Las Catalinas · Guanacaste · Costa Rica
A LIFE IN TOWN,
ON THE WARM SIDE OF THE PACIFIC
El Prado 56–57 — a nine-suite Mediterranean compound in a walkable seaside town surrounded by protected jungle. You are not buying a house. You are buying the mornings.
An experience, not an address
First the country. Then the town. Then the doors that open onto both.
Costa Rica gives you warm water, protected forest and a country that has been at peace since 1948. Las Catalinas gives you a town you can walk barefoot, with no cars in it. El Prado 56–57 gives you nine suites, a courtyard pool and a rooftop over the gulf — room for eighteen people who never have to leave.
Chapter One · The country
Costa Rica, where the day belongs to you
Eighty-degree water in January. Jungle headlands that fall straight into the ocean. Howler monkeys before your alarm, a sunset every single evening, and a country that abolished its army seventy-seven years ago and spent the money on schools instead. Pura vida is not a slogan here — it is the pace.
The water
A Pacific that stays warm all year
Glassy blue mornings over volcanic rock, two swimmable bays at your feet, and the Catalina Islands out front for diving with rays and turtles.
The landscape
Dry forest, headlands, sunsets
Guanacaste is jungle-green in the rains and gold in the dry season — hills that fall straight into the ocean, howler monkeys overhead, and a sunset every single evening.
The freedom
Days that belong to you
Surf before breakfast, ride the ridge, be barefoot by lunch. No commute, no gate code, no schedule that isn't yours.
The peace
No army, no drama, since 1948
Costa Rica abolished its military and put the money into schools and clinics. It has been the most peaceful country in Latin America for a decade running — and it runs on the US dollar.
The vibe
Pura vida, actually
One of the world's Blue Zones, a culture built around slowing down, and neighbours who greet you by name on the walk to coffee.
The ease
Closer than you think
Liberia international is under an hour away with nonstops from New York, Miami, Dallas, Toronto and beyond. Foreigners hold fee-simple title, same as locals.
Chapter Two · The town
Las Catalinas, and nobody drives in it
Plazas and shaded lanes instead of roads. Two swimmable bays, forty kilometres of singletrack through forest that is 83% protected forever, a beach club, shops, restaurants and workshops — all inside a five-minute walk. Kids roam on their own. Dinner is barefoot. The jungle starts where the street ends.
The shops
Plaza Danta and the paseos
Boutiques, a market, coffee and restaurants on car-free lanes that open onto the plaza. Everything is a four-minute walk from the front door.
The trails
40+ km of singletrack
A purpose-built mountain-bike network cut through the headlands above town, with ocean on one side and dry forest on the other.
Beach Club
Two swimmable bays
Playa Danta and Playa Dantita — calm water, a members' beach club, and sunset that lands on the sand every night of the year.
On the water
Paddle, surf, sail
Kayaks and SUPs off the beach, surf breaks minutes away, and boats out to the Catalina Islands for diving.
The forest
~1,000 acres kept wild
About 83% of the town's land is protected tropical dry forest — hiking, howler monkeys and birdsong start where the street ends.
The streets
Walk everywhere
No cars inside town. Shaded lanes, plazas and stairs designed for people — kids and dogs move freely between the houses.
The table
Dining in town
Beachfront and plaza-side restaurants, a bakery, and a market for the mornings you'd rather cook in the courtyard.
The craft
Built by hand, locally
Doors, shutters and furniture made in the town's own workshops — the reason the architecture reads as old-world, not applied.
The coast, measured
Las Catalinas and its neighbours
Zapotal, Flamingo Marina and Conchal are all within nine kilometres. Liberia international is fifty-five minutes by road.
Measured from Las Catalinas
Drive
Las Catalinas
anchor
The car-free town · Playa Danta & Dantita
A walkable beach town of houses, inns, shops and plazas laid into the hills above two pocket beaches.
Zapotal
5 min
Discovery Land Company · 2.1 km N
2,000 acres of beachfront and dry forest with a private club and an eighteen-hole Tom Fazio course.
Flamingo Marina
15 min
Bahía Potrero · 4.8 km S
The coast's full-service marina and principal berthing for large craft, on the headland at Playa Flamingo.
Conchal
25 min
Playa Conchal · 8.7 km S
A beach of crushed shell rather than sand, fronting the Reserva Conchal resort and golf course.
Onward reference points
Potrero / Surfside — village & provisioning
10 min
Brasilito — fishing village, Route 911
22 min
Tamarindo — surf town, airstrip
45 min
Liberia airport — LIR, international
55 min
Schematic. Coastline generalised; distances are straight-line and drive times are typical door-to-door by car.
Chapter Three · The residence
Mediterranean bones, tropical soul
One lot. Nine suites. One long table.
El Prado 56–57 joins two adjoining lots into 719 m² across four levels — shaded arcades, a pool drawn inside the plan, a great room on one axis, and a rooftop for the gulf at sunset. It sleeps eighteen to twenty: two families in two wings, or one family with a wing that works while you don't.
719 m²
Total schematic area
9
Suites across two wings
2
Adjoining lots, 56 and 57
4
Levels including rooftop
Las Catalinas · El Prado
Lots 56 and 57 — minutes on foot from the plaza, the Beach Club and Playa Danta.
The architect's complete set
Every render, elevation, floor plan and coverage sheet by Katia Marten Design Group — the schematic package that comes with the lots. Click any sheet to enlarge.
Areas per Katia Marten Design Group schematic design; subject to final permitted drawings.
The invitation
Come for forty-eight hours. The town does the rest.
Begin the conversation
Spend two nights in the town, walk the lots, and read the drawings on site. Everything else follows from that.