Best Places to Live in Costa Rica: Nine Areas Compared

The comparison at a glance

Two notes on reading the hospital column. First, CCSS hospitals come in tiers: national hospitals in San José's central canton are the country's most complex; regional hospitals, located outside San José, offer at least internal medicine, general surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, and pediatrics; peripheral hospitals are smaller. A closer peripheral hospital may refer you to a regional or national one. Second, CAJA care also runs through local CCSS clinics for primary care; hospitals handle referrals and emergencies.

How climate works in Costa Rica

The IMN divides Costa Rica into seven climate regions: North Pacific, Central Pacific, South Pacific, the Central region, the North (Zona Norte), North Caribbean and South Caribbean. Two rain patterns underlie them:

• Pacific slope. A defined dry season from December to March, with April as a transition, and a rainy season from May to October. July and August bring a relative lull in the rain, and September and October are the wettest months. The dry season starts first in the northwest (Guanacaste) and last in the southeast.
• Caribbean slope. No defined dry season: even the least rainy months get 100 to 200 millimetres of rain. Coastal areas have two relatively dry spells, February to March and September to October, and December is the wettest month.

Within any region, elevation changes temperature. That is why the Central Valley towns, at roughly 750 to 1,160 metres, are cooler than the coastal towns in this guide, which sit near sea level.

Central Valley: Escazú and Santa Ana

Province: San José. Elevation: about 1,130 m (Escazú) and 1,080 m (Santa Ana). Airport: SJO, 20 km and 13 km by road.

These two neighbouring cantons west of San José put hospitals closer than anywhere else in this guide. Hospital México, one of the three national CCSS hospitals, is about 7 km from Escazú by road. On the private side, Hospital CIMA is in Escazú, on the Próspero Fernández highway; Clínica Bíblica runs a site in Santa Ana; and Hospital Metropolitano's Lindora hospital is in Santa Ana.

Considerations. This is the one area in this guide with dated rent data, and it sits above Numbeo's national averages: Numbeo's September 2026 averages put a one-bedroom city-centre apartment at about $1,084 a month in Santa Ana (five contributors) and a three-bedroom outside the centre at about $1,499 in Escazú (June 2026, 14 contributors). Traffic on the Próspero Fernández highway toward San José is the daily trade-off. Our cost of living guide has the full rent tables.

Central Valley: Heredia

Province: Heredia. Elevation: about 1,160 m. Airport: SJO, 11 km by road, the shortest trip in this guide.

Heredia is a provincial capital with its own regional CCSS hospital, San Vicente de Paúl, in the city. Hospital Metropolitano lists a hospital site at Cariari and a medical centre at Plaza Vizcaya, both in Heredia province.

Considerations. Heredia combines a short airport run with a regional hospital. It is urban, and elevation varies across the province; check elevation and rainfall for the specific district you are considering.

Central Valley: Atenas and Grecia

Province: Alajuela. Elevation: about 750 m (Atenas) and 1,040 m (Grecia). Airport: SJO, 25 km and 33 km by road.

These are smaller towns west of the airport, often considered by retirees who want the Central Valley climate without the San José metropolitan area. Grecia has a peripheral CCSS hospital, San Francisco de Asís, about 4 km from the town centre; from Atenas it is about 18 km. The nearest regional hospital for both is San Rafael, in Alajuela, about 29 km from Atenas and 33 km from Grecia.

Considerations. Atenas sits noticeably lower than Grecia, which usually means warmer days. Both depend on the drive to Alajuela or San José for private hospitals and specialist care; Hospital Metropolitano lists medical centres in Alajuela.

Central Pacific: Jacó

Province: Puntarenas (Garabito canton). Elevation: about 10 m. Airport: SJO, 85 km by road, the closest beach town to San José's airport in this guide.

Jacó is a beach town on the Central Pacific coast. The nearest regional CCSS hospital is Víctor Manuel Sanabria in Puntarenas, about 63 km by road; the regional hospital in Alajuela, San Rafael, is about 88 km. Hospital Metropolitano lists a hospital branch in Quepos, further south along the coast.

Considerations. Jacó trades the heat of sea level for proximity to SJO and to the Central Valley's hospitals, which are about as far by road as the Puntarenas hospital. The Pacific dry season applies.

North Pacific: Tamarindo and Nosara

Province: Guanacaste. Elevation: about 15 m (Tamarindo) and 40 m (Nosara). Airport: LIR, 65 km and 94 km by road.

Both are Guanacaste beach communities served by Liberia's airport. The IMN notes that the Pacific dry season begins first in the northwest, which puts Guanacaste at the drier end of the country. The nearest CCSS hospital to both is La Anexión in Nicoya, a peripheral hospital: about 58 km from Tamarindo and 35 km from Nosara, though the Nosara drive is estimated at well over an hour because of the roads. The regional hospital, Enrique Baltodano, is in Liberia, about 78 km from Tamarindo. Private options in the province include Hospital Metropolitano's sites in Huacas and Liberia and Clínica Bíblica's Liberia site, which lists 24-hour emergency service.

Considerations. Distance is a poor guide to travel time around Nosara: routing estimates put the 35 km to Nicoya at about 74 minutes, before rainy-season conditions. International Living reports that costs in popular coastal communities run 10 to 25 percent higher than in the Central Valley. We found no current, dated rent data for either town.

South Pacific: Dominical and Uvita

Province: Puntarenas (Osa canton). Elevation: about 15 m (Dominical) and 25 m (Uvita). Airport: SJO, 190 km and 208 km by road; routing estimates put both at well over three and a half hours without traffic.

These towns on the Southern Pacific coast are the furthest from an international airport among the Pacific areas in this guide. Hospital access splits two ways. From Dominical, the regional CCSS hospital Escalante Pradilla in San Isidro de El General is about 34 km inland. From Uvita, the peripheral Tomás Casas Casajús hospital in Osa is about 32 km south, and Escalante Pradilla about 52 km. Hospital Metropolitano's Quepos branch is north along the coast.

Considerations. The distance to SJO shapes how often family can visit and how you handle specialist care in San José. The South Pacific follows the Pacific rain pattern, with its dry season starting later than in Guanacaste.

The north: La Fortuna and Lake Arenal

Province: La Fortuna is in Alajuela (San Carlos canton); Nuevo Arenal, on the lake's north shore, is in Guanacaste (Tilarán canton). Elevation: about 250 m (La Fortuna) and 750 m (Nuevo Arenal). Airport: La Fortuna is 124 km from SJO; Nuevo Arenal is 102 km from LIR.

La Fortuna sits in the IMN's northern (Zona Norte) region. Its regional CCSS hospital is in Ciudad Quesada, about 46 km by road, and Hospital Metropolitano lists a new site there. Nuevo Arenal, around the lake, is further from every hospital in this guide: about 93 km to Liberia's regional hospital and 96 km to Ciudad Quesada. The lake area sits between the northern and North Pacific climate regions; check local rainfall records for the side of the lake you are considering.

Considerations. Nuevo Arenal's elevation gives it a milder temperature than the coast, but it has the longest drive to a CCSS hospital of any area here. Plan healthcare before choosing it.

South Caribbean: Puerto Viejo

Province: Limón (Talamanca canton). Elevation: about 5 m. Airport: SJO, 233 km by road.

Puerto Viejo de Talamanca is on the southern Caribbean coast, the one area in this guide on the Caribbean slope. The IMN describes that slope as having no defined dry season, with relatively drier spells in February–March and September–October, which run opposite to the Pacific pattern. The regional CCSS hospital is Tony Facio in Limón, about 60 km by road.

Considerations. Puerto Viejo is the furthest area from SJO in this guide, and the Caribbean rain calendar means September and October, the wettest Pacific months, are among the drier ones here. We found no dated rent data.

Before you choose: what matters more than the town

• Rent before you buy. A year in a town shows you its rainy season, roads and neighbours. See buying property in Costa Rica when you are ready.
• Map your healthcare route. The distance to a regional or national hospital matters more as you age. How CAJA and private care work together is covered in Costa Rica healthcare for expats.
• Budget for the area. Our cost of living guide shows what sourced data exists by region.
• Sort out residency first. Your category does not depend on the town, but it decides your CAJA bill. The requirements guide sets out the four paths, and retirees on a lifetime pension of $1,000 a month or more generally qualify as pensionados (Ley 8764 art. 81).

Meridian handles the residency file for a flat $3,750 per application, including CAJA enrollment and DIMEX pickup, with an approved-or-you-don't-pay guarantee. The assessment tells you which category fits before you sign a lease.

Sources and legal basis

1. CCSS, Hospitales: hospital names, categories (national, regional, peripheral), the description of each category, and the map coordinates used for hospital locations. Retrieved 14 September 2026.
2. Instituto Meteorológico Nacional, El clima y las regiones climáticas de Costa Rica: seven climate regions; Pacific and Caribbean rain regimes. Retrieved 14 September 2026.
3. Town locations and provinces: OpenStreetMap Nominatim. Road distances and drive times: OSRM routing on OpenStreetMap data. Elevations: SRTM 90 m via OpenTopoData. All queried 14 September 2026.
4. Hospital CIMA, Contact (address in Escazú). Hospital Clínica Bíblica, Accreditations and locations. Hospital Metropolitano, Our locations. Retrieved 14 September 2026.
5. Numbeo, Escazú (updated 20 June 2026) and Santa Ana (updated 11 September 2026), retrieved 14 September 2026.
6. International Living, Cost of Living in Costa Rica, updated 5 March 2025 (coastal costs versus the Central Valley).
7. Pensionado threshold: Ley 8764, art. 81. Official text, Poder Judicial.