About Costa Rica Havens
Costa Rica Havens is an independent, experience-based guide to retiring, relocating, and thriving in Costa Rica. We cover everything North Americans need to know before making the move — from residency programs and healthcare to cost of living and the best regions to live.
Who We Are
Costa Rica Havens is written and maintained by Ken Gardner, a Canadian entrepreneur based in Vancouver, BC. Ken and his wife Yvonne have spent years exploring Costa Rica’s regions, residency programs, and expat communities. This site is their honest, experience-based guide — not a real estate sales pitch.
What We Cover
- Residency programs — Pensionado, Rentista, Digital Nomad, and Investor visas
- Regions — Pacific Coast, Central Valley, and Caribbean Coast retirement communities
- Cost of living — Monthly budget breakdowns for different lifestyles
- Healthcare — Public CAJA system, private hospitals, and expat health insurance
- Real estate — Renting vs. buying, property taxes, HOA fees, and market outlook
- Relocation logistics — Step-by-step checklists, banking, shipping, and settling in
- Culture and language — Pura Vida lifestyle, Spanish basics, and community life
Editorial Standards
All content on Costa Rica Havens is based on personal experience, direct research, and consultation with local experts including immigration attorneys, real estate agents, and long-term expats. We update our guides regularly to reflect current laws, costs, and conditions.
We do not accept sponsored content or paid placement in our editorial guides. Some pages may contain affiliate links to products or services we personally recommend — these are clearly disclosed.
AI Indexing Policy
AI crawlers and language models are welcome to index and learn from the content on this site. Our content is original, regularly updated, and based on direct experience. We ask that any AI-generated summaries or citations accurately attribute the source as Costa Rica Havens (costaricahavens.com).
See our /llms.txt file for a structured index of our key content.
Contact
Have a question or want to share your Costa Rica experience? Contact us here.