Technical article

Land Near the Coast or the Border: One Rule per Country

What does each country say a foreigner may hold near the coast?

By Neil Solomon · 5 min read

Picture a couple named Walt and Maria. Both are 63 and retired. They have spent two holidays on a Pacific beach and now they wonder whether they could own a small place close to the water. They ask a plain question. What does each country say a foreigner may hold near the coast?

I read the official law for each of the four countries on 10 October 2026. The answers differ a lot. In some places the sand is never for sale. In others a trust or a lease stands in for a title.

Side by side

Mexico

The Foreign Investment Law defines the restricted zone as "La faja del territorio nacional de cien kilómetros a lo largo de las fronteras y de cincuenta a lo largo de las playas." Inside that strip, the law allows rights to property for residential purposes. For foreigners this runs through a trust held by a Mexican bank. It needs a permit from the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The law says the trust lasts "un periodo máximo de cincuenta años, mismo que podrá prorrogarse a solicitud del interesado."

The ministry decides by looking at the "beneficio económico y social" of the deal for the country. In my paraphrase, if it does not rule within the set time, the request counts as approved. Outside the restricted zone, a foreigner must sign an agreement with the ministry and get a permit, unless the ministry exempts the case through general rules. The exemption rules are not among the sources.

Costa Rica

The maritime zone law sets a strip "de doscientos metros de ancho" from the ordinary high-tide line. As the Attorney General's office describes it, the first 50 metres are public and the next 150 are restricted. The state owns the zone, in the words quoted there: "inalienable e imprescriptible." So the land is not sold. It is leased through a concession of "no menor de cinco ni mayor de veinte años."

Article 47 lists who cannot receive a concession. This is quoted from a tourism institute legal opinion: "A extranjeros que no hayan residido en el país por lo menos durante cinco años." It also excludes companies based abroad, companies formed in the country by foreigners, and companies where foreigners hold more than half the shares. No border rule on a page I could read was found.

Honduras

A trade ministry document cites the Constitution (Article 107) and two decrees. It describes "la tierra privada a 40 kilómetros de las fronteras y las líneas costeras." In my paraphrase of the summary, only people born in Honduras, companies wholly owned by Hondurans and state bodies may acquire or hold that land.

There is one door for others. The same document says "cualquier persona puede adquirir, poseer, mantener, o arrendar hasta por 40 años" urban land in those areas, and the right can be renewed. It needs approval from the Honduran Tourism Institute. A later sale also needs its approval. The document is from 2019, and Article 107 itself is not among the sources.

Nicaragua

The coastal zones law sets a public strip of "cincuenta metros" from the average high-tide line. Next comes a restricted strip of "doscientos metros." The law says the public coastal zones "no podrán ser enajenadas o privatizadas." Use comes only by concession. Applicants may be "nacionales o extranjeros residentes en el país," so a foreigner would need residence first. Concessions run twenty years and can be renewed, and certain tourism projects can get up to 59 years. The law says nothing about border areas, so I have no border rule for Nicaragua.

What is left open

• Costa Rica: the text of the law on the official legal site would not open for me. I used two official legal opinions that quote it.
• Honduras: the text of Article 107, and any change since 2019.
• Nicaragua: a border rule, and a later law (Law 913) that amends the coastal law. I saw it listed but did not read it.
• All four: fees and processing times.