Chires

About Chires:

Chires was split off from Mercedes Sur in 1983 and became the ninth district of Puriscal. Its head village is Cristo Rey, and around it lie some two dozen settlements, among them Bajo Chires, San Vicente, Guarumal, the three Gamalotillos, Bajo el Rey, Vista de Mar, Arenal and Mastatal. Ruta 239 is the way in from Santiago de Puriscal and the way out to Parrita, about 52 kilometres end to end, and routes 318 and 319 also cross the district. The first ten kilometres south from Puriscal were asphalted in works that began in 2020, but long stretches through Chires are still gravel. On 1 June 2025 a night of heavy rain carried away the road at Vista de Mar and cut the link with Parrita.

Around 3,000 people live in Chires, spread over 230 square kilometres, and the whole district is rural. Many families have worked this land for generations, and the hills show it: pasture covers much of the ground, with forest left on the steepest slopes and along the rivers. In the south, tourism has become a second income. Mastatal, a small village with a church, a school, a couple of shops and a community hall, sits right at the edge of La Cangreja. Around it a handful of small projects bring in visitors, volunteers and students: Rancho Mastatal, a permaculture and natural building centre running since 2001, the farm lodge at Finca Siempre Verde, and the trails and waterfalls at Juco.

By Puriscal standards Chires sits low, at an average of 430 metres against 945 in Santiago. The ground breaks into ridges and river valleys cut by the Chires, the Gamalotillo and the Río Negro, and in the rainy season it is the roads, not the houses, that give way first. La Cangreja National Park, which Chires shares with Mercedes Sur, climbs from about 300 metres at Mastatal to a crab-shaped summit at 1,305 metres. It holds the last stand of original forest in the canton and two trees that grow nowhere else on earth, one of them named after Mastatal. The area was protected in 1984 and became a national park in 2002.

Outside the park, most of Chires is farmland in private hands, but 3,514 hectares make up Zapatón, one of the country’s two Huetar indigenous territories; the other is Quitirrisí, in Mora. Beyond Zapatón, the people who buy here are after space: grazing land, a finca with a river and its own forest, or ground for a rural-tourism project near the park. This is not commuter country. Santiago is a long climb away, Parrita a long descent, and daily life happens on the farm and in the nearest village.

Farms and Fincas in Chires:

Farms are the core of the market here, and the largest run well past a hundred hectares. One at Gamalotillo covers 217 hectares, 70 per cent pasture and 30 per cent forest, with the Gamalotillo river running through it and 225 metres of frontage on a public road; it has been offered whole or in sections. Another of 174 hectares lies about 40 kilometres from the centre of Puriscal, and farms of around eight hectares also come up around Gamalotillo. Under Costa Rican forestry law the forest on a finca stays forest, so the open pasture is the part you can actually use. Road frontage counts for more here than almost anywhere else in the canton, because every kilometre of private track is yours to keep open.

Land and Lots in Chires:

Smaller lots are sold along Ruta 239 at Arenal, cut from farmland beside the main road with rivers and forest around them. A roadside lot is the simplest purchase in the district, since the access is a national route rather than a private track. Look hard at how the lot sits against the road cut: on this terrain, the bank above or below the road decides whether a house pad costs little or a great deal. Away from the road, land for sale in Chires usually means a finca or a piece divided off one, and a division needs its own plano catastrado and municipal approval before it can be registered.

Houses in Chires:

Houses in Chires are mostly farmhouses, and they are sold together with the land around them. Some stand on fincas of several hectares with pasture and water on the property, and in Gamalotillo 3 a family home with an open living, dining and kitchen area has come up with its own plot. Judge the house and the access as one thing. Ask early how it gets water and power and who keeps the track to the door passable, because the further a house sits from Ruta 239, the more those answers depend on the seller.

FAQ:

• Can I buy land inside Zapatón?

  No. Zapatón is a Huetar indigenous territory, and under article 3 of Costa Rica’s Indigenous Law 6172 of 1977 its land is inalienable and reserved for the indigenous communities who live there. Non-indigenous people may not buy, rent or lease it, and any such transaction is void. The rest of Chires is ordinary land that is bought and sold in the normal way. If a seller says a finca borders Zapatón, have its plano catastrado checked against the territory boundary at the Registro Nacional before you go any further.

• What is the road to Chires like in the rainy season?

  Ruta 239 is the main road through the district, and long stretches of it are gravel. In dry weather an ordinary car manages it, but heavy rain takes out sections: on 1 June 2025 a slide at Vista de Mar removed the road entirely and cut the route to Parrita. See any property in the wet months, drive the last kilometres yourself, and ask the neighbours how often the way in closes.

• What should I check before buying a finca in Chires?

  Start with the boundaries. Check the title and plano catastrado at the Registro Nacional and walk the lines on the ground, because farms here are large and fences do not always follow the plan. Find out whether any part of the land falls inside La Cangreja National Park, where farming and felling are restricted, and mark where the forest begins, since it cannot be cleared. Then confirm that the access is a public road or a registered easement and that it does not depend on fording a river.

• How far is Chires from Santiago de Puriscal?

  Mastatal and the La Cangreja side of the district are about 45 kilometres south of Santiago de Puriscal by Ruta 239, and Santiago in turn connects to San José through Ciudad Colón. The first part of the drive out of Santiago is paved; after that it is gravel and mountain curves, so allow far more time than the distance suggests. For banks, larger shops and most services, people in Chires go up to Santiago.

• Is there anything to do around Mastatal?

  La Cangreja National Park has its southern edge at Mastatal, with forest trails toward the 1,305-metre summit. Nearby, Juco has trails and waterfalls, and Rancho Mastatal runs courses in permaculture and natural building. The draw is forest, rivers and quiet rather than beaches or nightlife, and that is also what most buyers here are looking for.