La Fortuna

About La Fortuna:

La Fortuna became a district on 14 August 1968, when it was split from the central district of Bagaces, and it covers some 160 square kilometres of the canton’s north. From the town of Bagaces on the Interamericana, the road runs north for about 21 kilometres, a drive of 25 minutes or so, to the village centre. Guayabo, the main town of neighbouring Mogote, is 11 kilometres further on, and in 2025 a 4.25-kilometre stretch of the cantonal road between the two was resurfaced. Besides the centre and its barrios of Miravalles, Gloria Bejarano, Las Margaritas and Las Palmas, the district takes in Cuipilapa, San Bernardo, Santa Fe, San Joaquín, Macuá, Hornillas, Unión Ferrer and a string of smaller hamlets. For most errands beyond the village shops people drive down to Bagaces, and the regional hospital and the international airport are in Liberia.

The village grew out of a fight over land. In 1946 landless families, still remembered as los Cartagos, moved onto the huge Hacienda Miravalles and held on through eviction after eviction. In 1953 the Figueres government sided with the settlers and the state began giving them legal title, and the small farms and hamlets of Fortuna and Guayabo took shape from there. Schools followed, and so did the CTP de Fortuna, an agricultural technical high school that in 2023 became the first of its kind in Costa Rica to have its farm recognised under the national low-carbon livestock programme. Cattle and small farms still carry much of the local economy, while the state power company’s geothermal field brings jobs, service roads and steam pipelines into daily life.

Miravalles, at 2,028 metres the highest summit of the Cordillera de Guanacaste, fills the skyline to the north. Since June 2019 its upper slopes have been the Miravalles–Jorge Manuel Dengo National Park, and the access road turns off some five kilometres past the village and is often rough. Below the park the ground is still active: at Las Hornillas, a family-run rural tourism project, you can walk into a steaming secondary crater of fumaroles and bubbling mud, and Yökö Termales runs thermal pools nearby. Caribbean air slips through the mountain passes, so La Fortuna is wetter and fresher than the dry lowlands around Bagaces, and from November to March the trade winds blow hard. Plan roofs, terraces and windbreaks around that wind.

Local families looking for a lot near relatives make up much of the market. The quinta projects aim wider, at people who want a weekend place in greener country within an hour of Liberia. Some buyers have tourism in mind, counting on the hot springs, the waterfall walks and the park to keep visitors coming. New supply comes from farms being divided into lots and quintas, so most of what you see for sale is land you will build on yourself.

Houses in La Fortuna:

Houses for sale here are village homes in the centre and its barrios, and they reach the market less often than land. A single-storey house of about 150 square metres on a small lot is the kind that turns up near the centre. Ask for the latest water bill from the local ASADA and make sure the electricity meter is in the owner’s name. On sloping lots, look at where the water goes in a heavy October rain, because runoff from Miravalles finds the low points fast. If you are comparing houses for sale in La Fortuna de Bagaces, visit once in the windy months as well and look at how the roof is fixed down.

Land and Lots in La Fortuna:

Land is what this district mostly sells. In and around the village, lots run from about 500 to 1,000 square metres, some raised above the road on gentle ground and already cleared, others along the main road a few minutes from the centre on the way to Guayabo. State banks also sell repossessed plots from time to time, for example around Casa Vieja in San Bernardo, and those come as they are. Before you agree a price, confirm that the lot is segregated with its own cadastral plan and that the ASADA will issue a water availability letter. Lots for sale in La Fortuna near the Cuipilapa river or the Hornillas creek deserve a second visit, because those channels carry mud and rock off the volcano in big storms, as they did during Hurricane Otto in 2016.

Quintas in La Fortuna:

The quinta, a country plot of around 5,000 square metres, is the district’s most distinctive product. Several subdivisions have split former farmland into quintas, often alongside a handful of smaller lots, and some developers sell with their own financing rather than through a bank. Buyers use them for a weekend house with a garden and fruit trees, a few animals, or a couple of cabins close to the hot springs. Drive the internal road in the rainy season and ask who will maintain it once the last plot is sold. A quinta with its own segregated plan and a municipal land-use certificate that allows a house is a very different purchase from a share of a larger farm.

FAQ:

• Is this the same La Fortuna as the one near Arenal volcano?

  No. La Fortuna de Bagaces is in Guanacaste, on the slopes of Miravalles, with postal code 50402. The better-known La Fortuna by Arenal is in San Carlos, in Alajuela province, three hours’ drive or more away. Check that the plan and the deed say Bagaces, Guanacaste before you go any further.

• How do I get there, and how far is Liberia?

  Leave the Interamericana at Bagaces and head north for about 21 kilometres. Liberia is a little under an hour from the village, and Guayabo is 11 kilometres beyond it. The national park turn-off is five kilometres past the centre, on a rougher road.

• What should I check on a lot close to a river or creek?

  Start with the water. The Cuipilapa, the Fortuna and the Hornillas creek all come down off Miravalles and have carried debris in big storms, and the banks have a protected strip you cannot build on. Then pull the property’s entry at the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario) to confirm the owner, any liens and that the plan matches the land, and ask the Municipalidad de Bagaces for a land-use certificate before you pay a deposit.

• Does the geothermal field affect nearby property?

  The plants, wells and pipelines belong to the state power company and sit on its own land, but service roads and power lines cross the district. Look for easements on the registry entry and walk the boundary to see what passes through or alongside the plot. Some people value the jobs and the road maintenance that come with the plants; others prefer a lot further from the pipes.

• Is there piped water?

  Yes, through community water boards, the ASADAs, with one in Cuipilapa and one serving San Bernardo and La Fortuna. Inder funded new pipes and a new storage tank for the San Bernardo and La Fortuna system. On any new lot, get the water availability letter in writing before you sign.