The Gold Coast of Costa Rica begins in the province of Guanacaste and continues down to the Central Pacific Coast in the province of Puntarenas. Jaco Beach is one of the best-known tourism hotspots of Costa Rica for many reasons, and the most important is that this coastal town has undergone considerable development for quite a few decades.   First-time visitors to Costa Rica do not usu...

Jungle Jam 2015, Jaco Beach, Costa Rica Jaco Beach, Costa Rica (March 8, 2015) - Jungle Jam V returns to Jaco, Costa Rica for its fifth consecutive year with a stellar line-up on the grounds of the beautiful Hotel DoceLunas for 4 days of music in paradise March 19-22, 2015. This year’s performers include: Slightly Stoopid, Thievery Corporation, Steel Pulse, Morgan Heritage, Mykal Rose (of Blac...

Beach house in Costa Rica Washington, Mar 4 (EFE; additional context by The Costa Rica Star).- The pace of new home sales in the United States increased 0.2 percent in January to an annual rate of 481,000 units, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. In Costa Rica, the first quarter of 2015 indicates strong interest in new construction and the mortgage markets. Here's the Real Estate S...

Rio de Janeiro's world-famous Copacabana and Ipanema are among the areas contaminated to the point that dermatologists recommend avoiding skin contact with the sands. EFE/File Rio de Janeiro, Mar 2 (EFE).- The sands on the beaches of this Brazilian tourist mecca are heavily polluted, mainly thanks to trash left behind by beachgoers, experts told Efe.   Rio de Janeiro's world-famous ...

Source: Google Maps Last week, nearly 250 residents of Liberia assembled at the Municipal Gymnasium to coordinate an effort to reclaim one of the most treasured beaches in their canton: Playa Cabuyal. According to a report by online news outlet Primero en Noticias, residents of Liberia are protesting against what they consider to be an issue of illegal land registration by an extremely wealthy...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Canadian airline Sunwing intends to offer more connections between North American cities and Costa Rica. As reported by The Costa Rica Star, Sunwing has previously announced flights from Toronto and Edmonton to the Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport (LIR), which is conveniently located near the Gold Coast beaches of Guanacaste. According to a report by Juan...

Source: Recovery Ranch One of the most important aspects of recovery from substance abuse is being able to once again provide meaningful contributions to society. Here is a very good example of such an action taking place in Costa Rica, specifically in the Nicoya region of the Guanacaste province. The Costa Rica Star thanks Recovery Ranch for this inspiring press release and for their excellen...

Source; ADTC A dance academy that specializes in summer camps for girls recently published a new video that explains their approach to dance instruction. The American Dance Training Camp features summer camp locations in seven different spot in the United States; its sole international location is Costa Rica, specifically in Playa Nosara. As it happens, the location in Costa Rica is very popul...

Manuel Antonio Beach in Costa Rica The popular online travel reviews and advice website TripAdvisor recently announced its 2015 Traveler's Choice Awards, a tradition that is currently in its third year. It so happens that one of Costa Rica's most pristine stretches Pacific coastline made the list of the world's Top 20 Traveler's Choice Beaches in the World. Here is the introduction to the o...

Beach house in Costa Rica As part of an effort to make real estate listings in Costa Rica more attractive to house hunters, homeowners are now following the advice of their agents and selling their properties furnished. This trend is particularly on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica where new listings of homes located in coastal communities near the beach are  including furniture in order to swe...

Source: Flickr Sand Sign, a multi-national artistic project featuring Andres Amador, is launching a social initiative for Valentine's Day 2015. For one month, the campaign will be collecting messages with love declarations to draw them on some of the world's most beautiful beaches so that a World Record can be established. As expected, Costa Rica is one of the countries participating in this r...

As the luxury travel and accommodation segment in Costa Rica continues to grow, tourism and hospitality providers are targeting their efforts on specific tourist demographics such as families and couples. As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, luxury villa rentals are a major part of the upscale travel experience in our country, and the following press release by Villas of Distinction show...

Source: Flickr Commons Some of the prettiest tourist attractions in Costa Rica are located along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. Cartographers have mapped out and designated more than 100 beaches in Costa Rica, and some of them are so secluded that they do not appear in commercially available maps. Depending on personal preference, some beaches may appear to be prettier than others, and this...

Ann Arbor MI (PRWEB) February 12, 2015 - Journeys International, the first adventure travel company to offer trips designed specifically for families, announced today the top 10 family destinations for 2015: Costa Rica Peru Panama China Japan Thailand Tanzania South Africa Galapagos (Ecuador) Indonesia “Firsthand research, feedback from our clients, and the expert knowledge of our o...

Originally from Kingdom of Spain, and inspired by medieval jousts, 'La Carrera de Cintas' is one of various equestrian events in Costa Rica, particularly in the province of Guanacaste, which is renowned for its cowboy (sabanero) identity and culture. The essence of this equestrian tournament is to catch the colorful tape positioned on a rope, which is hoisted up at about 3 meters from the groun...

Quepos, Costa Rica (PRWEB) February 09, 2015 - With its fertile soil and abundance in fishing opportunities, Manuel Antonio in Costa Rica has a been a place of settlement long before it became a place for visitors seeking tropical adventure, wildlife, and beach relaxation. The Quepoa indigenous tribe, whose settlement dates back to 950-900 years ago, are perhaps the most prominent of the area's...

Playa Brasilito A woman vacationing in Playa Brasilito, one of Costa Rica's Gold Coast beaches located in the province of Guanacaste, lost her life in the surf this weekend. According to a report published by daily tabloid Diario Extra, the woman was an Italian tourist named Patricia Taburiny, who was 64 years of age. Unlike other, recent reports of tourist drownings in Costa Rica, heavy surf ...

Hacker Paradise, a unique tropical school for entrepreneurial hackers located in the pristine beach town of Playa Carrillo in Guanacaste, recently completed its programming retreat in Costa Rica. Readers of The Costa Rica Star will remember when we first wrote about this interesting academy: At a boutique hotel in the picturesque beach town of Playa Carrillo,province of Guanacaste, a group of pro...

Playa Junquillal is part of the charming communities that make up the Gold Coast of Costa Rica. This quiet beach town is located about 30 kilometers west of Santa Cruz and 20 kilometers south of the major expat enclave of Tamarindo Beach. Playa Junquillal is about as quiet, serene, relaxed, and authentic as you can get in Costa Rica. Here you can find an estuary, choice breaks, a savannah, a handf...

Source: El Sabanero New York, NY (PRWEB) January 21, 2015 - Drishti Yoga Teacher Training today announced that Kurt Reichenberger, owner of El Sabanero Eco Lodge near Tamarindo, Costa Rica has built a brand new yoga shala for their upcoming yoga teacher training in March 2015. For the second year in a row Drishti Yoga Teacher Training announces their Yoga Teacher Training in Costa Rica will...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Quarterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots is probably one of the most recognized professional athletes within the National Football League (NFL) of the United States for several reasons, and one of them is his connection to Costa Rica. The Super Bowl is one of the biggest sporting events in the entire world, and the honor of winning NFL Super Bowl XLIX, whi...

Hotel Iguanazul Introducing the new Hotel Iguanazul - a truly unique Costa Rican experience Beautifully updated Costa Rican hotel on the Pacific (TRAVPR.COM) CANADA/COSTA RICA - February 2nd, 2015 - The Hotel Iguanazul, a boutique hotel located in Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica, has recently undergone a wonderful transformation. The upgraded hotel features 24 comfortable guest rooms tha...

Source: Tulemar Resort There is a growing list of resort properties in Costa Rica that have been earning the coveted TripAdvisor Awards. This latest TripAdvisor Award recipient is located in the pristine Manuel Antonio National Park in the Southern Pacific coast. Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica (PRWEB) January 30, 2015 - The annual TripAdvisor "Traveler's Choice" awards have been announced, and ...

Playa Hermosa Guanacaste This past Monday, a retired woman from Montreal and her two-year old grandniece tragically drowned in Playa Santa Teresa, located on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. According to the Toronto Sun, Andree Hamel rushed into the surf to save little Jasmine, who was born in Costa Rica; alas, both were caught in the strong undertow produced by dangerous rip current condition...

In the coastal town Source: Wikimedia Commons of Playa Sámara, province of Guanacaste, a homeless man was relieved of his pet boa constrictor by officers from Fuerza Publica, Costa Rica's national police force. The act of confiscation was conducted in response to calls from several neighbors in Playa Sámara who were concerned that the large snake could slither away into the community when t...

Gilbert Brown Professional surfer and all-around waterman Gilbert Brown was a clear favorite at the first day of competition in Costa Rica's Kolbi National Surfing Circuit; after all, the heats took place in break that is very familiar to the native from Limón: Playa Cocles. Brown is the current champion, but it was Anthony Fillingim who took the lead in this highly competitive tournament. ...

Tamarindo Beach On the final installment of Kristine Gorman's real estate adventure in Costa Rica, she runs into some issues with regard to her plans of acquiring an investment property in the Gold Coast beaches of Guanacaste. Still, the Boston accountant persevered and is now the proud owner of a condominium unit in Tamarindo Beach. Before reading this insightful account of purchasing resi...

Source: Tabacon CHICAGO, Jan. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines today announces the launch of United Eco-Skies® Vacations, a new travel program that provides United customers with vacation options that incorporate sustainability and environmental responsibility into their getaways. The airline is working with The Mark Travel Corporation, exclusive tour operator for United Vacations, and...

Source: Cala Luna Tamarindo, Guanacaste, Costa Rica - January 14, 2015 /MarketersMedia/ --  The online magazine PsychologyToday.com recently featured an article entitled "The importance of vacations to our physical and mental health" written by columnist Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D. Dr. Whitbourne writes, "Taking a vacation may be necessary for mental health. The act of taking a vacation or ...

Source: Wikimedia Commons TORONTO, Jan. 5, 2015 /CNW/ - With a cold winter ahead, many Canadians will be escaping down south in search of warmer weather. In fact, Travelocity.ca reveals traffic to their website surges after the holiday season. A new Travelocity.ca survey revealed the majority of Canadians said they enjoy an all-inclusive beach vacation with 65 per cent saying they are easy and...

Source: Ylang Ylang Resort As 2014 comes to an end, beach resorts in Costa Rica are preparing special activities for their guests, visitors and residents. One such resort is the Ylang Ylang, located on the Puntarenas portion of the Nicoya Peninsula, right near the tip. This resort is close to the coastal town of Montezuma, a prime tourism spot in Costa Rica. Like other beach resorts, Ylang Yla...

Costa Rica from the air Two of the hottest Christmas gifts received by tech and photography enthusiasts around the world were drone aircraft and GoPro high-definition cameras. According to a recent story in All Things Considered, a news program broadcast by National Public Radio in the United States, many YouTube videos posted on Christmas Day featured new drone operators crashing their new, e...

Source: Fuerza Publica Along with Puntarenas and Limon, Guanacaste is a province in Costa Rica that is known to attract many revelers for New Year’s Eve celebrations. These provinces also happen to be hotspots of disorderly activity and domestic violence that transpire during the festivities, particularly after 10:00 pm on December 31st. For this reason, officers from Fuerza Publica, the natio...

Source: Blue Osa The Active Times, a major online source of information about active, adventurous and healthy vacations, recently announced its Top Ten List of Health and Wellness Vacations for 2015, and Costa Rica made the list. The Active Times based its Top Ten picks on the following criteria:   For some, "getting away" not only means venturing to a quiet, calm and secluded retreat...

Source: Wikimedia Commons TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - December 23, 2014) - Tropical adventure came a little bit closer to residents of Alberta this week as Sunwing Vacations launched a new direct flight service from Edmonton to Liberia, Costa Rica. On the way to one of the country's most captivating regions, passengers were treated to award-winning Sunwing Airlines' Champagne Service, which fe...

Source: Wikimedia Commons The town of Puerto Viejo in the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica is a haven for backpackers, vacationers and expats seeking a warm climate, an ultra-relaxed atmosphere and the friendliness of the local Afro Costa Ricans and indigenous inhabitants. Alas, the infrastructures of Puerto Viejo and the city of Limon are vulnerable to natural disasters such as storm surge and t...

Costa Rica is a land of many attractive sunsets, and one of the best spots to see the sun go down amidst vanilla skies that seemed to have floated out of a Monet painting is Dominical, one of the prettiest coastal towns in our country. In recent years, Playa Dominical has attracted tourists who wish to keep this wonderful tourism secret all to themselves. As previously reported by The Costa Rica S...

The massive Santa Elena luxury resort and housing complex in Guanacaste is set to expand within its 1,000 hectares over the next 15 years with new hotels and gated communities. Such was the report filed by Cristina Fallas Villalobos of business weekly El Financiero earlier this week. Readers of The Costa Rica Star will remember that we reported on the Dreams Las Mareas beach resort earlier this...

Hainan. Source: ISA Thanks to the great performance of Costa Rica's National Surfing Team at the recent World Surfing Games in Peru, our professional surfers have another shot at high-level international competition. According to an official press release by the Surfing Federation of Costa Rica (Spanish acronym: FEDESURF), our Tico pro surfers are now in Hainan, the smallest and southernmost pro...

Source: Asociacion Nacional de Guardavidas de Costa Rica Thanks to the inexhaustible efforts of the National Association of Lifeguards in Costa Rica, more aquatic lifesavers are being trained and posted on our numerous beaches. On September 15th, the Association was formally accepted into the International Life Saving Federation; this announcement prompted them to complete training of a new gr...