I am the proud owner of four dogs, so I feel that the many people like myself that are thinking about retiring in Costa Rica have this subject foremost on their minds.

“Can I bring my pets to Costa Rica”?

Read this guideline
Importing Your Pets To Costa Rica

The very first step

you must take is to check with the air carrier that you will be using because I have found that from one carrier to another, their requirements vary from “oh, we don’t ship pets at all”, to very specific requirements as to time of day and temperature, season, “in cabin” requirements as well as “cargo” requirements. The fee for their transport varies from one airline to another from almost highway robbery to extremely fair. When checking with the carrier, it is recommended that you personally go to the airport where you will exit and speak with a knowledgeable agent.

Also, it goes without saying that for the comfort of your pet, try to choose the most direct route to Costa Rica that would eliminate many connecting flights.

They will have requirements for transporting “in cabin” which normally means the pet must be small enough to fit under your seat in a soft, collapsible carrier and that the pet must be able to stand up in their carrier without the head touching the top, etc. Also, if you have more than one pet, they may have requirements per flight of how many pets can fly in cabin.

If your pet is too large, it must travel in cargo in an airline approved hard transport carrier (no wire or open carriers, it must be plastic, closed on three sides, etc) and all transport carriers marked appropriately with your name, phone number, “LIVE ANIMAL”, etc. Also, if you have more than one “in cargo” pet, you need to know the rules for that as well. Again, do your homework and adhere to their rules to the letter.

Step two would be to determine as soon as possible the date you want to leave and this may be dictated by the airline if they have certain months of pet embargo due to climate, etc.

If you have a choice, try to choose the mildest climate for the pet, spring or fall to avoid the extremes in temperatures and night flights during especially warm weather is going to be better than day time. Make sure your pet/s is healthy and free of parasites and are up to date on their vaccinations, and especially rabies.  The rule is that the vaccinations must be no older than one year or newer than one month.

So, you have met all the air carrier’s requirements, your pet/s are healthy and up to date on vaccinations and free of parasites, your next step are their International health certificate from a qualified veterinarian. Again, adhere to your air carrier’s requirements as to exactly when you get the health certificate completed. The (very strict) rules seem to be by the airlines that the health certificate be issued no more than 8 to 10 days prior to take off. This is pretty obvious as they don’t want an animal with a six month health certificate that has contracted a disease in the interim. Carefully choose the doctor because your vet must be certified (be sure he/she is) to issue an international health certificate.

To Tranquilize Or Not? Tranquilizers act differently in each animal; leaving some dangerously sedated and others wired for charge. Since you would not be able to supervise should a normal dosage happen to be an overdose in your pet, it is best not to drug them at all.

To Feed Or Not To Feed? Feed them a good meal no sooner than 6 to 8 hours prior to take off to assure they don’t get motion sickness and vomit and have to travel the whole way in a soiled crate. Perhaps feeding a meal with a high moisture content to keep them from dehydration is a plus.

A good and vigorous walk some few hours prior to take off to be sure they eliminate well will go a long way for their comfort. Pack a soft absorbent type of fabric, an old thick towel is great to serve as comfort for resting or to absorb any type of bodily “mistakes” is a great aid. A favorite toy is a good comfort as well.

Now, with all documents in hand and pets loaded and everything a “done deal”, sit back and enjoy the ride. When you land in Costa Rica, pets will be waiting separately from luggage for you to present proper paperwork. Let me dispel one fear: Costa Rica does not have a pet quarantine. Your pet is accepted or rejected; it won’t enter “purgatory”.

If you adhere to all the above regulations when you present your paperwork to the Costa Rican customs agent you will be fine!.

Please feel free to call me or write for any help you may need
Carol Odonnell: Cell: (506) 8318-0717
Location: Hermosa/Jaco beach
Position: Marketing Director Central Pacific
Telephones: Office (506) 2778-7410
Toll Free: 1 (866) 374 -8522  SanJose toll free  1 888 581 1786
Email: carol@costaricaretirementvacationproperties.com

Costa Rica Retirement Vacation Properties -
We are a Real Estate Company – listing and marketing properties in all of Costa Rica.  We and know the country and Real Estate business very well.
Buying Real Estate is easy simple and safe with our company.

The current investor should be taking a hard look at good projects priced to this market with amenities built in that won’t cause you to lose sleep over the maintenance fees.  These should be located with good proximity to the Ocean and to the major medical and services.  The location and amenities should reflect a real price savings over that of the past.

One such place that we see falling nicely into the Retirement market in Costa Rica as well as the Vacation Home market is located in Orotina.  It has gorgeous land at $50 per meter ($5 per foot) and beautiful infrastructure as well as ocean, valley and mountain views.  The Best part is that it is only 25 minutes to the beach and 30 minutes to San Jose with all its services including fine dining, world class health care, dentistry and shopping.

This is not a deeply discounted deal, but is a true deal today.  You can lock in your Costa Rica Retirement or Vacation home now and when you look down the road, it will have truly been a deeply discounted property.

The market for this type of product will be fantastic in the near future.  Costa Rica is still a number one destination for retiring north Americans. With the 77,000,000 Baby Boomer falling out as we speak, coupled with other social and political issues, our share of the Baby Boomers  is going to be even larger in the future.  This spells opportunity for the investor, vacation home buyer and those seeking a nice community for retirement today or in the future.

We are currently previewing this project in depth with our full staff and will be happy to report  more information on this retirement or vacation home location.  We will be showcasing it on our Lifestyle Real Estate Tours.
call us at 1 888 581 1786 and ask for Steve, Robert or Gustavo.

Costa Rica Retirement Vacation Properties  
We are a Real Estate Company – listing and marketing properties in all of Costa Rica.  We and know the country and Real Estate business very well. 
Buying Real Estate is easy simple and safe with our company.

Often  clients call to tell me they are coming to Costa Rica with cash and are coming to buy. They make it clear that they have cash and will only entertain deeply discounted opportunities.  Further, they plan to arrive in 3 days to 1 week.  Think of the logic here.  When a real deal that is truly deeply discounted appears, who knows about them first?

The owner’s:  Realtor? – Bank?  -  Attorney?

The Bank, depending how they prioritize it can move it the same day if they want as they have good clients of their own asking them to be on the lookout for deals. If the Bank has money in  it, they will prioritize it and give it to their clients seeking this kind of deal, or a good Realtor client of theirs.  Seldom do they have to call Realtors.  Attorneys are in a similar position.  Not only do they have clients seeking deals but often will buy it themselves or with partners.  Realtors as well have clients waiting and they also have interest in putting deals together on distressed situations.  So unless, I have an inventory of really good deals that I am sitting on (not likely), my new found client is coming all the way here for nothing.

Wielding cash doesn’t get done what one thinks. Often the person has already discounted his property in bad markets and is in a wait and see mode.  Therefore the cash guy comes to him with his already discounted property and tries to offer 50 cents on the dollar.  Where do you think this negotiation is going?  Nowhere.  Sooner or later frustration sets in and when he sees something on his own he perceives to be a real deal, it may be something that is fraught with problems.  It usually is. You know where this is going.

Well, how do you find the good deals you are always hearing about?

1  You need to advise your representative that you are sincerely interested in deeply discounted properties in Costa Rica.

2  You need to be ready to come to view the Costa Rica Real Estate on very short notice.

3  You need to  have the ability to act quickly

This may take 2 to 6  months, but in the end it is the best way to go about it.  There are some very good deals that we hear about early as Costa Rica Retirement Vacation Properties covers most of Costa Rica.   Costa Rica for the most part is very nicely situated in this down economy believe it or not.  Prices have finally adjusted and we are seeing sales again. That tells us what the market  pricing really is for the here and now.  Deeply discounted properties are not that available today given the above scenario.  Also, a property can only be deemed deeply discounted when there is an up market on the horizon so you may take advantage of it and sell.  That is the only barometer as far as how discounted anything really is.  We don’t see escalating prices in the near to mid term.

Costa Rica Retirement Vacation Properties -
We are a Real Estate Company – listing and marketing properties in all of Costa Rica.  We and know the country and Real Estate business very well.
Buying Real Estate is easy simple and safe with our company.