Matama

About Matama:

Matama covers 340 square kilometres of Limón canton, many times the size of the city district next door. Ruta 36, the coast road south to Sixaola, crosses its eastern side, and Westfalia beach sits right beside it, twelve minutes from the centre of Limón. Ruta 241 leaves Pueblo Nuevo on the edge of the city and heads inland through Santa Rosa and Filadelfia to Río Banano. Buses from the MEPE terminal in Limón run to Bananito Sur several times a day from Monday to Saturday, so living up the valley without a car is possible.

Daily life splits between the city and the land. Aguas Zarcas and Asunción, on the side closest to Limón, have streets of family houses and feel like the outer edge of town. La Bomba, Kent, Dondonia, Quitaría and Bananito Norte are rural settlements strung along the rivers, linked by roads that neighbours complain about every rainy season. La Bomba has had its own school since 1952, and its water comes from an AyA well that was re-equipped in 2021. Inland, the land is mostly pasture and smallholdings, and at the head of the Bananito valley a family farm bought in 1974 is now an ecolodge with its own forest reserve.

The district sits low on the whole, but it is not flat. Cerro La Asunción rises behind the city, lots around Beverley are sold on their views over the valley, and the ground climbs south-west toward the Talamanca range. The Banano is the river Limón drinks from: AyA treats its upper and middle basin as strategic for the city’s water, and in 2014 the national environmental authority halted a quarry on Cerro La Asunción meant to supply rock for the Moín container port after AyA objected. The same rivers flood. Matama, together with Valle La Estrella and Río Blanco, is one of the canton’s traditionally vulnerable rural zones, and the Banano has spilled across Ruta 36 in heavy rain.

Homes for sale in Aguas Zarcas and Westfalia are family houses built for people who live and work in Limón. Their pull is simple: the hospital, the port, the airport and the city’s shops are all within a short drive. Development lots near Beverley are aimed at buyers who want countryside within reach of the coast. Larger parcels are pitched for small eco-tourism projects, and inland fincas go to buyers who want grazing land or forest.

Land and Lots in Matama:

Lots are the core of the market here. Around Beverley and Santa Rosa, development parcels of 1,500 to 3,000 m² are sold as countryside close to the coast, some with views across the valley. On the main road through Beverley there are bigger mixed-use lots with paved frontage, while side streets are often still tosca, the compacted gravel common in rural Costa Rica. Blocks of close to two hectares come up as sites for eco-tourism projects in Limón. Before you fall for a view, drive the access in the wet months and find out whether the parcel lies in one of the sectors that flooded last time.

Farms in Matama:

Inland from La Bomba, farms are pasture first. Fincas here are sold as grazing land, and some are pitched as good for reforestation as well as cattle. Further up the Banano and Bananito valleys, parcels grow larger and the trip in grows slower, over fords and small bridges that the municipality is still building and repairing. Land in the upper Banano basin falls inside the area AyA watches for Limón’s water supply, so any plan to clear, build or extract there will be looked at closely.

Houses in Matama:

Houses come up mainly on the city side of the district. In Aguas Zarcas you will find large family homes, including multi-storey houses with several bedrooms and covered parking. At Westfalia, a typical sale is a masonry main house with a wooden cabin on the same plot, a short walk from the beach. For most of these houses for sale in Matama, the selling point is how quickly you can be in central Limón.

FAQ:

• How far is Matama from Limón city?

  It depends on which end you mean. Westfalia is twelve minutes south of the centre on Ruta 36, and Aguas Zarcas and Asunción sit right on the city’s edge. Río Banano is reached on Ruta 241 from Pueblo Nuevo, and the far end of the Bananito valley is a much longer drive on rural roads.

• Can I live in Matama without a car?

  In some communities, yes. MEPE runs buses from Limón to Bananito Sur several times a day from Monday to Saturday, and the coast road carries buses heading south toward Cahuita. Off those routes, a car or a motorbike becomes a necessity, especially once the rains start.

• How much of a problem is flooding?

  Enough to plan around. The Banano and Bananito rise fast, and La Bomba, Aguas Zarcas, Asunción, Beverley, Kent, Dondonia and Bananito Sur have all been named as flood or mudflow risk sectors. Ask neighbours where the water reached in the last big storm, and look at the lot after a week of heavy rain rather than on a dry afternoon.

• What should I check before buying land in Matama?

  Start with where the parcel sits. On the sea side of Ruta 36 at Westfalia, land within 200 metres of the high-tide line falls under the maritime-terrestrial zone, where the first 50 metres are public and the rest is normally held as a municipal concession, not as titled property. Upriver, find out whether the lot falls inside the Banano basin that AyA protects for Limón’s water. Then pull the folio real and the plano catastrado from the Registro Nacional and confirm that both describe the land you walked.

• What kind of property is easiest to find here?

  Land. Development lots around Beverley and Santa Rosa and pasture fincas inland from La Bomba make up most of what is for sale. Finished houses are concentrated in Aguas Zarcas and Westfalia, close to the city.