Veintisiete de Abril

About Veintisiete de Abril:

Veintisiete de Abril fills the western side of Santa Cruz canton, with Tamarindo and Cuajiniquil on either side along the coast and Cartagena, Tempate and the Santa Cruz district inland. Route 160 is paved from the city of Santa Cruz as far as the village of 27 de Abril, the district seat, and from there local roads and Route 928 carry on west through Paraíso to the beaches. Routes 152, 904 and 909 also cross the district, tying the inland hamlets to the coast road and to Tamarindo. Playa Junquillal is roughly 30 kilometres west of Santa Cruz, and buses leave the Santa Cruz municipal market for Junquillal several times a day. The 2011 census counted just over 7,000 people, spread across dozens of hamlets from Hatillo and Guapote to Venado, Pargos and Lagartillo.

Until the middle of the last century the Nandamojo valley fed itself and sent grain, cattle and timber to the rest of the country. The beef boom of the 1950s and 1960s cleared much of the forest for pasture, and the river that older ranchers remember flowing all year now runs dry for four or five months. Cattle still dominate the inland villages, but since 2015 the Asociación Nandamojo has worked with local ranchers to replant the 15-metre strips the forestry law protects along the river, and it runs a tree nursery, the Centro Verde, that gives seedlings to anyone in the watershed. The village of 27 de Abril has its school, a CEN-CINAI childcare centre and a supermarket, while Paraíso adds a bigger supermarket, a hardware store, a pharmacy and doctors. On the coast the economy is surf. Playa Negra’s right-hand reef break has been famous since it appeared in Endless Summer II, Avellanas has softer beach breaks, and Los Pargos, the town behind Playa Negra, has grown into a strip of restaurants, surf shops, yoga studios, cabinas and small hotels.

This is tropical dry forest, and the dry season from November to April decides how land is used and what a house needs. Trade winds blow hot and gusty, pasture fires are common, and the burnt ground sheds water when the rains arrive in May, so storms can flood low ground even in a district that spends half the year short of water. Many properties along the coast were built on their own wells, and the communities of Pargos and Lagartillo only got piped drinking water in 2020, when the local ASADA laid 16.6 kilometres of pipe and built a 200-cubic-metre tank. At Junquillal the beach is a leatherback nesting ground without national-park protection, and residents and volunteers have patrolled it and moved nests since the mid-2000s. Behind the sand lies the mangrove estuary where the Nandamojo and Venado rivers meet the sea.

Two very different groups buy here. Inland, the villages are Guanacastecan farming communities where ranchers, beekeepers and families who work on the coast make up the market, and Las Delicias even keeps its own volunteer fire brigade for the dry months. On the coast the buyers are mostly foreigners: surfers who want to walk to Playa Negra, people building ocean-view homes on the ridges above Junquillal, and owners in low-density communities such as Finca Los Pargos. Los Pargos has fibre-optic internet, which matters if you plan to work from here rather than just spend the dry season.

Houses in Veintisiete de Abril:

On the coast, houses range from compact three-bedroom homes on small plots in Los Pargos, a short walk from Playa Negra, to architect-designed villas with pools on an acre or more. Finca Los Pargos holds larger custom homes set on parcels of at least 5,000 square metres, with forest and ocean views. Around Avellanas there are a few small gated communities of single-family homes, and at Junquillal the offer runs from modest surf houses and casitas to full villas a few minutes from the beach. Inland, homes for sale in Veintisiete de Abril are village houses on their own plots in 27 de Abril, Paraíso and Río Seco, priced for local buyers rather than for the beach market. Whatever the setting, ask whether the house is on the ASADA network or its own well before you look at anything else.

Land and Lots in Veintisiete de Abril:

Land is the largest part of this market. Near the coast you find ocean-view homesites on the ridges above Junquillal and inside Finca Los Pargos, many with a seasonal stream running through them, as well as smaller lots in Paraíso with frontage on the paved Route 928, power and water at the road. Further inland the parcels get bigger: pasture with teak, farms backing onto the Nandamojo, and some properties reachable from both the Paraíso–Playa Negra road and the Río Seco–Marbella road. Lots for sale near Playa Junquillal and inland farms are priced on different logic, so compare like with like. On any rural parcel, walk the boundary with the cadastral plan in hand and check how much of it falls inside a river protection strip.

Rentals in Veintisiete de Abril:

Most rentals are holiday homes: furnished houses with pools near Junquillal and Playa Negra, cabinas and surf camps in Los Pargos, and a handful of small hotels along the coast. Demand peaks in the dry season, from November to April, when the roads are dusty but open and the surf crowd arrives. Surfers and yoga travellers keep part of the market busy outside those months as well. If you are buying to let, talk to the ASADA before you add bedrooms or a second unit, because every new connection needs its approval.

FAQ:

• The listing says Playa Negra or Junquillal. Is that Veintisiete de Abril?

  Yes, in most cases. Avellanas, Playa Negra and Los Pargos, Callejones, Playa Blanca, Junquillal and Paraíso all belong to the district of Veintisiete de Abril, postal code 50303, even though nobody uses that name in an advert. Your deed and cadastral plan will say the district, not the beach. Tamarindo and Cuajiniquil begin at either end of this coast, so confirm the district on the plan if the property is near Avellanas or Marbella.

• Where does the water come from near the coast?

  The ASADA de Paraíso y Junquillal supplies Paraíso, Junquillal, Playa Blanca, Callejones, Playa Negra, Pargos, Lagartillo, Avellanas and Zapotillo. Some properties still rely on private wells, and the Nandamojo itself dries up for months each year. Ask the seller for a current water availability letter from the ASADA, or for the concession papers of any well, before you sign.

• Can I buy a lot right on the beach at Junquillal or Avellanas?

  Not as titled land. The first 200 metres from the high-tide line belong to the state: the first 50 are public, and the next 150 can only be held as a concession under an approved coastal plan. The Avellanas–Junquillal integral coastal plan was approved by the Santa Cruz council in December 2016 and published in 2017, so concessions there follow its zoning. Check at the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario) if you are buying a titled property with its own folio or a concession, and get the land-use certificate from the Municipalidad de Santa Cruz.

• I am looking at a farm along the Nandamojo. What should I check?

  Start with the river. The forestry law protects at least 15 metres on each bank, and many inland farms have pasture right to the water, so part of what you are shown may not be buildable. Ask about fire history too, because dry-season burns are frequent here, and look at the land in the rains, when cleared ground floods. Then confirm at the Registro Nacional that the farm area and boundaries on the deed match the cadastral plan, since inherited farms are often split informally.

• How do I get to the beaches from Santa Cruz?

  Take Route 160 west to the village of 27 de Abril, then continue to Paraíso, where roads branch to Junquillal, Playa Negra and Avellanas. The Tamarindo airstrip is the nearest for domestic flights, and Liberia’s international airport serves the whole region. In Los Pargos, culverts and new bridges have kept the roads passable through most of the rainy season.