How much does it cost to live in Santa Teresa?
Typical Month (Mid Range)
$2,740 (CRC 1,230,330)
Housing, food, transport, mobile, coworking and gym.
Updated September 2026 · Sources cited: remax-puravida-cr.com, digitalnomads.world
- Typical Month (Lower End)
- $1,074 (CRC 482,219)
- Typical Month (Premium)
- $4,633 (CRC 2,080,376)
Good to know
Good to Know
- Even though the colón (CRC) is Costa Rica's official currency, almost all rental listings, restaurant menus, and expat cost guides for Santa Teresa are priced and often paid in US dollars — bring/keep a USD-capable card or cash rather than assuming colones are the default.
- Rents have risen noticeably as the town's popularity with remote workers has grown; guides describing furnished one-bedrooms around $400/month are describing prices from several years ago, not current market rate.
- Imported or North American/European brand groceries can run roughly double the price of local equivalents, so leaning on local produce, fish, and markets meaningfully lowers your monthly grocery bill.
- Santa Teresa's roads are unpaved, so factor some extra cost/time into getting around when budgeting groceries and dining trips — being centrally located near Playa Carmen or the main strip cuts down on this.
- Santa Teresa has no formal public transit system beyond an infrequent local bus toward Cóbano; most residents get around by rented scooter/ATV, e-bike, or taxi rather than buses.
- Wifi and power reliability vary noticeably by property in Santa Teresa compared to more built-up nomad hubs, so it's worth checking a coworking space or rental's backup power/internet setup before committing to a long stay.
- The 90-day tourist entry cannot be extended from inside Costa Rica — many long-stay visitors either do a border run (to Nicaragua or Panama) or apply for the paid Digital Nomad Visa if they want an uninterrupted year-long legal stay.
- Budget more for a Digital Nomad Visa than just the $100 government fee — health insurance, document translation, and optional legal help commonly push the realistic all-in cost to $750-1,500+.
Monthly Totals
- Mid-range month
- CRC 1,230,330
Includes 6 estimated components
- Lean month
- CRC 482,219
Includes 4 estimated components
- Comfortable month
- CRC 2,080,376
Includes 7 estimated components
Living Costs
- Where nomads live
- No large-scale coworking/co-living 'nomad district' is formally documented, but expat and remote-worker rentals cluster along the town's main strip covering Playa Santa Teresa, Playa Carmen (the commercial/restaurant center), and Playa Hermosa just south — these three beach segments are consistently named together in local real-estate guides as the areas where expats and longer-stay visitors rent.
Housing (per month)
- Mid-range 1-bed
- CRC 808,285
Estimated
Midpoint estimate within RE/MAX Pura Vida's stated $1,500–$3,000+/month range for 'larger homes or properties with ocean views', positioned as the mid tier below the premium/ocean-view end.
Published in USD
- Budget studio / 1-bed
- CRC 359,238
Survey / cost-of-living site
Coldwell Banker/RE-MAX Pura Vida expat guide: "Rent for a basic one-bedroom apartment near the beach starts around $800 per month." Guide does not confirm furnished status.
Published in USD
- Premium apartment
- CRC 1,571,666
Estimated
Estimated slightly above RE/MAX Pura Vida's stated ceiling ('Larger homes or properties with ocean views can range from $1,500 to over $3,000 per month') to reflect top-end furnished villas/ocean-view homes.
Published in USD
- Private room in a shared home
- CRC 224,524
Estimated
No live listing found specifically for a private room in a shared house in Santa Teresa; estimated as roughly 60% of the budget one-bedroom apartment figure, reflecting typical shared-house savings in this market.
Published in USD
Groceries
- Groceries for one (month)
- CRC 179,619
Estimated
Midpoint of RE/MAX Pura Vida's stated $300–$500/month grocery range for the area; range itself is not broken out by household size.
Published in USD
Sample prices
1L Milk
- 1L Milk
- CRC 561
Survey / cost-of-living site
Tripadvisor Santa Teresa forum reply: "milk is about $1.25/Liter."
Published in USD
Bakery Bread Loaf
- Bakery Bread Loaf
- CRC 1,572
Survey / cost-of-living site
Same forum thread notes bread from a bakery (vs. mass-market Bimbo bread) runs "$3.50 +".
Published in USD
Bottled Water 1.5L (Store)
- Bottled Water 1.5L (Store)
- CRC 449
Estimated
No Santa Teresa-specific figure found; estimated from typical Costa Rican supermarket pricing for bottled water.
Published in USD
Eating out
- Cheap meal
- CRC 4,042
Estimated
Based on Hikersbay's Costa Rica national average of $11 for a cheap restaurant meal, nudged up slightly to reflect that Santa Teresa is a higher-cost tourist beach town; no Santa Teresa-specific figure found. [Adjusted 2026-09-18: the source's 5389 CRC reduced by 25%; see "adjusted".]
Published in USD
- High-end meal
- CRC 24,698
Estimated
No specific page found stating a high-end per-person price for Santa Teresa; estimated based on general knowledge of upscale resort/beachfront dining pricing in this well-known surf town.
Published in USD
- Mid-range meal
- CRC 9,430
Estimated
Derived from a Tripadvisor forum poster's report that dinner for two with a few drinks cost about $80 at a nicer oceanview restaurant; estimated per-person meal cost excluding heavy drinks spend. [Adjusted 2026-09-18: the source's 12573 CRC reduced by 25%; see "adjusted".]
Published in USD
Work, Transport & Essentials
Coworking
- Day pass
- CRC 5,389
Local listing
Coworker.com live listing for Selina Santa Teresa South CoWork: 'From $12 /pp/day', 150m from the beach with 40 hot desks.
Published in USD
- Monthly hot desk
- CRC 76,338
Survey / cost-of-living site
Nomadific blog states Selina CoWork network pricing (locations include Santa Teresa) 'begins at $12/day per person, $170/month per person'.
Published in USD
Transport
- What the pass covers
- No monthly transit pass exists locally; most residents use walking, rented e-bikes/scooters, ATVs, or taxis instead of scheduled buses.
- Single ride
- CRC 800
Survey / cost-of-living site
Travel/wellness guide itemizes the local Cóbano–Santa Teresa bus leg at 800 colones as part of a public-transport route breakdown.
- Monthly pass
- Not available
No formal public-transit monthly pass exists in Santa Teresa; it is a small beach town without a metro/bus-pass system, so this figure does not apply.
Mobile & data
- Monthly plan
- CRC 10,000
Estimated
Estimated from general knowledge of Kolbi (ICE) prepaid recharge pricing for a mid-tier data package in Costa Rica; no Santa Teresa-specific carrier page was retrieved at the time of research.
Short Stays (per night)
- Seasonal pricing
- Yes
- Why
- Dry Season (December–April) is peak tourism with highest visitor numbers and full social calendar; Green Season (May–November) is explicitly off-peak with significantly fewer visitors and lower prices — a sustained multi-month pricing differential driven by rainfall and tourism patterns, not a single event.
Low season
- Budget
- CRC 11,880
Estimated 40-50% reduction from high season based on KAYAK May low ($233 average overall, suggesting budget tier lower)
- Luxury
- CRC 153,900
Estimated 58% reduction from high season based on off-season pricing patterns
- Premium
- CRC 36,720
Estimated 55-60% reduction from high season $170 baseline, consistent with reported May discounts
- Standard
- CRC 26,265
KAYAK May average ($233/night) represents broader market; 3-star tier estimated 35-40% below high season
High season
- Budget
- CRC 20,400
Tripadvisor, KAYAK minimum quoted rates for budget hotels
- Luxury
- CRC 367,200
Booking.com average 5-star hotel rate (Dec-Jan peak)
- Premium
- CRC 86,700
Booking.com average 4-star hotel rate
- Standard
- CRC 54,600
Booking.com average 3-star hotel rate
Low-season months
- May
- June
- September
- October
- November
High-season months
- December
- January
- February
- March
- April
Sources cited for this category
These are the sources cited in this cost of living research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.
More About Santa Teresa
Data last updated September 2026 · Verify anything important.