Picture yourself lounging in a hammock slung between coconut palms. The surf booms and hisses, tropical flora perfume the air and off-shore breezes waft over you. If you try hard enough, you can almost believe the fantasy of owning your very own island could someday, somehow, become a reality.

Sounds like your average end-of-the-workday dream, you say? Welcome to Costa Rica where your island dream has a greater than average shot at reality. The good news is that anyone can buy property in Costa Rica. Costa Rican laws and Constitution protect private ownership of land, and foreigners enjoy the same rights as citizens. There are almost no restrictions to ownership of private land--neither citizenship nor residence, or even presence in the country, is required for land ownership.

The bad news is that, although you can buy beach front property on the mainland, you can't buy an island in the territorial waters of Costa Rica. But, with enough patience, time, and attention to detail, you can lease one for up to twenty years! These renewable leases, called concesiones by the Costa Rican Tourist Board (ICT), are more available, and the annual fee cheaper, than one might imagine.

More next week