In the past The Costa Rica Star has published extensively on Skateboarding in Costa Rica. Costa Rican skateboarders, and in particular those who practice in this sport on Nicoya streets, are being singled out in a new piece of legislation aimed at making roads safer across the country. The legislation, entitled “Law Number 9078,” is an 111-page document making a great number of changes to ex...

Both in the Great Tempisque Wetland and at the river mouth, populations of crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus), far from diminishing, have tripled in recent years. For Laura Porras, researcher from Instituto Internacional de Conservación y Manejo de Vida Silvestre de la Universidad Nacional (ICOMVIS-UNA), (International Academic Institute for Conservation and Wildlife Management National University)...

There are few better destinations in the world for wildlife spotting than Costa Rica. The government is renowned for its progressive environmental policies and has made great efforts to protect the country’s rainforests and marine habitats.As a result, there is a network of 26 national parks and a selection of privately-owned reserves where the landscape has been preserved in its natural state. On...

The State of the Nation researchers have come up with a startling figure from a recent poll, especially significant this time of the year: One in five Costa Rican workers do not receive a Christmas bonus (aguinaldo) and one-third lack such guarantees as sick pay, paid vacations, and workplace accident insurance. This is shocking for a nation whose laws appear to outsiders to benefit its work...

Firms in Costa Rica exporting abroad employ 554,690 persons, according to the PROCOMER foreign trade promotion agency. The agency adds that 53% of the employees are in agricultural exports and that the total number of jobs includes tourism sector employees. In all, some 2,485 companies rely on exports for income. The figures come from a survey conducted by the National Institute of Statistics a...

The auditing arm of the Environment Ministry says commercial fishermen have received $112 million in subsidized fuel for their boats in seven years -- and have used it for fishing in protected areas and other illegal activities. The auditors called for elimination of the subsidy, although their boss, Environment Minister Rene Castro, was not prepared to go that far. But he harshly criticized IN...

This country continued to have bridge troubles, this time when a giant crane caused one of four Bailey bridges on the heavily traveled General Canas Highway to collapse under its weight. The load bearing capacity of a Bailey bridge is 40 tons but the huge crane that tried, unsuccessfully, to cross weighed in at 84 tons. It was registered as belonging to the Quiros S.A. company. The collapsed...

With US President Barack Obama staying in office via an electoral landslide, in Costa Rica the questions become less vague or theoretical, and more focused on the internal effects. Following are 4 points of reaction in Costa Rica as the president starts his second term. Most Ticos like Obama -- after getting through the initial name game (Obama vs. Osama), most Costa Ricans were pleased to see Oba...

The Superintendency of Telecommunications has revised its decision to make the return frequencies conditional for cable companies merging with the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad. The purchase of the cable company Cable Vision by the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) had been conditional by the Superintendency of Telecommunications (SUTEL) on the waiver of airwaves segment...

The new Minister of Public Works has acknowledged decades of delays in maintaining the country’s bridges, and has announced a tender for repairs and maintenance. Minister Castro enlisted the help of the National Laboratory of Materials and Structural Models of the University of Costa Rica (LANAMME), to ensure the technical validity of the tender to be convened for the repair of bridges on roa...

The Minister of Health of Costa Rica, Dr Daisy Corrales aims to strengthen the AIDS response among key populations at higher risk in her country, which is where the epidemic remains concentrated. During a meeting with UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé on 6 November at the UNAIDS Headquarters in Geneva, Dr Corrales highlighted the focus of her Ministry in developing HIV communications and edu...

Nov 7 (Reuters) - Costa Rica is negotiating a $400 million loan from the World Bank to pay back a debt with the country's social security institute, President Laura Chinchilla said on Tuesday. Chinchilla made the announcement at a meeting with World Bank officials to sign a smaller loan of $200 million to support four public universities. "Education and health have become top financing and d...

ImportGenius.com, a U.S. company that specializes in providing enormous datasets to companies in the international trade industry, today announced that they have added a 10th country to their growing Latin American datasets: Costa Rica! ImportGenius.com’s new database of shipping manifests for Costa Rica reveals the trading activities of the country’s importers and exporters. By revealing shipp...

A Central Bank study published in the national newspaper La Nacion gives good news for taxpayers here. The Social Security health system (Caja) has led other agencies in improving financial conditions. The Caja, last year teetering on the brink of disaster until it was bailed out by a special government grant, has apparently stabilized its finances this year through a combination of cutting bur...

For the fifth year in a row, the U.S. Embassy and Costa Rica’s D.A.R.E. Foundation are joining together to pay tribute to DEA Special Agent Enrique Kiki Camarena who was murdered by Mexican drug traffickers in 1985. Over a week, known as Red Ribbon Week, students from different primary and high schools will receive special training in the prevention of drug use and abuse, participate in cultu...

In the past The Costa Rica Star has published extensively on Monsanto in Costa Rica. While United States citizens will be lining up at the polls to vote on Tuesday, November 6th, Costa Ricans will be handing in the first batch of public signatures against Monsanto’s genetically modified corn seeds. Signatures will be handed over at 12:30 p.m. to the State Phytosanitary Service, which is ...

Whether surfing familiar swells or venturing out on a surf vacation, Surf Survival Camp could help you gain basic medical skills to keep you and your buddies safer. Dr. Andrew Nathanson, co-author of the best selling handbook Surf Survival, will arrive in Nosara on November 10 and plans to share his knowledge of emergency and marine medicine during Surf Survival Camp hosted by Harmony Hotel that w...

In the past The Costa Rica Star has published about uncontrolled land development and zoning in San Jose. Few people, other than La Nacion reporters, remember that back in late 2003, a plan was set afoot, with great gravity and fanfare, to bring order to the chaos that is the Greater Metropolitan Area. Studies, of course, didn't get started until nearly a year later. Well, reported La Nacion...

In the past The Costa Rica Star has published extensively on video game culture in Costa Rica. Although you may be crazy about video games, are you crazy enough to think like an ant? That is the theme of a new video challenge from the Costa Rica-based Sabor Studios, the same crazies who brought you Pota-Toss that puts a preminum on throwing potatoes for survival. The new game, sold in App...

Around 3,000 striking workers from Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) achieved the goal of their protest, to lift the purchasing restrains that Superintendencia de Telecomunicación (Sutel) imposed. To go ahead with the acquisition of Cable Vision company, Sutel had asked ICE to return several radio-electronic frequencies but today it recanted. Jorge Arguedes, president of Asociaci...

When Griffin Thall and Paul Goodman travelled to Costa Rica in 2009 after graduating from San Diego State University, they were just looking for a fun trip to celebrate their accomplishments and unwind before starting the job hunt. They never imagined that a finding in a small beach community would be the catalyst for their own successful business, one which not only generates profits, but als...

BANGKOK, Thailand - Edwin Cubillo scored three second-half goals and Costa Rica overcame a two-goal deficit to beat Paraguay 6-3 Sunday to revive its chances of reaching the second round at the Futsal World Cup. The result left the CONCACAF champion in third place in Group A with three points, trailing Ukraine by one point and just behind host Thailand on goal difference. Ukraine defeated Thail...

Fun fact, The Costa Rica Star was founded by a Canadian. 130,000 visitors from Canada entered the country this year, which makes them one of the main generators of tourism for Costa Rica. Furthermore, Canada is the second biggest foreign exchange generated by tourism in Costa Rica, with $142 million last year. Canadian airline WestJet opened direct service on Monday to Costa Rica, with se...

The loan from the Inter-American Development Bank is aimed at developing the country's power sector. As reported by the institution, $152 million will finance investments in generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, and about $98 million will go to the Reventazón hydroelectric project. "What is more, investment will be made in renewable energy projects and modernization of th...

The two phreatic eruptions that occurred in the Poás volcano on Saturday, pose no danger and there is no need to declare a state of emergency in the area. Carlos Ramirez, a geologist at the National Seismological Network, said that the two eruptions are normal behavior of the volcano. "This is something almost monthly in Poás however the eruptions usually remain in the area of the intracrat...

Lady Gaga played the "biggest show" ever staged in Costa Rica. The 'You and I' singer brought her 'Born This Way Ball' to the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica stadium in San Jose on Saturday night and was told it was the most attended concert in the history of the Central American country. She wrote on her twitter page: "In Costa Rica tonight for stadium show. Thank you so much to everyone for...

For ten years now, the Voice of Nosara (VON) has been serving Nosara and the surrounding communities with the goal of connecting and uniting people—not just people in different towns but people of different backgrounds, nationalities and languages. At first, the newspaper was more of a newsletter, printed on letter-size paper and stapled together. But even that simple newsletter served an imp...

In the past The Costa Rica Star has published about driving tips for the roads of Costa Rica. Costa Rica is easily one of the most beautiful countries in the world, and visiting it can be a real treat. There are a ton of interesting things to do in Costa Rica, from surfing to taking in the local cuisine. No matter what you're interested in, however, you'll be checking it out surrounded by s...

In an attempt to shorten patient lists awaiting routine care, a medical center of routine births and surgery on ambulant patients has will open Monday in Desamparados. Although the center has an unwieldy name--Center for Integral Attention in Health--its aim is to attend patients faster than in regular Caja (Social Security) hospitals. To the already cumbersome name must be added that it wil...

It was all very un-Tico. A internal tribunal has fired a judge at the criminal court in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste province, for workplace harrassment of employees under her direction. A group of employees filed a number of complaints of allegedly hostile actions that resulted in a closed hearing Oct. 26 that resulted in her dismissal. The tribunal termed the judge's attitude "very grave." Despi...

A new music festival that will bring world class musicians and rising stars together on one stage has been born in the southern pacific zone of Costa Rica. The first annual Best Fest promises to be an amazing event featuring musical genres such as reggae, latin, jazz, rock, blues, and more performed by bands from Costa Rica and the United States. The Best Fest invites audiences of all ages to expe...

President Laura Chinchilla took on the public banking system this week, drawing a sharp defense from Central Bank president Rodrigo Bolaños. She thinks Ticos are paying too high of an interest rate. Meanwhile, the Central Bank announced Wednesday that interest rates would remain unchanged at 10.25%, slightly lower than the private banks' 10.5%. The President, incensed at the public banks for...

The Costa Rica Star has published extensively about the 2012 La Ruta de los Conquistadores mountain bike race. TURRIALBA, Costa Rica — It was the Attack of the Ticos as soon as stage 2 rolled off the start line at La Ruta de los Conquistadores on Friday in Tres Rios. Costa Rica’s Dennis Porras soloed to victory in the 49-mile stage, which included ascending nearly 10,000 feet up a volcano, i...

Although United Nations High Commission on Refugees representative in Costa Rica, Roberto Mignone recognizes this country as "exceptional" in treatment of refugees from other countries, it turns down half of all such applications. Those rejected, however, can apply for another immigration status. Of 18,478 seeking refugee status in the past decade, Immigration has rejected 9,066. according to l...

Granted, National Liberation Party doesn't win all the elections, but its races for presidential nomination are always spirited. The run up to the 2014 elections keeps up the tradition, with San Jose Mayor Johnny Araya taking a commanding lead in the latest poll. Ex-President Jose Maria Figueres, according to the Unimer poll, is tied for second with Former Minister of the Presidency Rodrigo Ari...

Anyone who sees the entrance to San Jose’s new Chinatown will be impressed by the huge arch at its entrance. Isabel Yung, President of the local Chinese Colony in Costa Rica, stated, “Anyone who passes under the arch with be filled with good luck.” She also said, “Prosperity is something very important for our culture and the new arch reflects the prosperity of San Jose.” The huge arch is f...

In the recent past The Costa Rica Star has published about this tough and technical mountain bike race. UNIVERSIDAD PARA LA PAZ, Costa Rica — If it’s possible to be effusive and understated at the same time, American mountain biker Pua Mata was so after stage one of La Ruta de los Conquistadores on Thursday. “It was awesome. It was hard. It was good,” Mata said of the punishing race that ush...

Let's Xplore Costa Rica Tours & Transfers is located in the heart of Tamarindo on the Pacific North West. Denise Hazell & Paul Bobadilla, as your hosts have been long time locals of the area and very well travelled throughout Costa Rica and beyond. Denise is a Canadian transplant from Southern Ontario, Canada who started traveling to Costa Rica in 1989 (and just kept coming back) and has lived he...

Recently The Costa Rica Star updated our Facebook page with a status update about small tremors in the Central Valley. Costa Ricans are on alert, which was declared by the National Committee of Emergency due to the seismic activity in the central region. The western province of Guanacaste and the Great Metropolitan Area are the most active regions and authorities are asking residents a conti...

With all of the news about the health crisis in the United States and other countries around the world, people are becoming more aware about the dangers of consuming excess sugar, chemicals and other harmful food additives. Eating clean and simple foods at home is a good way to avoid encountering these dining pitfalls, however sometimes it is nice to enjoy a meal outside of the home. The p...