Reventazón

About Reventazón:

Reventazón is the seventh and newest district of Siquirres, created by executive decree in October 2018 with Nueva Esperanza as its head town. On the plain it takes in Ángeles, Carmen, Celina, Ciudadela Flores, Encanto Norte and Encanto Sur, Imperio and Vegas de Imperio, Islona, Maryland, Nueva Virginia, Pueblo Civil and Santo Domingo; towards the sea come Caño Blanco, Dos Bocas (Suerre), Boca Pacuare and Barra de Parismina. Ruta 806 is the spine, running out of Siquirres to the Caño Blanco dock on the Parismina river, about an hour and a quarter by car from town. Buses leave the old station in Siquirres for Caño Blanco a few times a day, and the Siquirres bus also passes the farms out at Imperio. From the dock, water taxis cross to Parismina in a quarter of an hour, and lodge boats carry on to Tortuguero in about an hour.

The plain works for export agriculture. Banana farms with their own packing plants run through Carmen and Imperio, numbered the way plantation country numbers everything, from Carmen 1, 2 and 3 to Imperio 1 and 2, while oil palm and cattle take up other land. Services sit in the larger villages: Maryland has a secondary school, the Liceo de Maryland, and the Los Ángeles EBAIS clinic, and there are primary schools in Nueva Esperanza, Pueblo Civil and La Esperanza de Imperio. At the coast the economy changes completely. Parismina, a village of around 400 people, lives from lodges and fishing guides, tarpon off the river mouth and turtle conservation, with a local association that patrols the beach at night, runs a hatchery and places volunteers with homestay families. Caño Blanco itself is small, little more than the dock, a cantina and fuel, busy with tour vans heading for the Tortuguero lodges.

The whole district is low and flat; Nueva Esperanza stands just 14 metres above sea level. The Reventazón, Parismina and Pacuare rivers and a web of canals cross it on their way to the sea, and they decide where it is sensible to build. When the Reventazón runs high after a long rain, Islona and Dos Bocas are among the communities that flood. The road has been the other constant problem: for decades Ruta 806 meant dust in dry spells, mud and potholes in the wet months, and drainage failures that cut buses, trucks and ambulances off from Siquirres. The paving contract covers new drainage as well as asphalt, so ask what has actually been finished on the stretch you would use.

Fewer than 5,000 people live in the district, and most buyers are local. Families tied to the banana farms and to the shops and schools along the road look for a house with enough land for a garden and a few animals. Cattle farmers buy flat pasture with water on it. Parismina draws a smaller and different group: people who want to run a lodge or a guiding business, or simply live at the river mouth, and who accept that every sack of cement and every fridge crosses the water by boat. Paving Ruta 806 is the biggest change the district has seen since it was created, but judge a property by the road as it is on the day you visit.

Houses in Reventazón:

Houses here stand on their own plots rather than in subdivisions, and the plots are generous. In Imperio 2, a two-storey house on a full hectare, with registered survey plan and title, sits on the bus route close to a primary school, the secondary school, the EBAIS and a grocery store. In Parismina, a two-storey house with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a three-car garage and balconies all the way round comes on more than 4,000 square metres, with a separate building fitted out as a bar. When you compare houses for sale in Reventazón, ask the neighbours how high the water came in the last flood and watch how the yard drains after a downpour.

Land and Lots in Reventazón:

Land is measured in hectares out here. Off the main road just past the Imperio 2 packing plant, a flat parcel of six hectares, part pasture and part forest, lies about 20 kilometres from the centre of Siquirres, with the bus going past its entrance. Land around Nueva Esperanza, the head town, comes up as well. Before you buy land in Reventazón, find out how far away the nearest power line is, where your water will come from, and whether the way in is a public road or a farm track across a neighbour’s property. If the plot is being cut out of a larger farm, it needs its own approved survey plan before any money changes hands.

Farms in Reventazón:

Fincas are the heart of the market. In Celina, out towards Imperio, a 57-hectare cattle farm on flat ground has four ponds for the stock to drink from, a stream and a lagoon, a corral and fish ponds, frontage onto the main gravel road and mobile coverage, with a power line a few hundred metres away. Part of the old pasture has gone back to scrub, and it is sold by the owner with registered title. Farms like this are bought for grazing first, so look at the water and the drainage before the fencing. A farm for sale in Reventazón is best walked in the wettest weeks of the year, when you can see which paddocks stay under water.

FAQ:

• Can you drive to Barra de Parismina?

  No. There is no road into the village. You drive or take the bus from Siquirres to the Caño Blanco dock and cross by water taxi in about 15 minutes, or fly in by light aircraft to the 900-metre concrete strip. If you buy or build there, budget for moving materials, furniture and supplies by boat, and visit at different times of year to see the river and the bar in all conditions.

• Is Ruta 806 paved yet?

  Work is in progress. The start order for paving 30 kilometres of the road, with an investment of around ₡8,000 million shared by CONAVI, JAPDEVA and the Municipalidad de Siquirres, was signed in February 2026, and the asphalt has been going down in stages since then. The project also includes new drainage and road markings. Check which stretches are finished before you count on a paved drive to a particular property.

• Does the Reventazón river flood the district?

  Parts of it, yes. Islona and Dos Bocas are among the communities that have flooded when the Reventazón rose after heavy rain, and the low plain drains slowly. Ask neighbours where the water reached last time, look for marks on walls and fences, and keep building sites on the highest ground you can find, well back from the river and the canals.

• What should I check on the title before buying in Reventazón?

  Two things are specific to this district. First, Reventazón has only existed since 2018, so older deeds and survey plans may still place a property in the district of Siquirres: make sure the finca number, the plano catastrado and the actual boundaries agree in the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario). Second, at Barra de Parismina and Boca Pacuare the beach belongs to the maritime zone. The first 50 metres from high tide are public, the next 150 metres can only be held as a municipal concession under a coastal zoning plan, and parts of the coast may be state natural heritage. Ask the Municipalidad de Siquirres in writing what applies to the plot.

• Can foreigners buy property in Reventazón?

  Yes. Titled houses, lots and farms on the plain can be bought by foreigners with the same rights as Costa Ricans, and residency is not required. The transfer is signed before a Costa Rican notary and recorded in the Registro Nacional. Concessions in the maritime zone at the coast are different: the law limits who can hold one, with residency and ownership rules for foreigners and foreign-owned companies, so take legal advice before you commit to anything on the beach.