Nothing Says ‘Relax’ Like Water in Your Backyard

As the hot Costa Rican sun looms overhead and the sweat begins to leak from your skin, imagine the sanctuary a pristine lagoon would provide, tastefully placed just meters from your back door.

The cool water instantly refreshes your weary body, changing your sour, sun-beaten disposition into something a little more upbeat. At least, that’s the idea.

In a country filled with exquisite natural beauty, pool companies in Costa Rica try not to let nature win.

Piscinas Infinity (www.piscinasinfinity.com, 2288-0900) provides innovative designs that accentuate the property they sit on, along with the surrounding area. For project coordinator Fernando Suárez, you can’t rush designing a pool.

“There’s a lot to consider,” Suárez said. “The area you have to build on, the design and what is in your budget. If you have kids, you want the pool to be less deep for their safety.”

Where your property lies, what kind of view it offers, what climate it’s in – all these factors need to be considered carefully before diving headfirst into construction.

For sloping yards, there are multitiered pools to consider. Property owners near the beach may want their pool to look like an extension of the beach and the ocean, while those surrounded by forests may lean toward a design that looks more like a natural spring, with a small waterfall or stream flowing into it.

Designs based in nature seem to be popular right now, Suárez said, and a polished marble finish in dark blue can give a pool a beautiful natural aura.

“If you have a pool close to the beach with a view, talk about it with the coordinator and make it the way you want,” he said. “Building a pool is an art.”

There is also lighting to consider. With LED lighting (which costs about $300 with Piscinas Infinity), a pool owner can keep track of what day of the week it is by lighting their pool a different color each day. Piscinas Infinity pools come with a seven-year guarantee, and start at about $16,000, Suárez said.

For some, it’s not about the cooling effects a pool provides at the sun’s highest point, but the constant massaging a warm jet provides as the moon rises. For these people, a hot tub is probably the way to go.

Coast Spas de Costa Rica (www.coastspasdecostarica.com, 2272-1479) offers relaxation best enjoyed in the waning hours of the day. With 11 different styles and makes, spas with up to 80 jets can provide hot-tubbers with all the bubbly relaxation they can handle.

The top-end spas offer the epitome of luxury: television screens, CD and DVD players with floating remotes, a cordless, floating phone. There’s no need to leave, unless you have a serious objection to your skin looking like a raisin.

If that seems a little extreme – and the model is actually called “Extreme,” with “Ultimate Extras” – then there are 10 other models to choose from, each offering something different. Prices start at about $1,800.