Costa Rica, from the ground up — fresh stories every week.

Newsletter

One email per week — practical content about building, buying, and living in Costa Rica. No spam, no fluff.

One email per week. Practical, no-fluff content about building, buying, and living in Costa Rica — written by people who actually do it.

Subscribe to Build Tropical

Free. One email per week. Unsubscribe any time.

Subscribe — it's free

The Writers

James

James — Investor

Background in commercial real estate in Canada, now based on the Pacific coast. Covers where to buy, what the rental numbers really look like, and how to avoid the mistakes that cost people six figures. Skeptical by nature, spreadsheet-first.

Laura

Laura — Expat

Moved from the US to Costa Rica in 2020 with her husband and two kids. Writes about the stuff nobody tells you — visas, schools, healthcare, groceries, and what it actually costs to live here month to month. Honest about the downsides.

Carolina Vargas

Carolina — Contractor

Costa Rican builder from Guanacaste. Grew up on job sites, studied civil engineering at TEC, has been running construction crews for fourteen years. Writes about hiring crews, managing builds, material sourcing, and everything foreign clients get wrong. The local perspective you won't find anywhere else.

Matt

Matt — Architect

Trained in Austria, worked at international firms in London and China, now runs a practice in Costa Rica. Writes about what things actually cost, how permits work, and which building methods survive the tropics. Every claim backed by real project numbers.

What we don't do

No spam. No daily emails. No affiliate pitches disguised as advice. No selling your email to anyone. Ever. You can unsubscribe with one click, any time.

Join the newsletter

Costa Rica, from the ground up — fresh stories every week.

Subscribe — it's free