Utopia or Reality Check? We Test Drove Atenas for Retirement

We Test Drove Atenas for Retirement
Amy and Jim Oliver are American empty-nesters searching for the perfect place to retire abroad.|©Amy Oliver

Our first night in Costa Rica, we went to sleep with mountain fog rolling in outside our window. In the morning, we woke to howler monkeys.

It was an auspicious start to our retirement scouting trip…

In July of last year, my husband Jim and I learned we’d won IL’s "Test Drive Your Life Overseas" competition. The prize was a thirty-day trip to Costa Rica—the 2024 winner of IL’s Annual Global Retirement Index.

Jim and I are a pair of 50-something lawyers from the heart of the Midwest. For years, we’ve told our friends we wanted to retire early and live overseas, and Costa Rica has always been high on our list. We wanted a country that’s a short flight from the US with warm weather all year round. We also wanted paradise and adventure–sunny beaches, mountains, and rainforests to explore. We’re also coveting affordable, modern homes and friendly people. It seemed Costa Rica might just be the place.

We decided to spend a month in the Central Valley mountain town of Atenas. And it offered all the attributes we were looking for and more. This expat haven is like living on permanent vacation. Would it be the perfect spot for our retirement?

Here’s what we discovered…

The Best Climate in the World?

Atenas’ lively Thursday farmers market is a hub for fresh produce, local goods, and friendly community vibes.
Atenas’ lively Thursday farmers market is a hub for fresh produce, local goods, and friendly community vibes.|©Jessica Ramesch

Like many other expats, one of the reasons we chose Atenas as our temporary home is the weather; it styles itself as "The Best Climate in the World."

Temperatures in the Central Valley are considerably cooler than in the towns along the Pacific Coast. They’re known to be consistent year-round, with highs in the mid-80s and lows in the mid-60s nearly every day of the year. The cool breezes keep the air so temperate that most homes and restaurants in Atenas are fully open-air.

Atenas is an enclave of around 30,000 residents with small-town allure. It offers full-sized grocery stores, a busy feria (farmer’s market) every Thursday, a warehouse store called Maxi Pali (similar to big box stores in the States), several banks, and a 24-hour medical clinic.

A modern white-washed Catholic church dominates the central square of Atenas. With a playground, bakery, beachwear boutique, dollar store, bank, restaurants, and two ice cream shops, the square is a great place to relax and people watch with a sweet treat.

Atenas is a 45-minute drive west of the San José airport and conveniently close to the country’s best medical facilities in the capital city. Drive just another hour west of Atenas and you can put your toes in the sand on a quiet Pacific Coast beach for the day, then be home in time for dinner.

Tania and Kevin’s Oasis at Hotel Villas de la Colina

Our cozy apartment at Hotel Villas de la Colina.
Our cozy apartment at Hotel Villas de la Colina.|©Amy and Jim Oliver

Our apartment at Hotel Villas de la Colina became our home base away from home. We could venture out on short trips to experience other parts of the country, then return to what felt like home. Our apartment had neither air conditioning nor heat, and we never missed either one.

Hotel Villas de la Colina offers individual casitas (small apartments) available for nightly or long-term stays, a refreshing pool, and freshly-prepared traditional Costa Rican breakfasts. (We paid about $1200 for the month of November.)

Tania is a Tico (local Costa Rican) and the second generation of her family to run the hotel. Her husband, Kevin, is an American who stopped by the hotel one night a few years ago on a motorcycle trip and fell in love—both with Costa Rica and Tania. He’s now a full-time innkeeper and all-around handyman. Tania and Kevin treated us like family and answered our endless questions.

Situated 2,500 feet above sea level and about eight minutes outside of Atenas, we spent hours soaking in the view from the hotel’s open-air breakfast room and deck. Looking across rocky mountain peaks and steep valleys where, on a clear day, you can see San Jose to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west.

We often awoke in the cool mornings to wisps of mountain fog that burned off by noon and drifted back in at dusk.

Eating in Atenas

Atenas has a lot of diverse dining options. The casado, a combo plate of beans and rice, choice of protein, small salad, and sweet, fried plantains, is the base for most Costa Rican dishes.

We found the cheapest and most generous servings of casados at small, open-air mom-and-pop places along the roadside. Our favorite Costa Rican restaurant in Atenas was El Fogon Campesino, which offered the best patacones: a plantain patty pressed flat like a tortilla and fried like a Mexican tostada, accompanied with toppings like beans and grilled vegetables.

For the days when you just can’t eat any more beans and rice, there are many other choices in Atenas, like Chinese, Thai, pizza, and pollolandia, fried chicken.

Several popular expat restaurants in Atenas practically guarantee you’ll meet someone who speaks English. A few favorites are:

  • Monsoon Asian Bistro: Two shipping containers stacked along the roadside serving great Thai curries and a terrific tikka masala.

  • Cafe y Nata: A coffee shop with sandwiches, salads, pastries, and croissants in a quiet interior courtyard where many Americans and Canadians gather.

  • Kay’s Cafe Pequena Polonia ("Little Poland"): A unique expat hangout, it’s owned by Ania, who came to Costa Rica with her Polish family after emigrating from Canada.

Beyond the Beans: A Coffee Plantation Near Atenas

No trip to Costa Rica is complete without a visit to a local coffee plantation, and our visit to El Toledo Coffee Tours, near Atenas, was memorable. Gabriel and Ivette run a small family farm where they harvest, process, dry, roast, and package coffee using sustainable methods. Their young daughters, Samanta and Isabella, led us through the muddy farm in their muck boots, showing us the wide variety of plants they grow. We sampled dark, medium, and light-roast coffees along with wine and jam the family makes from the skin of the coffee bean.

"The Coconut Wireless": Finding a Home in Costa Rica

None of the expats we talked with bought or rented their long-term homes before arriving. They advised us to rent for several months while exploring local housing options and neighborhoods in person.

The most affordable homes are passed along by word of mouth (or the "coconut wireless"). Most expats we spoke to have rented for years and felt no need to buy a home. If you want to purchase, buyers are advised to hire a qualified Tico attorney and be prepared for remodeling delays.

Housing options run the gamut from very basic to luxurious. Most US retirees we met were on a fixed income. They rent part of a home or a casita on the same property as their Tico landlord. Cheap rent for a basic apartment or home around Atenas can be as little as $600 per month and goes up depending on the size, amenities, and whether you live with a Tico landlord or gated expat neighborhood.

Many expats who buy property rent it out when they’re away, or leave it vacant during the rainy season, May through November. (We were warned, however, that leaving property unattended can leave you open to theft, mildew, and untrustworthy property managers.)

Wildlife is Closer Than You Think

A cheeky capuchin monkey made a bold visit to our balcony, proving you’re never alone in Costa Rica’s wildlife haven.
A cheeky capuchin monkey made a bold visit to our balcony, proving you’re never alone in Costa Rica’s wildlife haven.|©Amy and Jim Oliver

Nearly everywhere you go in Costa Rica, you’ll see birds and wildlife unlike anything most of us have seen in the States. We saw coatis, toucans, and monarch butterflies from our deck in Atenas. We had white-faced Capuchin monkeys using our hotel patio as a highway during a visit to Quepos, and those howler monkeys sounded more like a Gregorian chant than a howl.

That Pura Vida Lifestyle

We met many happy expats who will never leave their adopted home, but it’s not a lifestyle for everyone.

You’re likely familiar with the motto of Costa Rica, "Pura Vida" ("pure life"). It speaks to the slower pace of life and laid-back attitude. It’s part of why so many enjoy vacationing in Costa Rica, but if you move here, that slower pace (government processes, contractors, etc.) can get frustrating. Some expats couldn’t adapt and went home, but others we talked to have lived here for 20 years or more… and will never return home.

Valuable Lessons for Our Retirement

We learned a lot about ourselves during our expat retirement experiment.

Unsurprisingly, we didn’t like sitting still or having too much free time. We love to hike, and one Sunday, we met a group of expat hikers of many nationalities finishing up a morning hike next door to our hotel. It was one of many ways to stay actively engaged in Atenas. We also loved the cool mountain air and lush vegetation in the Central Valley. It was easy to see why so many folks choose Atenas as their retirement home.

On the other hand, we discovered we didn’t want to live full-time where the temperature rarely changes. And we wanted to have access to museums and castle ruins… not just outdoor adventures.

Ultimately, we decided to return to Costa Rica for several weeks or months as snowbird retirees instead of full-time. Our next trip will be during the dry season, which conveniently aligns with wintertime in the Midwest (December to April).

One thing’s for sure: We’ll be returning to Atenas to visit our hosts Tania and Kevin and our new expat friends… because the best place to live is near the people you want to be with.

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