The “Glass House” is one of just a few structures on the entire property. Photo: Nicholas Bonin
is also a 1.8-hectare titled corner lot with its own well that is outside of the condo and ideal for a commercial project — a hotel, restaurants, convenience store, surf shop, you name it — priced at $750,000. It’s a short walk from here to the popular surfing beach at Playa Camaronal, where there is also a wildlife refuge that rescues turtle eggs and releases the hatchlings.
well-vented space between the ceiling and the roof, and long overhangs to keep the sun off the house. “My buildings will create their own draft,” he said, “because I have this air space I just described, so any heat is going up and getting out.”
The nature
The on-site caretaker, a man from Hojancha named Marcos Castillo Acosta, said he has seen white-tailed deer, peccary, coatis, white-faced monkeys and howler monkeys on this property. I myself have seen scarlet macaws, green parrots, white-throated magpie jays and beautiful hawks called caracaras. The dominant feature of Reserva Camaronal is its isolation — there are multiple places where you can gaze in any direction and see no sign of human habitation. That’s why I’ve dubbed Camaronal “the land that time forgot.” And yet it’s within 30 minutes of the hopping beach town of Sámara, and within 15 minutes of the spectacular Playa Carrillo.
Daryl and his 29-year-old son Nick, both of whom surf Playa Camaronal often, said what’s unusual about the surf here is that it breaks both right and left, and it breaks on both low and high tides. “I would consider it a pretty forgiving break, although it’s definitely more of an advanced surfing break,” Nick said. “It is a majority local crowd out there, but they’re friendly, and the wave and break itself has multiple peaks. And if there is a swell, it’s very consistent, and so it’s easy to be able to hold the crowd, with plenty of waves for everyone.” Nick suggested that it’s not a good wave for beginning surfers, but when I asked if you can do a face-plant and break out all your teeth, he said, “I mean, you can do that walking to the bathroom.”
The builder
Final word
My brother’s roommate and business partner, Daryl Bonin, plans to build a spec home on one of the lots here. He described his pet peeve about Costa Rican construction: concrete homes with vaulted ceilings that have no way to vent hot air. “If we opened that [ceiling] up and put in a little cupola, there would be continuous venting, so the hot air would go out and you’d create a current, and encourage air to come in here.” Daryl intends to build a house not with concrete but with lightweight, strong galvanized steel, with insulated walls, a
The sur fer
Back to Jordan Heilweil, who looks out on all this beauty from the uppermost home at Camaronal. “I think it’s breathtaking — you have the whole Blue Zone, it’s healthy, it’s stress-free, it’s extremely relaxing,” he said. “This is definitely a slice of heaven — it doesn’t get much better than this.” I asked if he had any advice for people considering buying here. He said, “Do it.” Playa Sámara is a popular beach town 30 minutes from Camaronal. Photo: Dennis Moore
A view from the heights of Camaronal’s splendid isolation. Photo: Rick Brown
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