The southern end of this stretch of coast, and the quietest of the three towns — an international community that organized itself around exceptional food.
Ojochal is the one buyers usually discover last and the one that converts a surprising number of them. It is smaller and quieter than Dominical or Uvita, and it has a character neither of them has.
What is Ojochal actually like?
It is known as the culinary capital of the Southern Pacific, and that is not marketing. An international community settled here — a strong French-Canadian and European thread through it — and built the town around its restaurants. For a village this size the range of genuinely good food is not normal. L’Epicerie carries the specialty side of the shop, and the feria runs Wednesday and Saturday.
The beaches are close and uncrowded: Playa Ventanas with its sea caves, and Playa Tortuga. The land behind the town climbs quickly, which is where most of the houses are.
Who does Ojochal suit?
People who want community without a crowd. It is the most established international enclave on this coast and the easiest of the three towns to arrive in knowing nobody, because the social life is organized around tables rather than around who surfs.
It also has the coast’s only golf. Osa Golf in San Buenas, just south, is a nine-hole jungle course open to the public six days a week, with carts and club rental — about 26 miles from Dominical, and considerably less from Ojochal. If golf is central to how you want to live, this is the end of the coast to be at, and even then it is one nine-hole course.
What does property cost in Ojochal?
The Ojochal houses I currently represent run from $995,000 to $2,500,000 — the tightest band of the three towns, and generally more house for the money than the equivalent view would cost in Escaleras. That is the usual pattern here: you are paying for proximity to the center of things, and Ojochal is not it.
What should you check before buying in Ojochal?
The same three questions as anywhere on this coast — legal water, registered access, real title — and one that comes up more often at this end: whether a stream crosses the property. Under Forest Law 7575 the setback is 10 to 15 meters on flat ground but 50 meters each side where the terrain is broken, which on a steep lot with a creek through it can remove a great deal of the buildable area. Worth establishing before you fall for a waterfall.
Water, access and title are covered properly in Water, Access and Title. Closing costs, the transfer tax, the luxury tax, current build costs, the 2026 rental tax and residency are in What It Actually Costs to Own Here. The step-by-step transaction — LOI, SPA, escrow, the notario, whether you need a corporation and whether you need a Costa Rican will — is in The Process. The gated developments and enclaves in this area are listed on Communities. Dominical and Uvita each have their own page, and for how Ojochal sits against the rest of the coast — Quepos, the Osa Peninsula, the Golfo Dulce and Pérez Zeledón — see The Southern Pacific, Area by Area. And if a parcel here carries standing forest, the payments available for keeping it that way are in Getting Paid to Keep the Forest Standing. The Ramsar wetland south of here, and the setbacks that come with it, is Térraba-Sierpe.
