Source: Fuerza Publica Residents and visitors in the Caribbean communities of Costa Rica have gotten used to seeing the bilingual and courteous Tourism Police officers riding past on their high-performance bicycles and wearing their stylish white polo shirts, but in the past few weeks they have seen them dismount, spring to action and take down suspects. Marijuana Smuggling in Pococi On ...

The south Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica somehow seems almost greener, more lush and a more “tropical rainforest experience” than its highly-popular sunny cousin, the Pacific Coast. Maybe it is the abundant rain, brought in by the trade winds, which keeps the jungle thick and vibrant right to the shoreline. Maybe it is the bright aqua, crystal-clear Caribbean Sea that sparkles like a precious je...

The Tortuguero coast in Costa Rica is a 22-mile-long, desolate, volcanic black sand beach littered with driftwood and tree logs tossed up on shore from the untamed ocean. It is a wild place – like the imaginary jungle coast in Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are.” There is nothing but beach and low, swampy jungle for miles and miles. You can’t swim here because of rough surf, strong curren...

Source: Fuerza Publica Talamanca Region, Costa Rica – They are courteous, bilingual and usually wear stylish white polo shirts. You usually see them on foot or riding mountain bikes in tourist hotspots such as Playas del Coco in Guanacaste. They also carry regulation weapons and are trained in special tactics to combat crime. These are the members of the Tourism Police of Costa Rica, a special...

The Southern Caribbean Society of the School for the Arts (Spanish acronym: EDACS), the Municipality of Talamanca and the Chamber of Tourism and Commerce of the Southern Caribbean (Spanish acronym: CATCCAS) cordially invite you to ArteViva, a special festival that features art, music, gastronomy, film, sports, and a permanent program in arts for the people of Puerto Viejo in Talamanca, Costa Rica....

Travel can change the world. At least former U.S. President Bill Clinton thinks so. “The travel industry has the potential – and the responsibility – to spread peace and change the world,” Clinton told travel executives while speaking at the World Travel & Tourism Council's 13th annual Global Summit in Abu Dhabi in April 2013. Student travel organizations like EcoTeach and People to Peop...

Costa Rica celebrates Afro-Costa Rican heritage in August of each year, and this year's activities are strongly focused on film. The Costa Rica Star has already written about the Flowers of the African Diaspora Film Festival currently playing at Cine Magaly in San Jose; now the Southern Caribbean Chamber of Commerce and Tourism (CATCCAS in Spanish) invites you to enjoy part of the film festival in...

The article below is a long detailed guest post by Margie Thompson of Escribana “This place is magical. … the Southern Caribbean has such an attraction that when people come here they can’t explain why they want to stay.” (Maritza Morales Williams, young Afro Costa Rican from Puerto Viejo) Famous for being one of the most biologically rich areas in the world with a population comprised of a uniq...

This is a guest article by Jeff Jones on the Huffington Post. I wouldn't exactly call it a rivalry, but retirees and vacationers alike tend to fall into one of two categories; those who go west in Costa Rica, especially to Jaco (the closest beach town to the international airport) and those who head east to the Carib. And this, of course, makes perfect sense... In the same way visitors to Fl...

Every year at the Cannes Film Festival, a single screening manages to polarize audiences. This time the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Paul Watson, who is fighting an extradition to Costa Rica, is trying to take the spotlight with his 2011 documentary "Confessions of an Eco-Terrorist", and to that extent celebrity guests -including American actress Michelle Rodriguez- planned a g...

If you are presently on vacation in Costa Rica, or planning to make your getaway soon, Costa Rica's port town of Limón on the Caribbean side of the country, converts to an all out party every October to celebrate “Carnaval”! Vaguely disguised around celebrating Columbus Day (October 12th) or “Dia de Las Culturas” (as we know it in Costa Rica), locals as well as every strange character you c...

"We got sunlight on the sand, we got moonlight on the sea / We got mangos and bananas you can pick right off the tree..." We have all of the above in Puerto Viejo, plus snorkeling, surfing, gorgeous beaches, wildlife to rival the Bronx Zoo, and one of the world's most laid back cultures. What ain't we got? Well... Hot Water Living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in a building with...

I gave the taxi driver a $20. He looked at me in disappointment. I'd arrived in Cahuita, Costa Rica, poorer than I’d expected. Having to chase a bus down with a taxi from Limón put my wallet on a diet plan. There were no ATMs in Cahuita and hardly any tourists here either. It was quiet. Very quiet. This town was way different from the party atmosphere of Puerto Viejo de Talamanca when I ...

A recent article in the online version of the Cleveland Jewish News described a typical example of conflict resolution in Costa Rica. Dental practitioner Dr. Yoav Taub and his wife arrived in the Juan Santamaria International Airport and tried to clear customs with a few days' supply of kosher food. As previously reported in The Costa Rica Star, importing food into our country can be a highly bur...

For 20 years, I’ve been fortunate to live and work in this fabulous country and I’ve assembled the following information with links to share a slice of paradise with you. CENTRAL VALLEY - The heart and soul of Costa Rica, where 70% of the population lives and works. Strikingly beautiful with a mild, spring-like climate year-round. Costa Rica’s Central Valley lies at an elevation of 3,000 to 5,...

The Costa Rica Star has recently published information about receiving your permanent residency in Costa Rica to avoid border runs, wasting time, and money. Author's Note: This article is being written in response to a dear reader named Jane, who is from the United States and is planning on moving to the town of Puerto Viejo in the Talamanca Region, province of Limon. Parts of her e-mail to the...

Nature made Costa Rica’s beaches beautiful, and the local government is making sure that they also remain clean thanks to the Bandera Azul Ecologica (Blue Ecologic Flag) program. The PBAE was created in 1996 with the objective of preventing or stopping pollution and to safeguard the public health. The program (which is an adaptation of a similar one launched in Europe back in 1985) has been promot...

While the northern pacific coast of Costa Rica has been quite popular amongst tourism visitors for a long time, the Limon region has remained stagnated and undeveloped with poor infrastructure and a small number of real estate projects, but that seems to be changing as the country is applying the necessary measures in order to ensure that the province will experience the optimal growth necessary t...