Ojochal - We are in the village of Ojochal, a town noted for having great restaurants. Ojochal has about 1800 year round residents and more in the winter months. Although we don't have much of a downtown and our roads are gravel, we have nearly 35 restaurants and bars in town as well as 11 hotels. Most are on side roads off of the main road. We have a super market, a gourmet food store, wine bar, liquor, gas station, clothing store, etc. The next town north of us is Uvita where there are a number of large commercial plazas selling everything from furniture to appliances, a farmers market on Saturday, two very modern supermarkets, banks, etc.
Duty Free Appliances - There is a duty free port in Golfito, about an hour away where we can buy things like flat screen televisions, sub zero fridges, high end stoves like Viking, Jenn Air, DCS and Wolf and any really high end appliance you might want like Bosch dishwashers or Fisher and Paykel Washers, Roper or Maytag Front loaders, etc..
The Closest Major City - The city of San Isidro, also known as Perez Zeledon, is about a hour's drive from us has a Walmart, owned by Walmart but having a different name in Costa Rica, a mall, numerous large furniture and clothing stores, specialty stores and just about everything you'd find in a big city in north America. You can see more about the city and offerings at www.perezzeledon.net
Complete Custom Homes - You have no time limit to build and can even build your own house if you want to. You will have to meet all local building codes and permitting requirements. You are also welcome to hire any other builder of your choice however most of our clients use us to build their home. Afer all that is one of the biggest advantages in buying in our developments in the first place. We are like using the "Easy Button".
We are building custom homes in our developments in Costa Rica for our clients at $100 per square foot. Here is a list of the standard building features you will find in your construction. These, along with our qualified workmanship, are your guarantee of superior quality and beautiful results.
- 1. Walls are built of Covintect system with structural mesh and concrete stucco.
- 2. Floors rest on poured concrete.
- 3. Roof structure is made out of wood.
- 4. Standard roof comes with a lightweight steel sheets with a baked on paint finish for easy maintenance in an imitation Spanish clay tile style.
- 5. Eaves troughs and chains are installed on all homes.
- 6. Cathedral ceilings with visible wood beams and tongue in grove wood slats finish will be featured throughout the whole home.
- 7. Interior and exterior walls are finished in the following manner:
- One coat of cement sealer,
- Two coats of high quality paint, one color of your choice for the exterior and one color of your choice for the interior, from our selection.
- 8. All plumbing installations respect national building codes and are linked to a septic tank and drainage field system. The main water hook-up is not included. Water is at your lot line somewhere and you will only have to pay to have the line brought to the connection to the house. We don't include this in the price since depending on your lot size, the distance from the water main on your lot to the location of the home may be quite a ways.
- This comprises all faucets, sinks, porcelains, 1 hot water heater (60 Gallon) and shower or bathtub as indicated in the blueprints. All indoor showers to have standard glass enclosures.
- 9. All electrical installations respect national building codes. The main electrical hook-up is not included. Again for the same reason the water hook up was not included since it depends on the distance from the hook up to the house
- The electrical system comprises all wiring, electrical switchboards, light switches, lamps and ceiling fans as indicated, to be chosen from our current selection.
- 10. All indoor and terrace floors are finished with ceramic tiles, to be chosen from our current selection.
- 11. Windows will be made of white PVC Vinyl. Doors are to be selected from our actual selection.
- 12. Kitchen and bathroom cabinets are in wood and feature ceramic countertops. Bedroom armoires are wood crafted. Granite counters are now included at the $100 per square foot construction rate.
- 13. The pool will be painted and includes a complete pump system with chlorine filter and all the accessories as required and necessary. Pools are an extra charge and are not included with the home but this information is pertintent since many owners end up having pools installed.
- 14. The carport will feature a concrete floor and a metal structure roof with a Spanish style finish.
- 15. All materials, such as tiles, faucets, sinks, porcelains, lights and ceiling fans will be chosen from our broad current selection. An alternate selection will imply an additional cost.
- 16. We offer you a complete team of professional supervisors: engineers, architects and surveyors, all registered with the national boards of their trade.
- 17. All our personal is insured against injury on the job site in order to eliminate the owner's liability.
- 18. Our labor is guaranteed for one full year after delivery. Any defects on the installation of fixtures and fittings of manufactured items will be repaired in a timely manner. Only manufacturers' warranty will be applied to the manufactured items.
Dominical is a surf town, you will have a blast. Just be careful of a few things. One is that the ocean on the Pacific Costa has some strong undertows. If you ever found yourself being drawn out to sea, don't fight it, swim Parallel to the beach and try swimming in either further up or further down the beach. In Dominical the beach is pretty shallow for a ways out so you won't have a problem unless you get out over your head. There are also lifeguards stationed at that beach, one of the few beached in Costa Rica to have them. They are there since this is a popular surfing beach and surfers sometimes get in trouble, hit by a board, etc and also because there is a known undertow in Dominical. Watch the size of the waves, sometimes they are fine, other times they are gnarly.
The second concern is just to keep an eye on your stuff. Don't leave anything expensive at the beach while you go swimming, don't leave stuff in a car when not there, etc. Lock your room, lock the windows, etc since this is a tourist town and there are some people trying to live the surf bum life and not have to work and crime is easy on unsuspecting tourists. Dominical is loaded with kids.
Here are the high points you want to do while in Dominical. Go to Hacienda Baru (there ar tours from nearly every hotel) and do their zip line. It is only about 10 minutes from Dominical and costs about $35.
Eat lunch at Maracatu (mostly vegetarian) restaurant and go there for ladies night (I think it is Tuesday. They have live music there.
Check out San Clemente (tons of broken surfboards, a shrine to Elvis, a hippy bus, cool place).
Go to dinner at the hotel Domilocos at the restaurant "Con Fusion" mostly pastas and pretty cheap but great food.
Go to the dance club "Roca Verde" on Saturday night (on the highway just up the road from the main entrance to town and about a $3 cab ride. Great place, good dancing, packed.
Go to Paz Azul Waterfalls to swim one day, ask someone how to get there. You can also go to Don Lulu's Nauyaca waterfalls if you are bored and want to do something one day, ask about tours from any local hotel, huge waterfalls that you can swim in, huge, did I say huge, but you have to ride horses for 2 hours each way and the cost is maybe $45 per person including lunch.
In terms of warnings, be careful of Tico guys that want to take you to their house (I'm thinking like you are my daughter), and wear bug spray at dusk (prime time for bugs) or stay indoors around then. If you are taking the bus from San Jose, again just watch your stuff while you are moving around. The same as you would in any big city.
Also make a color copy of your passport page that has your picture and other information on it. People like to steal passports in foreign countries, keep the copy with you and leave the real one hidden in your house but don't forget it when you leave. Stay together, Be smart....
Cafe Exotica in Ojochal for lunch or dinner, closed on Sundays
Citrus Restaurant in Ojochal for lunch or dinner (I think they are closed Mondays)
Go into Dominical one day and look around
There's a great dinner restaurant at Hotel Domilocos
There is a good waterfall to swim in (called Paz Azul) on the road almost directly across the road from La Parcela restaurant, other side of the road, the first road heading back to Dominical, turn in this road kind of a V off the main road, not straight in, passing through a neighborhood of small homes close together, stay left at end and cross the small river and take a right and head up the hill, you will see an obvious parking area on your left as you head up the hill, Park, on the side of the street opposite the parking area are some cement stairs, short walk to waterfalls. Don't leave valuables visible in your car anywhere, same as anywhere else. tourists sometimes forget...
Pay the $10 fee and do go to the whales tail beach (playa bellena), your admission ticket will get you in and out all day.
Definitely go to La Fogata, in Uvita, wood fired barbecue chicken and ribs, excellent.
Brand new restaurant on the Perezozo road, (first left after the turn in to Ojochal as you head south, steep hill and sign for El Buena Vista Hotel) the restaurant is about a mile in on the left, I think the name is El Fuego., steaks and such.
There is a French bakery in Ojochal,
Go to the Ventanas beach, cool caves with ocean in them, don't swim in them if it is rough and watch the tide, watch for the sign on the highway as you head south from Uvita, right side of the road, drive in and park and walk the trail.
an Indonesian restaurant called Ylang Ylang (was not a favorite of mine but I seemed not to like Indonesian food according to my wife) ,
an Estonian restaurant at hotel Adelante (never eaten there).
Check out the Cuna del angel hotel and I recommend their restaurant at lunchtime.
A great restaurant in Dominical for lunch is Maracatu, mostly vegetarian, kind of funky, great wraps, fish tacos, healthy food.
Interesting eco tours at Oro Verde, horseback riding and such.
Driving into the town of Sierpe (south to Palmar, cross the river, take first right and follow the road straight, ends in Sierpe, here is where the river boats take people to the resorts only accessible by water in the Corcovado National Park, the Osa and Drake Bay. If you go to the restaurant Las Vegas you can ask about a boat ride in the river if you care to see migratory birds and monkeys and such.
Hacienda Baru is a reserve just before Dominical as you are headed south (south of Quepos and Manuel Antonio) at the Hacienda Baru they have a good zip line tour, not a thrill ride, a good canopy tour on a zip line, very safe, as well as some trails and eco activities.
If you want to sport fish, Quepos is where you want to go from and you want to be on the Magic Moon owned by Luna Tours (Jerry - American) and their office is in the Kamuk Hotel. Sport fishing is expensive but we have always caught at least 6 sail fish on a bad day, ofter big tuna and huge (over 500 pounds) Marlin. Will cost close to $250 per person on a shared boat with 4 people. less if there are 6 but less fishing per person.
There is a farmers market in Uvita at the covered soccer field on Saturday, best to get there earlier rather than later, the good stuff goes fast.
You might want to make a early day trip to Manuel Antonio, clearly one of the best national parks in the country (CLOSED MONDAYS), don't go on a weekend unless you plan to get there before 9:00 since they limit the number of people they let in, bring a camera and bathing suit, they sell nothing in the park, no water, no food but they have outdoor showers and good bathrooms to change in. Your ticket gets you in and out all day.
In fact I think the same ticket will get you into any national park on the same day so you might be able to check out Playa Bellena (whale's tail beach) in Uvita when you come back from Manuel Antonio.
If you go to Maneul Antonio eat lunch at the Marlin restaurant at the beach, not cheap but good quality food.
If in Manuel Antonio at sunset, go to the Mariposa Hotel.
Check out the Cristal Bellena Hotel in Uvita/Ojochal, short drive off the highway.
Be sure to stop at the Ceviche Stand on the highway south of Uvita that has the blow up shark hanging from the tree. It is the one on the hill, right hand side, headed south, now advertising fried fish as well.
Try to find the Chef's table, do so during the day so that when you go at night you won't think you will be lost for the rest of your life. Pricy but a great experience.
Heading south on the highway past Ojochal you will come to a bridge with signs on the left for the Jungle pet lodge and El Pavone tilapia restaurant. Take the left, drive about 2 miles in, pass the first tilapia restaurant (immitator who opened his restaurant trying to steal the business of the good one further in) until you come to the El Pavone restaurant, on your right. Ask after lunch how to get to the waterfall to swim in, which directly across the street, you pass a small sign on your left just before you come to the restaurant, another easy walk in. Be careful in all waterfalls for SLIPPERY GREEN ROCKS
La Parcela restaruant in Dominicalito (about 8 miles back toward San Jose from Uvita) for lunch. They will try to sell you real estate, they are in a battle over having built some town houses in an illegal maritime concession zone.
We are in the town of Ojochal, a town noted for having great restaurants. Ojochal has about 1800 year round residents and more in the winter months. The town is more like a village than a town and many of the restaurants, hotels and attractions are not readily visible on first glance. Although we don't have much of a downtown, we have nearly 35 restaurants and bars in town as well as 11 hotels. Most are on side roads off of the main road. We have a super market, a gourmet food store, wine bar, liquor, gas station, French bakery, gift shop, garden center, hardware center, etc. The next town north of us is Uvita where there are a number of large commercial plazas selling everything from furniture to appliances, a farmers market on Saturday, two very modern supermarkets, banks, etc. There is a duty free port in Golfito, about an hour away where we can buy things like flat screen televisions, sub zero fridges, high end stoves like Viking, Jenn Air, DCS and Wolf and any really high end appliance you might want like Bosch dishwashers or Fisher and Paykel Washers, Roper or Maytag Front loaders, etc.. The town of San Isidro, about a hour's drive from us has a Walmart, owned by Walmart but having a different name in Costa Rica. We sometimes go to Dominical for nightlife since there is a better live music scene there and now with the new highway nearly complete, we are only about an hour's drive to Quepos. We have Cortez to our south, the country seat of the area and Palmar Norte and Palmar Sur are about 30 minutes south of us. We are less than two hours from Panama and many owners in our developments go there to get their 90 day tourist visa renewed.
Do you sell ocean front property?
Costa Rica does not sell ocean front, the first 200 meters above the high water mark are public lands. You can not own ocean front in Costa Rica although some hotels and condos have been built on what is referred to as concession property, but that property is leased, not owned. Our developments are on the hillside above the ocean on land that can be owned. We have ocean view but not ocean front. Our lots are all less than 3 miles from the beach and many are much closer. We are up the hill for the view. Learn About Maritime Concession Here.
Being near trhe beach tends to bring a few unfavorable characteristics. Bugs are much more plentiful at the beach than they are up the hill. Salt air is bad for most equipment, appliances and automobiles. The Costanera highway runs right along the beach and since this is becoming a major truck route, along with the trucks comes truck noise from Jake Brakes and general truck sounds. The beaches are almost all public except for a tiny part of the coastal area that falls within a marine national park
Initially a "mother farm" known as a Finca, is purchased for development and subdivision. Once the infrastructure is completed and the agencies responsible for the approval of these improvements have signed off on the work, the municipality will then allow segregation of the individual lots.
The properties are then registered with the Costa Rican Land Registry. Each lot is recorded at that time directly to the name of the owner purchaser. Each lot has its own registry number. Ownership of each property is through registration to a corporation, which is registered in the Costa Rican Mercantile Registry. All titles of ownership to the land and registry information for the corporation are available from the appropriate registry office. Each development is held as a separate corporation that is debt free. As each parcel is sold off, it is literally purchased from that corporation.
Title insurance is available, as is gap insurance to cover the time the parcel is purchased until the segregation is complete and formal registration to the new owner is finished. Most owners do not bother with this insurance since the process is just a matter of waiting for completion, usually no more than a year or two. Many phases have already been signed off on and title is immediately available to the purchaser.