The tagline of the 5-Star resort La Mansion Inn is “You come as a guest, but leave as a friend.” Dra. Maria Luisa Cedeno Quesada (43), wasn’t even able to leave alive. Three men are in custody for her murder, including the owner of the hotel, Harry J. Bodaan, a longtime fixture on the Manuel Antonio social scene, often referred to as the Ambassador of Quepos. Bodaan (69), was taken into police cus...

This is the fifth installment of The Costa Rica Star’s exclusives six part original series of the upcoming book, “Drug Diva”, by Carol Vaughn the story of one of Central America’s fiercest female narco-traffickers, Cristel Gomez Espinoza. You can read our previous published first installment here , the second installment here third installment here and fourth here. Cristel Yariella Gomez Espino...

For reasons that are yet unclear, a Canadian women identified as Nicole Toni Palladino has fallen off a cliff of some 65 feet down while riding her bicycle in the area of Mal País, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Palladino was rescued and transferred via air on a helicopter to hospital with punctured lungs and severe head trauma. She is currently hospitalized at the Clínica Bíblica private hospital in ...

Ministry of Planning and Economic Policy (MIDEPLAN) gave the Costa Rican Train Institute (INCOFER) t total of over $560 thousand dollars to carry out the necessary feasibility studies of the or the project of reconstruction of 131 kilometers of train track between Alajuela and Puntarenas. “The reactivation of the Train to the Pacific” is one of the key projects of Incofer framed within the I...

The coasts of Golfito in the South Pacific received “Crystal Symphony” the first cruise of the 2019-2020 season this past weekend with a total of 639 passengers and 590 crew members aboard. The Costa Rican Institute of Ports of the Pacific (INCOP) was in charge of the port operation and receiving the ship. The vessel arrived to the coasts of Golfito the morning of October 13th. Tourists were...

A very unusual road accident caused the death of two people the evening of Thursday October 10th in Garabito, Puntarenas. The Fire department reported the accident took place at approximately 7:53 p.m. in front of Nativa Resort on route 34 when a bus that was traveling from Jacó towards Orotina suddenly received the impact through the front windshield of two tractor trailer wheels which went st...

The heavy rainfall from this past Saturday caused a drain to collapse and destroyed the road in front of the Tambor Beach Hotel. The National Emergency Commission (CNE) reported the important damages on this road that communicates the city of Paquera with Cóbano in Puntarenas, this is just one of the over 40 events that required the attention of the CNE this weekend. The Ministry of Public W...

On August 20th, Cristel Yariella Gomez Espinoza, a.k.a, "La Reina del Sur"(Queen of the South), was arrested after having been on the run for nine months, wanted for being a drug capo of a cartel supplying massive quantities of drugs to the Southern Zone of Costa Rica. She is only 24 years old. She was arrested while shopping for new pants, dressed in a pink satin romper with an open back displ...

Cristel Yariela Gomez Espinoza, known by her gang name “La Reina del Sur”, was picked up at 10AM on Tuesday in Palmar Norte, Puntarenas, in the Southern Zone. She was wanted by Interpol, as well as the OIJ of Costa Rica, who had an order for capture for her since 2018. The arrest took place in a commercial center, where the OIJ and Fuerza Publica had been staking out another wanted felon, when the...

The U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort will arrive to Puntarenas, Costa Rica this Sunday, July 21 to offer medical attention between Tuesday, July 3 and Saturday, July 27. This hospital ship is on a five-month deployment to Central and South America as well as the Caribbean in support of humanitarian and partner-building efforts as part of the U.S. Southern Command´s Enduring Promise Initiati...

Have you seen a stone sphere since you’ve been in Costa Rica? They can be seen used as lawn ornaments in the yards of important people, or in front of some government office buildings, or at the National Museum in San Jose -- but in 2014 UNESCO declared the “Pre-Columbian Chiefdom Settlements with stone spheres of the Diquis” a World Heritage Site – and that’s a huge deal. A museum was established...

The Government of Costa Rica presented its plan “Route of Reactivation of San Lucas Island”, with the objective of generating a tourism destination that potentiates the cultural, historic and natural advantages that this site offers. San Lucas Island is located off the Gulf of Nicoya in Costa Rica, 5.4 miles from Puntarenas, and has an area of less than 500 hectares. This island is famous in C...

The Consular Section at U.S. Embassy San Jose announced Consular outreach events in Jaco and Quepos in the coming weeks. Embassy staff will be available to accept adult passport renewals, perform notarial services, and take inquiries on federal benefits and voting. Consular staff will be on hand to hear your inquiries and concerns. Jaco: WHEN: Wednesday, March 27, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. WHE...

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...

Health authorities in Costa Rica warn of red tide affecting some areas of the Pacific Coast, Guanacaste, the Nicoya Peninsula and the Central Pacific. Red tide is caused by large concentrations of some species of algae. Red tide can be easily spotted due to the presence of red-brownish spots in coastal waters, this algal bloom also deplete oxygen in the waters and release certain toxins which w...

As The Costa Rica Star announced back in June, the largest floating library, Logos Hope from OM Ships International will arrive at Puntarenas, Costa Rica this Friday, October 26 and will be stationed in the country through November 11, 2018. The ship travels around the word with the objective of bringing people close to culture, entertainment and education. The floating library offers over 5...

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...

The National Emergency Commission (CNE) raised the alert in the Cental and South Pacific from green to yellow after 130 reports of floods in these areas caused by intense rainfall of tropical wave #40 that affected the country this Thursday, the red alert remains for the districts of Cobano, Paquera, Lepanto, El Roble, and the Center of Puntarenas that were considerably affected last week. The...

The ferry service between Puntarenas and Playa Naranjo will resume normal operations with a normal schedule this Tuesday, October 8. The service has been interrupted since last Friday due to the heavy rains that affected the Pacific this past week. Even though the service will resume the authorities warned travelers that route 21 in Cabo Blanco de Jicaral is only possible through an alternate r...

An all-women drug gang was busted for drug trafficking in Golfito, on the Southern Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, near Panama. These alleged drug damas were operating near the Sports Park of Pueblo Civil de Golfito, in Puntarenas Province. They were apprehended by agents of the Drug Patrol Police (Policia Control de Drogas, PCD), on October 5, 2018. The leader of the group was identified by the l...

The National Emergency Commission in Costa Rica elevated form green to Yellow the alert given for the North and Central Pacific due to the strong rainfall, green alert was declared for the North Zone, Central Valley and South Pacific. “During the first hours of this evening the Central Pacific has been affected, particularly the areas of Paquita, Parrita, Isla Damas , the Center of Puntarenas, ...

The Institute of Pacific Ports in Costa Rica (INCOP) confirmed they received a proposal from the Costa Rican consortium CEPP Consultants to license the port of Quepos to transform it into a destination port for cruise ships. Executive President of JAPDEVA, Juan Ramón Rivera confirmed that the proposal involves an investment of close to $50 million dollars and would completely transform the port...

The MS Maasdam, mid-size cruise ship of Holland America Line, arrived at the Golfito dock in the South Pacific of Costa Rica this week with 1,164 passengers aboard between tourists and crew; this is the first cruise that Golfito receives since its relaunching as tourism destination for mid-size cruise ships. Tourists were able to leave the ship and enjoy different cultural activities that had...

San Lucas Island in the Pacific holds great historic and cultural richness for Costa Rica, and it is also a beautiful place to visit; for these reasons, the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) and the National System of Areas of Conservation (SINAC), are carrying out important efforts to strengthen the protection of the island, better the infrastructure for the park rangers and promote its ...

The Government of Costa Rica was notified by the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) of the decision by the Arbitration Court in relation to the David Richard Aven et al c. Costa Rica (known as “Las Olas”). This arbitration was presented by a group of US investors in the year 2014 due to the Government shutting their real estate project down.  The claimants cited the...

The company Celebrity Cruises made the decision of canceling the arrival of cruise ship Infinity to Puntarenas scheduled for this Monday; this due to security concerns resulting from the labor strike that is going on its 8th day and has affected mainly the provinces of Limon and Puntarenas. The ship will continue its itinerary straight to Panama without making the scheduled stop in Costa Rica,...

A 5.6 magnitude earthquake was felt in most of the Costa Rican territory this Wednesday at 3:33 p.m. but it was felt with more intensity in the provinces of Puntarenas, Heredia and Alajuela; the epicenter according to the National Seismology Network was 7 kilometers south of Golfito in Puntarenas. The movement was also felt in different areas of the Central Valley, the South Caribbean and even ...

Costa Rican authorities seized 1,101 kilograms of cocaine in Quebrada Ganado, Garabito, Puntarenas, in addition to the drugs, the police confiscated two vehicles and several firearms, including AK-47 assault rifles. Agents of the Investigative Police (OIJ) along with the Intelligence and Security Direction (DIS) and officials of the Special Intervention Unit, raided a beach home this Thursday a...

The trial of the three men suspected of the murder of Dutch citizens Johannes Snelders (a.k.a Hans Snelders), his wife Kawitadevi Dhawtal (a.k.a Sita Dhawtal) and their worker, Nicaraguan Richard Abenor Montalbán, which took place December 27, 2015 in Sardinal, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, begins today. The suspects of last names Zúñiga Rivera, Calderón Manzanares and Angulo Méndez are facing charge...

The Costa Rican Coast Guard Service with the assistance of Air Surveillance intercepted a boat in the area of Playa Tamales, Golfito, carrying a total of 718 packets of cocaine one kilogram each. The boat of named Tiburón originated from Ecuador, two natives of this country of last names Avilés and González were arrested. A total of 5 jerrycans with fuel were also found aboard the boat. I...

A 25-year-old Mexican woman was murdered the morning of this Sunday, August 5th in Playa Carmen, Santa Teresa de Cobano, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. According to information given to Rodrigo Alfaro, regional sub-director of the Public Police Force by another woman native of England, her and her friend were sitting at the beach around 4:30 a.m. when they were intercepted by two men with the appare...

An alert given by the U.S. Coast Guard Service to the Costa Rican Ministry of Public Security thanks to the agreement on joint patrolling allowed Costa Rican police authorities to intercept a vessel 80 nautical miles from Quepos, Puntarenas carrying 2000 packages of cocaine. The police operation began out at sea on Wednesday, August 1st, and concluded this Thursday, August 2nd, when the ship wa...

The National Coast Guard Service rescued a total of 11 people from two ships that were stranded in the area known as Roca Viuda, Golfo Dulce, Puntarenas. According to the Coast Guard Service, they received an alert in the Golfito Station that a motorboat under the name Mari Cruz II had been impacted by lighting leaving the engines out of service; due to the strong winds and swell at the time, t...

For the third time this week Costa Rican authorities gave an important blow to drug trafficking operations in the country by seizing over half a ton of cocaine in waters of the South Pacific. The Drug Control Police (PCD) and the National Coast Guard Service were alerted of the presence of a motorboat in the area of Punta Burica, the same location where on July 27th a semi-submersible vessel wa...

Agents of the Regional Police Station of Corredores in Puntarenas along with the National Coast Guard Service and Frontier Police, managed to arrest two men this Friday from Ecuador as suspects of International Drug Trafficking. According to preliminary information, the agents were informed on Thursday of the presence of a vessel supposedly carrying drugs, in the area of Punta Burica and two me...

The Ministry of Public Security confirmed that a total of 580 kilograms of cocaine were found aboard a go-fast boat in Puntarenas, across from Cabo Blanco. “Intelligence work carried out by the police bodies of the Ministry of Public Security in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the USA, a large shipment of cocaine was intercepted” The drugs were found aboard a sh...

If you are planning to travel to or from Paquera or the touristic areas of Tambor, Santa Teresa, Montezuma, this Tuesday, July 24, be advised that the ferry service will be suspended all day. According to the information posted by Naviera Tambor, the suspension will only be effective on the date mentioned due to maintenance work scheduled by the Ministry of Public Work and Transportation (MOPT)...

Police operations carried out in the area of Garabito, Puntarenas have allowed the seizure of important quantities of drugs; the Public Police Force with the support of the Operational Support Group (GAO) have been working in particular in the beach town of Jaco and the surrounding areas, where the large number of tourists attract drug dealers. During a road side control stop this Monday police...

Blue Zones are geographic areas with high concentrations of individuals over 100 years of age and were people generally get to an advance age without experiencing health problems like obesity, heart disease, cancer or diabetes; one of the few blue zones around the world is found in Costa Rica, more specifically in the Nicoya Peninsula. According to recent data by the Ministry of Health, there a...

The largest floating library, Logos Hope from OM Ships International will be arriving to Puntarenas Costa Rica October 25 and will be stationed at this port until November 12,2018. Logos Hope was transformed from a ferry into a ship and began its active service in February of 2009, it is operated by GBA Ships  a private non-profit, charitable organization based in Germany. “The ship remains ...