Welcome to the first Coast Bulletin. Once a month I round up what actually happened in Costa Rica that matters if you live here, own here, or are thinking about it. No tourism fluff, no crime-of-the-day scrolling. Just the stuff I would text a friend about.
The short version: pay your marchamo before December 31, wear repellent, expect a hot and early dry season, and if you are Canadian, it has never been easier to fly to Guanacaste.
Money and paperwork
The 2027 marchamo is on sale, and the sticker is changing. Payment opened on November 2 and closes on December 31. Surcharges start January 1. This year cars move to a digital windshield label that can last up to 10 years, so you will not peel off a new sticker every January, but you still pay every year. You need a current, passing vehicle inspection before you can pay, so book it now if yours is due. More on driving here in the roads of Costa Rica.
No amnesty this year. A bill that would have forgiven old unpaid marchamos did not go through for 2027, so any back years still carry interest and fines. If you bought a used car, check that the previous owner’s years are clean.
The colón is still strong. The dollar has lost roughly 8% against the colón since January. It bounced a little in early October and has given part of that back. The Central Bank’s next rate decision is on November 26. If you earn or spend in US or Canadian dollars, your money is buying less here than it did a year ago, which is worth factoring into any budget. My real numbers are on the cost of living page.
Check your property in the National Registry. The Tico Times ran a sharp reminder this month: if your house or land sits empty for long stretches, someone can transfer it out of your name with forged documents, and you may not find out until a stranger starts building. The fix is simple and free. Look up your property on the National Registry a few times a year, and ask your lawyer about placing an alert on it.
Running a business here? E-invoicing changed on November 1. Version 4.4 of the electronic invoice rules became mandatory for every issuing system. If you invoice through a rental company, an accountant or Hacienda’s free tool, make sure they updated.
Health and safety
Mosquito season is not over. Dengue cases are up almost 58% on last year, and chikungunya, which had been absent from Costa Rica for nearly a decade, has passed 1,000 cases. More than half of the chikungunya cases are in the health region that covers Guanacaste, and Carrillo, our canton, has around 90. Practical version: repellent at dawn and dusk, screens on the windows, and tip out anything that holds standing water, including plant saucers and the dog bowl. If you get a fever and joint pain, see a doctor and say where you live.
Tsunami monitoring could go part-time. Costa Rica’s tsunami warning center, Sinamot, says it will stop round-the-clock monitoring on January 1, 2027 unless funding cut from public universities is restored. Lawmakers are debating it. Whatever happens, now is a good time to learn the evacuation route from your house to high ground. It takes ten minutes.
Weather
The dry season is coming early, and hot. El Niño has cut the rainy season short on the Pacific side. The national weather service expects dry season conditions across the Pacific and the Central Valley through January, with temperatures one to two degrees above normal. In a normal year the dry season reaches Guanacaste around mid-November, and this year it is arriving on time or early.
What that means for you: brown hills sooner than usual, more dust, a bigger electricity bill when the air conditioning comes on, and a real chance of water cuts by March. Fix your leaks now and go easy on the garden hose. If you are new, my guide to the seasons here explains what each month actually feels like.
Getting here
The winter flight schedule into Liberia is the best it has ever been, especially from Canada:
- Air Canada starts nonstop Vancouver to Liberia on December 13, running through April 12, 2027.
- WestJet adds a new nonstop from Ottawa starting December 20, with Sunwing packages from Ottawa for the first time.
- Liberia now has direct flights from Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa and Winnipeg, more Canadian routes than any other airport in the country. Toronto runs year round.
- From the US, Breeze began its first Costa Rica flights from Tampa in October.
Flight times and gates are on Guanacaste Airport’s site, and how to get from the terminal to Coco is in my airport transfer guide.
The Canada corner
Canada is Costa Rica’s second biggest source of visitors after the United States, and Canadian arrivals at Liberia were up 28% in the first half of this year. If you are one of them, three things to know before you settle in for the winter:
Watch your provincial health clock. Your provincial plan lapses if you are away too long. Ontario allows up to 212 days out of the province in any 12-month period, and you need to be physically there at least 153. Alberta generally requires 183 days of presence, but allows up to 212 days away if you travel regularly for vacation. BC is similar, at about seven months. Count your days before you book a return date.
Your provincial plan pays almost nothing here. Alberta, for example, pays about $100 a day toward a hospital stay outside Canada. A private hospital in Liberia costs a lot more than that. Buy proper travel medical insurance, and check it covers the full length of your stay.
Income-tested benefits have their own clock. If you receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement, Service Canada has a six-month rule for time outside the country. That is separate from your health plan’s limit, so track both.
More Canadian guides are coming to this site over the next few months. If there is something you want covered, tell me.
Back home
The US midterms happened, and they were a big deal for a lot of us. I wrote about why the results gave me hope, and why we are still staying in Costa Rica. It is the most personal thing I have published here.
New on the site
- What does a howler monkey sound like? Press play on a real recording from Guanacaste, and finally find out what woke you at 5am.
Your question, answered next month
Reply to this email or ask me here with anything about living on this coast. I will answer the best one in public in December’s bulletin, first name only unless you would rather stay anonymous.
Pura vida, Robbie
Sources for this month: The Tico Times, TicoTravel, Costa Rica’s National Meteorological Institute, the Ministry of Health, the Central Bank of Costa Rica, KPMG, Air Canada, WestJet, Guanacaste Airport, and the provincial health plans of Ontario and Alberta. Facts checked November 15, 2026.
