Osa Peninsula
The neighbors of Drake Bay finally have a bridge that connects them by ground to the Osa Peninsula, something they had been waiting for for years and that finally gives them more options to commercialize their products and promote tourism. “This is a ground route that will finally allow entry to Drake Bay during any month of the year, both to residents of neighboring communities as well as comm...
Civil Aviation in Costa Rica invested almost $5.7 million USD in the intervention of the Drake airport in Osa, Puntarenas, the updates were inaugurated by President Carlos Alvarado Wednesday January 17th. Tourism is the main economic activity in Drake, a region known for its lush raw nature. The project consisted of construction of a new 250 square meter terminal (2798.62 ft.), a platform to pa...
Public Police Force in Costa Rica received the alert of an injured person the night of this Sunday, December 16, they found a Canadian man who had been shot on his right ankle and immediately requested the assistance of the Red Cross. The tourist apparently was intercepted by two men in front of a hotel in the area of Uvita, Ballena Bay, Puntarenas, that robbed him, taking his passport, docume...
American actor and singer Zac Efron is no stranger to Costa Rica, he has vacationed in the country in the past and he wanted to come back for more. The handsome young man spent several days in the country, and like last year, he visited the with some friends and his brother Dylan. Efron shared some of his adventures in the country through his social media accounts, a visit to waterfalls in t...
The story had a tragic and sad end, the body of 30-year-old Massachusetts native Josh Byrne was found this Saturday several hours into a search. Byrne and his wife Bianca arrived in Costa Rica earlier this week on their honeymoon trip after just celebrating their marriage last weekend on a farm in New Hampshire. The couple chose the area of Dominicalito in the South Pacific to celebrate their m...
30-year-old Josh Byrne and his wife Bianca traveled to Costa Rica earlier this week to celebrate their honeymoon after getting married last weekend on a farm in New Hampshire. As they were traveling over a bridge a flash flood dragged the car they were driving into the river. Bianca was able to make it out alive, but so far, there are no signs of Byrne. The couple was vacationing in the area of...
Crocodile Bay Resort is a cozy 37 room, 4 star eco-adventure resort located in the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica; this hotel, offers a variety of rainforest expeditions and “expertly crafted eco-tours” that promise a unique and unforgettable experience for national and international tourists. "Crocodile Bay Resort is a family-owned business with strong local roots. We are passionate about protect...
Saturday September 8th a whale gave the scare of a lifetime to a group of 6 tourists and their 2 guides in Sierpe de Osa, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. According to tour guide César Moraga, the group of tourists were enjoying a whale watching tour in the area known as “El Paraiso”, they finished watching them and started their way back to Isla del Caño when all of a sudden about one mile from the isl...
A US tourist identified as Ion Chiaburu drowned today in the area known as Roca Verde in Dominical, Osa, Puntarenas. The man, 77 years-of-age, was a native of Ohio, and apparently entered the country last Saturday along with his son; he was enjoying the day swimming at the beach when he was dragged by a rip current. A helicopter from the hotel they were staying, Punta Gabriela, was able to l...
The bridge over Drake River is being built through an alliance between the Rural Development Institute (INDER) and the OSA Municipality, and will allow the access to the Osa Peninsula, area that is home to 2.5% of the worlds’ biodiversity. “Osa Peninsula, with over 50% of Costa Rica’s biodiversity and its point of entry Drake Bay, is one of the most beautiful places in our country, visited by t...
The Risk Prevention and National Emergency Attention Commission (CNE) is making an investment of over $5.6 million across different counties of the Zona Sur (South Zone) for the rehabilitation and reinforcement of dikes, construction of bridges, intervention of rivers and the purchase of materials, tools and equipment for farmers. In total there are 16 projects being developed, out of which hal...
Through an executive decree, Costa Rica will establish safe routes in waters of the Pacific to increase marine security and prevent collisions between vessels and cetaceans. By creating an “Area-to-be-Avoided” and a traffic separation scheme, the country hopes to protect marine environment, particularly the migratory population of humpback whales and other cetaceans that travel the waters of G...
Officers of the National Coast Guard Service and the Frontier Police found 35 packets of cocaine hidden in a beach in Golfo Dulce, Osa, Puntarenas. Costa Rican authorities were alerted on Friday night by the Colombian police about a suspicious vessel that had left Colombia and was heading to the coast of Costa Rica. According to the Minister of Security, Gustavo Mata, the Coast Guard Service i...
Kalon Surf Luxury Resort is located in Dominical, Costa Rica, and offers an all-inclusive 7 night package to national and foreign tourists who want to learn how to surf or improve their surfing skills while at the same time enjoying the beauty of this location and luxury accommodation. “The signature Kalon package includes luxury accommodation, surf coaching at all levels, gourmet cuisine, pila...
Image for illustration purposes (Jumping sting rays in Santa Elena, Guanacaste. Photo BY: Luciano Capelli) Copa de Arbol Beach and Rainforest Resort located in Drake Bay, Osa Península in the South Pacific of Costa Rica, posted the following video of a group of Devil Rays as they jump and “fly” out of the water in what is a beautiful and unique spectacle. It is not uncommon to see groups of ...
NatGeo posted today a beautiful video (included below) of a baby sloth that was rescued in Costa Rica. The story behind this: The baby two-toed sloth was rescued in the area of Osa Peninsula, where an expat from Ohio, USA, Dirk Morgan, owner of Morgan’s Jungle Lodge, learned from guests about the sloth holding on to a rock and crying for help in the area known as Punta Tigre, they immediate...
Monday, December 25 in the waters of the Pacific 70 nautical miles from the entrance to the Gulf the Costa Rica Drug Control Police and the National Coast Guard Service found a cocaine cargo attached to a GPS buoy with the assistance from a US P-3 maritime surveillance aircraft. The drug cargo was taken to the Golfito Port, a total of 22 packets of 50 kilograms each and a smaller one, making a ...
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 ...
Tourist businesses affiliated with the Chamber of Tourism of Osa (CATUOSA) last week signed a pledge to eliminate the use of plastic containers, bags and other plastic disposable items in shops, bars and restaurants in the Osa Peninsula region in southern Costa Rica. Companies plan to substitute single-use plastics and styrofoam packages like utensils, cups, plates, straws and bags for biodegra...
Tropical Storm Nate's damages and effects are still being tabulated and addressed in Costa Rica. The storm's 24 hours of straight rain in most of the country has affected many parts of the economy, as well as forever changed people's lives who lost their homes, businesses, schools and even communities. Golfito's duty free zone in the southern Pacific region of Costa Rica is no exception. ...
A project to improve the infrastructure and conditions of the different Wildlife Conservation Areas in the South Pacific is already on its way, the same is part of the program “Tejiendo Desarrollo” of the Ministry of Environment and the National System of Areas of Conservation. Improvements include, lodging shelters, adequate bathrooms and showers, souvenir shops, bridges, among others, and wi...
The Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica's southern Pacific Osa Peninsula partially re-opened yesterday, Wednesday, October 11, said conservation officials. Domestic and foreign tourists will be able to explore some areas of the park, said the National System Conservation Areas (SINAC) in a statement, due to highly saturated soils and fallen trees and debris on some paths. The La Lorena vis...
Experts alert that from August-December, when Costa Rica's crocodiles are breeding, there is often an uptick in attacks on humans. This is due to the fact that when males compete with other males for a mate, weaker males are often displaced from their usual habitats in and around river mouths and make forays into other areas such as oceans, beaches, canals, and mangroves. Sunday, September 2...
Municipalities in the Central and South Pacific regions of Costa Rica have shortened the time it takes to have a business permit granted, said government representatives of the Alcanzando Escala program (which translates to Achieving Scale). In order to improve the business climate in the Central and South Pacific region of the country, municipal procedures that previously lasted 33 days can no...
The start of this year's southern Pacific Whale and Dolphin Festival coincides with Costa Rica's Independence Day. The 9th edition of the festival will be held from September 15 to October 1 at Punta Uvita's Marino Ballena National Park. Community members and especially tour operators got some additional good news for their festival week when the Costa Rican Tourism Institute announced the appr...
Many in the San José metropolitan area snoozed through the 5:28 quake that rocked Pavones in southern Costa Rica, but most were rocked by the lesser magnitude one that occurred half an hour later. At 5:50 a.m., a 3.2 tremor was registered 7 kms southeast of Ciudad Colón, a small city west of the capital city. Initial reports from the National University's Volcanology and Seismology Obnsevatory...
The U.S. government announced a contribution of more than US$38,500 for the preservation of the pre-Colombian spheres in Costa Rica's southern Delta del Diquis in the region of the Osa Peninsula. The funds will support a hydrological study to analyze the behavior of soils and layers of the earth's crust at the Finca 6 archaeological site where the surrounding rivers have covered evidence of the...
Costa Rica is working to rehabilitate and protect mangroves, a coastal ecosystem that is highly threatened throughout the world, said Deputy Minister of Water, Seas, Coasts and Wetlands, Fernando Mora in an interview with the Spanish News Agency (EFE). Costa Rican environmental authorities stressed the importance of conserving mangroves in harmony with the well-being of communities bordering th...
On the southern Pacific beaches in and around Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula, there are four types of sea turtles that nest at different times of the year: Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), Green (Chelonia mydas), Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata). All of these are in danger of extinction, mainly due to human pollution and other human intrus...
There are just a few archaeological sites in Costa Rica, probably the most popular one is the Guayabo National Monument in Turrialba, Cartago; but there is another one, many times overlooked even by locals, this is Finca 6 In Palmar Sur de Osa, Puntarenas, also known as “Las Esferas del Diquis” (The Diquis Spheres). Finca 6 is the second archaeological site that is open to the public after Guay...
What could be more paradoxical than kids in the newly proclaimed wellness tourism capital lacking outdoor areas to get exercise and have fun? Well, strangely enough, many rural areas in Costa Rica - whether due to hilly terrain, very wet climates, and other environmental and political factors present in this tropical country - do not have safe or apt areas for kids, especially young ones, to ru...
The Coto 47 airfield along Costa Rica's Pacific coast, in the southernmost area of the Puntarenas province, about 10 miles form the Panamanian border, just got a major overhaul. The investment exceeded €1.02 billion or roughly US$1.76 million, and will benefit businesses, residents and visitors in the southern Pacific region, said the Costa Rican government in a press statement. Coto 47 (IAT...
Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis will visit the southern Pacific region of Osa tomorrow, June 15, and local residents said they will hold a protest in "defense of the rights of nature and the right of future generations," reported local media today. The peaceful march will begin at 8:30 a.m. leaving the old South Pacific Lyceum and arriving at the Municipality of Osa. The motto of the...
The Solís government continues to work on delayed infrastructure projects throughout the country, and is moving forward with two bridges in the Drake area of the Osa Peninsula, the biodiversity hotspot in Costa Rica’s southern Pacific region and home to Corcovado National Park, said the president’s office this week. A program of the Office of the First Lady of the Republic called “Tejiendo Desa...
Off the Osa Peninsula in southern Costa Rica, scientists experiment with reviving coral reefs. Last year things turned pretty bad for coral reefs throughout the world due to ocean warming caused by El Niño and human activities that bleached and caused death in many reefs, including those in the Golfo Dulce. By "reforesting" the coral reef with fragments of coral "planted" in ceramic discs, a...
In the calm, clean waters of the Golfo Dulce in the southern coast of Costa Rica near the Osa Península, scientists Alejandro Solórzano and Mahmood Sasa from the University of Costa Rica found the object of their investigation, a 60 cm entirely yellow sea snake. The investigators believe this is an endemic species, that has been isolated in this region due to the particular temperature and curr...
Costa Rica’s National Technical Environmental Secretariat (Secretaría Técnica Nacional Ambiental, Setena) recently gave the green light for increased pineapple production in Costa Rica’s southern region, a move that is troubling to environmentalists and indigenous groups whose protected lands in that region would be threatened by the intensive monoculture agriculture, reported Edgardo Araya, Broad...
As researchers scramble to understand how ecosystems react to the earth's changing climate, forests, especially tropical rainforests, are top on the list. This is because of their huge capacity to be "carbon sinks" or absorb tons of carbon pollution - from burning fossil fuels - that creates the greenhouse effect, or warming of the earth's climate. As global temperatures rise, and rainfa...
The Manuel Mora Valverde Hospital in the southern Costa Rican city of Golfito near the Panama border recently received an investment of approximately US$1.8 million to renovate and upgrade their outpatient care, operating rooms, neonatal care, and hospitalization area, said the Costa Rican Social Security Agency which runs the country's public health care facilities. In February surgeons at the...
Based on thousands of endorsements from previous travelers for the best places in the world for wildlife, Booking.com featured the top six destinations in the world to enjoy nature and relax, among them we find Copa de Arbol Beach and Rainforest Resort in Drake Bay, Osa Península, Puntarenas. With its tropical climate and outstanding flora and fauna, Drake Bay in Costa Rica is an explorer's dre...