Is your beachfront title or concession? Ley 6043 (1977) puts the first 200m from high tide under public domain: 50m fully public, 150m by municipal concession only. Past 200m, freehold. Mixing these up costs foreign buyers six figures.
This page walks through what's public, what's concession, what's freehold past the 200m line, and what to verify before you wire a deposit on any beach-area property.
For broader country context, see /costa-rica/. For the closing process, see /costa-rica/how-to-buy-property/.
The 200-meter rule
Ley 6043 splits the first 200 meters from the high-tide line into two zones:
Zona pública (first 50m)
The first 50 meters measured from the mean high-tide line is zona pública. Article 10 of Ley 6043 makes it inalienable and imprescriptible: no one holds legal title here, no one ever can, and adverse possession claims do not run.[Costa Rica Procuraduría General, Ley 6043 articulo 10 — zona pública 50 metros, inalienable e imprescriptible, 2026-04]
What this means in practice:
- No private structures in the zona pública, with narrow exceptions for pre-1977 grandfathered buildings and specific public-purpose uses
- Public access to the beach must be kept open; you cannot fence or gate it off
- Walking and recreational use by the general public is a guaranteed right
- A "beachfront" listing that claims to include zona pública in private ownership is misrepresenting the property
The 50m line is measured from the median high-tide line over time, not the highest tide of any given year. The Instituto Geográfico Nacional periodically re-measures it, and the line can shift over decades as coastlines move.[Costa Rica Asamblea Legislativa, Ley 6043 (Ley Sobre la Zona Marítimo Terrestre), 2026-04]
Zona restringida (next 150m, from 50m to 200m)
The next 150 meters (50m to 200m from the high-tide line) is zona restringida. Private use is permitted, but only through a concesión granted by the local municipality. There is no registered freehold title in this strip.[Costa Rica SNIT, Ley 6043 — zona restringida 150 metros, concesiones otorgadas por las municipalidades, 2026-04]
Key concession features:
- Time-limited. Concessions run 5 to 20 years and are renewable through the municipality. Renewal is not automatic.
- Municipally administered. The municipality grants the concession; the ICT performs technical review of the file before National Registry inscription.[Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT), Zona Marítimo Terrestre — institutional oversight and concession-file technical review framework, 2026-04]
- Transfers need municipal approval. Selling a concession is a municipal act, not a notarial sale; the municipality has to approve the transferee.
- Foreign-ownership cap (article 47). Foreign individuals cannot directly hold a concession unless they have lived in Costa Rica for at least 5 years. Foreign capital in any concession-holding company is capped at 50%; majority of shares and management must be Costa Rican.[Costa Rica Ley 6043 articulo 47 — concesiones a sociedades con capital extranjero limitado al 50% y residencia mínima 5 años para extranjeros, 2026-04]
- Annual canon. A municipal fee tied to the concession's declared use category. Falling behind on canon is itself grounds for cancellation.
A concession is not freehold. You hold a time-limited use right, not the land.
Outside the 200m zone (inland)
Land beyond the 200m line is freehold-titled property under standard Costa Rican civil code, same as inland real estate. Foreign individuals can hold direct title with no concession constraints.
Most foreign-buyer-popular beach inventory in Tamarindo, Nosara, Manuel Antonio, and Jacó actually sits inland of the 200m line, set back from the immediate beach. Those parcels carry the same ownership rights as any inland property: no concession, no annual canon, no municipal transfer approval.
The scam vector: concession sold as titled
The biggest dollar-loss pattern in Costa Rican coastal real estate is concession property sold to foreign buyers as if it were titled freehold. It works because:
- Concession and titled parcels look identical in listing photos
- Some concession holders sit inside Costa Rican S.A.s that present like ordinary title-holding companies
- Sales offices lean on ambiguous language ("registered property", "legal ownership", "Costa Rican title") that hides the distinction
A foreign buyer who pays a freehold-equivalent price for what turns out to be a concession faces:
- A use right that expires (typically 20 years), with renewal at municipal discretion
- No mortgage eligibility through Costa Rican banks; concession does not collateralize (see /costa-rica/cross-border-mortgage-math/)
- Materially lower resale liquidity once the concession nature surfaces in due diligence
- Annual canon payments that often were not disclosed in the LOI
- Real eviction risk in worst cases: expired concessions, disputed boundaries, or "invasions" where occupants assert use claims against an absentee holder
- Renewal denial if the file has gaps, unpaid canon, or zoning-plan changes (uncommon but documented)
How to verify before you wire
Your Costa Rican attorney is the authoritative source. For any property within or near the 200m zone, the file should contain:
1. The plano catastrado (registered survey plan)
Pull the official survey plan from the Instituto Geográfico Nacional or the municipal registry. The plano shows:
- The exact parcel boundaries
- The distance from the high-tide line (this is the load-bearing measurement)
- Adjacent parcels and the zona-maritima zone lines
If the plano puts any portion of the parcel inside the 200m zone, that portion is concession unless pre-1977 grandfathered.
2. The folio real (title certificate)
For any parcel claimed as titled freehold, pull the folio real from the Registro Nacional. The folio real is the definitive title document.
- A folio real with clean chain of title means the property is titled freehold
- No folio real, or a seller who is not the registered owner, means the property is not titled freehold regardless of what the listing says
3. For concession property: the concession file itself
For property that is concession (or turns out to be), get:
- The concesión document from the municipality, with grant date and expiration
- A record of every prior transfer approval
- The corporate structure the seller is using, with shareholder list confirming the 50% foreign-capital cap and 5-year residency rule under article 47
- Current canon payment receipts. Arrears alone can void the concession.
4. For pre-1977 grandfathered structures
A small number of pre-Ley-6043 structures sit inside what is now zona pública with grandfathered freehold rights. These are rare and need specific documentation through Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT) historical records.[Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT), zona maritima historical-grandfathering framework, 2026-04]
When concession can actually work
Concession property is a valid lifestyle buy for the right buyer profile:
- Paying cash, since concession does not finance through Costa Rican banks
- Comfortable with a 20-year horizon and the renewal cycle
- Using the property personally, not chasing short-hold resale
- Working with a Costa Rican attorney who pulls current status, prior transfer approvals, and the canon payment history
- Buying through a Costa Rican corporation that meets the article 47 rules
Concession typically prices 30 to 50% below comparable titled inventory at similar beach proximity. For a cash lifestyle buyer who understands the structure, the math can work.
What should not happen: paying a freehold price and ending up with a concession.
What this means for the foreign-buyer transaction
Practical takeaways:
- Inland or set-back-from-beach property (the dominant share of foreign-buyer inventory): standard titled framework, zona maritima is not in play
- Property within the 200m zone: verify concession vs. titled status with your Costa Rican attorney before any deposit goes hard
- "Beachfront" listings: read the listing skeptically. A lot of "beachfront" marketing language is describing concession parcels
- Zona pública: do not buy claimed ownership of land in the first 50m. Title there does not exist
- Mortgage-financed transactions: concession does not finance through Costa Rican banks; you need cash or a specialty cross-border lender
- Investment-yield purchases: concession resale liquidity is materially thinner than titled inventory
Your next step
Before you sign an LOI on any beach-area property, ask the listing agent one question in writing: "Is this folio real or municipal concession?" If the answer is anything other than a clean folio real number you can pull from the Registro Nacional, treat the parcel as concession until your attorney proves otherwise.
Then walk through the closing process at /costa-rica/how-to-buy-property/, and price the financing implications at /costa-rica/cross-border-mortgage-math/. For the broader Costa Rica picture, /costa-rica/ is the country hub. Coastal-region context lives at /costa-rica/pacific-vs-caribbean/.
If you want concession-renewal news and ICT regulatory shifts in your inbox, subscribe to The Brief at /newsletter.
Disclaimer
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Costa Rican zona maritima rules sit at the intersection of national legislation (Ley 6043), municipal concession administration, ICT records, and notarial practice. Engage a Costa Rican attorney with cross-border experience and zona-maritima practice before any property commitment within or near the 200-meter zone.
Current as of 2026-12-05. We review legal content quarterly and update on rule changes. To report an error, contact us.