Is the cost of living in San Juan del Sur,Nicaragua less than a Pacific coast beach city in Panama?

Nicaragua will beat Panama for an average cost of living any day of the week. The beautiful part is always left to taste, as it will vary on each person.

Sure shopping is relatively cheap in Panama City. You go to Albrook Mall or Los Pueblos and you will find a lot of bargains. Not the best of clothes sometimes, but don't expect that much from a $3.00 shirt. Go to Multiplaza Pacific Mall and it's like visiting a high end US Mall. Trust me, I live here, and it's the closest mall like a US Mall than you can get in Central America.

A couple of years ago a client paid the firm where I used to work to visit San Juan del Sur for a market study on the real estate values. The person that did the visit actually had high remarks for the area. Apparently there are some interesting projects around, and the fact that the actual government does lean to the left a bit has some investors somewhat cautious, and that also might have brought the price down (don't know how much).

Now on the other side Panama may have better infrastructure, and access to healthcare around the Pacific Beaches. Don't know if that's the case in Nicaragua. Don't know if you guys are retired, so that is always something to consider.

Country wise Panama may be a better choice, price wise Nicaragua might come as a winner. The best would be for you to take 2 weeks off, spend 1 week in Nicaragua and 1 week in Panama. Make up your mind, and voila!

One more thing. Power, phone and Broadband Internet are quite expensive in Panama, specially the beaches. Check for the prices in Nicaragua.

My understanding about Panama is that clothes and other items are cheaper. Lots of Nicaraguans go there to shop. As far as housing is concerned, I guess you can google Panama real estate. I am from Nicaragua. Anywhere outside of Managua it will be cheaper living. There are beautiful places like Granada, leon, Jinotepe, etc. If I had a choice of buying land and building a house or buying a house in town it would be Catarina which is between Masaya and Granada. Very, very clean town and it is located close to El Mirador which is a beautiful, majestic lagoon. The weather is nice and cool too. I've never been to San Juan Del Sur but I understand it is gorgeous. I have relatives that have been there. If you like tourism that is where you will find the tourist as they now have cruises that stop there. It has been a place developed by Americans too so be prepared to pay a lot for a house.

The cost of living in Panama or Costa Rica is much higher than any of the other Central American countries.