Diving Cocos Island with Okeanos Aggressor

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Diving Cocos Island with Okeanos Aggressor

February 27th, 2009 | Costa Rica - Business, Costa Rica - Must See or Do, The Best of Costa Rica | No Comments »

I previously posted about taking the 8 day, mostly land trip to Cocos Island with the Friends of Isla de Coco Foundation and Organization for Tropical Studies, but let’s get real. Most people do not go to Cocos Island just to hike around or snorkel. The diving is where it’s at!!!

One of the two main companies who handles dive trips to Cocos Island is Okeanos. The 110–foot Okeanos Aggressor is part of the worldwide Aggressor Fleet, and has been departing from the Pacific port city of Puntarenas to Cocos for the last 20 years.

The trips are open to non-divers, but are geared towards divers, and experience is recommended, as diving Read more

Quick Tip for Discounts on Booking Costa Rican Hotels and Travel Services

February 26th, 2009 | Costa Rica - Travel Tips | 2 Comments »

If you are making a reservation for a hotel or a tour in Costa Rica and are able to pay in cash ask for a discount.

Many hotels and other service providers add upwards of 23% to your total bill in order to cover the taxes charged for reported bookings (16.93% for hotels) and the additional 7% most banks charge for merchant account credit card services.

Therefore, if you are looking for an additional discount, when making your reservation mention that you will be paying in cash and ask if there is any discount in doing such. The hotel or tour company should be willing to discount the price of your reservation at least somewhat, since they will not have Read more

Isla del Coco Conservation Area Trip – April 2009

February 25th, 2009 | Costa Rica - Must See or Do, The Best of Costa Rica | 3 Comments »

Isla del Coco, or Cocos Island as it is commonly called, is one of Costa Rica’s virtually untouched wonders. The island is located 535 kilometers from Costa Rica’s western, Pacific coast, and takes 36 hours by boat to arrive.

Cocos Island is a National Park, and is now in competition to become one of the world’s new Seven Wonders. You can cast your vote for Cocos by clicking here.

Cocos is especially famous for diving, and the two main companies that sail there, Okeanos and Undersea Hunter, offer a variety of diving trips. But what if you aren’t a diver?

Thankfully the Friends of Isla del Coco Foundation (FAICO) and the Organization for Tropical Read more

Is the Costa Rica Economy in a Recession?

February 23rd, 2009 | Costa Rica - Business | No Comments »

I am going to start this off by stating I am no expert on the economy… I just try to provide those interested in Costa Rica with helpful information regarding travel, business, and relocation to this beautiful country.

I am an avid reader of The Tico Times, Costa Rica’s leading English News Source. There is where I found an interesting article by Tico Times Staff Member Gillian Gillers, detailing the economic situation of Costa Rica.

It seems all the numbers are currently down in Costa Rica, causing many economists to declare a recession. The Central Bank, however, is not so quick to label it as such. (They have never declared a recession, actually.)

One of the Read more

Costa Rica Travel and Road Map

February 21st, 2009 | Costa Rica - Travel Tips | No Comments »

Costa Rica Travel consistently prints what I believe to be the best map of Costa Rica available. Purchase a copy today and save yourself a whole lot of trouble and headaches later.

The map is durable and waterproof, includes National Parks and Refuges, detail of the Central Valley, a blown up San Jose street map, and a variety of activities and attractions.

Street level details are given not only of San Jose, but also the whole Central Valley area. Also of benefit to many traveling gringos is the handy English/Spanish phrase section.

This Costa Rica map also includes a driving distance table and drive time calculator, differentiates between paved and un-paved roads, and points Read more

Travel Deals to Costa Rica

February 19th, 2009 | Costa Rica - Travel Tips | 4 Comments »

As an avid traveler I am always interested in hearing about travel deals, tips, experiences, etc. That is one of the reasons why I sign up for the newsletters from the NY Times.

In a recent email newsletter they pointed me to an interesting link, that doesn’t really apply to most of us living abroad, but is nice for vacationers looking for deals. It’s called Luxury Link.

Luxury Link is an auction site for travel deals all over the planet. For me it was kind of reminiscent of eBay. You can bid on the package deal, or buy it now for a higher price.

I did a search for auction packages in Costa Rica and found a number Read more

How far is it…? Costa Rica Distance Calculator

February 16th, 2009 | Costa Rica - Travel Tips | No Comments »

Globefeed.com offers a distance calculator for Costa Rica that can be quite helpful when trying to plan a trip through Costa Rica.

You enter the name of the City, Village, Town or Airport you are traveling to, and the one you are traveling from and then press the search button. If there are multiple destinations with the same name you will be asked to select which city you are traveling from. Then, you click calculate distance.

The distance will be given to you in kilometers, miles, and nautical miles, and will tell you an approximated direct distance, as if traveling in a straight line. The actual distance when traveling by roadway may be greater, but at Read more

Cheese Factory in Monteverde

February 12th, 2009 | Costa Rica - Business, Costa Rica - Family Friendly, Costa Rica - Places to Eat | No Comments »

Driving through the countryside of Costa Rica, up the sides of mountains or volcanos particularly lends itself to purchasing one of Costa Rica’s most popular products: cheese!

Many small farms along the highway set up small roadside stands where they sell their homemade cheeses, produced just off the highway at their farm. Fresh cheese, Costa Rican style. (The white bags in the image on the right are cheese for sale!)

The Monteverde region is the most popular for the production of such dairy items largely because of the people who settled here in 1951, a group of Quaker families from Alabama who were looking for a place to live where they could hold to their pacifist religious beliefs. Costa Rica Read more

Reasons to Move to Costa Rica

February 5th, 2009 | The Best of Costa Rica | No Comments »

Isn’t it beautiful in Costa Rica?

Family back in the States just sent pictures of some of the snow they have been receiving, and I can’t help but be thankful for the life I have been able to create in the warmth and miss the snow (just a little bit) at the same time.

Sometimes living abroad away from your own culture can drive you crazy… especially when you struggle with the Spanish language. However, it just takes a couple moments to reflect on the positive things in your new environment to help you truly appreciate it.

Sustainable Community in Costa Rica

February 2nd, 2009 | Costa Rica - Relocation | 1 Comment »

I recently received an e-mail asking for more information about relocation to sustainable communities in Costa Rica. Since I don’t live in a sustainable community, and I have only ever briefly discussed the topic, I decided to do a little bit of research.

One of sustainable communities that kept coming up for Costa Rica was Finca Las Brisas. The Finca isn’t the cover for some social, political, or philosophical movement; it was simply designed for people who want to develop Costa Rican land in a way that is beneficial to the earth, the wildlife, and the community.

Finca Las Brisas deems themselves an EcoCommunity. The small development contains 25 lots, and everyone works together to strengthen the community, and give back Read more