Overview of Area: Community and Real Estate

Dominical, Uvita and Ojochal remain small towns at the moment. Ojochal and its significant French-Canadian and European immigration has probably grown into the largest community of the three, and a growing number of people are buying residences in the area.

The village, which lies a couple of kilometers off the main highway south of Dominical, is quite spread out. It has a few shops, including a grocery store and a pulpería, but for the most part it is a residential area with a handful of tourist ventures and an surprising number of rather good restaurants (reportedly over 30.) The area has some good ocean views, though not as nice as those found in Uvita or around Dominical.

Dominical, though probably smaller than Ojochal, is the most well known area along this stretch of highway. The place has a spring break vibe that’s a little rough around the edges, with young surfers and backpacker types riding the bus in to hang out and catch waves. Some of the expatriates who have stayed have built lovely vacation homes in the forested hillsides behind this small fishing village. Plenty of people have rediscovered their inner hippy here, finding the place to be the perfect antidote to their hectic lives. Others simply want a quieter life for their families.

Dominical lies just off the main road (it’s extremely easy to miss) where the Costanera highway coming south meets the road to San Isidro. The crossroads has become a hub of restaurants and backpacker and surfer shack hostels, along with some touristy souvenir shops. It’s a fun and lively place that’s growing at a reasonable pace, and though the immediate beach isn’t the most beautiful, the many to choose from in the area leave little to be desired.

The hills behind Dominical and south into Escaleras have some of the best views in the area and prices have risen accordingly. These areas have the kind of endless ocean view framed by thick rainforest that most people can only dream about. A few developments are going up in the area, and they’ll be discussed further on.

The first impression of Uvita is that it feels a little abandoned. Main Street and its shops are on a rather parched-looking parcel of land with no real planned space. But if you actually park and get out, you’ll find the town has a couple of nice cafes, a local watering hole, a realty office, and a grocery store. You’ll also notice how friendly everyone is. In all, despite its somewhat blasted initial appearance, Uvita has a nice vibe. The town’s location between Dominical and Ojochal makes it ideal for development into a main service town, and there is enough buildable land available to make that happen.

The countryside around Uvita is beautiful and in the hills to the east can be found some stunning ocean-view properties and some medium-sized hotels. The Ballena National Marine Park is located here and the so-called Whale’s Tail sand spit protrudes in the shape of its namesake, providing great snorkeling and a lovely spot for a walk when the tide is out.

South of Ojochal, along the road to Palmar, the hills and mountains recede back from the coast and heave up a few kilometers back from the beach. The area therefore has fewer of the jaw-dropping ocean views you find in the hills behind Dominical, Escaleras (five minutes south from Dominical) and Uvita. From Ojochal down, the ocean views are distant and the communities less developed compared to the three mentioned above. Predictably, the property here isn’t as costly.

As mentioned above, San Isidro is popular with expatriates who have lived in the area for a number of years. Foreigners searching for perfect ocean views often overlook the kind of great mountain and valley views that the San Isidro area has lots of. People moving here are generally searching for a local community feel, looking to escape the heat of the beach and take advantage of the lower property prices. They like to live close to services as well.

Over the past few years developers and individuals have been buying up raw land from Dominical to Ojochal. Only recently have they begun putting in infrastructure for gated communities and resorts. While presently only a handful have been completed, most should be nearing completion in the next few years, which will transform the area in terms of its offerings for property buyers and tourists. It appears that most of the land in this area has already been bought from Tico farmers for development.

At the time of research, the area had a shortage of housing of any kind appropriate for expatriates. For this reason, many relocating to the area opt to build themselves. Over the next few years, the demand-supply balance will likely start to even out.

From Ojochal south to Palmar, land is cheaper because of its poorer views. Still, interest in the area has become more intense as most of the land in the Dominical-Ojochal area has been bought up. Land prices along this recently popular area should rise alongside demand.

The Kiana Resort in Dominical was one of the only completed developments at the time of research. Comprising a number of villas maintained and operated by a hotel management company, the units have all been sold to individuals and families who spend a certain number of weeks there each year and rent it out through the hotel the remainder of the year. Regulations prohibit permanent living in the complex, which is equipped with communal facilities such as a pool and spa. (This development was shut down for a multitude of violations).

That developer has a second development called Canto Del Mar, which has a number of phases completed. The development is a gated community/resort concept with all the requisite amenities, offering options for both full-time residency and for-profit rental ownership.

Another development in progress at the time of writing is Costa Verde Estates, being built by Terry Penland – a long-term expatriate and developer in the area – and his business partner. Costa Verde is a 1,200 acre site with some incredible ocean views and inland views of Costa Rica’s highest peak, Mount Chirripó. Penland says that in addition to the home sites, he’s planting native rainforest trees as part of a reforestation project.

You will notice that land in the hills around Dominical isn’t often valued in terms of square meters, and indeed, in this area you shouldn’t buy it that way. Much of the land in the hills behind Dominical is too steep to build on, so a thousand-square-meter finca may only have 200 buildable square meters.

Realtors say that people buying here prefer larger lots of land of about two acres or more, and some at one acre. This is partly to compensate for that useless slope and partly because real estate isn’t as expensive here as it is in areas like Jacó. Also, many of the people who come here to live are looking for space, gardens, trees and the solitude that more (empty) land can provide them.

The real estate market has remained even sleepier further south to Golfito, though that’s changing. There, both investors and home buyers are buying in the area. Many are involved in the local environmental group ASANA, and the expatriate community is quite established, with families as well as singles. As is the case in much of Costa Rica, the majority of expatriates in the Dominical-Ojochal area are North American.

Real estate brokers say they are expecting an influx of retirees, as the area is cooler and less expensive than Northwest Guanacaste. That’s more likely to happen once the public hospital being built between Ojochal and Cortes is complete and travel time to the area is less time consuming.

For younger retirees with few health issues, this area can be a wonderful place to live, with plenty of outdoor activities, healthy living and an eclectic community. Once more houses are built in the area, it is more likely to become an enticing destination for those who are not keen to build themselves.