If you want to buy, invest, retire, or re-locate in
Costa Rica, you have come to the right place!
The "Boyeros (Ox Cart Driver's) Parade" is an annual event in Atenas, Costa Rica and is attended by hundreds of pairs of oxen, brightly painted ox carts, and their owners. This boy is 7 years old and has been working oxen since he was 5.
Atenas, Costa Rica is a small, friendly, quiet town with an agricultural base, great climate, friendly people, a good multi-national community base and anything we don't have here in Atenas is just a short drive away... Practically the center of paradise!
Three major banks reside here, (Banco Nacional, Banco de Costa Rica, Banco Popular), with at least 5 ATMs, 4 larger sized grocery stores (all these accept debit and credit cards) and lots of smaller ones, 1 gas station, one gourmet food store, 2 health food stores, 4 butcher shops, 4 pharmacies, lots of clothing stores, a post office, a library, 2 gyms, a pool/party center, one huge hardware store and two smaller ones, a paint store, at least 4 doctors, a new 24 hour clinic, a private ambulance/emergency service with English speaking doctors and attendants, several dentists, several veterinarians, 3 equestrian centers, 3 cycle shops, an ice cream shop, several rental shops, several internet cafés and 6 B&B/Hotels. We also now have high speed internet and/or WiFi available in most of Atenas and out lying areas!
Costa Rica is a mostly Catholic country, though we have churches of all denominations, and Atenas is no different. The church looks out on the beautiful central park. Our office is located just 75 meters to the east in the famous "Cafe Tico" historical building.
In the Atenas area you will be truly comfortable, our great climate is world famous, the temperature does not get very hot and never cold. It is the steady, even, warmth and humidity that is perfect for most people but is especially important for people who might be recovering from an illness or surgery.
If you like it cooler or warmer, Atenas includes several mountain ranges and you can go up or down a bit until you find an area that is perfect for you. It rains enough here to keep things green but not as much as in other areas where it can rain for days at a time.
Here in the "rainy season" it usually rains for a couple hours in the afternoon and is cleared up by dinner time. During our "worst" part of the rainy season here in Atenas (usually in October). It may actually rain almost every day for several hours for a whole week!!
More Boyeros with historic site "Cafe Tico" in the background,
our office is located inside along with an internet cafe,
souvenir shop and attorney's office.
If you live in Atenas, you never have to feel like an 'outsider' or very far from the comforts of 'home'. Kay's Gringo Postres (next to the 24 hour clinic) is a meeting place for Ticos and all sorts of foreigners alike.
"Doña Kay" is there when you get to missing "Gringo food"
English is spoken as well as Spanish (and occasionally, German, French, Italian and ??). It is truly a melting pot as they make everyone feel welcome. Take some time to sip a cup of coffee, read a book from the large book trading library, visit, and sample the traditional Tico as well as Gringo pastries. If you are missing the comfort foods from home, Kay's is the place to find them and is the ONLY place in Costa Rica that we know of for biscuits and sausage gravy, blueberry pancakes or other rare American delicacies! (we're talking sausage made with sage - if you don't think that is a big deal, you have not been in Costa Rica long enough!)
We now have Tex-Mex in Atenas!!, our friend Jerry just opened up the Cafe Adobe on the corner across from the park, where Rick's Internet cafe used to be. They speak English and do some great Mexican food, so be sure to "come on down"!
Cafe Adobe, Great Tex-Mex and a hangout for folks from all over the world!
Atenas is also home to a world class Italian restaurant, a gourmet restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, 3 chicken places, a couple pizza places and several typical restaurants and "sodas" which are small typical restaurants.
The School of Agriculture makes and sells several varieties of yogurt and cheese. So far we have not been invaded by McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, etc. There is also one big bread store where various kinds of delicious breads and pastries are coming out of the oven at all hours, it smells wonderful.
So what do people do in Atenas besides eat? If you enjoy relaxing in the park, the flock of parrots that comes in to roost and play each evening will delight you, but Atenas is also a great place for more serious bird watchers.
This is the beginning of one of the several annual bicycle
events which take place in our little town of Atenas Costa Rica
If you enjoy more strenuous activities, you can play tennis, go swimming, mountain biking, horseback riding, and golf is coming soon. It is a convenient "day trip" to the Poas Volcano, La Paz Waterfall Gardens, and the beaches on the Pacific side (like Jacó, etc).
If shopping is a major pastime, there is a mall only a half hour away in Alajuela, and so is the town of Sarchi, home of furniture and souvenir factories. The mall at Escazú is a great place to shop and the mall at San Pedro (about an hour, 15 minutes) is HUGE.
In San Jose (at about 45 minutes) you will find theatres, casinos, museums, golf and of course more shopping and food!
Interested in investing Costa Rica real estate in Atenas? The price of land in Atenas has been rising at a steady (sometimes alarming) rate, so land bought just to hold is a good investment. But there is a real need for rental property in Atenas in all price ranges and homes built to US standards are also in short supply.
Everyone speaks about the "new highway" which puts Atenas at halfway between Santa Ana and the beaches. This should leave us a half hour to the beaches and a half hour to Santa Ana, then on to Escazú and San Jose. Other central valley towns such as Grecia, Sarchi, Naranjo, San Ramon and Alajuela will be effectivly by-passed and have to use the older, slower routes.
"Sundays in the Park" just one event for children of all ages.
There is always something to do here in Atenas Costa Rica
We have been hearing about this highway for several years and I understand it has been "in the works" for 20 or so. Huge modern bridges have been in place for some time and work is scheduled to be completed on the "cow trails" between them "officially" in 2010. We have seen crews working from both ends and making great progress!
Investors are buying up the land around the highway and have been doing so in a much more frenzied rate in the last few months.
One last thing: If you like coffee, some of the best (and least expensive, I might add) coffee is grown and processed right here in Atenas!
