Featured Stories

Let The View Take Your Breath Away

Costa Ballena Living Featured Stories, Lifestyles & Homes ,

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At an altitude of 2,000 ft above the South Pacific coast of Costa Rica, with Marino Ballena National Park views, sits this spectacular home. A rare contemporary offering for the most discriminating buyer. The property has a great flow with the living area centring the home, an outside grilling area to pamper your guests, offering huge ocean and mountain views, a pool area and a hot tub to relax while the view takes your breath away! The guest bedrooms are quietly positioned at one end of the home while the Master Suite occupies a large portion of the second floor, with a tremendous viewing terrace, walk in closet and a bathroom window facing the tallest waterfall is Costa Rica.

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The Meridian House has a view-oriented design, driven by a balance of sustainable practices, comfortable spaces, clean lines, and the desire to be different. The home is situated on east-west axis to minimize direct sun exposure and maximize cross-ventilation along prevailing wind patterns. With high, vaulted ceilings throughout the home, you will feel light as a feather as the clean air and oxygen rejuvenate your body and mind. It is a breathtaking experience, where the winds lift wings.

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Spectacular Contemporary Mountain home with unparalleled panoramic ocean views.  Featuring the world-class brands Roca, Daikin, Brizo, Dica, Edimax, Bosch, Bontempo, and more, this newly built home exudes passion in every detail.  With expansive open spaces, vaulted ceilings, and wall-to-wall glass doors this is truly the most pristine luxury home perched along the ridge.

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For those who love to entertain, the home comes complete with an infinity-edge pool with hand-set Gres porcelain tile imported from Italy, with a hot tub of course! And to make sure the ambiance is just right, there is a state-of-the-art sound system with Onkyo™ surround-sound home theater in living room and Klipsch™ recessed ceiling-mounted directional speakers throughout the common areas.

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25520 Sierra Collection Logo CLR_300The first completed home of the Sierra Collection.

For more information about the sale of the home contact www.axiomcostarica.com or call +(506) 4001-2343.

 

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A Legend Reborn

Costa Ballena Living Featured Stories, General Information, Lifestyles & Homes, Travel & Leisure ,

Become a part of El Castillo’s transformation from treasured local landmark to luxury landing place.

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Locals cherish it, and visitors love it—forever recalling their experiences at El Castillo, a boutique luxury hotel in the heart of South Pacific Costa Rica, some of the most unforgettable travel memories of their lives. The area’s clean mountain air, world-class ocean waves, and hundreds of square miles of diverse jungle give you ample opportunities to explore—with El Castillo as the perfect home base.

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The hotel has a storied history, beginning 10 years ago as the most expensive property in South Pacific Costa Rica—the last frontier of untouched land. The original owner achieved his dream of creating an expansive estate with jaw-dropping views of the Pacific Ocean. Due to its natural beauty, the property quickly became an iconic landmark to the local village of Ojochal. However, it took a decade to become the elegant retreat that it is today.

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Extensive renovations recently elevated El Castillo to five-star standards. Now, “the castle” is a home base for hotel guests and a luxe social gathering place within the community. With zealous hospitality and a doting staff, the pristine accommodations include six rooms with four-poster beds, vast wood-beamed ceilings, tranquil sitting areas, spacious bathrooms, secluded verandas, and French doors encouraging heavenly breezes and beautiful views of the mountains and ocean. Each room includes a private cabana on the brand-new guests-only deck with its own bar, spa services, and Jacuzzi pool overlooking the ocean.

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El Castillo’s on-site Mediterranean restaurant, Azul Restaurant & Bar, hosts guests and the public for cocktails, fine wine, and elegant meals. Diners come for the sunsets but stay for the extensive wine list and sophisticated fare—popular dishes include fresh-catch fish tacos, souvlaki with tzatziki sauce, and seafood platters of mussels, clams, calamari, and shrimp. Part of Azul’s charm and vibrancy comes from locals and visitors enjoying the same setting. As a hotel guest, you can be a part of the action—or you can retreat to your exclusive deck for a more intimate dining experience.

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El Castillo’s neighbor, Corcovado National Park, is the largest national park in the country, deemed by National Geographic as the most “biologically intense place on earth in terms of biodiversity.” There are endless opportunities to explore the area—and El Castillo will coordinate everything for you. Vacationers can snorkel beneath the Pacific’s crystal clear water, zip line through the jungle canopy, surf renowned waves, horseback ride to waterfalls, go dolphin and whale watching, kayak through lush mangroves, ATV tour the jungle floors, rappel down cascading falls, and catch sailfish in one of the best sport-fishing regions in the world. Regardless of your chosen adventure, you will find a home-away-from-home at El Castillo.

Written by Ali Harrison

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www.elcastillo.com

info@elcastillocr.com

+(506) 2786 5543 Costa Rica

+(214) 329 9866 United States

 

 

Welcome to the Coast, Where There is Something for Everyone!

Costa Ballena Living Beaches, Featured Stories, General Information, Tours, Travel & Leisure, Wildlife & Nature , , , , , , ,

Costa Ballena has a little something for everyone, no matter your tastes. If it’s green space and hippie vibes, Dominical is your place. And if you are looking to fine dine and get pampered, Ojochal has just what you need. Uvita, at the centre, is where the Whale’s Tail can be found. What everyone agrees about Costa Ballena is that the surf and the beaches, are superb and pristine. From kayaking, diving and snorkelling, to day trips on the ocean, and riding horseback to a waterfall, these are just a few of the activities that allow you to play. Come check out what we’ve got going on, there’s plenty to see.

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Not Retired from Adventure

Costa Ballena Living Featured Stories, Travel & Leisure ,
Waterfall - Poza Azul in Dominicalito
Waterfall – Poza Azul in Dominicalito

About five or six years ago, my wife Daisy and I started traveling to Central America looking for a retirement haven. Continuing to live in the U.S. just didn’t seem to appeal to us for our retirement. We soon discovered that all of the Central American countries had pluses and minuses, none filled our needs entirely. After some soul searching, a fair amount of research and several visits, we decided that Costa Rica suited us best. Continue reading →

The Marine Life of the Pacific Ocean

Costa Ballena Living Featured Stories, General Information, Travel & Leisure, Wildlife & Nature

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Run Away With Me

Costa Ballena Living Featured Stories, Travel & Leisure , ,
Photo by Michael Fernandez
Photo by Michael Fernandez

During a vacation to Costa Rica with friends in 2009, we traveled through the usual tourist spots, visiting Arenal, Manuel Antonio, and down to the Rafiki Lodge on the Savegre River. When we reached further South, we immediately fell in love with the feeling of being disconnected from the “noise” and being reconnected with nature. It was something that we deeply missed once we returned home to the States. Post our first trip, moving to Costa Rica became somewhat of a fantasy, that one day we would make our escape – together.

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Time for Change

Costa Ballena Living Featured Stories, Travel & Leisure , , ,

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It wasn’t overnight that the feeling of wanting to drastically change my life surfaced, rather it had been a long time coming. Exhausted by mainstream media and constant bombardments of negative reinforcement on the news, I knew it was time for me make a big change, and I doubted that this was possible in the US. Knowing how much of a change in life I was looking for, I knew I needed to make an impactful move to make that a reality. Some call it gut instinct, some call it intuition, whatever it was, it called me to Costa Rica. So, I sold my house and bought a one-way ticket. Continue reading →