El Remanso is the most affordable beach close to San Juan del Sur. We currently have 71 properties listed there, and half of them ask less than US$ 169,000. Here are the real asking prices, what the land actually costs per square meter, and what to ask before you sign.
1. What El Remanso actually costs
The median asking price is US$ 169,000: half of everything for sale asks less than that. It is one of the lowest medians on the whole Rivas coast, which is why El Remanso is the entry point for people who want to be near San Juan del Sur without paying town prices.
The middle of the market — what you will see most of the time — runs from US$ 99,000 to US$ 339,000. The floor is small lots from US$ 17,000; the ceiling is an oceanfront house at US$ 1,994,000.
| Property type | For sale | Average | Median | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Land and lots | 35 | US$ 112,971 | US$ 92,000 | US$ 17,000 | US$ 377,125 |
| Houses | 20 | US$ 402,582 | US$ 335,000 | US$ 120,000 | US$ 1,890,000 |
| Apartments | 6 | US$ 161,667 | US$ 151,000 | US$ 105,000 | US$ 229,000 |
| Farms | 3 | US$ 144,667 | US$ 125,000 | US$ 99,000 | US$ 210,000 |
| Beach houses | 2 | US$ 1,337,000 | — | US$ 680,000 | US$ 1,994,000 |
| Commercial | 2 | US$ 482,500 | — | US$ 340,000 | US$ 625,000 |
This is a land market. More than half of everything listed is a lot, and the median lot asks US$ 92,000. The normal way in here is to buy the land and build later, often in stages.
2. The number nobody publishes: what the land costs
We took the declared area of every lot and divided it into the asking price. Across 33 lots with a published area, the average comes to US$ 71 per square vara (1 m² = 1.43 varas²). That average is dragged down by two or three large rural tracts.
If you look only at buildable-size lots — up to 5,000 m², which is what most buyers want — the median rises to US$ 123 per square meter, about US$ 86 per square vara, across 30 measured lots.
And here is the surprise: El Remanso has the most expensive land of the six beaches in the area. More expensive than Rancho Santana (US$ 87/m²), more than Hacienda Iguana (US$ 76/m²), and more than five times Guasacate (US$ 23/m²).
In plain terms: a 1,000 m² lot with an ocean view in El Remanso runs about US$ 100,000–130,000, and a 600 m² lot without a view starts around US$ 60,000. If someone offers you much less than that, the question is not the price. It is the title and the access.
3. Who this beach is for
- People who want to be near town. El Remanso sits just south of San Juan del Sur, about ten minutes away. It is the only one of these beaches where you can live with a supermarket, a clinic and a bank close by.
- Beginner surfers. The waves here are friendlier than the Tola breaks. It is not Popoyo or Colorado, and for many people that is the point.
- Buyers who want to build. With 35 lots listed, it offers the widest choice on the southern coast.
- Buyers on an entry budget. There are listings from US$ 17,000. No other beach on the Rivas coast has that floor.
What it is not: there is no gated community with management or a beach club here. That is Rancho Santana and Hacienda Iguana, and you pay for it.
4. Law 690, explained simply
Nicaragua has a law written specifically for the coast: Law 690, the Coastal Zone Development Law. It confuses almost every oceanfront buyer, and it matters twice as much in El Remanso because several lots are marketed as "beachfront".
The first 50 meters of beach belong to nobody. They belong to everyone. The law calls this the public-use coastal zone, measured from the high-tide line inland. There the owner is the State and private property is not possible. And very concretely: building houses or any dwelling is prohibited in that strip (article 19).
After those 50 meters come another 200 meters with rules. This is the restricted-use zone. Development is allowed there — hotels, tourism services, permanent works — but under the municipality's development plan, not however you please.
In El Remanso, the three concrete questions to ask before signing:
- Where exactly does my lot start? Ask to be shown on the survey where the 50-meter line falls. A lot sold as "1,000 varas beachfront" can have considerably less genuinely buildable area.
- Is this titled private property or a municipal concession? They are not the same and they are not worth the same. A concession is a permit to use, not ownership.
- How do you get there in the rainy season? Several accesses to El Remanso are dirt roads that change between May and November. Go see it in the rain.
This is general orientation, not legal advice. Law 690 was published in La Gaceta No. 141 of 29 July 2009, with a consolidated text in La Gaceta No. 189 of 13 October 2021. The rest of the process — deed, registry certificate free of liens, tax clearances, cadastral survey — is covered step by step in our closing guide.
5. Renting before buying
The rental market here is tiny: 3 properties listed for rent, from US$ 750 to US$ 4,900 a month. The gap explains itself: there are simple houses and there are seasonal villas.
If you are thinking about moving, renting for a full season — including the rainy months, May to November — is the best way to find out whether the area works for you year-round and not only in March.
6. How to compare without wasting time
- Compare per square meter, not by total price. With the US$ 123/m² benchmark you can tell immediately whether a lot is expensive or cheap for El Remanso.
- Read the range, not the average. Two oceanfront houses move the average of the entire beach. The median (US$ 169,000) says far more.
- Watch for the same property listed twice. 7 different advertisers publish in El Remanso, and the same house often appears with more than one of them, not always at the same price.
- Check how long it has been listed. Anything sitting for months usually has room to negotiate.
Browse properties available in El Remanso