When people think of retirement in Costa Rica they often picture themselves lying on a palm-tree lined beach with a paradisical background. Living on one of Costa Rica’s pristine beaches has a lot to offer but it also has a downside you should be aware of.

Recently the town of Nosara, located on the Pacific Northwest coast of Costa Rica, was cut off due to a few days of torrential rains. The town’s main highway was turned into a virtual river. Over three hundred people in the community had to be taken to shelters because rising water threatened their homes and their personal safety. A few secondary roads were completely destroyed and there were several minor landslides and blackouts which cut off communication with the outside world. The whole Nicoya Peninsula really got hit hard by May’s rainstorms. Costa Rica usually doesn’t experience this kind of weather until October, which is traditionally the wettest month.

So as you can see living at the beach in Costa Rica is not all fun and games. Most often infrastructure lags behind the other areas of the country. Besides occasional flooding, Internet services can be scare, the heat can be soffocating at certain times of the year, air conditioning bills can be very high, quality emergency medical care can be far away, good entertainment and groceries can be an issue as can isolation and boredom.

I personally know a lot of people who initially were very enthusiastic when they first moved to the beach to retire in Costa Rica. About eight out of ten of them have since moved to the Central Valley where there are more services, cooler weather, good medical care and more things to do to stay busy and happy. I even know a successful Costa Rican business woman tried the beach for a year but could not stand living there. She eventually moved back to the San José suburb of Rohrmoser where she is much happier.

You really have to be a certain breed of animal to live at the beach full-time. It is better to visit one of Costa Rica’s beautiful beaches for a few days on a mini-vacation and then return to your home at a higher elevation. That is what a lot of people do. Some even have second home or condo at the beach but only use it for a few days at a time.

Personally I always feel refreshed when I return from a trip to the beach and start to feel the cooler weather as I reach the Central Valley. I get an instant inject of energy from the cool breezes.

Don’t think I am against living at the beach in Costa Rica. I am just trying to paint a realistic picture of life there to help potential retirees and other make the correct decision.