We absolutely fell in love with San Marcos de Tarrazu. It is a stunningly beautiful town set in a fertile valley in the heart of Costa Rica’s prime coffee-growing region. The church in the center of town with its three blue domes is a familiar landmark that can be seen for miles around. And the town just feels like the right size for us. According to the 2011 census, the population is 6,780, but because it is the center of commerce for several smaller towns, it feels bigger. It is a very walkable town with a nice assortment of grocery stores, banks, doctors, a bakery, a coffee shop, a couple of gas stations, and several cafes and restaurants. And we saw more bicyclists than any other place we have been in Costa Rica. There is even a nice bike shop there.

San Marcos de Tarrazu is just one of many nice towns in Zona de los Santos (Zone of the Saints which is called that because many of the towns in the area are named after saints). We’ve made some nice friends in that area including Roger and Annika Vaughan, Larry and Cindy Windes, Tony Warren and his girlfriend, Maria, and Bosco Umaña who has written a book about the history of the area.

While the weather in San Marcos was a little cool for our Arizona bones, and it is farther from the beach than we had hoped to be, San Marcos de Tarrazu remains high on our list. Google Maps says that you can get from there to the nearest beach town of Quepos in about an hour and a half, but everyone advised against taking that route in the green (rainy) season. Still, you can reach either Doña Ana (a favorite with Central Valley Expats) or one of our favorite Costa Rican beach towns, Dominical, by highway in about two and a half hours.