The Zone Orientation in Costa Rica
You generally fly into San Jose. From there you can choose 1 of 2 ways to get to The Zone.
- Down the middle of the country: The Pan American highway
- The coastal route.
Dominical:
is still the best known of the towns, but this is changing as Uvita is moving into the central and most developed of the towns.
Dominical Shops & Services:
- a small but well stocked grocery store
- 4 real estate agencies
- various tour operators
- surf camps
- Spanish school
- Yoga studio
- 2 vacation rentals (in town)
- Villas Rio Mar (rental villas resort)
- various eating establishments that cater to the surfer crowd
- various lodgings options, none “fine”
Uvita:
is evolving as the hub of a lot of the activity in the zone.
Uvita Services & Shops
- 2 relatively large grocery stores
- BCR & Banco Nacional banks, both with ATMs
- 3 hardware stores
- Pharmacy
- 2 doctors offices
- 2 veterinarians
- 2 real estate companies
- clothing & souvenir shops
- restaurants, none fine. Good diversity
- 2 almacenes (Costa Rica style department stores)
- 1 paint store
- Spanish school
- 2 private bi-lingual elementary schools
- farmers market
- hair salons
- tour operators
Ojochal
European feel. Not a lot of services & shops but is becoming the culinary center of Costa Rica. Lots of great restaurants: 14 last count.