These days, there is a lot of talk about moving out of the USA. After the recent presidential election, Internet searches for moving abroad increased by 1,000 percent! Following any presidential election, people looking to move abroad is par for the course but this time, the interest in making the big move is unprecedented.
Make no doubt about it, it’s a big step too, bigger than most people realize. I won’t go into the reasons why someone wants to stay or leave their home country but will mention that people have been retiring in Costa Rica for years. I am friends with some of those people, and many of them are birders to one degree or another. I am one of those people and even though I didn’t go to Costa Rica to retire, I still live here.
What was it like to move to Costa Rica? More importantly, what is it like for a birder to move to Costa Rica? I will provide some answers to these questions with a perspective based on many years of experience; personally and by many friends.
Should You Move to Costa Rica?
I can’t answer that question and no one should except the person making the move. It’s a big decision and even if you’re sure that moving will solve some of your problems, it might not. Be sure to visit first, look around the country, and get opinions about everything from the many people who have already made the move.
Not everyone who moves here likes it, in fact, some move right back home. However, a good percentage of people who move to Costa Rica enjoy it and wouldn’t have it any other way. These happy ex-pats are people who enjoy or at least accept aspects of the local culture that are different from their home country. They also tend to try to learn some Spanish, appreciate local customs, and make the most of living in this beautiful country.
They also accept that there are things they cannot change and that they may need to travel back to their home country for certain medical procedures, to visit family, and for other reasons. For these reasons, it is perhaps not surprising that most of the ex-pats I know in Costa Rica have already lived and worked abroad in other countries. Because of those early experiences, moving to Costa Rica is less daunting than if they had never spent much time outside of their home country.
That said, there are also people who spend very little time abroad and want to live here. In fact, I know an adventurous British woman whose move to Costa Rica was sparked by watching a presentation about the country. Yes! That presentation must have award winning material because he saw it, wanted a change in his life, and packed up and moved here with all his belongings without even visiting Costa Rica! I should mention that Gillian had an interesting childhood living in Shanghai, China before the Japanese Imperial Army invaded (a la “Empire of the Sun” although she got out in time) so that’s take place but, in any case, he ended up living contentedly in Costa Rica.
Oh and if you are a birder in any sense of the term, yes, that will be exciting!
Ability to Move to Costa Rica
Before you start considering moving to Costa Rica, you first need to see if it’s feasible. Sure, you can visit Costa Rica as a tourist but that’s different than being a permanent resident. Many people live here as tourists where they leave the country every 180 days but I wouldn’t recommend that as an ongoing strategy. There is always a chance that on one of your reentries, you will not be allowed back into the country and who knows how long this loophole will last or endure?
Instead, learn about the different residency categories and see if you qualify. A lot can be said along those lines but let’s just say that to live and legally work in Costa Rica, you need to be a citizen or a legal permanent resident because you are married or have a direct Costa Rican relative. Otherwise, you can live but not work in Costa Rica by being an investor or a retiree who receives a pension of at least $1,000 per month.
Benefits for Birders
What can I say? The birding is pretty darn fantastic. Even if you live in an urban area with some green space, you’ll likely still see Crimson-fronted Parakeets, Hoffmann’s Woodpeckers, and widespread neotropical species like Great Kiskadees, Social Flycatchers, Lineated Woodpeckers, saltators, Short-tailed and Gray Hawks, Blue-gray Tanagers, and more.
Live in a rural area with some forest and your feeder birds may include toucans, oropendolas, and motmots. Not to mention, there will be dozens of other birds to look out for in your neighborhood, perhaps even birds as majestic as Long-tailed Manakins.
Garden or patch birding can be exciting but even better, literally hundreds of bird species are within easy reach. For example, although I live in an urban area in Heredia, I can drive 45 minutes into the mountains on good roads and maybe see a quetzal. Yes! The other day, while doing that, I saw a quetzal and a Wrenthrush along with a Fiery-throated Hummingbird and other highland endemics.
I can also drive an hour down the coast and watch Turquoise-browed Motmots, Scarlet Macaws, trogons, and a hundred other species in one morning. Or, I could drive a little more than an hour to reach the rainforest with Emerald Tanagers, antbirds, woodcreepers, and King Vultures.
Live in Costa Rica and a wealth of amazing birding is always within easy striking distance (my year list is approaching 700 species). Oh and we also have a couple of birding clubs too; I have been to every corner of the country with the Birding Club of Costa Rica.
General Concerns
Living in Costa Rica isn’t always about admiring Green Honeycreepers and Snowcaps. I wish but nope, as with every place, there’s other, unavoidable, non-birder factors. These include:
- Cost of Living- Costa Rica is generally cheaper than the USA. Canada, and Europe but it’s not as cheap as it used to be. Imported goods are more expensive, cars can be expensive, and even some foods are expensive.
- Durability- So far so good! Costa Rica is a stable and healthy democracy with many political parties. The army will not overthrow the government either because Costa Rica does not have one.
- Infrastructure- Costa Rica is considered a developing country but it is quite developed. Roads have been greatly improved in the past 20 years, electricity, Internet, and water are reliable almost everywhere. Speaking of water, in Costa Rica, tap water is drinkable.
- Health Care- Costa Rica has a national health care system as well as private clinics and hospitals. Residents must pay into the health care system, the amount of which is determined by your pension and other factors. In general, health care is good although I know people who have traveled back to Canada and the USA for complicated procedures or, because they were put on a long waiting list. There are also clinics in most parts of the country. With that in mind, when looking at places to live, I look and see how far the nearest clinics and hospitals are.
- Crime- Costa Rica is generally safe but like any country, some neighborhoods and situations are more dangerous than others. As with most places, it’s pretty easy to know where those places are and avoid them. In general, locals avoid crime with a lot of evasion. For example, most houses have barbed wire even in areas with very little crime, and gated, guarded communities are popular and common. I live in one and although there is very little crime nearby, having security guards controlling who enters my area makes me feel safer. For example, in my neighborhood, residents leave bicycles, scooters, and all kinds of things in front of their houses and I have never heard of anything being stolen. I wouldn’t do that outside my neighborhood.
- Tropical and animal diseases- Thanks to the health care system, we don’t have problems with various tropical diseases that are a concern in some other countries. Dengue is on the rise but the health care system is doing their best to control it through education and spraying as needed. I should mention that Dengue is also on the rise in many parts of the world, some places at a higher rate than Costa Rica, and it may be starting to occur in some southern parts of the continental USA. As for animals, yes, there are lots of insects in Costa Rica and there are snakes but a high number of insects also means more birds. Bugs are normal, as humans, we have to learn to live with them, even in our gardens and wild places. As for snakes, sadly, I rarely see them. I’ve seen more snakes while counting birds in southern Illinois and Colorado, and I’ve heard of more snake encounters in the southern states than in Costa Rica.
Part-Time Living in Costa Rica
What if you can’t get residency status or just don’t want to live in Costa Rica year-round? No problem! I know several people who spend the winter in Costa Rica, or live here on and off. They just make sure they leave the country every 180 days. Most of them have a house and someone to look after them when they are out of the country.
I could say more but I will leave that for other posts. I hope to see you here, there are many birds waiting in Costa Rica!
