Stage 2 Vista Playa Madera is Open

Stage 2 Vista Playa Madera is Open.

Here are the lot plans for Vista Playa Madera.

Investing in Nicaraguan Real Estate

Now it the perfect time to invest in Nicaragua real estate. After decades of stagnant growth Nicaragua is being discovered. Tourism and retirement immigration are growing at double digits. This is a sure sign that real estate prices will continue to climb.

Playa Maderas just minutes north of San Juan del Sur

 Major investments in infrastructure and tourism will continue to draw people to the country. When they experience the natural diversity and beauty of the country many will decide to buy their own little piece of paradise. You have missed the real estate booms in Costa Rica and, Mexico, and Belize. Nicaragua is the Costa Rica of 15-30 years ago, price are a 1/3 of prices in Costa Rica. A sizable percentage of the recent purchase in the area are ex-pats from Costa Rica. they are cashing in on their earnings in Costa Rican real estate and buying new properties in southern Nicaragua.

View of Playa Madera from Vista Playa Madera

They are experienced investors in Latin America real estate and know where the next best deals can be found. Prices around San Juan are higher than in other parts of the country, but that is for good reason. It has one of the best climates in the country. The cool Pacific waters moderate the temperatures tremendously. If you live on the coast the daily highs rarely climb above 30 degrees, and nights are typically between 22 and 24 degrees. The dry tropical forest of the area is very healthy with no malaria, and few other tropical diseases.

Morgan's Rock from Playa Maderas

While there is some very cheap properties in other parts of the country you get what you pay for. If you want to live in a remote, isolated area, away from the ex-pats and tourism, and all the amenities and infrastructure that brings, then you can find some very cheap properties. But, if you want to live near the sea with all the amenities: good infrastructure, great town for shopping, entertainment, and dining, boating, fishing, surfing and more then you should look to the Pacific coast. One should not under estimate the importance of the local community. It is extremely important to have a close group of friends. This area has just the right mix of ex-pats and locals. The ex-pat community is large enough that one can pick and chose friends. there are many local gatherings of friends for drinks by the water, potlucks, card games, fishing, horseback riding and more. This adds tremendously to the quality of life for new immigrants and seasonal visitors.

The great recession hit property markets very hard here. Prices plunged between the end of 2007 and 2010; people have little interest in 2nd homes, or vacation properties when their primary homes were losing value and threaten with loss. Now, that the economy has stabilized and the real estate market is rising, interest has grown tremendously. They are making million dollar improvements to the roads, port, and other infrastructure. The growth in visitors will push the real estate markets ever higher, as more and more people come to know of the beauty and diversity of this pretty country.

Here are a few links to some websites on investing in property in Nicaragua.

Vista Playa Madera on Facebook

Nicaragua Retirement on Facebook

Escape Artist Nicaragua

Globalpropertyguide Nicaragua

Nicaraguanbugle Nicaragua

Coldwell Banker Nicaragua

Even better than reading about it? Come visit our spectacular part of the world.

Sunset from Vista Playa Madera lot

Vista Playa Madera, just minutes north of San Juan del Sur, offers ocean view lots from $26,995.

San Juan del Sur reminds me of Sayulita in Mexico 25 years ago, but prettier! Today lots without ocean views and miles from the beach are selling for 5-10 times the price of properties in Nicaragua. Compare this

A lot in Sayulita Mexico today

to this in Vista Playa Madera for 1/5 the price:

View of Playa Madera from Vista Playa Madera lot

In a much, much safer country (ranked as the 3rd safest country in all the Americas after Canada and Uruguay) and a lower cost of living.

Here is a good article on investing or retiring in Nicaragua.

International Living is a good source of information on living/retiring in Nicaragua.

Retirement Security in Nicaragua

Here is my idea of retirement security. Living in a beautiful, healthy location surrounded by lots of great possibilities for activities, among a circle of friends. In a house that is built and paid for, with its own alternate power and water. Enough land to have a garden to supply fresh fruits and vegetables, fish from the sea. This would provide real retirement security.

View of Playa Madera

  It is inflation proof. Your major costs are covered. Solar panels are now guaranteed for 25 years, and have a usable life expectancy of 80% for 40 years. With the climate here one can grow a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables all year round. Vista Playa Madera is planted with thousands of tropical trees. Virtually every tropical fruit imaginable have been planted from avocados and bananas, to lychees and mangoes, to pineapple, passion fruit, grapes and more. Just a few minutes walk away you have 5 different beaches and bays, from one with wild and raucous waves another with calm still waters, it all depends on the angle of the beaches and headlands. To get a retirement visa here all one needs is proof of $700 a month in income. All this can be done for under $100,000; then you are set for the rest of ones life.

View of Mogan's Rock from Playa Madera

Wonderful Diversity & Beauty of Nicaragua

Nicaragua is increasingly being discovered as a tourist and retirement destination. It is a country of tremendous beauty and diversity. It is composed of three distinct regions; the Pacific coast

Morgan's Rock near San Juan del Sur

 and adjacent lowlands, the central highlands,

The highland mountains near Matagalpa

 and the tropical forests and beaches of the Caribbean.

Corn Island in the Nicaraguan Caribbean

 The Pacific area is known as the land of lakes and volcanoes.

Volcan Concepcion on Ometepe

Laguna Apoya a crater lake near Granada

Playa Madera near San Juan del Sur

The rugged coastline creates a wonderful diversity of beaches and bays, that provide something for everyone from surfers looking for great waves, to families wanting calm waters to swim and play.

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Properties at Vista Playa Madera

Vista Playa Madera is a small ecologically oriented development locate just above the beautiful beach of Playa Madera. This is one of the most beautiful beaches in Nicaragua. It is world famous for surfing. Yet, the rocky headlands create a myriad of different bays from great surfing to other bays with tranquil waters. There is a beach for everyone within minutes walk of the properties.

Morgan's Rock from Playa Madera

All properties have good access and excellent, potable well water. The properties have been landscaped and planted with a wide diversity of tropical plants and flowers. Thousands of tropical fruits have been planted on the properties. There are oranges, mandarin, limes, grapefruit, papaya, pineapple, bananas, cashews, pomegranate, passion fruit, cinnamon  pepper, avocados, mangoes and many, many more planted throughout the development. One can begin harvesting fresh fruit this year on some of the lots. Imagine stepping outside your door and picking fresh, organic fruit from your very own yard.

One of the lots. The foreground is a riot of papaya, pineapple, citrus, watermelons and more

These properties have been designed to ensure that each one has great views that can not be blocked by further development. There are spectacular views all the way from Costa Rica to Morgan's Rock. These are spectacular views. Many of the properties have views of the surf break at Playa Madera.

View from Vista Playa Madera

Stage 1 is composed of lots of approximately 1/4 acre, and  larger  nestled in the pristine forests above Playa Madera.  Lots in Stage 1 range from $27,995 to $99,995. Picture of Playa Madera  from one of the lots.  Stage 1 has four lots that range from 1063 meters squared to 2600 meters squared.

Lot 3 Stage 1

All the lots are located in a beautiful forested valley above Playa Madera. The forests abound with monkeys, butterflies, iguanas, and parrots. Yet, it is a very healthy place. There have been no reported cases of malaria in the state of Rivas, dengue fever is only found in urban areas. With your own well this is a very healthy place to live. My house has no screens on the windows and there are virtually no bugs to bother one.

Sunset from Vista Playa Madera

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While close to the beach they are nestled in the tropical forest above the beach. This is the best of both worlds, very close to the beach, yet set above the hustle and bustle. These forests are wonderful. They are home to a diversity of birds, butterflies, monkeys, and more.

Playa Madera

Morgan's Rock from Playa Madera

Sunset fromVista Playa Madera

 Stage 2 is just opening March 15th and will have 17 lots ranging from 500 M2 to 1500 M2. These are beautiful lots with incredible views toward the southwest from Costa Rica to Morgan's Rock.

 The new lots start at $17,995. They are just a few minutes walk from the beach and several restaurants and bars, yet nestled in the tranquility of the forest. This is a great place for a vacation home, retirement, or investment property.

The Road to Vista Playa Madera.

The Road to Vista Playa Madera.

      Long, long ago I made a decision not to wait until I was 65 to begin filling my bucket list. It seemed crazy to wait until you are 65 to do all the other things you desired to do. I decided then and there I would take my retirement in stages, 20% a year, and begin to follow my dreams and desires. I have been very successful in this. It grew into a type of work where I worked like a wild man, double, triple time three months a year, the rest of the year I enjoyed long periods of free time to travel, volunteer, and telecommute. It has been a great life so far, full of adventure, love and fulfillment. Before coming to Nicaragua I had a sailboat in the Caribbean.

 Heading southwest into the Caribbean from Florida

 I would work four months a year in Canada and then telecommute the rest of the year. I was once sitting on the beach in Cuba reading some technical manuals (and drinking a beer), on an incredible Caribbean beach and a foreign a woman asked me how long I was on vacation. I swept my arms across the blue horizon and exclaimed this is my office, and it was. I spent seven blessed years sailing those incredible waters.Sailing Cuba.

One of the incredibly beautiful wild, untouched beaches in Cuba

During those decades of work and travel I was drawn ever again to Latin America. It is an enchanted land, full of history, natural wonders, and friendly people. Through the years I have traveled to virtually every country in North, Central, and South America. I knew I wanted to "retire," here - I really envision it as engagement, engagement in new activities and adventure - down here. I just had not decided quite where. I had planned a trip back to Central America when I decided to buy my sail boat, so that trip was postponed. When I finally made it to my last country in Central America I discovered a real gem. It is a natural wonderland.

Playa Madera on the southwest of Nicaragua near San Juan del Sur

The natural diversity is awe inspiring. In a country the size of New York state one can find the dry tropical forests of the rugged Pacific coast, the dry and hot lowlands of the central interior, the cool cloud forests of the northern mountains, and the immense, grand forests of the hot and humid Caribbean lowlands. The land of lakes, spectacular beaches and volcanoes.

 It reminds me of Costa Rica forty years ago. I can walk 30 minutes from home and be on a beach where I have seen less than a dozen people in three years. The climate here on the coast is perfect. You always hear location, location, location for real estate. Here in the tropics that is truer than anywhere else. The diversity of microclimates is tremendous. Here right on the coast the easterly winds blow the warm waters on the surface of the Pacific out to sea and cool waters from deep below come to the surface. These waters average about 27 degrees. These cool waters moderate the temperatures tremendously. It is 6:30 pm today and the temperatures have already dropped to an incredibly comfortable 27 degrees. Daily temperatures range from lows of 22-24 degrees in the night to 29-31 during the hottest part of the day. For a country only 11 degrees north of the equator this is miraculous!

Then you have the humidity and rainfall. This area is classified as dry tropical forest, 80% of the rains come during 3 months of the year: June, September and October, Very little rain falls from November to May. This has a huge impact on the local humidity index, most of the year the humidity rarely climbs out of the 70's. This has a huge impact on the physical comfort. This is much lower than the humidity in NYC or Toronto. One can live comfortably without air conditioning in a well designed house. So cool evenings and warm days all year round. All in a country only only 700 miles north of the equator.

The situation changes drastically as you head east, first the temperatures rise as you get away from the moderating influence of the cool Pacific. It becomes hot, dry and arid for much of the year.

The hot dry interior

If you want to live in the tropics but don't like hot climates then the north central mountains are the place for you. Temperatures rarely climb above the high 20's and nighttime it is around 18 degrees.

The cool, cloud forests of north central Nicaragua

Then as you head farther east toward the Caribbean the humidity climbs rapidly. These are the deep lowland humid forest of the Caribbean lowlands.

Rio San Juan The pirate Henry Morgan prowled these waters.

 Day and night the temperature rarely drops below 30 degrees and the humidity is close to 100%. You definitely feels like you are in the hot tropics there.

A view of the surf from Vista Playa Madera lot

The dry forests of the Pacific coast has a major impact on insects and disease. There are very few bugs here. It is too dry much of the year. I have no screens on my windows, dressed only in shorts at dusk and there is not one mosquito or biting bug. There is probably 1% of the biting bugs of Canada, and NO malaria in the state of Rivas Nicaragua. malaria map of Nicaragua. Again it is all location. Here in the hills, over looking the sea there in no standing water. Pick a location just a couple of miles away, close to a river or estuary, or in urban areas where old tires, buckets and old cisterns prove a breeding ground, and you will have a mosquito problem. Ironically mosquitoes are more an urban problem than here in the dry forests.

A view south from Playa Madera to Morgan's Rock

So, after all my travels, from the farthest reaches of South America to the northern borders of Mexico and The Caribbean I picked Playa Madera as my place to settle down. It is a magic land of rugged rocky headlands and fine sand beaches. Vista Playa Madera is nestled in the forests above this beach.  The area is some times called Cinco Bahias, Five Bays, because there are five separate bays within just a few minutes walk of my home. This makes it an aquatic playground. One beach will face the full Pacific, and the southwest swell, with the whole southern Pacific in which to grow crashes upon the shore

. Another tucked behind the rocky headlands is calm as a lake shore.

Playa Majagual from Morgan's Rock

This diversity of beaches is wonderful. One can surf and boogie board on one beach, swim and play with small children on another. The protected coves are perfect for snorkeling or diving. The strong waves make for a beachcomber delight. Playa Madera is one of the best surfing beaches in Nicaragua. Numerous surfing competitions have been held here over the years.

The popularity of the area makes it fairly unique for a tourist area in the tropics. Most areas suffer from a major boom and bust season, with the popular months being confined to a couple months in the winter. Here the best surfing is April through to October. This doubles or triples the number of months when people come to visit. That makes it a much more desirable area for running a small business, hotel, or B&B.

Playa Madera Surf