Costa Elena is a secluded master-planned resort community and ocean-club located within the undiscovered northern Guanacaste region of Costa Rica and bordered by a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Spread across 3,000 untouched acres and ten miles of pristine coastline, the sustainable destination is primed for adventurers who appreciate raw beauty, local experiences, responsible tourism and modern tropical design.
The community is being developed by the most prominent businessmen in Central America, led by Don Carlos Pellas. Homesites are available from $350K and four- and five-bedroom turn-key villas start from $2.85M. Each home includes property management, concierge services and exclusive rental program management by Inspirato.
Through Inspirato, owners and guests have access to infinity pools, spa, gym and excellent dining at the nearby Dreams Las Mareas Resort, part of AMR Resorts and World of Hyatt.
After selling out of its stunning Bay Villas in 2022, Costa Elena recently launched sales for its Sunset Villas. Residents are given a unique Ocean Club experience with an array of exclusive amenities in the works including convenience shops, restaurants, a café, fitness and wellness facilities, hiking and biking trails, three beach clubs and a nature preserve.
The first private beach club recently opened on sugar-white sand canopied by lush jungle greenery with a sleek infinity pool, several intimate lounge spaces, thatched roof palapas and beach restaurant.
Beach Club
Created with biophilic influence, the brand-new Beach Club was designed by the Texas based firm FAB Studio, creating an eye-catching place that blends well with the community and the landscape. Carefully selected materials include texturized concrete for walls and columns and timber for pergolas and roofs to create a well-balanced and sophisticated style. Passionate about creating an outdoor space that complements Costa Rica’s natural beauty, the design team included throughout the space native evergreen trees such the beach almond tree, capulin tree, and seasonal floral trees such as trumpet trees, plumerias and calliandras.
Sustainability Highlights From supporting local artisans to creating a potable water system that feeds 10,000 inhabitants, Costa Elena is a community founded on eco-preservation and sustainable choices. Costa Elena created the first program that supports the development of artisans and artists through a joint partnership with the Instituto Tecnologico de Costa Rica The community’s design guidelines promote a DARK SKY policy to protect sea turtles and hatching nest. Homes utilize solar panels for power, the community practice beach cleanups that have resulted in a Blue Flag certificate for cleanliness, and Costa Elena keeps more than 60% of its 3,000 acres as open spaces and reserve areas.
Conservation Efforts at Costa Elena Costa Elena lies adjacent to the Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG), an UNESCO World Heritage Site and the largest environmentally protected area in the north of Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The ACG represents the largest Tropical Dry Forest regeneration project in the tropics. Tropical Dry Forest ecosystems have practically disappeared from the earth in the last 600 years, and it’s estimated that only 2% remains, with a large portion located withing the ACG. Costa Elena’s luxury hospitality and development investment in the north frontier of Costa Rica, historically a very remote and under invested area of the country, is introducing a viable economic mechanism that alleviates poverty in the area, thus reducing the threats of illegal logging, hunting and man-made wildfires, helping the ACG protect and preserve the rare habitat of the Tropical Dry Forest. Back in 2005 when Pellas Development Group began shaping the future of Costa Elena, according to the Dry Forest Foundation, there were zero jaguar sightings. Today in 2023, records from the Universidad de Costa Rica, the ACG and Fundacion Jaguar estimate the number of registered specimens in the park at almost 100 different individual jaguars, a result of the amazing conservation efforts to safeguard natural habitats for local wildlife. In another example, the yellow necked parrot – once almost extinct and rare to spot – now thrives in large numbers on the property of Costa Elena and residents can wake up to the sounds of these birds chirping. In this way, Costa Elena has become a “living laboratory” alongside the ACG for saving species on the verge of extinction.
