What to Check Before Buying Land in Tortuguero

Title and registry

Establish whether the parcel is titled private property with a folio real, a Maritime Zone concession, or untitled possession. Then pull the registry record and look for mortgages, judicial annotations, registered easements, usufruct, and undivided rights shared with other owners.

Check whether the property is part of an unsettled estate. A succession that has not been closed cannot be sold by the person living on the land, however genuine their claim.

The plan versus the ground

Compare the registered survey plan — the plano catastrado — against what is actually on the ground. Overlapping plans and boundaries that do not match fences are common, and they surface at the worst moment.

Ask directly whether any neighbour has ever disputed the boundaries.

A parcel whose plano does not match reality is a survey problem before it is a legal one. Resolve it before you commit.

Access, water and setbacks

Establish whether access is a public road, a registered easement, an informal path across someone else's land, or water only — and whether it holds up in the rainy season.

For water, establish whether supply is from AyA, a community ASADA, or a well, and whether there is a water availability letter. A parcel without a route to legal water is difficult to build on regardless of its other qualities.

Check whether any structure, clearing or planting sits inside a protected water setback. Costa Rican law protects a band along rivers and creeks and a wider radius around a natural spring, and building is not permitted inside it.

Permits and money owed

Where structures exist, ask whether they were built with municipal permits and whether the built area is registered and reflected in the tax valuation. Unpermitted additions are common and become the buyer's problem.

Confirm property tax is current, and that the five-yearly municipal valuation declaration has been filed. An overdue declaration lets the municipality reappraise the property and assess back taxes and fines at closing.

Common questions