Best Areas for Long Term Stays in Costa Rica

I have been traveling to Costa Rica since 2007 and have explored a lot of the country since. Our family has fallen in love with the easy lifestyle, beach and jungle vibes, and more recently the new developments! My parents recently built a vacation home on a luscious forested property in the Nicoya Peninsula. I was able to co-design it and found that working with the locals really helped establish a sense of home and roots in the area.

Our Family Vacation Home in the Nicoya Peninsula

The house is in a small town called Tambor, near the larger town of Cobano, and 30 minutes from Santa Teresa. From my perspective, it is one of the best parts of Costa Rica to spend long chunks of time in. Kevin, myself and our two kids just spent four months living there. Yale went to school in the town over, we worked remotely from Casa Izumi (available for long term rentals now!), and we were able to establish some roots in the community.

Living in Costa Rica. Adventure for the whole family!

Living and working in the jungle.

Tambor

Tambor is a small fishing village, though that may change with a possible shiny new marina coming into town! Tambor Bay is their local beach and although the sand is dark, it is SO amazing for small kids as the shore is vast, super shallow, and gradual. The waves are also smaller and calm so overall, it’s just a really nice spot to take the family. I actually wrote a blog post about the best beaches in the Nicoya Peninsula!

The babies at work on Tambor Bay Beach, in Tambor Costa Rica.

There are a handful of local restaurants (from pizza to costa rican dishes), a pescadoria for grabbing fresh local fish and seafood, and pretty much any kind of wildlife you’re looking to see. Locals are riding their bikes or “motos” and in general, it’s a nice quiet town. 

Beach at Tango Mar, a hotel and restaurant near Casa Izumi. A favourite for breakfast and dinner.

Cobano

The town over is Cobano, which is where we go to run most of our errands, doctor runs, gas, bank, Kevin and Tiger’s hair cuts etc. It is a slightly larger town than Tambor and there are quite a few schools. 

In a nutshell, the Tambor/Cobano part of the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica is fantastic and a safe spot for young families wanting to take the pace a little slower but still have access to enough amenities to thrive for multiple months. You need to respect that are you in living in the jungle and realize you will encounter all types of wildlife, but to our family, that is part of the fun.

Yale at Tambor Bay after pizza dinner.

Los Suenos and Jaco Region

Another spot that I think is becoming more and more suited to families and long term stays is the Los Suenos and Jaco area. This is essentially on the other side of the bay from our casa in Tambor. It is on the San Jose side of the Nicoya Peninsula and is much more populated. As such, it has certain amenities that you won’t get (yet!) on the Tambor/Cobano side. For example, it has an Auto Mercado grocery store which is basically the Costa Rican Whole Foods. It is about an hour and a half drive from the international airport and proper city of San Jose. It is more touristy than the Tambor/Cobano area so naturally there are more touristy things to do like zip lining and guided tours. The surf town of Santa Teresa 30 minutes from our casa is also super touristy and that is geared more towards trendy boutique stores and surfing. 

Jaco used to be known for its somewhat rough and tumble vibe, but it has changed significantly in the past five years and is continuing to change. There is now a brand new outdoor mall with a ton of high end and trendy restaurants and shops and fresh pressed juice places etc. I see it as continuing to grow in size and fanciness as the years go on and more and more people buy up land in the area. 

Residential area in the Los Suenos and Jaco area, overlooking Playa Herradura.

Both of these spots are in my opinion really suited to staying long term, and it just depends on what you want to prioritize in order to determine which one is best for you. Either way, you can visit both areas in one go as there is a ferry that goes between both spots every day (Paquera  to Puntaneras). There is also a water taxi (smaller boat that goes between spots across the bay). And lastly, if you have the funds it is easy to charter a smaller boat to take you (there is also tons of epic fishing in between - more on that later).

Pura Vida!