Golfito

Golfito: A bustling natural town

Mon, Mar 1, 2010

Golfito is a port town that lies in the Puntarenas Province on the southern Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, which is close to the border of Panama. The town is located on a narrow strip of land that could be found between the eponymous bay and a hill. The town offers some of the major attractions worth visiting along with great experiences of shopping, and other sightseeing areas. When Golfito is a town in Costa Rica, you can assume how much it has to offer to the tourists.

Costa Rica is one of the major tourist destinations in the world. The town of Golfito is best known for its surfing activity. Many surfers from far areas visit Golfito to enjoy and try this activity. The town of Golfito is known as the gateway to the newest attraction Eco-Lodges in Costa Rica. Eco-Lodges are all about the small hotel or lodge that merges into its environment by providing visitors a chance to see the natural areas of it. It tries to make smallest amount of impact to the environment. Golfito has been opened as a Duty Free Zone by the Costa Rican Government just to bring the city back into the life.

Earlier, the town of Golfito was bustling as a banana port. It mainly serves as a departure point for tourists who pass from the beach resorts towards the north or south direction. The town of Golfito also attracts sport fishers who dock their vessels and enjoy beer drinking and tale telling. Tourists not only enjoy the settings of the town, but also enjoy the backdrop forest of Golfito as well. The picturesque backdrop is a captivating place worth exploring. If you are planning to visit the Golfito town, then do not miss to visit the Refugio Nacional de Fauna Sivestre Golfito that offers wonderful picturesque backdrop. More over it invites tourists to experience its many harboring species of flora and fauna.

For accommodation, you have wonderful Eco Lodges waiting for you to come and stay. Golfito’s forests, oceans, and environment are at one side and its nature tourism or Eco Lodges are on other side. This will give you a great opportunity to stay, rest, and enjoy. The best way to explore the nature and surroundings of Golfito is to take a beautiful 30 minutes boat ride. This will give you immense pleasure and breathtaking nature. To boost the economy of Golfito, the government of Costa Rica has built a duty free facility in the northern part of Golfito.

So, you can enjoy the duty free shopping in a wide variety. The shopping center draws Ticos from all over the country who rushes here to enjoy and experience the 24-hour tax-free shopping sprees. Head to the Pavones and across the gulf at Cabo Matapalo where you will get many surfers enjoying the waves. You can reach to the Pavones through Golfito Domestic Airport or else you can even drive down to Golfito and continue towards south. This will take at least one to one and a half hours.

Golfito is an ideal destination that offers activities, sightseeing opportunities and other attractions to the tourists. So be a part of Golfito and make a memorable time of your life.

What is the Living Costs in Costa Rica?

Tags: Cost of Living in Costa Rica, Costs in Costa Rica, Live in Costa Rica, Living Costs in Costa Rica, Living in Costa Rica

The living cost in Costa Rica has numerous advantages. The sheer variety of activities available for enjoyment and the spectacular sights you can visit throughout the country make life here a constant adventure. If you add this to the availability of modern conveniences, many large malls to choose from, excellent cultural activities, an exciting nightlife and superb medical services all with a low cost of living in Costa Rica. With all of the above, you can begin to understand why so many people have chosen to live, work, and retire in Costa Rica.
One of the aspects I enjoy most about life in Jaco Beach is the low cost of living in Costa Rica which allows your dollar to stretch much further. This gives you purchasing power for services and luxuries that would be much too expensive to afford in the U.S., Canada, or Europe. I will give you a glimpse of the living costs in Costa Rica in this article, so you can compare what these costs are here with the costs of your hometown. The cost of living in San Jose Costa Rica is amongst the lowest of any in Latin America. Overall, the costs are about 30% less compared to those of North America, especially for services such as telephone, electricity, water, and domestic/maintenance services, as well as the cost of dining out and visits to the movies.
If you add this to Costa Rica’s mild weather, which eliminates the need for cooling and heating, you would really appreciate the cost savings you could have living here.

Living Costs in Costa Rica

Maid Service- $1.75 – $2.50 per hour
Ticket to see a movie in a modern theater – $5
Minimum price to see a cultural event at the National Theater – $8
Ticket to see a First Division Soccer Team Match – $12
An excellent steak dinner in a good restaurant – less than $20
Basic home phone service – $7 per month (base rate)
Cellular phone service through ICE – $7 per month (base rate)
Basic cable TV service – $27 per month
ADSL internet home service – $26 per month
Men’s haircut & shampoo at luxury barbershops – $15
Men’s haircut at local barbershop – $5.25
La Nacion, Costa Rica’s leading daily newspaper – $0.35
A bottle of Coca Cola (reusable glass bottle) – $0.60
A bottle of Coca Cola (disposable plastic bottle) – $1.00
Fresh Ahi Tuna – Approximately $3.60 per pound
Fresh Mahi Mahi – Approximately $3.50 per pound
A pound of beans – $0.70 per pound
A pound of rice – $0.50 per pound
A bottle of Imperial beer – $0.85
1/2 Gallon of Orange Juice – $2.25
1/2 Gallon of Milk – $1.40
5 Gallon Tank of Purified Water – $3.50
American Style Rib Eye Steak (local grocery store) – Approximately $5.00 per lb
A pack of local cigarettes – $0.87
Bus ride from downtown San Jose to Escazu – $0.55
Bus ride from San Jose to Jaco Beach (60 miles) – $3.57
Taxi any where in Jaco – $0.75 – $3.00
Suzuki ATV-Eiger 500cc with trailer – $7,000
Harley Davidson 1200 Nighster – $14,300
Harley Davidson Custom Classic – $10,100
2007 Honda CR-V 4×2 SUV – $26,900
2005 KIA Rio 4 door compact – $7,850
2007 Toyota Prado (6 cyl) Diesel 4×4 – $33,600 (fully loaded)
While some imported manufactured items such as appliances, TV’s, computers, and vehicles are more expensive but these are items you do not purchase every month or every year. However, your daily and recurring monthly expenses are much cheaper here and you can also enjoy a higher standard of living in Costa Rica, a country that has most of the comforts of living found in North America and Europe. When you can have a full-time maid for $200 per month and/or a driver for $400 per month, your lifestyle experiences a significant transformation. Taking everything into consideration; great year-round climate, the friendly people of Costa Rica, political stability, a relatively low crime rate, a truly peaceful country which has no military, and low living costs in Costa Rica, it’s a wonder you are not living here already!

Related Content

How elections work in Costa Rica

506 TicoPost

How elections work in Costa Rica

By Chrissie Long Tico Times Staff | clong@ticotimes.net

Who can vote? Any citizen 18 years old or older and present in the country during the time of the election can vote. There is no absentee voting in Costa Rica. The voter must show his or her cédula, or national identification card. How do I vote? You can find out where your polling station is by visiting www.tse.go.cr and clicking on the Dónde Votar tab. You will be prompted to enter your name or cédula number. Polls are open between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. How are legislators elected? There are no direct elections of legislators in Costa Rica. Instead, lawmakers in the country's 57-seat Legislative Assembly are decided according to the number of votes cast for each party. The country is divided into seven provinces, each with a predetermined number of seats in the legislature: San José (20), Alajuela (11), Cartago (7), Heredia (5), Guanacaste (4), Puntarenas (5). Voters select among the competing parties and the percentage of votes those parties receive determines which candidates – preselected by the parties – will fill the regional seats. How are presidential candidates selected? Each party selects its candidate either through an internal election in which all party delegates vote or through a primary election. Both the National Liberation Party (PLN) and Citizen Action Party (PAC) held primary elections. Former PLN Vice President Laura Chinchilla beat out San José Mayor Johnny Araya to capture her party's nomination, and economist and three-time presidential candidate Ottón Solís won the PAC nomination. Could the presidential election go into a second round? Under the Election Code, the leading candidate must get more than 40 percent of the votes to avoid a runoff election. If no candidate receives more than 40 percent of the vote, the elections move into a second round (scheduled for April 3 an 4. The two candidates with the most votes face off in a second round. How much is budgeted for the 2010 election and a possible run off? The Supreme Elections Tribunal has set aside ₡ 7.85 billion ($14,060,558) for the Feb. 7 election and ₡ 1.35 billion ($2.4 million) for a possible runoff. When will we know the results? As soon as the polls close on Sunday, Feb. 7, the final count will be sent via computers and telephones from the country's 6,617 polling stations. The results will be posted on the Supreme Elections Tribunal Web site: www.tse.go.cr, beginning at 8 p.m.

Laura Chinchilla

Posted by: CRsurfer

Biography of Laura Chinchilla Costa Rica 2010 Presidential Campaign

Biography of Laura Chinchilla Miranda

Laura Chinchilla Miranda, current presidential candidate of the Partido Liberación Nacional of Costa Rica for the general elections of 2010. Laura Chinchilla was born on March 28, 1959 in San Jose, Costa Rica, the daughter of Rafael Angel Chinchilla Fallas, Comptroller General of the Republic during two administrations (1972-1987) and Emilce Miranda Castillo. Since 2000 she has been married to Jose Maria Rico Cueto and they have a son, José María Rico Chinchilla.

Share with others about the Biography Laura Chinchilla in English or Biografia de Laura Chinchilla en Espanol

First Vice President of the Republic of Costa Rica and Minister of Justice in the administration of Óscar Arias Sánchez (2006-2010). Although she left office on October 8, 2008, to pursue further her political career and created the Laura Chinchilla campaign for the presidency of Costa Rica with the Partido Liberación Nacional.

Since 1990 she has worked as a consultant in Latin America and Africa for various international agencies in the area of institutional reform, with special emphasis on judicial reform and public security reform. Some consultancy led her to conduct assessments of the justice sector for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the coordination of studies and projects on judicial reform for the United Nations Program for Development ( UNDP) and assessments and advice on police reform to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Laura Chinchilla has been a speaker at various international forums on matters of public security and police reform. She has served on various reform initiatives that promote citizen security and human rights throughout Latin America, such as the Project Advisory Committee of Civil Society and Public Safety for the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), the Central American Dialogue Foundation Arias for Peace and Human Progress, and the Foundation for Peace and Democracy (FUNPADEM). During this period Laura Chinchilla has published in both Spanish and English – books, monographs and articles on subjects relating to the administration of justice, public security and police reform. Career highlights of Laura include working in the public sector management as Deputy Minister of Public Security (1994 – 1996) and Minister of Public Safety (1996 to 1998). She was also Chairman of the Joint Drug Intelligence Center, Chair of the National Immigration Council, member of the National Drug Council, National Security Council and the Academic Council of the National Police Academy.

In the Costa Rica Legislature, she has worked in areas of judicial reform, public safety (police, drug trafficking, organized crime, etc..) Political and institutional reform (reform of the state and electoral reform), trade, technology, and children and youth programs.

Laura Chinchilla Biography during the last administration

After a bitter campaign, Laura Chinchilla managed to become vice president with the Partido Liberación Nacional and Oscar Arias Sanchez as the presidential candidate. She and Kevin Casas Zamora remained as first and second vice presidents respectively, and the cabinet was led by Dr. Oscar Arias Sanchez in the post of Minister of Justice. The Second Vice President Kevin Casas Zamora resigned on September 22, 2007 because of ethical questions. Laura Chinchilla campaign for Costa Rica president was born on October 8, 2008 driven by a citizen initiative that has pushed her to becoming the first female president of Costa Rica.

Laura Chinchilla Campaign

On Saturday, 10 October 2008, and after the Supreme Electoral Tribunal formally withdrew her credentials as Vice-President of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla announced to the media of her legitimate desire to run for the presidency of Costa Rica, and for her pre-candidacy Partido Liberación Naciona which needed to still vote for a leader of their ticket.

Voting for the ticket in the Partido Liberación Naciona was held on 7 June 2009, and declared Laura a winner by a margin greater than 15%, and was chosen by the Partido Liberación Naciona of Costa Rica to be the official candidate for presidency in 2010.

Laura Chinchilla’s campaigns main rival is Otto Guevara the candidate running on the ticket for Partido Movimiento Libertario. During the past year her rivals have personally attacked Laura with innuendos of poor character and as being a puppet for the President of the Republic Oscar Arias Sanchez and the PLN. According to recent surveys, 45% of voters for Laura Chinchilla has kept her in the lead followed by the candidate Guevara, who has experienced a surge in support from the electorate in the remaining months running up to the Feb. 7th elections. There is a third candidate Otton Solis who mostly dilutes the voter pool for Laura since she needs to win a clear 40% of the vote in order to win the elections. If it is less, even though she won amongst the other candidates, there will be a run off elections to determine the wi

Costa Pacífica

Travel Solutions

Water Fun in Costa Rica; Water Activities with a Tropical Theme!

Published: Jan 6th, 2010 | Author: Travel Add Comment

Costa Rica lies between Panama and Nicaragua and it is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the east and the North Pacific Ocean to the west. It is comprised of 51,100 square kilometers and the territorial waters take up about 589 square kilometers. The beaches extend to more than 1100 miles of sheer beauty with the Pacific Ocean on the western side and the Caribbean Sea on the eastern side.

At the Costa Rican beaches you can engage yourself in various kinds of activities. Among the numerous activities you can spend time in snorkeling, scuba diving, yachting, kayaking, surfing, water-skiing, deep-sea fishing, sports fishing, diving, swimming and many such water sports.

Surfing is perhaps the most popular activity. The Playa Avellana, Nicoya Peninsula’s Playa Santa Teresa, Santa Rosa National Park’s Playa Naranjo, Playa Negra, Playa Hermosa, Playa Grande, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Dominical and Playa Pavones are considered as the best options among the Costa Rica beaches for surfing with regards to the breaks and swells.

Fishing in this country, is also a popular most satisfying water sport. Costa Rica has a vast resource of fish in its huge stretches of lakes, seas and ocean. Be it deep sea fishing or fresh water fishing, Costa Rica has it all. Due to the large scale in which fishing is carried out there are several formal units of Costa Rica fishing. There is a wide variety of fish that are available, like the Sailfish, Wahoo, Billfish, Roosterfish, Marlin, Dolphins, Tuna, Cubera, Snapper, Blue runners, Snook and various other unusual fish. One can fish in various places with a lot of success.

The primary center for fishing is the stretch between Gulf of Papagayo Flamingo Beach and Cabo Blanca that has a complete marina option.

Popular ports of the Pacific area that is used for fishing are Flamingo, Carrillo, Coco, Ocotal, Tamarindo, Golfito, Dominical, Punta Leona, Puntarenas, Zancudo, Quepos and Manuel Antonio, Drake Bay, Zancudo and Tambor.

Another popular area for fishing in the Central Pacific region is the stretch between Drake Bay Quepos and Cabo Blanco.

Golfito is probably the major juncture for fishing in the South Pacific region with two developed marinas.

The lodges that let you experience great fishing at the Caribbean are situated in Parismina, Barra del Colorado and Tortuguero.

In Costa Rica you can also enjoy Diving and Scuba Diving. Little discovered, and still uncrowded, Scuba divers travel here from all parts of the world to see thousands of hammerhead sharks and enormous schools of innumerable fish in our tropical, plankton rich water. The waters offshore also teem with marine life.

You can dive in calm transparent waters on the Caribbean coast or opt for the wilder and more spectacular Pacific side. Most good diving is on the Pacific side. The Caribbean reefs were decimated some years ago due to pesticide runoff from the banana plantations although the last two or three years have seen a definite return of life to the region. The best months are in September-November.

There are three main areas for diving on the Pacific Ocean side. The first area is Isla del Cano, located on the Osa Peninsula in southern Costa Rica. The other two lie in the northern province of Guanacaste.

Canoeing and kayaking is one of best low impact ways to enjoy this amazing area and sea kayak and canoe tours are designed with an educative emphasis that seeks to assure preservation of the environment for years to come. The warm, rushing rivers which sweep through Costa Rica’s lush countryside offer world class white water rafting and kayaking opportunities. Rafting enthusiasts from around the world try their skills against these wild and turbulent rivers.

River Rafting is also great. If you’re trying river rafting for the first time, there are gentle rapids and lovely places to just float through. Whichever type of experience you have, you will be paddling through prime nature viewing areas, and so you will likely see otters, herons, parrots and iguanas too.

Most of the rivers in Costa Rica flow towards the Caribbean. After a heavy rain they come to life, going from being a reasonable river to become a place to enjoy the best whitewater rafting. The waters of these rivers are fairly warm so you are not at all uncomfortable unless you are nervous about trying Costa Rica rafting. Experienced water goers can also try their hand at kayaking the rivers as well.

Boating in Costa Rica is the ultimate experience. There are several boat trips that are well worth doing and are perhaps the most interesting way to get from one region to another. Traveling by boat across the eastern end of Lake Arenal is expensive, but by far the fastest and most beautiful way to travel between Arenal and Monteverde. There is a fascinating four-hour boat trip from Puerto Viejo on the Sarapiqui River into Nicaragua on the San Juan and on the Tortuguero. The boat trip from Cano Blanco to Tortuguero is also worth doing.

This a small list of the water fum you can have in Costa Rica. A country blessed with beautiful beaches, tropical waters and peacefull energy, has a lot to offer, especially for the water sports lovers!

For more information on the fascinating land of Costa Rica, visit In Costa Rica
Guide
There are several water activities you can enjoy while visiting Costa Rica. Find out at In Costa Rica Guide, Water Activities