In Costa Rica, the first 200 meters (656 feet) inland from the high-tide line along both coasts belongs to the state. This strip is the maritime-terrestrial zone, or zona marÃtimo terrestre (ZMT), governed by Law 6043 of 1977. Nobody can own or build on the first 50 meters (164 feet), the public zone. The next 150 meters (492 feet), the restricted zone, can’t be bought either, but your municipality can grant a concession, a renewable lease of five to 20 years, where an approved coastal zoning plan exists. Foreigners need five years of residency to hold one, and companies more than 50% foreign-owned can’t.
That’s why homes within 200 meters of the high-tide line are usually concessions rather than titled land. Knowing the difference before you buy is the single most important check on the coast.
| The law | Law 6043, Ley sobre la Zona MarÃtimo Terrestre (1977), and its regulation |
|---|---|
| Width | 200 meters (656 feet) from the ordinary high-tide line |
| Public zone | First 50 meters (164 feet), plus all mangroves and estuaries. No ownership, occupation or building. |
| Restricted zone | Next 150 meters (492 feet). Use only through a municipal concession. |
| Who grants concessions | The local municipality, with oversight from the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) |
| Term | 5 to 20 years, renewable |
| Annual fee (canon) | Set by each municipality, up to 2% of appraised value for farming, 3% for housing, 4% for tourism and 5% for commercial use |
| Foreigners | Need at least five years of residency. Companies more than 50% foreign-owned can’t hold a concession. |
| Transfers | Need express approval from the municipality and the ICT (or INDER outside tourist zones) |
| Property tax | The canon takes the place of property tax on the land |
| Exceptions | Lawfully registered private titles, coastal cities and declared urban coastal zones |
What the maritime zone covers
The 200 meters are measured horizontally from the ordinary high-tide line, so the boundary moves with the shape of the coast. The zone also includes land exposed at low tide and all islands, islets and sea rocks in Costa Rica’s territorial waters except Isla del Coco. Concessions on islands also need approval from the Legislative Assembly.
The public zone is meant for everyone. It’s the reason you can walk along any beach in the country, and it can’t be fenced, occupied or claimed by anyone. Mangroves and estuaries count as public zone whatever their size, even when they reach far beyond 50 meters inland. Building, clearing or fencing anywhere in the zone without authorization is illegal, and municipalities are required to remove people and demolish unlawful structures at the owner’s cost. Illegal construction can also bring a prison sentence of one month to three years.
The law doesn’t apply to the urban areas of coastal cities, to private titles that were lawfully registered, or to national parks and similar reserves, which have their own rules. Since 2014, Law 9221 also lets the government declare established coastal towns as urban coastal zones, where the land stays state-owned but is managed under urban rules. That’s why some towns, and some older beachfront homes, sit on titled land right behind the sand.
How concessions work
Municipalities grant concessions in the restricted zone, and only for defined parcels. In a few places another body does, such as the ICT in the Papagayo Gulf tourism project. Before a concession can be granted, the area has to be declared suitable for tourism and covered by an approved coastal zoning plan, the plan regulador.
Where there’s no plan, there can be no new concession and no new construction, which leaves stretches of the coast in limbo. Under Law 9242, extended by Law 10735 in July 2025, municipalities without a plan have eight more years to approve one. In the meantime, existing buildings can be kept in a temporary, paid status if they cause no environmental damage. That status gives no right to a concession.
A concession runs for five to 20 years and states the annual fee, the canon. Each municipality sets the canon as a percentage of the appraised value of the land, within national ceilings of 2% for agricultural use, 3% for housing, 4% for hotels and tourism and 5% for commercial or industrial use, and never below 0.25%. The canon is calculated a year in advance, and municipalities can let you pay it quarterly. It takes the place of property tax on the land. Falling behind is one of the main reasons a concession can be cancelled.
Concessions can be renewed repeatedly. You have to ask within three months of the municipality’s notice that your term is ending, and be up to date on the canon. Renewal isn’t automatic, and it can be refused for public interest, a change in the zoning or a breach of the contract. Each person, together with their spouse and minor children, can hold only one concession. A concession can pass to your heirs, and state banks can lend against a concession and the buildings on it. Concession holders also owe Costa Rica’s luxury home tax if the home is above the threshold.
In tourist zones, residential lots must be between 200 and 4,000 square meters (about 2,150 to 43,000 square feet). Lot sizes for other uses are set by the zoning plan. All construction needs municipal permits and must follow the plan’s setbacks.
Who can hold a concession
Article 47 of the law bars these from receiving a concession:
- Foreigners who have not lived in Costa Rica for at least five years
- Corporations with bearer shares
- Companies or entities domiciled abroad
- Entities set up in Costa Rica by foreigners
- Entities in which more than 50% of the shares or capital belongs to foreigners
For years, nonresident buyers were told to get around this with a Costa Rican partner, a lawyer or a trust holding the majority share. Those arrangements carry real risk. Transferring, ceding or encumbering a concession without express approval from the municipality and the ICT, or INDER outside tourist zones, is void under the law. A company that holds a concession can’t transfer any of its shares to foreigners, and neither can its shareholders. If someone else holds the majority on paper, you depend on their goodwill.
So can foreigners own beachfront property in Costa Rica? You can own titled land anywhere with no residency requirement, including titled lots near the beach. What you can’t do without five years of residency is hold a concession in the restricted zone. Foreign stakes in tourism projects in the zone are also capped at 50%.
If you aren’t yet a five-year resident, have a Costa Rican lawyer who isn’t part of the sale review the structure before you sign anything.
Concession versus titled beachfront property
A concession is a right to use state land for a set term. Titled property is land you own outright, recorded in the National Registry with no term and no residency requirement. A titled lot can sit behind the restricted zone, more than 200 meters from the water, or in one of the exceptions such as a coastal city or land registered before the law.
Some titles have later been annulled when courts or the registry found the land was actually inside the restricted zone. A bill now in the Legislative Assembly, file 25.157, would create a special 20-year concession, renewable, for good-faith buyers in that situation where no zoning plan exists. It would allow existing buildings to stay but bar expansions and new construction until a plan is approved. The Assembly’s tourism committee approved a revised text on March 17, 2026, but it hasn’t become law.
How to check beachfront property before you buy
- Get the property number. Ask the seller for the finca number and look it up in the National Registry. It shows whether the seller holds a title, a concession or nothing at all. A seller who can’t give you a number is a red flag.
- Read the municipal concession file. The municipality, not the registry, administers concessions. Ask for the concession contract, the remaining term, the permitted use, any renewal in progress and the canon payment history. Arrears or a term about to expire with no renewal filed are warning signs.
- Compare the survey plan. The registered plan, the plano catastrado, should match the concession file and show the boundaries approved by the municipality and the ICT.
- Have the land surveyed. Hire a licensed surveyor to locate the property against the high-tide line and the official boundary markers. Anything built inside the first 50 meters can be ordered demolished.
- Confirm the approvals. A transfer needs municipal and ICT approval, existing buildings need permits, and some projects need environmental clearance from SETENA. Check that the use you plan, such as short-term rentals, is allowed under the concession and the zoning plan.
- Confirm you qualify. Make sure you, or the company buying, meet the residency and ownership rules before money changes hands, and keep it in escrow until the transfer is approved.
Coastal permits are a live issue. Recent investigations into a beachfront hotel permit in Guanacaste and evictions in the long-running Pavones maritime zone dispute show what can happen when approvals don’t hold up. Our guides to avoiding real estate scams and the closing process cover the rest of the deal.
Changes under discussion
A full rewrite of Law 6043, file 22.553, has been pending in the Assembly since 2021. In June 2025 the Assembly gave it another four years to be debated. Separate laws have already carved out specific areas, such as a 2022 law that moved part of Caldera in Esparza under ordinary urban zoning. Until a reform passes, the 1977 rules above still apply.
Evictions and demolitions in the zone are also on hold for now. Law 9577 suspends them except where there’s environmental harm, and Law 10489 of June 2024 extended that moratorium by 36 months, into 2027. A moratorium only delays enforcement. It doesn’t make an occupation or a building legal.
For the bigger picture, see our guides to buying property in Costa Rica, registering your title and inheriting property. This guide explains the rules but isn’t legal advice, so confirm your situation with a Costa Rican lawyer.
This guide incorporates a 2022 column by attorney Jorge Montero B., who can be reached at acmbalaw@gmail.com or by phone and WhatsApp at (506) 8384-2246, along with earlier Tico Times reporting on maritime zone law.
