coast, we spent just under $50 per day on food.

Still a food budget of $30 per day for two people could cover you, even in Tamarindo, if you stick to the sodas (local eateries), outside markets and food stalls. In the center of Tamarindo, there is a local woman who sells lunch to go out of the trunk of her car, with selections changing daily, so there are ways to stretch your budget and still eat well.

That said, we haven’t visited since the pandemic closed borders in March. While borders have reopened since November (hence the contest!) we don’t know what is still open or the condition of our favorite places.

What I would like to do for the week

Look at real estate, of course!

My favorite trips to Costa Rica are bleisure trips – business and leisure. If I really could go anywhere, I would love to explore more of the Central Valley (we just drove through on our way to the Caribbean Coast) and return to the Southern Zone to see how it has developed since we first scouted real estate in 2017.

We don’t plan to buy any more real estate in Costa Rica (we would be too concentrated in one area of the world). However, I am still bullish on Costa Rica’s allure to digital workers, the environmentally-conscious and people seeking the healthy, laidback Pura Vida lifestyle.

I would love all expenses paid ground transportation to visit the different areas. I’m not a surfer, diver or much of an adventure-seeker — so I would fashion my free week around a real estate scouting trip.

Here are some recent real estate listings that caught my eye (I haven’t done any due diligence on these, just window shopping):

I love Playa Avellanas, and this new 2-bed, 2-bath on a lot with room to build is $145k.

We really enjoyed our visit to the Caribbean coast. It is less developed than Tamarindo, so more potential upside and a lower cost of entry for the adventurous. We stayed in Cahuita, and this new 4-bed, 2-bath home on a three-quarter acre lot (with fruit trees!) is $230k.

We ultimately passed on the Southern Zone, but the topography is spectacularly lush, and it gives you the contrast of beach and jungle. This 3-2 on almost 1.5 acres (again, lots of fruit trees!) is $239k.

If you want to set up shop right in the heart of the shopping strip in Tamarindo, this leather shop is for sale at $37.5k. You don’t own the commercial property so you’re buying the right to lease, the existing track record and the inventory. You’d have to make the business work, but it’s cheaper than a year of business school, and you would likely learn a lot running it. A gap year option?