Exclusive | High-powered Americans are easing into healthy retirement by moving to a Blue Zone paradise where homes start at $4.35M

When Ricardo Caceres first set foot on Conchal Beach as a child, it was little more than a quiet stretch of white sand where locals camped and played in the crystal-clear waters.“That’s been my favorite beach for a very long time,” he told The Post, recalling his family’s move to Costa Rica in the 1970s.“That’s what drew me to eventually come full circle and spend a good chunk of the year there.”Now 54, Caceres is part of a growing wave of Americans trading red, white and blue for Nicoya’s Zona Azul — where locals enjoy some of the longest, healthiest lives on Earth.The 80-mile peninsula, located just south of the Nicaraguan border, is one of the world’s five original Blue Zones.

Its residents are more than twice as likely as Americans to reach their 90s in good health.Expats chasing the Blue Zone lifestyle have flocked to Costa Rica in recent years, fueling a boom in luxury tourism and hotel-branded private residences across the region.Among them: The W Residences Costa Rica, a high-end enclave tucked inside the gated Reserva Conchal community in the Guanacaste Province — where Caceres snapped up a plot of land in March 2020.“At Reserva Conchal, we are a community that embraces wellness, a connection with nature and a slower and more intentional pace of life,” Fabián Fernandez, the property’s business manager, told The Post.“Being in a Blue Zone is a part of our DNA, and most of the people that come and invest in Reserva Conchal are definitely taking that into consideration.”Before building his tropical retreat, Caceres spent decades working in the restaurant industry.At 21, he left Costa Rica for Los Angeles, working as a McDonald’s crew member while putting himself through college.Over the next two decades, Caceres rose through the ranks to become the director of operations for a major franchisee, eventually opening several McDonald’s of his own before relocating to the Phoenix area. When he grew tired of the grind, Caceres...