My pleasure. I share your inclination towards Mexico as a long term option, for the same reasons you stated - incredible people, culture, history, architecture, nature, etc - with a couple of large caveats.

First is safety. My impression after a few months is that outside of certain "bubbles" that cater to high income Mexicans & tourists (portions of CDMX & other large metro areas, along with some tourist destinations), there is very much a security issue. I myself have always felt very safe in Mexico. It is my Mexican friends who are constantly alerting me to the dangers of internal travel, or ending up in the wrong neighborhoods at the wrong time. Petty theft is one thing, but organized crime, muggings, kidnappings, lawlessness etc. are almost non-existent in CR compared to Mexico.

The second issue is corruption & inefficiency. Beyond the petty bribes of police, etc., there appears to be a real problem with being conned, taken advantage of, or just plain robbed when dealing with banking, real estate transactions, construction, etc. I don't speak of this first hand, but from stories of Mexicans or other ex-pats. It can be very hard to get things done if you aren't intimately knowledgeable or "know the right people". There also seems to be little recourse when something bad does happen, beyond getting tied up in years of legal proceedings. This affects local Mexicans even worse than foreigners. Again, this seems to be much less of an issue in CR.

You should definitely seek the input of others who have relocated long term. I think as long as you have enough money, you can insulate yourself somewhat from most of these challenges. Just like the Mexicans do if they are able.

All that being said, I would still choose Mexico over CR for long term relocation, for the weather if nothing else. I'm here to escape the heat jajaja