Cost of living comparison

Ottawa, Canada

compared to

Tamarindo, Costa Rica

Tamarindo vs. Ottawa Cost of Living Summary

Tamarindo is 14.2% cheaper than Ottawa.

Restaurants: pay 16.6% less in Tamarindo
Groceries: pay 12.1% less in Tamarindo
Transportation: pay 5.5% more in Tamarindo
Housing: pay 14.7% less in Tamarindo
Childcare: pay 52.4% less in Tamarindo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.0% less in Tamarindo
Clothing: pay 1.0% less in Tamarindo

Expenses including childcare, restaurants, housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, and clothing are lower in Tamarindo.

Tamarindo vs. Ottawa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Tamarindo instead of Ottawa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 16.6% less for restaurants

	Ottawa	Tamarindo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.96 CA$24.41	$10.80 CRC5,449.87	-39.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.78 CA$14.65	$9.28 CRC4,681.34	-13.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.17 CA$2.95	$1.99 CRC1,004.82	-8.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.53 CA$2.08	$1.46 CRC736.39	-4.6%
Average			-16.6%

Ottawa vs. Tamarindo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.1% less for groceries

	Ottawa	Tamarindo
Bread 1 loaf	$2.65 CA$3.60	$2.59 CRC1,308.07	-2.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.28 CA$8.54	$4.26 CRC2,151.40	-32.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.92 CA$13.49	$7.23 CRC3,645.01	-27.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.31 CA$4.51	$3.26 CRC1,643.90	-1.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.89 CA$8.00	$4.40 CRC2,219.90	-25.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.93 CA$2.63	$1.95 CRC982.91	+0.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 CA$0.87	$0.63 CRC317.83	-1.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.44 CA$1.96	$1.41 CRC709.29	-2.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.69 CA$2.29	$1.35 CRC679.45	-20.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.20 CA$1.63	$1.04 CRC525.48	-13.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.31 CA$1.78	$1.19 CRC600.18	-8.9%
Average			-12.1%

Ottawa vs. Tamarindo - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.5% more for transportation

	Ottawa	Tamarindo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.15 CA$5.64	$5.49 CRC2,767.67	+32.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$92.50 CA$125.72	$55.44 CRC27,965.75	-40.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,412.64 CA$33,178.00	$35,472.63 CRC17,894,402.72	+45.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.80 CA$25.54	$15.94 CRC8,041.60	-15.2%
Average			+5.5%

Ottawa vs. Tamarindo - Cost of transportation

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pay 14.7% less for housing

	Ottawa	Tamarindo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$50.21 CA$68.24	$51.60 CRC26,028.28	+2.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,425.51 CA$1,937.34	$1,792.59 CRC904,284.26	+25.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,269.57 CA$1,725.40	$821.55 CRC414,435.69	-35.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$131.33 CA$178.49	$63.04 CRC31,800.84	-52.0%
Average			-14.7%

Ottawa vs. Tamarindo - Cost of housing

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pay 52.4% less for childcare

	Ottawa	Tamarindo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$999.72 CA$1,358.67	$513.42 CRC259,000.44	-48.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$19,936.07 CA$27,094.12	$8,729.74 CRC4,403,775.16	-56.2%
Average			-52.4%

Ottawa vs. Tamarindo - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Ottawa	Tamarindo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.75 CA$7.81	$2.92 CRC1,470.58	-49.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.71 CA$5.04	$3.69 CRC1,860.03	-0.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$12.93 CA$17.58	$4.82 CRC2,430.82	-62.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.27 CA$62.88	$96.89 CRC48,876.09	+109.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.78 CA$14.65	$6.80 CRC3,431.35	-36.9%
Average			-8.0%

Ottawa vs. Tamarindo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.0% less for clothing

	Ottawa	Tamarindo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$57.20 CA$77.73	$73.45 CRC37,053.21	+28.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.39 CA$60.33	$23.32 CRC11,764.61	-47.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$97.78 CA$132.88	$106.89 CRC53,921.15	+9.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$110.86 CA$150.66	$117.18 CRC59,111.87	+5.7%
Average			-1.0%

Ottawa vs. Tamarindo - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: June 2025

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