Is It LOVE? Foreigners Dating Costa Rica Latinas

Many foreigners who tire of dating domestically are solo traveling to Costa Rica to date stunning Latinas in San Jose.

It's no secret that Costa Rican women exude a different kind of aura—one that leads a legion of men to gravitate towards San Jose for a chance to meet and date Ticas. As a result,more foreigners pursue Latinas in Costa Rica than their Central American counterparts. More bachelors are ditching dating apps in favor of face-to-face matchmaking in San Jose.

Regardless of how people search for their life partners, let's be honest—no one's walking into a soup kitchen hoping to bump into their soulmate, right? People naturally look for a spouse who can elevate their lives, and there's no shame in that.

Now, some cynics out there might scoff and say, "Finding a wife via matchmaking is just a business deal, not love." Really? After countless successful marriages from all over the world, that sentiment doesn’t quite add up with San Jose matchmakers.

Wherever you meet someone, there’s always the risk that intentions might not be pure. Could a Costa Rican woman marry for the wrong reasons? Absolutely. But let’s not kid ourselves—that happens in Scottsdale, New York, Los Angeles, and every other corner of the world.

Here’s a fun fact: Pamela Haley, a researcher from the University of Central Florida, dove into international dating in 2015. She expected to find women approaching international matchmaking purely from a practical, transactional mindset. What did she discover instead when she participated in several matchmaking events? Love. Real, unplanned love. Many of the women she interviewed described starting out with uncertainty but ending up falling for their partners. It’s the kind of twist even academics didn’t see coming.

Of course, some people remain skeptical. “She just married him for a better life!” Well, let’s put that in perspective. Who marries for a worse life? If you’re building a future with someone, it’s only natural to want that future to be better. It doesn’t mean there’s no love; it means there’s a shared desire to improve each other’s lives.

For those rolling their eyes and calling matchmaking a scam or a business deal, consider this: in the U.S., the divorce rate hovers above 50%. That’s right—a coin flip. Whether you meet someone in your own hometown or halfway across the globe, the odds are the same. Why hold international relationships to an impossibly high standard? Problems exist everywhere, in every relationship, regardless of geography.

After decades of marriages, you’d expect to hear horror stories about divorce lawyers knocking on doors of foreigners who married Costa Rican women. But oddly enough, it rarely happens. If this was such a bad deal, wouldn’t the evidence be piling up? The reality is simpler: it works for a lot of people.

Love is always a bit of a gamble. But it’s a gamble worth taking. Whether you're swiping on Latina dating apps, meeting someone at work, or embarking on solo travel to San Jose to meet your Costa Rican wife, what matters is the connection you build.