Scott
Raoul is right about the 90 days but it is pretty much a joke if you keep your nose clean and don't work in a place where cops are liable to raid now and then. I have actually gone years without leaving and then went to Panama for a weekend and it was all good.
All you need to carry on the street is the front page of your passport (copy of) and it is good for ID and has the advantage of not giving away how long you have been in country. You can give a cop any amount of time under 90 days, I don't like lying but if you don't look for trouble you won't need to.
Work is another matter, real residency also. Personally before I listened to guys like us giving you advice if you are really serious come down and spend a few hundred on a legitimate immigration lawyer and get all the real info you will need for what you want to do.
I wouldn't put much faith in finding a good job in this business unless you have a contact that is a real brother to you. There is little else available for real money for "gringos" unless you have your own seed money and know how to invest in something that will earn legitimately for you.
Opening your own business is a real gamble in the states and even worse in countries in Latin America.
There is a lot more involved, I could go on forever but do some web surfing about Costa Rica, learn all you can, it sounds like you have the time before you make the move.
BOL. wil..
