Are there other boats moored in the bays, not docked at marinas?
- We dont see many boats here along the coast, but I think its because of the huge beautiful coral reef here (lots of Pirate Ships sunk around here)
Are there good sea breezes so one does not need air-conditioning? (We don't need it on the West Coast of Florida as long as we have the sea breezes)
- We dont use an air conditioner, but it does get quite hot & humid sometimes in the afternoon. It is occasionally breezy, but usually quite calm. Depends on the season I think. The human body acclimates in about 3 months. We are way more comfortable than when we first got here, but there are still some days you want to go buy an air conditioner.
Do you live in a coastal area?
- yes. we are 20 paces from the Caribbean.
For a boater, which area would be best? Is there a reasonable marina? Does it have a website?
- Well, I can only speak for the Caribbean side (I think the Pacific has more marinas, but I dont know) ... they just scrapped a plan to put in a 300 million dollar Marina in near to where we are, due to local activism. Its a good thing, it would have destroyed the coral reef that feuls much of tourism here.
Theres an international port in Limon, but I dont recommend staying there , its not a safe-feeling place. On this side, at least from what I know, you want to check out
Boca Del Toro in Panama. Its right over the border from Costa Rica, and has a nice calm marina.
What is the rent for a small house or apartment?
- Rents are awesome ..anywhere from 100 a month(VERY BASIC) to 500 a month(VERY NICE).
Are local farmer's markets readily available?
- yeah, theres local farmers all over the place. And an eco-agricultural school not far from here... plenty of places to plug in to for natural produce.
Have you touched base with Avalon/Camelot style folks in your area?
- THAT is what I hope to be doing on here. Im pretty deep down the rabbit hole and wish I had more people to talk with about it. My wonderful girlfriend agrees with some, but only tolerates most of it.
How about cell phones/pcs providers? What is the monthly rate? I use a PCS card with my laptop to access internet. Is that doable? Is the signal reliable?
- American cellphones dont work here. GSM phones I think are supported, but not 100% sure. But there are LOTS of internet cafes, and a lot of those have wireless. Not sure about the PCS.. We are on "enhanced" dialup (128kbps) and are supposed to be getting DSL here soon...but it IS Costa Rica
How about residence requirements? I have them for boaters coming in, but do people find ways around the 60 - 90 - 180 day limits? How?
- Loophole. You can only stay in the country for 3 months, but you only have to leave the country for 72 hours (verifiable by the stamp on your passport) and you can come back for another 3 months. There are also
services where you never have to even leave your town.
And, last but not least, is there an area to get away from tropical storms and hurricanes? Do you have many?
- The storms never hit us here. I mean we just got the very outer edges of the last 2 that came through, but it just rained and thundered for a night and that was it. Look at Atlantic Costa Rica on a map where you can see South America too. We are in a huge natural cove. The storms dont turn around the corner of South America and go due west, and usually they begin way out to the east of us & they always head NorthWest so they miss us here. Plenty of rain though.