The Costa Rica Tourism Institute (ICT) has been clear in its interest to strengthen the promotion of the country as a wellness destination; with this in mind the project Wellness Pura Vida has selected seven areas in the country that have potential in this field. An area like Nicoya, Guanacaste which at this point has very few tourism attractions, is actually a blue zone, so this particular cha...

Want to see more of Costa Rica? Domestic flights on NatureAir can get you from place to place in far less time than it takes to drive, and reach destinations that span from Tortuguero in the northern Caribbean to the Osa Peninsula in the southern Pacific. From now until August 31, while supplies last, the airline is offering a 6-ticket package for US$199 to residents and nationals. Each o...

The Poás Volcano in Alajuela, Costa Rica is presenting activity this Monday evening (July 3, starting at 10:30 p.m.) and it is expelling fragments of fresh lava from the main emission point, denominated Boca Roja (Red Mouth), reported Dr. Mauricio Mora from the National Seismology Network. This type of activity, known as strombolian eruptions began in the early morning hours of July 1st whe...

Last week, Costa Rica hosted a meeting of the Central American Council of Tourism at which ideas were discussed to promote tourism investment in the region, said the Costa Rican tourism Institute (ICT). Central America's Tourism Ministers, businessmen and representatives of the region's tourism chambers participated in this first "Forum of Exchange of Experiences for the Promotion of Tourism In...

Carara National Park is located part in San José (Turrubares) and part in Puntarenas (Garabito); it is just 90 kilometers from San José which makes it a very convenient option for a one day tour, the drive from San José takes just about 2 hours, it is also very close to Jacó which makes it also a great alternative for those vacationing in the area. The word “Carara” means “crocodile river” in ...

Over 1,000 people in the area of Garabito, Puntarenas have been affected by a conjunctivitis outbreak, this includes the areas of Herradura, Jacó, Tárcoles, Quebrada Ganado and Quebrada Amarilla, according to information provided by the Costa Rica Public Health and Social Security Administration (C.C.S.S). Authorities suspect the outbreak is caused by a virus, but the C.C.S.S. is still waiting ...

Photo: Playa Penca Carrillo, Guanacaste Carlos Alpízar and José Pablo Alfaro decided to create a tool to help tourists that wish to explore the many Costa Rican beaches. “It all started as a personal project, we both always liked visiting the different beaches. At one point in our life we thought we had run out of beaches, and ended up going to the same places because we didn’t have informa...

The Costa Rican police dismantled a criminal band that was offering luxury houses, drugs and women to tourists in the Jacó area. The police operations took place in five locations in Jacó, Puntarenas and La Uruca, San José. The main target of this band were tourists with high purchasing power to whom they’d offer illegal drugs (marijuana, cocaine, LSD, etc.) and a catalog of women for sexual se...

Costa Rica's diverse and varied climate makes it easy for travelers to embark on a fantasy escape all year-round. Whether you're a nature buff, thrill seeker or culture enthusiast, Costa Rica's biodiverse terrain and magical wonders are waiting to be explored 365 days of the year. Classified as a tropical country because of its proximity to the equator, Costa Rica has no real winter, and it always...

Joshua Ten Brink, a Costa Rican tourist who was enjoying a few days of vacation in Tambor beach, Puntarenas, was able to capture an amazing video this Monday. Brink explained he was taking a last stroll on the beach when he saw what he thought was a log in the ocean, he then noticed it was moving and realized it was a crocodile, he ran for his camera and was able to capture the reptile just...

In April this year, KLM Royal Dutch Airline announced they would start two weekly direct flights between Amsterdam and Costa Rica to accommodate growing European winter tourism to the tropical vacation haven starting October 31, 2017. This week the airline said they would be increasing that service to Costa Rica in the first quarter of 2018 with an additional flight. The third weekly flight ...

Photo credit: Jairo Cajina Ten Costa Rican tourism companies visited the coast of Nicaragua in the South Pacific this week with the purpose of exploring the tourism offer existent in this area. According to Jose Adrián Aguerri, president of the Superior Council of Private Companies of Nicaragua, they had organized meetings with Costa Rican and Nicaraguan authorities and planned to visit diff...

When asked about Costa Rica’s gastronomy the first thing that comes to mind is the most popular dish, the “Casado” the typical dish that includes white rice, black beans, meat (chicken, fish, pork or red meat) and a small salad and perhaps the famous “gallo pinto” (rice and beans mixed together and flavored with different natural spices) also come to mind, but not every dish in Costa Rica is about...

Photo Credit: Mauricio Cortés / Rincón de la Vieja eruption seen from Upala The National University’s Volcanology and Seismology Research Institute (OVSICORI), reported an eruption at the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano in Guanacaste at 2:56 p.m. this Friday, June 23, where the column reached 2000 meters above the crater and 3,916 meters above sea level, (12844.48 ft). According to the report by ...

According to the Tourism and Travel Competitiveness Report 2017 carried out by the World Economic Forum every two years, the countries in the Central America region have shown little progress in the conditions offered to tourists. Panama was the best ranked, taking position 35 followed by Costa Rica in position 38. El Salvador was the country that took more steps back losing 14 positions in the...

The General Direction of Migration in Costa Rica will eliminate, starting August 2017, the paper forms used for the registry of entry and exit of passengers at the Juan Santamaría International Airport. Starting August 15 the registry will be done automatically through the digital reading of the passport. According to the Migration Director, Gisela Yockchen, this is the first of a series of ...

This Wednesday morning the municipality of San José unveiled its official “city brand” with a large sculpture of “SJO ¡Vive!” , (San José Lives), in an act in the Central Park of the capital city and with the objective of attracting tourism. The mayor of San José, Johnny Araya explained that the launching of the brand hopes to reaffirm the identity of the residents of San José and the pride of ...

The international hotel chain Selina which focuses on millennials and offers "hostel" style lodging is expanding its operations in Costa Rica. The first hostel of the brand opened doors in Manuel Antonio, Quepos back in November; a month later it inaugurated two more locations in San José and Santa Teresa; in January the chain opened a small hotel in Puerto Viejo, Limón and in June in Jacó. Th...

According to a 2016 Nielsen Company study, the average American spends about 11 hours a day looking at a screen and American kids are not far behind, clocking in at an estimated 6 hours per day. It is well-documented that overusing technology can have a hugely negative impact on one's health, but there are numerous other ways digital displays can harm us if we don't moderate its use. If you're fee...

The activity began at 11 a.m. this morning at the Poás Volcano, the cameras located in different points of the National Park captured two “mouths” or active emanation points. Large columns of gases, vapor and ash were emanating from the volcano for several hours and at 1:50 p.m. a larger eruption was registered which reached 400 meters above the crater (3108 meters above sea level or 10,194...

The “low season” for the hotels in Costa Rica begins in May and usually continues through November, reaching a low peak in the month of September. According to a survey carried out by Costa Rica’s Hotel Chamber between May 2 -31 and answered by 76 hotels distributed around the country, the expectation of occupation was of 51% in May which represents 16% less than the average occupation of 66.67...

A group of three American tourist and their Costa Rican guide were able to capture today a video of a young tapir (Tapirus bairdii) bathing in a sector of the Celeste River in the Tenorio Volcano National Park in Guanacaste (video included at the end of the article). The tourism guide in an interview with local journalist Allan Jara, explains that the video was taken when it had just began to r...

Tourists that visited the country during 2016 spent in average US$1,369.00 and the total amount of visitors that year according to the Costa Rican Tourism Board was of over 2.6 million (considering all different points of access aerial and terrestrial according to statistics by the Costa Rica Tourism Board and Costa Rica Migration Office). For 2016 the total number of visitors considering all i...

Photo: Casa del Cielo - Four Seasons Costa Rica The Costa Rica Hotel Chamber affirms that the big diversity of tourists that Costa Rica receives justifies the existence of a wide variety of hotels. In the country, you can find one star hotels as well as hotels for the most demanding clients that want and expect the highest level of service. Even though many times the prices in Costa Rica are...

According to a market report for Latin America and the Caribbean by air travel intelligence company Official Aviation Guide (OAG) Flightview, Costa Rica has the international airports with most flight cancellations in the region. This study is carried out every month by OAG, a company based in the United Kingdom that provides analytical tools, databases and reports to assess air travel trends a...

Roca Bruja or Witch Rock in Playa Naranjo, Guanacaste is one of the best surfing spots in Costa Rica, very well-known among local surfers but not as promoted for tourists who many times come and go without ever hearing about his fantastic spot. Roca Bruja originally Peña Bruja, Playa Naranjo is part of the Santa Rosa National Park, there are no constructions here or infrastructure of any sort e...

The President of the Republic, Luis Guillermo Solis, and now-resigned Minister of Public Works and Transport (MOPT), Carlos Villalta, together with the Executive Director of the National Roadways Council (CONAVI), German Valverde, last week carried out an inspection of National Route N606, the road linking the Inter-American Highway with Monteverde. The windy, bumpy 17.5 kilometer stretch is at...

The Santa Cruz, Guanacaste municipal government swore in a new set of leaders for its environmental commission this week. Representative from 24 local organizations, autonomous institutions, ministries and private sector companies will be coordinating the area's environmental agenda that includes recycling, reforestation, solid waste treatment, and water resource management, among other aspects. ...

Photo Credit: Rio Savegre Costa Rica Christian Lee / Fotografia Back in April costa Rica Costa Rica nominated Savegre River to be recognized as its fourth biosphere reserve, and this Wednesday afternoon the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere Program that was meeting in Paris, France, recognize...

A big number of people drink coffee on a regular basis and many of them develop a passion for this wonderful drink; if you are in Costa Rica you are lucky to be in a country that produces some of the best coffee in the world, so why not take a one-day coffee tour and learn more about this traditional beverage. There are many different options of coffee tours in Costa Rica, today we are going to...

The Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT) has been aggressive in promoting the country as a destination for different forms of tourism and to different markets. Just this week the Minister of Tourism Mauricio Ventura announced the launching of  new campaign and country image “Costa Rica: My Choice, Naturally”; he also confirmed the interest in appealing to the European market and to also promote the ...

In the event you are not familiar with what “zorbing” is, let’s start by explaining that it basically involves rolling downhill inside a globe or orb made of transparent plastic, it is also known as globe-riding or sphereing; so imagine yourself as a hamster inside one of those big plastic spheres, rolling down a gentle slope. Zorbing first started in New Zealand in the mid 1990s and has become...

Costa Rica went up 10 positions in the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) world ranking of meetings tourism, going from position 63 to position 53 among 200 countries. The Costa Rica Minister of Tourism, Mauricio Ventura explained that efforts have been done for the past two years to develop an aggressive strategy that will allow the country to compete in this area of the ...

The National University’s Volcanology and Seismology Research Institute (OVSICORI) reported an eruption that reached 1,000 meters above the crater, 3,708 meters above sea level (12.162,24 ft.), began at 8:50 a.m. local time this Tuesday and was still in progress at 10:05 a.m. This past Friday, June 2 the Poás Volcano registered constant activity with small size eruptions and redcolumns of gases...

Costa Rica is a country that holds amazing and unique characteristics, here is a short list of some of these: 1. In Costa Rica you get 12 hours of day light year round, the sun comes out between 5 -6 a.m. and it goes down at 5-6 p.m. 2. It has a rock and sand formation that has the shape of a whale’s tail, located in the Pacific Coast where hundreds of humpback whales are seen every year. (Mar...

The Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT) through an alliance with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and CNN International along with CNN Tourism Advertising Solutions and Knowledge (CNN TASK) have developed the new image that Costa Rica will use to promote itself as a tourism destination: “Costa Rica: My Choice, Naturally”. ¨Costa Rica: My Choice, Naturally is a campaign that appeals to the sens...

Finally, and after years of different technical studies, the Costa Rican Government received today the full report with 2,829 pages regarding the technical viability, financial aspects and pre-design of the construction of a new international airport in Orotina, Alajuela. In May of 2016 a $1.8 million contract with British engineering company Mott Macdonald was signed to conduct a technical and...

The Government of Panama announced Friday it will reduce the stay in the country for Nicaraguan, Colombian and Venezuelan tourists from 180 to 90 days as part of a policy of tightening controls over foreigner visitors. This, and other controls by Panama, may lessen some of the flow of undocumented migrants into Costa Rica over its southern border. The Panamanian migration service has detected f...

Sustainable Costa Rican tourist enterprises will now be eligible for a European certification, issued by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, reported the agency last week. The international certification, called TourCert, was developed in Germany, and is based on international standards of quality and environmental management including EMAS and ISO, specifically the ISO 26000 guide for soci...

“A major IT system failure” caused the cancelation of all British Airways flights to and from Heathrow and Gatwick, London yesterday and through this Sunday morning, causing the airports to become severely congested and affecting thousands of travelers. British Airways operates direct flights from London to Costa Rica All checking and operational systems were affected by what they believe was ...