The Costa Rica Chamber of Commerce provided information regarding the projections for this 2018 in a press conference this week, the growth in the commerce sector is expected to decline, going from 3.3% this year to 2.8% in 2018. The generation of new formal jobs will also suffer a decline. These conditions will definitely have an influence over the economic conditions of the country, causing ...

Photo Credit: Kenneth Bolaños./ Puntarenas se Oye A man and a woman lost their lives in different water accidents in Puntarenas this weekend. The first accident took place in Playa Hermosa in the Central Pacific when a 40-year-old woman of last names Soto Alvarez who was swimming along with her kids was dragged in by the tide; when the rescue team arrived they were able to pull her out but i...

Two foreign tourists, a man and a woman died today in the area of Playa Chiquita, Limón when a tree feel over the cabin where they were staying. According to the Talamanca Red Cross, the incident was reported at around 1:42 a.m. when as a result of the strong winds a tree fell over the room where the foreigners were sleeping. According to the authorities both are natives of Sweden and of las...

The strong winds that have affected the country since this Saturday evening have caused damages with the wiring and the falling of trees or branches in different areas of the country. The emergency services have received reports from, route 32 (road to Limon), the Interamericana Norte (between San Ramón and Puntarenas), Palmares (Alajuela), Coronado (San Jose), Puntarenas, Turrialba (Cartago), ...

During this 2017 Costa Rica made important investments for the conservation and protection of the Natural Heritage. The country registered 10,000 hectares of land in the Turrialba Volcano, Tenorio Volcano and Irazú Volcano National Parks as well as in the Juan Castro Blanco National Parl, the National Wildlife Refuge Iguanita and the Nicolas Wessberg Absolute Natural Refuge; this involved an in...

If you are looking for something different to do this weekend, head over to Puntarenas and visit the Marino del Pacifico Park, which just added two brand new fish tanks to its exhibit. The park is located 500 meters East of the cruise pier. The park which already offered a sample of close to 50 marine species, was able to include two big fish tanks and a devil ray tank thanks to the help of ...

Without any doubt it has been young swimmer from Liberia, Guanacaste, Helena Moreno who has made history and has received the admiration of many during the Central American Sporting Games 2018 that are underway in Managua, Nicaragua. Moreno accumulated four gold medals for Costa Rica, in the 400m, 1500m, 800m, 200m freestyle and additionally three silver medals in the 100m freestyle, and rela...

In May this year the Four Seasons Hotel in the Papagayo Peninsula, Guanacaste announced it was closing down temporarily to undergo a complete remodeling. The hotel reopened its doors this December 4, after seven months of work, and an investment that exceeded the budget of US$20 million by close to an additional US$15 million. Now the hotel has 18 additional rooms for a total of 182 betwe...

Florida Ice & Farm Costa Rica (FIFCO) has reached its goal of becoming the first mass consumption company in Costa Rica to be certified as carbon positive. Being carbon positive means that their actions for reduction and compensation where higher than the emissions of CO2 generated by their operations. This achievement applies to the four manufacturing plants brewery, (Pepsi, Cristal bott...

The Costa Rica Institute of Meteorology (IMN) and the National Emergency Commission (CNE) have issued warnings regarding bad weather conditions that will affect the country as of this Saturday night and through Monday or Tuesday. According to the IMN an increase in the rain is expected for the Caribbean coast and the North Zone with heavy rains Saturday night and early Sunday; the CNE issued a ...

Airbnb announced today the launching of its platform Experiences in Costa Rica, adding to the growing list of international destinations that offer local Experiences. Costa Rica is the first country in Central America and the sixth destination in Latin America and the Caribbean after Habana, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Buenos Aires and Jamaica in being part of Experiences Airbnb. The platf...

The Linblad Expeditions-National Geographic cruise ship docked yesterday for the first time to the Osa Península in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. The stop at Playa Blanca in Puerto Jimenez is a tourism strategy to promote this area as an international destination. Tourists were greeted with traditional dances, arts and crafts, and the option to take tours to different local attractions. Caminos de ...

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, the world's leading luxury hospitality company, will assume management of a new collection of environmentally designed private villas and estate homes set to commence construction in February 2018. Construction completion is targeted for mid-Q4 2019. The announcement was made by US based investment firm Gencom. The exclusive enclave of 20 wholly owned properties...

The only thing to complain about is the incredibly ridiculous traffic to get in and out of the venue, but there is little that can be done to solve this, and truthfully the fans didn’t care, it was a small sacrifice to pay to get to watch Bruno Mars perform live in Costa Rica. The National Stadium had all its locations full, this was no surprise since the tickets went like bread out of the ove...

Four Mexicans linked to the robberies of two jewelry stores in Escazú, San José, Costa Rica back on October 31, were arrested this Wednesday, three at the Juan Santamaria International Airport when they were trying to leave the country, and one was arrested in San Jose. The jewelry stores targeted were Eurochronos in Multiplaza Mall and Tiempo Global in Plaza Colonial Escazu; at the moment of t...

CSS Corp is leading IT Services and Technology Support company that has been in Costa Rica for four years, they announced today the opening of its new delivery center in the country in the town of Tres Ríos, La Union, east of the Great Metropolitan Area, at Terra Campus, this is part of CSS Corp's strategy to diversify its footprint globally. The inauguration of the new center augments the com...

The results of a study carried out by RedTraSex (network of sexual workers of Latin America and the Caribbean) where disclosed during a press conference this Wednesday, with information relevant to 13 countries, among them Costa Rica. The study was carried out through 5,222 surveys done during three months of this 2017. In Costa Rica 362 female sex workers took part of the survey. The study...

According to the Costa Rica Drug Institute the Costa Rican police has seized 127 tons (127,000 kilograms) of cocaine between 2010 and 2017 and a quarter of this is a result of the Jointed Patrol Agreement with the United States. So far this 2017 the police has seized a record 27 tons. The majority of the drug is transported in boats, however, ground transportation is also common which is why t...

Rohina Bhandari, was a 49-year-old Wall Street executive that loved to dive, she died in November 30 as a result of the injuries caused by a tiger shark attack while scuba diving in the waters of Isla del Coco in Costa Rica. This is the first incident of this sort that has taken place in the Island, and as a matter of fact one of the very few that have been registered throughout the years in Co...

The time is here!! Thousands of Bruno Mars fans will gather this Thursday at the Costa Rica National Stadium for his first concert in the country. The event was practically sold out in just a few days and the production company had to open a few more locations to satisfy the demand; therefore, expect a full house tomorrow. SD Concerts has informed of several things to take into consideration:...

Tickets to The Killers concert in Costa Rica go on sale this December 9th as usual with priority for American Express cardholders. The Las Vegas rock band will be performing in Costa Rica March 15 at the Coca Cola Amphitheater in Parque Viva, La Guácima, Alajuela. Amex cardholders can get their tickets as of this Saturday at 10 a.m. through the online platform boleteria.cr and through Tu...

If you like aviation and you’ve always wanted to learn more about it, this Saturday you will get the opportunity at the Open Aviation event that will take place in Hangar 14 of the Tobias Bolaños Airport in Pavas, San José, Costa Rica. This is a free event, but it requires previous registration, it includes conferences covering different topics such as, how to become a pilot, meteorology, p...

Mission Shark is a non-profit Costa Rican organization that promotes the investigation and conservation of sharks and other marine species. For the sixth consecutive year, Mission Shark is calling those scuba divers that want to participate in the annual count of sharks and rays with the intention of extending their data base. The event will be held two different dates, this Saturday, December...

The Surfing Awards Ceremony will take place December 21 at 8 p.m. at Club Vertigo in Centro Colón, Paseo Colon, Costa Rica. This event has the support of the Surf Federation of Costa Rica, the judges are certified and there won’t be popular vote to avoid favoritism. This year the event will have 19 categories, among them, surfer of the year, biggest wave, aerial of the year, to mention just a f...

The Ministry of Public Security stopped another boat loaded with cocaine in the South Pacific. The Costa Rican Coast Guard received an alert and immediately made their way to intercept the boat with the help of the Aerial Surveillance Service in the area of Cabo Matapalo in Golfito at 6:40 a.m. this Tuesday morning. The motorboat “Explorer Fishing” had three men on board when it was stopped,...

The Treasury Criminal Court ordered today a lien over the assets (properties, cars, bank accounts) of the seven people detained in relation to the “Cementazo” corruption scandal in Costa Rica. The Court admitted the request made by the Costa Rica Attorney General Office made last Friday as a precautionary measure after it had filed a civil action for compensatory damages on November 29th. A...

“Get the food you want, from the San Jose restaurants you love, delivered Uber speed”, this is the new business model that Uber is promoting in Costa Rica. Starting tomorrow, the new app is available for Costa Ricans to order the food they love from a selection of over 250 affiliate restaurants and have it delivered straight to their door by an Uber driver. The app allows users to browse throu...

The Central American Sporting Games kicked off this December 3 in Managua, Nicaragua and will continue through December 17. Costa Rica has a total of 410 athletes participating in 27 disciplines, this Monday two of them won the gold medal. The first victory came in Fencing, by the hand of Bradley Johnston who reached the final after defeating, among others, Cristian Mejías from El Salvador a...

The question is very common, if you had to recommend the best places to visit in Costa Rica, those that left you in awe, which would they be? Here we leave you our list of the seven wonders of Costa Rica, magical places that locals and foreigners should make time to experience, some of them are very popular, others, not so much: 1) Rio Celeste: The turquoise water of this river attracts tho...

After a US tourist was attacked by a shark while scuba diving in Isla del Coco, Costa Rica, many people are wondering whether or not they should be worried about shark attacks in Costa Rican waters, especially since the summer just started and the number of people visiting the beaches will have a considerable increase. First, it is important to keep in mind that Isla del Coco, where the tiger s...

The Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE) has relaunched the website www.thetalentplace.cr, aimed at students and professionals seeking information on the most sought-after careers in the industry, as well as serving as a liaison between technical and university students and leading companies interested in the best talent to occupy internships and professional practices within their orga...

MSD (Merck Sharp & Dohme), known as Merck in the United States and Canada, inaugurated this past November 29 its Financial Services Center in Costa Rica. Through this Financial Services Center, MSD will support the company's Accounting, Planning and Financial Analysis activities in the Americas, from Canada to Chile. To date the center has generated 200 new jobs. Susana Pardo, Executive Direct...

A “March for life and family” took place this Sunday in San Jose, Costa Rica with the presence of thousands of Costa Ricans that decided to show their position in favor of life (against abortion) and family (the traditional family). The event was organized by the Catholic Church but had the support of other religious groups such as Christians and Evangelics, it took the streets of San Jose and ...

The beginning of the holiday season was celebrated this weekend with activities in the different provinces, but the epicenter as usual was the city of San José where this Sunday night the traditional Christmas tree was illuminated. A beautiful night with the full moon as a backdrop seemed magical when the Philharmonic Orchestra took the stage in La Sabana Park for a free concert; the Orchestra ...

Del Bosque Rainforest Ecolodge is location in the area of Santa Rita in Rio Cuarto, Alajuela, an strategic location close to many attractions for those that enjoy Eco-tourism, adventure and rural tourism. The hotel in itself is small, comfortable and simple, perfect for a one day family trip or an overnight stay that will allow you to experience all the attractions this area has to offer. On...

(Photo Archive) As it had been previously informed, the fourth edition of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Guanacaste is scheduled to take place December 28 at Hacienda Pinilla. The organization of the summer fashion show has confirmed the 48 models were selected out of a casting that had the participation of 170 models. Seven of the models picked are independent while the rest are part of dif...

The bill 19,744 of Electric Transportation was approved in first debate by Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly (Congress) after two years of being in discussion. The purpose of this bill is promoting the use of electric vehicles by making them more affordable, while also helping the environment and help the country reach its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2022, as these vehicles produce zero ...

Three bodies turned up this Saturday in different points of San Jose apparently executed. According to information provided by the police authorities, one of the bodies was found in San Francisco de dos Rios, the second one near the Colegio de Abogados (Bar Association) in Zapote, and the third one was close to Cascada Azul motel in this same county. One of the bodies corresponds to a woma...

(Photo Archive) Another boat was stopped 55 nautical miles from the coast of Quepos, Puntarenas, carrying 1.3 tons of cocaine, confirmed the Costa Rican police. The authorities received an alert and thanks to the patrolling operations they carry out with the support of the United States they were able to stop the boat with four men aboard, the captain identified with the last names Manzanares...

The battle in favor and against shrimp trawling continues in Costa Rica, the Constitutional Chamber (Sala Cuarta or Sala Constitucional) brought the intentions of the Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture (INCOPESCA) of issuing new trawling permits to a halt. By accepting a constitutional appeal (recurso de amparo) presented by environmental attorney Alvaro Sagot against the government agreeme...