Costa Rica information

Boxslayer · Jan 8, 2005

Hey guys,

I'm currently in the development of an offshore business that I plan to start in Costa Rica. I was wondering if anyone could help me with any information regarding Costa Rica. Some of the questions I have include:

-What are the best, nicest, safest, Englush speaking cities to live in?
-In what city are most online books set up?
-What is the cost of living in Costa Rica? What is average rent per month? Food?
-How is health care? Nightlife?

Any information on the above or any additional comments will really help me make an informed decision. I'm currently asking a friend of mine who lives there, but I figured that this forum could be a great tool. Thanks in advance to the replies!

:toast:

da1ghost · Jan 8, 2005

-What are the best, nicest, safest, Englush speaking cities to live in?

There is only one city, San jose....made up of many suburbs though. Escazu is one of them, it depends what you are looking for, if you want to be in the country....try Santa Ana, if you want to be close to the comforts of life...Escazu...of course there are other burbs that are nice and safe to live in such as Cariari but it all depends on what you are looking for. I would strongly suggest Escazu for english speaking, it is safe but remember, safe here has a whole new meaning......you have to get used to living in the hood with the bars on the windows.

-In what city are most online books set up?

Most of the books are located in various burbs of San Jose (San Pedro, Sabana, Zapote, Heredia)

-What is the cost of living in Costa Rica? What is average rent per month? Food?

There are two sides for that answer. You can live various lifestyles, for e.g. you can string up a hammock and make a fire to cook rice and beans with some tortillas and that will cost you about a dollar a day to live that way. If you want to live a lifestyle comparable to the US it is obviously more expensive seeing that the food products that are available down here are imported and the locals always have the "phuck foreigners out of their money" attitude when you try to rent a place. It's all relative, you can probably get away with 1.5X whatever it would be in a small town in the US as far as living costs go.

-How is health care? Nightlife?

Night Life my friend is awesome here! Things are cheap and women are abundant, you will have to beat them away with a stick! Health care is ok too, there are a couple of good private hospitals. My sister is volunteering at the CIMA hospital and she is shocked to find out that the Archbishop as well as other Poloticians here use this hospital vs. their own socialized public hospitals. Health Care here overall is fairly good, of course if it is something serious you would fly home anyways to be comfortable.

Dante · Jan 8, 2005

-How is health care? Nightlife?

Night Life my friend is awesome here! Things are cheap and women are abundant, you will have to beat them away with a stick! :suomi:

maybe ill move on down? :icon_conf

TigerBait · Jan 9, 2005

All I know about Costa Rica...

is that drugs and prostitution are legal. A buddy of mine who's single told me that they bought Cocaine from the bartender at the bar they were drinking at.

He told me they fvcked whores every night and it was awesome. Lots of guys go there now for their bachelor parties. Sounds like a blast, but I doubt I'll ever make it

quantumleap · Jan 9, 2005

TigerBait said:
is that drugs and prostitution are legal. A buddy of mine who's single told me that they bought Cocaine from the bartender at the bar they were drinking at.

He told me they fvcked whores every night and it was awesome. Lots of guys go there now for their bachelor parties. Sounds like a blast, but I doubt I'll ever make it

Airfare from most major southern US cities is around $500 round trip. You could probably get a better price shopping around. Anyone have any prices on nice hotels?

I'm willing to bet you could get a very nice trip for around $1000. I've taken on a consulting job to pay for my trip. This last week I added $500 to my trip fund.

WildBill · Jan 9, 2005

Can I ask you why you chose Costa Rica? You better have a pretty good reason because it isn't the most friendly place for foreign businesses unless you are going to sell to the local population or you are running a sports book. Even setting up a book there is somewhat questionable, but I do grant that all kinds of talent is around so you could choose a worse place. Still the taxes are high, the corruption adds to the costs, the English you seem to seek is pretty lacking in general except among expats, and worst of all, it isn't the best located area in the world if you have a worldwide focus for your business.

spreadbeater · Jan 9, 2005

Quantamleap,
I was just there from December 26-29. Round trip was a little under 300.00 leaving from Miami, FL. Only took a little over 2 hours to get there. For hotels and other information, you can contact me at qbm1021@aol.com. I stayed at a great hotel when I was there. Also, have some other info for you. Give me a holler. :suomi:

SB

Boxslayer · Jan 9, 2005

WildBill,

My business involves a new type of gambling that could be questionable under the laws of the US. According to my legal research it is legal in the US but Id rather not take a chance.
According to my research, Costa Rica is one of the only countries in the world that does not require a gaming license. Gaming licenses typically run $100,000. That's a nice amount to save.
Costa Rica also doesn't tax business revenue made outside their country. My business, obviously being via the internet, would have most profits made outside CR.
Any other suggestions you might have would be considered and appreciated.

WildBill · Jan 9, 2005

Those are good reasons, but just remember things may not always be the way they are now. My personal guess is that once all these other jurisdictions in Europe are up and running and the world sees that basically Costa Rica is the last place where the business is without a licensing regime, things will change. Either many customers will start noticing and slowly moving their money elsewhere or the CR government will just decide they are leaving too much money on the table and do something. Just keep that in mind, but CR is a good choice today for your decision because the number of businesses there make it fairly easy to get the particular talent you might want.

DimeBag · Jan 9, 2005

Hey Tigerbait

Nice observation, its good to know "all that you know about costa rica" Im sure the culture is in tears, knowing that you will probably never make it down. Way to keep the "dirty gringo" sterotype alive, dork.

Dime

quantumleap · Jan 9, 2005

spreadbeater said:
Quantamleap,
I was just there from December 26-29. Round trip was a little under 300.00 leaving from Miami, FL. Only took a little over 2 hours to get there. For hotels and other information, you can contact me at qbm1021@aol.com. I stayed at a great hotel when I was there. Also, have some other info for you. Give me a holler.

SB

Thanks much SB. I'll send you an email.

sky_shadow · Jan 10, 2005

Probable Solution

Hi BOXSLAYER

Costa Rica is not the only place you could start your business ...
There are other places too ...
I know another place that could be much more interesting that CR ..
Please e-mail me for more details .

thanks
:howdy:

WHALE · Jan 11, 2005

Please e-mail me for more details

Please post it, I'll die to know... :icon_conf

WHALE · Jan 11, 2005

is that drugs and prostitution are legal. A buddy of mine who's single told me that they bought Cocaine from the bartender at the bar they were drinking at.

He told me they fvcked whores every night and it was awesome. Lots of guys go there now for their bachelor parties. Sounds like a blast, but I doubt I'll ever make it

TigerBait...you are kidding me...I'm sure your guy was so fucked up he got Mennen's toilet powder instead of coke and still enjoyed banging a transvestite every night and bringing a nice venereal disease to his wife/girlfriend

Boxslayer · Jan 11, 2005

Skyshadow

Skyshadow -

It says your e-mail is not working on theprescription. I am unable to send you email because you have it turned off I am guessing. ....

sky_shadow · Jan 12, 2005

e-mail

Sorry , here it is

sky_shadow5@yahoo.com

sky_shadow · Jan 12, 2005

e-mail

Sorry , here it is

sky_shadow5@yahoo.com

WHALE · Jan 12, 2005

Maybe he doesn't have the "details" and that's why his e-mail acct does not work. :icon_conf

fkartavia · Jan 18, 2005

About Costa Rica

Actually Costa Rica is one of the best places in Latin America to have this kind of businesses. English level is the best, if you compare to the rest of the continent (except the US and Canada of course). Communications and Internet have developed very well in the last few years, making this more attractive for investors. Also, wages for qualified personnel are way lot smalles than the one you would pay in other countries (like US, and UK).
Regarding laws and politics, we still have a long way to go. The fact is that in the short term, the congress is not going to decide on how they will tax this kind of operations. Anyway, the advances in those taxing aspects, have always been affordable to the companies here. Most of them even like the idea of giving a ridiculous percentage of what they get and get recognition from the country they are operating from.
Healthcare is cheap, that is why people come to have plastic surgery here! The cost of living here is cheap when your revenue is coming from the states. You can rent a nice place for 1 or 2 K a month.
If you are really a business man, you may do great things here. Just remember to play by the rules, and to have your eyes open. Some people find this sooo cheap that they start giving out more money than they would need.
If you need any help on this, shoot me an email, and I will be happy to give you a hand. Good luck!

wolfie_cr · Jan 18, 2005

"Just remember to play by the rules" and that means, learn a shitload of rules

I don't think anybody could do business in a foreign country without the advice of an attorney. In here there are really strange (in the view of foreigners) laws regarding social security and labor law, regarding posesion of real state you REALLY need to take a close look at what you are doing specially if it involves buying land that is really close to the shore line.