Bejuco

About Bejuco:

Bejuco is the largest of Nandayure’s six districts, a little over 260 square kilometres and close to half the canton, with around three thousand residents spread across some thirty villages and hamlets. It takes in almost the whole of the canton’s coastline; only a narrow strip belongs to Zapotal, and part of Playa Camaronal falls outside it. Route 160 runs along the coast, north toward Sámara and south toward Santa Teresa, and from Liberia’s international airport the drive by way of Nicoya takes a little under three hours. The last stretch to most beaches is gravel, and some rivers on the coastal road can only be forded in the driest months, so from May to November people drive high-clearance cars or 4x4s and stick to the bridges. Islita also has a small airstrip, next to Corozalito, used by charter and private flights.

Artisanal fishing, cattle and small farms have kept the district going for generations, and tourism has grown alongside them. San Francisco de Coyote, about five kilometres inland from Playa Coyote, is where most errands get done: supermarkets, sodas, the public EBAIS clinic and the bus stop. Pueblo Nuevo, near Playa Bejuco, has a clinic of its own, and small fishing boats still work from that beach. Islita is a case apart, a village of around 150 people where Costa Rican and international artists, backed by Hotel Punta Islita, worked with residents to make the village itself an open-air museum of contemporary art. For the hospital you go to Nicoya, about an hour and a half away, and for a wider choice of restaurants and schools, to Sámara.

The coast is a chain of beaches that each have their own character. Playa Bejuco has rocky outcrops, tidal pools and good surf; San Miguel lies behind a granite headland and a line of coconut palms; and Playa Coyote is split by the Río Jabillo estuary into Costa de Oro, a long stretch of sand to the north, and the sheltered horseshoe bay of Punta Coyote to the south. There is no way across the river mouth, and crocodiles live in the mangroves, so moving between the two halves means driving back through the village. Behind the sand the land climbs fast into green hills of forest and pasture, and that is where the ocean views come from. Two stretches belong to the turtles: Corozalito has become a new arribada beach for olive ridleys, and the Caletas-Arío wildlife refuge, created in 2006, protects the nesting beaches that begin at Punta Coyote.

Most residents are local families who work the land and the sea. Buyers from outside come for space and shoreline: Costa Ricans and foreigners who want a beach house or a hilltop home far quieter than Sámara or Santa Teresa, and investors after large parcels of the kind that have grown scarce on Guanacaste’s northern coast. Some arrive with a small hotel, a retreat or a few rental villas in mind. Land sold by the hectare in the hills costs a small fraction of a building lot near the beach, and the few titled beachfront homes sit at the very top of the market.

Land and Lots in Bejuco:

Ocean-view building lots make up much of what comes up for sale, on the slopes above San Miguel, Pilas de Bejuco and Coyote, from around a thousand square metres to a couple of hectares. Behind the beach at San Miguel there are second-row lots within walking distance of the sand. Some owners have split a larger property into a handful of lots for sale in Bejuco that share one entrance road. Drive the approach in the wet season before you commit, because a lot that is easy to reach in March can be a very different drive in October.

Farms and Large Parcels in Bejuco:

Few stretches of the Pacific coast still sell land in blocks this size. Farms of dozens or even hundreds of hectares come onto the market with pasture, creeks, forest and long views of the ocean, offered to buyers planning a residential project, a hillside hotel or a private estate. Some of the higher parcels inland reach into cloud forest a short drive from Playa Coyote. Much of that forest cannot be cleared, so the area you can actually build on may be far smaller than the area on the plan. Ask early for a clear picture of how much is pasture and how much must stay as woodland.

Houses in Bejuco:

Homes here split into a few kinds. Near Pueblo Nuevo, San Miguel and Costa de Oro there are beach houses a short walk from the sand, and on the hills above them, homes with pools and ocean views on plots of half a hectare or more. A handful of properties at San Miguel sit on titled beachfront, which is rare on this coast. In the villages, houses are simple family homes on modest plots. Many of the hillside homes for sale in Bejuco were built as second residences and rented out part of the year, so ask for their booking history if you plan to do the same.

Rentals in Bejuco:

Most rentals here are for holidays: vacation homes behind Costa de Oro and San Miguel or on the hills above them, many with a private pool and an ocean view. Places to stay are small in scale, from boutique hotels at Punta Coyote and Islita to hillside lodges and a camping area under the palms at Punta Coyote. The dry season from December to March and the holiday weeks fill first, so book vacation rentals in Bejuco well ahead. If you need to work while you are here, ask about the internet connection at that particular house, since service can change from one hill to the next.

FAQ:

• Is this the Playa Bejuco near Jacó?

  No. That Playa Bejuco is in Parrita canton, in Puntarenas, on the central Pacific. This Bejuco is a district of Nandayure on the southern Nicoya Peninsula, postal code 50906, and Panama has a Bejuco of its own in Chame. The canton printed on the cadastral plan settles which one a property is really in.

• Can I buy a house right on the beach in Bejuco?

  The first 200 metres from the high-tide line are maritime-terrestrial zone. The first 50 are public, and the other 150 can only be held as a municipal concession, and only where a coastal regulatory plan is in force for that stretch. Foreigners with less than five years of residency, and companies mostly held by foreigners, cannot be concession holders. The few titled beachfront parcels are a different case; have a lawyer trace the history of that title before you treat it as owned outright.

• What should I check before buying a large farm near the coast?

  Start with the map. Make sure the land does not fall inside or overlap the Caletas-Arío refuge or any other protected area, and find out how much of it is forest, because forest cannot be turned into building land. With that settled, get the property’s certification from the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario) and walk the boundaries with the cadastral plan in hand. Access has to be a public road or a registered easement, the land-use certificate comes from the Municipalidad de Nandayure, and the water letter should be signed before any money changes hands.

• How do you get to Bejuco, and is the road open all year?

  Most people drive from Nicoya and then follow the coast on Route 160, with gravel for the final stretch to the beaches. On the road south toward Santa Teresa, the Río Bongo can only be forded in the driest months; the rest of the year you go round by the bridge. A 4×4 makes sense from May to November, and in a rental car always use the bridges, since river damage is usually excluded from the contract. Light aircraft land at the Islita airstrip, and the nearest international airport is Liberia.

• Where do people shop and see a doctor?

  San Francisco de Coyote has the supermarkets, the sodas and an EBAIS clinic, and Pueblo Nuevo has a second clinic near Playa Bejuco. The nearest hospital is the Hospital de La Anexión in Nicoya, about an hour and a half by road. For banks, a wider range of shops and restaurants, residents head to Sámara or Nicoya, and they fill the tank there too.