Costa Rica is a popular destination for retirees because of many factors. Costa Rica offers all the amenities of the United States in its populated areas, has a low crime rate, and offers modern medical care. Costa Rica also has a low cost of living and low property costs making it the perfect place to stretch retirement funds. Even families are moving here because of the low cost but high quality of living.

Before moving to Costa Rica retirees should think about some practical considerations. Most people of retirement age have health concerns they need to address on an ongoing basis and must have access to quality medical care. There is access to quality health care in major cities such as San Jose, but in rural Costa Rica hospitals and medical centers can be over an hour away. With the new highway being built, access to San Jose will shorten by an hour and half making Jaco Beach even more ideal for retirees.

Most people look for a place with plenty of things to do when they plan their retirement home. Costa Rica has many opportunities for shopping, entertainment and other attractions near the beaches and the city but in rural Costa Rica these opportunities are limited. The tourist and metropolin areas of Costa Rica resemble the U.S. in their amenities but in rural Costa Rica electricity, phone, and internet services can be limited.

If you want to retire in Costa Rica there are plenty of Costa Rica real estate investment opportunities that will allow you to maximize your investment like no other country in the world. You should choose one of the more populated areas to ensure that you have access to health care amenities without paying a premium for services to reach your rural home. DayStar Properties in Jaco is one of the most successful developers and have a track record of 3 operational projects to prove it. Bahia Encantada, Bahia Azul, and La Paloma Blanca are all running as promised by the developer. Soon DayStar will add Diamante del Sol to its roster of success. If you are interested in finding a solid investment in Costa Rica real estate, this is the developer for you.

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Imagine paddling through 82 degree turquoise waters to check out coral reefs and encountering 12 foot long bull sharks, white-tip sharks, whale sharks, humpback whales, pilot whales, orcas, false killer whales and spinner dolphins! It is not uncommon to run into stately manta rays, eagle rays, or cow-nosed rays by the thousands. Rare reef fish like wahoo and pompano mingle with octopi, stingrays, horsefish, starfish and turtles. If you especially want to witness eels and octopi, try descending 40 feet at the Los Meros dive site. But if you are up for a shark encounter, you will find white-tips at Bajo Tiburone and the big bull sharks at the world famous Bat Islands. This is spot is rich for its glimpses of pompanos, jacks, snappers and giant manta rays cruising around.

Another must-see trip is to Cocos Island, which features amazing biodiversity, a pristine uninhabited island and a National Park. Here you can even see the elusive hammerhead shark in schools!

You simply cannot mention water sports in Costa Rica without mentioning surfing! As one of the surfing capitals of the world, the movie “Endless Summer” was filmed locally in Costa Rica. In the cooler North Pacific, surfers can play on big waves at Ollie’s Point, Playa Grande or Witch’s Rock – one of the most famous spots.

November to March is the best time for avid surfers looking to catch high tide here. Tropical Caribbean water surfing is also perfect from December to March at spots like Puerto Viejo, Manzanilla and Westfalia. From April to November, you can try Central-Pacific surfing at Playa Escondido, Hermosa or Boca Barranca, where some surfs last for an entire kilometer. April to November is also the season to hit the South-Pacific coast’s Cabo Matapalo, Dominical, or Pavones with some of the longest surfs.

White water rafters and kayakers can find class V rapids through rainforest canyons and can raft the Pacuare, Reventazon, or Corobici rivers to name a few. Prices can be as little as $70/day, which includes meals and jungle lodging. Fishing enthusiasts love the idyllic surroundings and masses of trophy fish like tarpon, marlin, rainbow bass, tuna, dorado, snook, dolphin and the delicious wahoo.

As for team tournament sports in Costa Rica, you wouldn’t want to miss the Annual Soccer Championship.

You may also want to check out the PGA golf site in Costa Rica at the 18-hole Cariari Country Club golf tournament or play at the Hacienda Pinilla course. At the “McDonald’s de Costa Rica” meet in July or August, over 600 swimmers are known to participate annually.

Horse lovers can enjoy thousands of magnificent horses on parade and traditional rodeos during Christmas week in San Jose.

January’s “Copa del Café” is a famous tennis tournament featuring young participants. International cyclists go wild during the 12 days of December in an event called “Vuelta a Costa Rica.” There are even car races and bowling tournaments for thrill-seekers.

There are plenty of sports in Costa Rica and the unadulterated terrain makes the sporting environment very distinct and unique. There are few places with a better set-up for water events like surfing and diving, since Costa Rica is bordered by both Pacific and Caribbean waters, providing both big surfs and warm tropical reef dives.

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Playa Hermosa Refuge lacks basic infrastructure, equipment and uniforms; requires more protection personnel (park rangers), requires greater staffing during the turtle season, expanded public services (electricity and telephone), expansion of its land surface and publishing of education and information materials for those visiting this beautiful wildlife refuge. For this purpose, the Chamber of Commerce has initiated a fundraising campaign to get funds, materials and equipment, to cover the current basic needs of the Refuge. It has also initiated the establishment in the U.S of the “Playa Hermosa Wildlife Refuge Trust”.

If you want to help us in protecting and consolidating this project please contact Chamber office at 2643-2853, email cenpac.chamber@gmail.com.

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Costa Rica is a mecca for both wildlife and marine life and boasts over 5% of the world’s biodiversity. On a recent trip to the Osa Peninsula in the Southern Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, a diver referred to Costa Rica’s diving as offering the best variety in the world.

One of the biggest misconceptions about diving in Costa Rica is that typically you will find the diving to be big fish diving rather than small coral dwelling fish. However if you want to see rays, whales, many species of sharks, octupus, schools of barracuda, etc. There are several protected coral diving areas that offer great opportunities to see nursing sharks, bright tropical fish species and sea turtles as well.

The Top Diving Destinations in Costa Rica are:

- Caño Island

Caño Island is a National Marine Park and is protected by the Government and the National Park Service and therefore there is no fishing allowed in the area. Due to its remote location it is considered slightly off the beaten path meaning not many divers actually dive here and the marine life is abundant. The average dive depth is 30ft/10m with a mild current and great visibility. You can expect to see eels, nursing sharks, white-tipped reef sharks, parrot fish, rays, octubus, sea turtles and many species of micro marine life. Divers just might find themselves at the foot of a giant school of jacks swimming in a tornado fashion to gather food, a truly unforgettable experience.

In order to get to Caño Island you will need to fly into San Jose and then take a domestic flight to Drake Bay, or take the long drive to beaches like Dominical or Uvita where you can depart by boat to reach the island. One of the best properties to stay at for diving is the Aguila de Osa Inn on Drake Bay as it has its own dive shop and several hotel packages include a dive trip in the total price.

- Manuel Antonio

The diving in Manuel Antonio is satisfactory however not the best diving in Costa Rica. The main reason people go here is to enjoy the luxury hotels, restaurants, white sand beaches in the national park and also to dive for a couple of days. Normal dive depths are 20-40 ft with a mild current and the dive site is around a submerged rock. You will see species such as jacks, grunts, angels, nudie branch and trumpets.

- Catalina Islands/Tamarindo/Ocotal

All of the diving in Northern Costa Rica will be around the Catalina Islands which are located just off the Guanacase Coast. The diving is around 30-40 ft and the current is mild. Expect to see large bull sharks, giant manta rays, eagle rays, schools of cow nose rays, devil rays and a large variety of schools of fish.

Original Source

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Before going to Costa Rica, I was searching for a new life experience. I thought that maybe volunteering for people in need would help me to reach this objective. I couldn’t make up my mind right away and spent a lot of time thinking about the destination and what kind of volunteering I wanted to do. This is an important point to consider. You cannot decide any random volunteer abroad program online without having a specific goal. Choosing Costa Rica met my goals of wanting to discover a new culture, a new language and the natural beauty of the country.

Once I made up my mind on the destination, I had to find an organized program that met my expectations. I chose a non-profit organization rather than a ‘voluncation’ travel agency because I thought they would be closer to the local people and communities. I was right and there are truly no words to describe the experience I shared with the locals and my girlfriend who accompanied me on the trip. I have been home for about 2 weeks now and all I can think about is how and when I can go back!

The organization we chose to work with, Tropical Adventures, had a very supportive and accommodating staff and it felt great knowing that there would be someone there if I needed them. They set everything up during this trip, from the pick up in San Jose to the organization of the activities.

My girlfriend and I stayed with a host family in Bambu, a Bri Bri indigenous community one hour inland from the southern Caribbean town of Puerto Viejo. The family was really wonderful and I truly feel like I have a second family in Costa Rica now. They took really good care of us and we shared so many laughs and fun moments trying to communicate with one another. Once in Bambu, we met the other volunteers, two young Americans Charlotte and Zachary, a Canadian family and Isaac, our coordinator from Tropical Adventures who assisted us in our daily activities.

We really enjoyed meeting the people in the community and spending time with our family whenever we could. We spent a lot of time down at the cultural center, which is worth a visit just to see the center itself. The cultural center was the vision of a local named Danilo, who uses it to invite visitors to the town and teach them about the local culture.

Danilo is also one of the indigenous guides who can take you out on all sorts of fantastic adventures while you are there and he is a wealth of knowledge about the Bri Bri culture/language, the history of the community and the amazing environment that surrounds Bambu. Danilo has established himself as a natural leader and cultural ambassador for the Tribe because of his friendliness and the knowledge he loves to share with visitors.

The people of Bambu are like none I’ve ever met… everyone was welcoming, warm and so thoughtful. Everywhere you go in Bambu you are greeted with a warm smile and a friendly, ‘Buenas!’. It was refreshing to be a part of a community for a while that really lives as a community… it has challenged me to think about how we live in North America and to be more active in caring for those in need.

During our stay there, our principal role was teaching English to some of the children and adults from the area. It was a fun to practice our Spanish and to look for creative ways to teach our own language. The teaching aspect of our stay was a real challenge, even though it was only for three hours a day. We taught groups of 15 kids, all of whom were great, but it’s not so simple keeping their attention!

It took just two weeks for me to fall in love with the Spanish language and I really look forward to going back to Bambu when I have studied a bit more so that I don’t have to rely so heavily on charades as a means of communication!

If you are thinking of volunteering abroad and you would like to immerse yourself in a culture, language and way of life that is different from the one you know…I would highly recommend going to Costa Rica, and even working in Bambu if you have the chance! Tropical Adventures established a firm foundation for the English classes that we helped with and it would be great if they could continue so that the children and adults can form a solid understanding of the language that is so important for advancement in this country.

This would help them communicate with the tourists who are eager to hear about their way of life. Other activities that we participated in during our stay include maintaining trails around the village, nature hikes through the forest to waterfalls and other natural sights. It was an experience of a life time for me, it has changed the way that I look at the world. I hope you decided to go and experience it for yourself!

Original Source

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There are a mere seven days and counting to the inauguration of the Billabong ISA World Surfing Games on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast. The entire country, and the area of Jaco and Playa Hermosa in particular, is preparing for the biggest surfing championship ever held on the shores of Central America. With the confirmed participation of more than 35 national teams, it will indeed be the largest surf event in the history of the sport. From July 31 to August 9, the world’s top surfers will convene in front of the Hotel Terrazas del Pacifico, the best surf spot in Costa Rica with perfect barrels and waves reaching up to 8 feet.

The event promises to be one big beach party for surf aficionados and curious visitors alike. Throughout the duration of competition, which is set to start on Aug. 1 at 7 a.m., the area in front of the beach will come alive with cultural presentations, extreme sport demonstrations, dance shows, competitions, live music and more! The fair has been dubbed the Expo Planeta Aventura and is set to showcase the top names in Costa Rican adventure activities, sustainable tourism and extreme sports.

A series of stages, restaurants, bars and stands will run the distance from the street to the beach where the real spectacle will take place non-stop from Aug. 1 to the 8th between 7 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The competitors will be divided into heats of 4 competitors of the same category. Two heats will run at a time in which the surfers have 20 minutes to ride between two and 12 waves and best display their ability level. A panel of 6 judges will distribute points according to wave selection, quality and difficulty of the maneuvers. Only the two best rides are added together to get the surfer’s score. Only the top two surfers in each heat will move on to the next round of competition.

Each national team should have eight total surfers, four in the Open category, two in the Women’s category and two longboarders. The final scores will be added together to form each team score, and individual surfers will also be ranked according to their individual score. There is also a special Tag Team event that will occur the second to last day of competition (Aug. 7) in which the top 8 teams from last year’s World Surfing Games, which took place in Portugal, will choose 5 team members to compete in an accelerated tournament. Last year Costa Rica took the Bronze medal in the tag team event and is looking to improve their performance in this year’s competition.

Some of the big names to look out for this year include American Nat Young, Dayan Neve and Mick Campbell from Australia, South African Brandon Jackson and Jeremy Flores and Mikael Picon from France. One of the top women to confirm participation is Peruvian Sofia Mulanovich who was noticeable absent in the last two World Surfing Games. She will be joined by American Sage Erickson, Lee Ann Curren from France and the Australian Amee Donohoe.

Costa Rica’s official team of eight surfers will be selected from a short list of 12 competitors who have been training together for over eight months on the shores of Playa Hermosa. The competing team will be annouced just two days before competition but is likely to include top national surfers Luis Vindas, Jairo Perez, Carlos Muñez, Nataly Bernold and Lisbeth Vindas, among others.

The 2009 World Surfing Games are expected to bring a huge boost to Costa Rican surf tourism, drawing thousands of spectators to the area and millions more who will watch the games on television. Though the competition will take place in the tiny surf town Playa Hermosa, one of Costa Rica’s largest coastal towns, Playa Jaco is just 5 minutes away and is set to host the majority of the visitors arriving for the event. Indeed the town is set to come alive starting July 31st with the Parade of Nations that marks the official start to what is known as the Olympics of surf.

Photo courtesy of Fabián Sánchez and article source

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For those expats living here in Jaco and around Costa Rica Independance Day parties is a must event and a patriotic tradition. The roots of this celebration is all about our Independance from our mother country England. From those days in the 1700’s to the present the 4th of July has been a celebration topped off with elaborate fireworks displays. The American Colony Committee in Costa Rica invites you to enjoy the Spirit of 1776 this July 3rd at the Cerveceria de Costa Rica.  

Here is a brief vignette of what they are planning.

Activities from 8:00 Am to 12:00 noon

Games, prizes, hot dogs, square dancing and much more.

Only $4/2,500 Children under 5 free.

Proof of U.S. Citizenship required.

For more information visit www.americancolonycr.org

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At La Fortuna there is a little something for the entire family.  From hiking to bungee jumping to relaxing in the invigorating hot spring pools, the entire family will certainly have a great time in the area.

Other great activities that can be enjoyed by the family as a whole are the tours offered by the Canoe Adventure Company at La Fortuna.  Canoe Adventure offers tours that are perfect for the children and grown ups.  One of the most relaxing tours is the Safari Float in which guests calmly glide down the Peñas Blancas River while observing the wonderful flora and fauna of the region.

Some of the endemic species that can be observed are the Blue Morpho butterfly, two-toed sloth, monkeys, iguanas and a variety of birds.  The Safari Float is offered in its raft, canoe or kayak varieties.

In addition to river trips, Canoe Adventure also offers tours of the Arenal Lake, hikes to the Arenal Volcano and overnight trips to Caño Negro where a large variety of local and migratory birds can be easily observed.

Canoe Adventure is located in La Fortuna and will pick up its customers at all major Costa Rica hotels in the Fortuna area. If you are staying in Jaco there are a few tour operators that have daily shuttles to Arenal. This is a one day trip and is well worth it.

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The kayak race is the 7th annual race called The 2009 Bulo-DayStar Outrigger Canoe Competition, which is organized by Neil Kahn of Kayakjaco.com The tag team surf contest is a first for this festival and will have 4 teams made up of one woman, two junior, and two open category surfers from the Costa Rican national surf team.

The Kayak event is open to the public in a recreational division which will only travel 10Km as opposed to the professional teams that race for 18Km. If you are interested in creating a local team (max 6 persons) to participate, please contact the kayak organizer at bulo@kayakjaco.com or call 2643-1233 For recreational teams there is a charge of $120 per team that includes everything to be part of the race. $20 per person is a wonderful way to participate in this annual race which has become a tradition here in Jaco.

The sponsor DayStar said in a press release that there will be refreshments provided by sponsors, music, and raffle contests for “great prizes.” The event begins at 9:00am Sunday morning for the surfing and the kayak race. There is a schedule second heat for the recreational division at 1:30pm if needed. The DayStar Jaco Beach Festival will take place in front of Bahia Encantada, which is on the north end of Playa Jaco next to Clarita’s Bar and Grill. There is plenty of parking available for the event in front of Clarita’s for easy access to the festival. Be sure to bring sunscreen and hats for the children to protect them from the sun during the fun filled activities.

If recreational teams from out of town need lodging, please contact DayStar Properties for special event rates at 2643-1290

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This weekend kicks off the San Jose Summer Arts Festival

Each  year  San Jose, Costa Rica showcases all of the cultural arts in the country by organizing a series of festivals related to the arts, it’s culture and it’s music. This festival is called: Festival de Verano Transitarte. The festival is spread out over the four large parks in the heart of San Jose. They are Parque Morazan, home to the Templo de Musica. The Jardin de Paz  and just across the street to the east is the Parque España. Finally, the National Park where you can find the Battle of Rivas statute. The National Park is the largest of all the venues and will be hosting artisans who will set up shop, as well as theater and dance performances.

Here is the schedule for the 3 day event:

Friday, March 13, 2009

10 a.m. – 3 p.m.: Municipal libraries will hold present story telling including the stories La gallina Avelina and El lobo feroz (all in Spanish) in the Parque España.

10 a.m. – 3 p.m.: In the National Park, visitors can enjoy Mascaradas by Los Chapetones, marimba music by Sonando and Calypso Urbano.

4 p.m.: Folkloric group Viajando por Nuestro Pais will close the festivities in the National Park

6:30 p.m.: The dance group Metamorfosis will present a show called 70% agua in the Parque Morazan

8 p.m.: A concert by Son de Tikizia will officially inaugurate the weekend event.

Saturday, March 24, 2009

All Day: Urban Canopy Zipline tours and Climbing walls in the Jardin de Paz, and story telling until 5 p.m. in Parque España.

10 a.m.: Day long theater presentations in the National Park including “Caminito del Mar’ by the group Contraluz and “Sexo? Si gracias por preguntar” by Abya-Yala.

11 a.m.: Taekwondo presentation in the Jardin de Paz

11 a.m.: Music presentation by Mexican rapper MC Tshh in the Parque Morazan

11 a.m.: 9 p.m.: Concerts will be presented all day long including Sincopa, Introvisión, Escafandra, Mechas, Parque en el Espacio, Pato Barraza and Evolución.

1 p.m.: Central American Boxing Championship with the participation of Panama and Nicaragua in the Jardin de Paz

9 p.m.: Presentation of dance and percussion by Orquestap in the Parque Nacional

9 p.m.: Music performance by Panamanian group Cienfue in Parque Morazan

Sunday, March 15:

10 a.m. – 6 p.m.: Story telling in Parque España.

10 a.m. on: Music, dance and theater with presentations by the Camote Circus and Par de 2, the Camerata Bach and La Cuna del Swing in the Parque Nacional.

11 a.m. on: Music presentations in Parque Morazan by Los Cumbiamberos, Humberto Vargas, Francisco Murillo, Digital 80, Santos y Zurdo, and Amarillo Cyan y Magenta.

7 p.m.: A concert by Peregrino Gris will close the weekend music festivities in the Parque Morazan.

8 p.m.: The entire event will close with a show by the French group Puce Muse, that will include music and projections in the Parque de Paz.

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