5 ms·

I'm sure others who've spent more time in Costa Rica can provide more color, but I found it a very interesting place. There's generally an "enlightened" governm

by bane 5y ago

I'm sure others who've spent more time in Costa Rica can provide more color, but I found it a very interesting place. There's generally an "enlightened" government in place with relatively low corruption. The government has prioritized important things like clean drinking water, food safety standards, power, and internet (sometimes at the tradeoff of roads). There's a national emphasis on preserving the natural ecology of the country, and there's no military. The budget for which goes into social programs, education, and health care. You can go from the Caribbean to the Pacific Ocean in a few hours, which is great. But be warned the coastal areas are both incredibly hot and humid. Fortunately, much of the country is at altitude and not nearly as hot thanks to numerous volcanoes which also feature a hot springs culture in certain areas. Because of the rain forests there's an impossible number of flora and fauna (and of course rain). All of this combines to make the country quite beautiful with some of the freshest tropical fruits you'll ever eat. The population is generally well educated, Intel used to have a chip fab there for a time and HP, Dell, Bayer, Bosch, IBM and more operate there. It's a heavily services oriented economy. Housing is affordable and the people are generally friendly enough. Food can be relatively basic, but is very filling and generally cheap. It's also fair to point out the downsides. Transportation around can be...rugged and the cities can be bogged down with traffic. The Capital city, San José...I didn't care much for...at least near the city center. It's also a very small country with a very small population (~4 million). This can be constraining for some outsiders. Overall though, I found it a fascinating and beautiful country and really did enjoy my time there. I would definitely go back given the chance. I also had a friend who lived there for several years and ran an consulting business to companies in the U.S. The timezone turned out to be rather advantageous and he was able to easy support U.S. East and West coast companies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica

tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago
What's the safety situation like?
- pibechorro 5y ago
  I was there like 10 years ago, traveled across a lot of the country via public buses. It was one of the safest countries I visited.
- AdrianB1 5y ago
  In 2013 kidnaping and robberies were quite common; a colleague escaped a kidnaping attempt after a car chase with AK47 fire, some colleagues were extracted covertly from the country when they were incidental witnesses to a gang shooting in the restaurant they were having dinner, I saw in the shopping mall all security guards carrying big, bad shotguns on they back - this is the only country where I saw that, even Israel has less obvious security in place. No idea how is it today, it may be a lot better.
  - el-salvador 5y ago
    This sounds more like El Salvador, Honduras or Guatemala than Costa Rica.
    - AdrianB1 5y ago
      The place was San Jose, Costa Rica; the mall is Multiplaza Escazu.
      - silverpepsi 5y ago
        Worth mentioning San Jose is reputed as the one dodgy place of 0 interest you should avoid. I was told exactly this by an expat who has been there 20 years and have heard similar elsewhere.
        el-salvador 5y ago
        I've heard this from expats and guidebooks written by foreigners, and even some Costa Ricans too If a normal tourist only sees the blocks around the Ticabus bus station at 11pm and the blocks around the bus stop to their tourist destination then of course it's an ugly city. However the Escazú, Sabana and San Pedro neighbourhoods are quite nice. The downtown is functional (while not beautiful), compared to any other of the Central American capitals. And the downtown main street has wide sidewalks for walking (unlike San Salvador), grid style streets (unlike Tegucigalpa), nice weather (unlike Panama), government offices, hotels, nearby (unlike all the others), and accessible by public transport.
- Overton-Window 5y ago
  You're twice as likely to be murdered in parts of the San Francisco BA. https://www.statista.com/statistics/984826/homicide-rate-costa-rica/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/984826/homicide-rate-cos... https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Homicides-are-up-36-in-Bay-Area-s-biggest-16315439.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Homicides-are-up-3...
  - chmod600 5y ago
    It's a little weird to compare local crime hotspots to a national average. Costa Rica seems to have about twice the murder rate of the U.S., but that's still low. By "low", I mean if the average accurately represents your risk, it wouldn't be worth worrying about day to day. Safety is highly situational, and it depends a lot on the way crime happens. If it's criminals killing criminals (e.g. gangs), ordinary citizens and visitors might be fine. But if there is a lot of opportunistic crime, a foreigner might be a target.
- xmichael99 5y ago
  Excellent, one of the safer countries in the world.
- bane 5y ago
  I found that pretty much every place outside of the capital felt very safe. I think this was helped by the lack of traditional "danger" signs everywhere. This basically amounts to...all of the people we came across were busy employed in some kind of industrious activity + the ubiquitous feeling of good governance everywhere. It was quite heartening to be honest. It was not a "developed country" feeling everywhere. But it felt safe and welcoming everywhere we went. For example, I don't recall seeing bars on windows outside of the capital. And every local who we interacted with was polite and honest. When out shopping and eating at local places, we never found we ended up with something like a "tourist menu" or something with higher prices. An anecdote, one woman who I was with forgot her smartphone at a roadside restaurant. A quick call and a drive back and the phone was returned without any fuss. youtube has lots of travel videos around Costa Rica if you are interested. https://youtu.be/baXO0hC2GVg https://youtu.be/baXO0hC2GVg I've definitely felt less safe in many parts of the U.S.
  - jamal-kumar 5y ago
    Yeah, I just got a friend's forgotten card back out of an ATM here in San José not that long ago! Costa Rica is definitely a place where you shouldn't be leaving your phone right out on the beach while you go to swim but it's also got some very good people in it who don't see the value in giving the place a bad name.
- truth_hurts_0x0 5y ago
  It's probably safer than your closest major US city. People think Central America and think violence, but Costa Rica truly is a diamond in the ruff.
- datenarsch 5y ago
  I think it's relatively safe compared to it's neighbouring countries. Though, of course, it's neighbouring countries are what could be called failed states with some of the worst safety records of all countries in the world.
gotrythis 5y ago
My partner and I were there last March, considering it as a place to move, and had to cut our trip short because of Covid. Some of the recent changes make it more viable, as importing cars etc, was very expensive. Regarding the government, a lot of locals were upset with the government policies, mostly around immigration, with lots of people moving into "slums" as low-wage workers from neighbouring countries, displacing Tico workers. There were a lot of fans of Trump there because of his policies around immigration. I was surprised, as I had a good impression of the government there, like you do, and expected to see more pride in the way things were done regarding the environment. Interestingly, one of the people I talked with these opinions was a full-time accountant who took the day off to drive us across the country for $100.
matttrotter 5y ago
> I also had a friend who lived there for several years and ran an consulting business to companies in the U.S. Smart! Low taxes, same time zone, up and coming country…
jamal-kumar 5y ago
I have been here for the better part of a decade, it's pretty nice. Even in San Jose, the capital city which people seem to like to talk a lot of trash about without even trying a moment to experience it, has been really good to me. I find most people here with disparaging remarks to say about the place seem like they could benefit from getting out of their smelly basement and check it out for themselves. There's many cities in the USA which are less safe than this place. The only thing is for the time being they're doing their best to manage covid by curfews, I'm taking a break until I can go back and actually leave the house to get a beer past 9pm
- chmod600 5y ago
  Can you tell us some things you like about San José?
  - jamal-kumar 5y ago
    Cheap enough if you know where to shop and where to stay, internet/power is most solid out of anywhere in country, good to be at least near the city in case you need to meet business contacts near the airport at any moment. Great party scene pre-pandemic which is slowly starting to come back. Really nice people, very easy to make friends here. Literally if just one piece of advice, avoid the cocaine scene, it's mostly sad locals and even sadder expats and I've just seen way too many naive people without regard as to how fucked that can get with enough money down here to hang themselves with. This applies to pretty much anywhere on the planet, though. I should also mention the weather is incredibly nice and temperate up in that city as long as you don't mind the rainy season normal of about 20 minutes to a an hour or two of rain a day. It's more rain and a lot more hot closer to the beaches.
- bane 5y ago
  We only stayed in San Jose for a few days. I'd really love more information on it. My experience is no doubt colored by the local area I stayed in, so a broader view is very welcome.
  - 5y ago
rajnathani 5y ago
> Intel used to have a chip fab there for a time Insightful comment. However, this part seems inaccurate as Intel seems to only have/had a chip packaging facility in Costa Rica.

by bane 5y ago

tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago

What's the safety situation like?

pibechorro 5y ago
I was there like 10 years ago, traveled across a lot of the country via public buses. It was one of the safest countries I visited.
AdrianB1 5y ago
In 2013 kidnaping and robberies were quite common; a colleague escaped a kidnaping attempt after a car chase with AK47 fire, some colleagues were extracted covertly from the country when they were incidental witnesses to a gang shooting in the restaurant they were having dinner, I saw in the shopping mall all security guards carrying big, bad shotguns on they back - this is the only country where I saw that, even Israel has less obvious security in place. No idea how is it today, it may be a lot better.
- el-salvador 5y ago
  This sounds more like El Salvador, Honduras or Guatemala than Costa Rica.
  - AdrianB1 5y ago
    The place was San Jose, Costa Rica; the mall is Multiplaza Escazu.
    - silverpepsi 5y ago
      Worth mentioning San Jose is reputed as the one dodgy place of 0 interest you should avoid. I was told exactly this by an expat who has been there 20 years and have heard similar elsewhere.
      - el-salvador 5y ago
        I've heard this from expats and guidebooks written by foreigners, and even some Costa Ricans too If a normal tourist only sees the blocks around the Ticabus bus station at 11pm and the blocks around the bus stop to their tourist destination then of course it's an ugly city. However the Escazú, Sabana and San Pedro neighbourhoods are quite nice. The downtown is functional (while not beautiful), compared to any other of the Central American capitals. And the downtown main street has wide sidewalks for walking (unlike San Salvador), grid style streets (unlike Tegucigalpa), nice weather (unlike Panama), government offices, hotels, nearby (unlike all the others), and accessible by public transport.
Overton-Window 5y ago
You're twice as likely to be murdered in parts of the San Francisco BA. https://www.statista.com/statistics/984826/homicide-rate-costa-rica/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/984826/homicide-rate-cos... https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Homicides-are-up-36-in-Bay-Area-s-biggest-16315439.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Homicides-are-up-3...
- chmod600 5y ago
  It's a little weird to compare local crime hotspots to a national average. Costa Rica seems to have about twice the murder rate of the U.S., but that's still low. By "low", I mean if the average accurately represents your risk, it wouldn't be worth worrying about day to day. Safety is highly situational, and it depends a lot on the way crime happens. If it's criminals killing criminals (e.g. gangs), ordinary citizens and visitors might be fine. But if there is a lot of opportunistic crime, a foreigner might be a target.
xmichael99 5y ago
Excellent, one of the safer countries in the world.
bane 5y ago
I found that pretty much every place outside of the capital felt very safe. I think this was helped by the lack of traditional "danger" signs everywhere. This basically amounts to...all of the people we came across were busy employed in some kind of industrious activity + the ubiquitous feeling of good governance everywhere. It was quite heartening to be honest. It was not a "developed country" feeling everywhere. But it felt safe and welcoming everywhere we went. For example, I don't recall seeing bars on windows outside of the capital. And every local who we interacted with was polite and honest. When out shopping and eating at local places, we never found we ended up with something like a "tourist menu" or something with higher prices. An anecdote, one woman who I was with forgot her smartphone at a roadside restaurant. A quick call and a drive back and the phone was returned without any fuss. youtube has lots of travel videos around Costa Rica if you are interested. https://youtu.be/baXO0hC2GVg https://youtu.be/baXO0hC2GVg I've definitely felt less safe in many parts of the U.S.
- jamal-kumar 5y ago
  Yeah, I just got a friend's forgotten card back out of an ATM here in San José not that long ago! Costa Rica is definitely a place where you shouldn't be leaving your phone right out on the beach while you go to swim but it's also got some very good people in it who don't see the value in giving the place a bad name.
truth_hurts_0x0 5y ago
It's probably safer than your closest major US city. People think Central America and think violence, but Costa Rica truly is a diamond in the ruff.
datenarsch 5y ago
I think it's relatively safe compared to it's neighbouring countries. Though, of course, it's neighbouring countries are what could be called failed states with some of the worst safety records of all countries in the world.

gotrythis 5y ago

My partner and I were there last March, considering it as a place to move, and had to cut our trip short because of Covid. Some of the recent changes make it more viable, as importing cars etc, was very expensive. Regarding the government, a lot of locals were upset with the government policies, mostly around immigration, with lots of people moving into "slums" as low-wage workers from neighbouring countries, displacing Tico workers. There were a lot of fans of Trump there because of his policies around immigration. I was surprised, as I had a good impression of the government there, like you do, and expected to see more pride in the way things were done regarding the environment. Interestingly, one of the people I talked with these opinions was a full-time accountant who took the day off to drive us across the country for $100.

matttrotter 5y ago

> I also had a friend who lived there for several years and ran an consulting business to companies in the U.S. Smart! Low taxes, same time zone, up and coming country…

jamal-kumar 5y ago

I have been here for the better part of a decade, it's pretty nice. Even in San Jose, the capital city which people seem to like to talk a lot of trash about without even trying a moment to experience it, has been really good to me. I find most people here with disparaging remarks to say about the place seem like they could benefit from getting out of their smelly basement and check it out for themselves. There's many cities in the USA which are less safe than this place. The only thing is for the time being they're doing their best to manage covid by curfews, I'm taking a break until I can go back and actually leave the house to get a beer past 9pm

chmod600 5y ago
Can you tell us some things you like about San José?
- jamal-kumar 5y ago
  Cheap enough if you know where to shop and where to stay, internet/power is most solid out of anywhere in country, good to be at least near the city in case you need to meet business contacts near the airport at any moment. Great party scene pre-pandemic which is slowly starting to come back. Really nice people, very easy to make friends here. Literally if just one piece of advice, avoid the cocaine scene, it's mostly sad locals and even sadder expats and I've just seen way too many naive people without regard as to how fucked that can get with enough money down here to hang themselves with. This applies to pretty much anywhere on the planet, though. I should also mention the weather is incredibly nice and temperate up in that city as long as you don't mind the rainy season normal of about 20 minutes to a an hour or two of rain a day. It's more rain and a lot more hot closer to the beaches.
bane 5y ago
We only stayed in San Jose for a few days. I'd really love more information on it. My experience is no doubt colored by the local area I stayed in, so a broader view is very welcome.
- 5y ago

rajnathani 5y ago

> Intel used to have a chip fab there for a time Insightful comment. However, this part seems inaccurate as Intel seems to only have/had a chip packaging facility in Costa Rica.