Who is Bill Adams and why should I take his advice about real estate in Costa Rica?

Well, there’s a couple of pretty good reason why you should take my advice but let me introduce myself first and then you can decide for yourself.

I arrived in Costa Rica in 1970 with my mother and sister. My mom, who had lived all over the world with us and my father before he died, had decided that the US wasn’t for her anymore. She had studied all the “How to Retire in a Tropical Paradise for $5 per Day” books she could lay her hands on , talked to a lot of people and after much deliberation came to the conclusion that Costa Rica offered the best environment for a single woman with two children.

I was still in the university at this time and for me, this was just a summer vacation. I was planning on returning to the States in a couple of months to continue school. My sister, who was only 12 at the time, would be enrolled in a local grammar school while my mom searched for a house. In the meanwhile we would all get to know the country together.

Our first excursion took us by train to the Pacific port town of Puntarenas, Costa Rica’s most accessible beach at the time, but far from it’s prettiest. As soon as we saw an advertisement for a small island hotel off the coast we decided that the Port of Puntarenas wasn’t for us and headed to Jesusita Island, 9 miles offshore. Little were we all to know that this would start a relationship with the Gulf of Nicoya in particular and Costa Rica in general that has lasted almost 40 years.

Jesusita Island Resort was owned and operated by an expat from California. He was our first exposure to how exciting and fulfilling life in the tropics could be for an American who was willing to venture beyond his boundaries. After a couple of days I was throughly hooked. When my mom and sister headed back to San Jose, I stayed on for a couple of days more and eventually talked someone into taking me to the next island, which was uninhabited, so I could camp for a week more.

Eventually I was to manage Jesusita Island Resort, be a part owner of another island which required me to live a Robinson Caruso existence for a couple of years and for four years run a tour boat company crossing the Gulf of Nicoya three days a week. All in all I spent over 12 years living and working in this part of the country and it is still my most visited and favorite destination in Costa Rica.

After a couple of years living on the islands, I got my first dose of “Island Fever” and started looking for a way to really get to know the rest of the country.

While staying at Jesusita as a guest I met and became good friends with the resident fishing guide, Bruce Boyd, who had developed a case of Island fever as well. We decided to team up to explore Costa Rica.