Manzanillo
Real Estate in Manzanillo, Costa Rica.
A four-hectare island lies 500 metres off the beach at Costa de Pájaros, and no one is allowed to live on it. Isla Pájaros has been a biological reserve since 1976, and the pelicans and frigatebirds that nest there are hard to miss from the shore. Manzanillo runs along the eastern shore of the upper Gulf of Nicoya, a strip of low coast in the canton of Puntarenas, Costa Rica, with Isla Chira a twenty-minute launch ride across the water. Its villages, from Costa de Pájaros up to Abangaritos at the mouth of the Río Abangares, still live from the gulf. Buyers here mostly find family houses in those villages, lots from a few hundred to several thousand square metres, and a handful of larger farms near the shore, so anyone weighing property in Manzanillo de Puntarenas should start with how close the plot sits to the high-tide line.
About Manzanillo:
Manzanillo is the sixth district of Puntarenas canton, about 60 square kilometres of flat coast on the mainland side of the gulf. The road in starts at Punta Morales, in neighbouring Chomes, and runs north for around 17 kilometres to Manzanillo village. Buses from the Puntarenas terminal make the trip several times a day through Punta Morales to Costa de Pájaros, and some carry on past Manzanillo and Abangaritos to Colorado in the canton of Abangares. Another run comes in from the inland side through Jarquín and Coyolito.
The gulf pays most of the bills. Costa de Pájaros has a fish collection centre that buys from more than 80 coastal families, and since 2014 its waters have been an Área Marina de Pesca Responsable, where fishing is regulated more tightly to keep stocks going. During the annual fishing ban, registered fishers draw a state subsidy. Mariposas del Golfo, a women’s organisation that has worked in Costa de Pájaros for more than twenty-five years, runs a blue morpho butterfly farm, offers rooms and meals to visitors, guides birdwatching and mangrove trips, and replants mangrove along the shore.
The land is low and close to the water the whole way: beaches, mudflats and mangrove along the gulf, with the villages strung out along the coast road. Water is what decides daily life here. In May 2019 the last kilometres of the Río Abangares ran completely dry after illegal upstream diversions took most of its flow, until neighbours from Abangaritos went in with picks and shovels and broke the dams. Drinking water comes from community water boards, with ASADAs in Costa de Pájaros and Abangaritos, so a lot with a supply letter from the local board is a different proposition from one without.
Manzanillo had 2,811 residents in 2011, fewer than 50 per square kilometre. Isla Chira belonged to this district until 1998, and the launch from Costa de Pájaros still ties the two shores together. Costa de Pájaros also holds the services: a kindergarten, the Brisas del Golfo primary school, a secondary school and an EBAIS clinic. Most residents come from fishing families who have worked these waters for generations. Buyers from outside are a smaller group, usually after a quiet house near the water within reach of Puntarenas, or a large lot with Chira on the horizon.
Houses in Manzanillo:
Most homes are village houses on the main road through Costa de Pájaros, Manzanillo and Abangaritos, close to the school, the clinic and the bus. Near Playa Pájaros there are also three-bedroom family houses a short walk from the beach, and in Abangaritos some houses come on generous plots looking across to Chira. A few owners let a house or quinta to weekend visitors. Before you commit, check whether the house stands within 200 metres of the high-tide line: inside that strip the land usually falls under the maritime-terrestrial zone, where the right to occupy rests on a municipal concession rather than freehold title.
Land and Lots in Manzanillo:
Land makes up the larger part of what sells in this district. Lots for sale in Manzanillo range from village plots for a single house to parcels of around 5,000 square metres near Abangaritos and farms of several hectares, some with gulf frontage. The ground is flat, but anything near the estuary or the mangrove edge is worth walking at high tide and again in the rains. Mangrove is protected state land and cannot be cleared or filled. A lot you can build on needs its own cadastral plan, a registered title, frontage on a public road and a water letter from the local ASADA.
FAQ:
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Is this the same Manzanillo as the Caribbean beach town?
No. That Manzanillo is in Talamanca, Limón, on the other side of the country, and there is also a Playa Manzanillo in Cóbano, on the peninsula side of this same canton. This one is the Gulf of Nicoya district with postal code 60106, so check the address on any property you are shown.
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How do I get to Manzanillo from Puntarenas?
Drive to Punta Morales and follow the coast road north for about 17 kilometres. Buses leave the Puntarenas terminal for Costa de Pájaros several times a day, and some continue to Manzanillo, Abangaritos and Colorado.
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Can I reach Isla Chira from here?
Yes. A public launch leaves the Costa de Pájaros dock for Chira, a crossing of about 20 minutes. It runs to a fixed timetable, so confirm departure times before you plan a day around it.
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What should I check before buying land near the shore or the river?
Start with the distance to the high-tide line, because the first 200 metres belong to the maritime-terrestrial zone and mangrove cannot be touched. Then ask the ASADA for a water availability letter, since water runs short here in the dry season, and walk any low ground in the middle of the rains. Finish at the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario): title, cadastral plan, liens, and whether the plan matches the fences on the ground.
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Are there schools and a clinic in the district?
Costa de Pájaros has a kindergarten, the Brisas del Golfo primary school, a secondary school and an EBAIS for primary health care. For a hospital, banks and bigger shopping trips, residents go to Puntarenas.