OHMCR The Best Costa Rica Travel Guide

The town of Golfito is located in Costa Rica Southern Pacific Coast within the Dulce Gulf just Northwest of Panama. The name Golfito translates to Little Gulf in honor of a small gulf that forms within the larger Golfo Dulce.

Golfito was considered to be the most important port in the far southern region of the Pacific Coast. Its maritime importance has declined over the years due to the closing down of the region most important source of income: the United Fruit Company. Golfito was the center of a major banana growing regions where the United Fruit Company had its headquarters. The processing plant was closed in 1985 due to a decline in demand on behalf of foreign countries, an increase in Costa Rican export taxes, constant employees protest and banana disease.

The town of Golfito then witnessed the growth of its tourist value and has since become an attractive town for tourists passing by the area and staying there for a couple of days. Although the beaches in Golfito are not that attractive, a few good beaches for surfing and swimming are nearby.

The town is surrounded by steep hills and a thick rainforest which attract birdwatchers and nature lovers. Golfito businesses and bars are mainly located at the town southern part. The tropical seaport is quite pleasant and even attracted Warner Brothers executives to choose this region as a location for the filming of Chico Mendes, the true story of a Brazilian rainforest preservationist. An old steam locomotive from the movie set still sits at the Golfito town park.

The Costa Rican government also built a duty free facility in Golfito?s northern region in order to help the region and attract local tourists to the area. Although articles bought at the duty free stores are still taxed, the amount is substantially lower than throughout the rest of Costa Rica. A number of ticos drive to Golfito during weekends to buy articles such as TV, washers, dryers and such. A minimum 24 hour stay is required to benefit from the low prices thus increasing hotel occupation.

written by fernando \\ tags: Costa Rica Southern Pacific Coast, Expo Manuel Antonio, Hotel in Quepos

The town of Miramar in Puntarenas will host its second Eco Tourism Fair starting today.

Activities will be carried out in the town central park and amphitheatre starting Friday June 27th throughout Sunday June 29th 2008. The idea behind the fair is to not only present tourists with the regions traditions and culture, but to also promote and encourage residents to get back in touch with Costa Rican customs.

Inauguration will start today at 10am with the presentation of local arts and crafts and at 4pm, there will be a special cultural presentation in the town amphitheatre located next to the town central market.

Other activities will include traditional foods, cultural and artistic activities, horseback rides and street theatre throughout the town main streets and the selling of arts and crafts created by local artists.

Saturday will host a horseback ride that will leave from the town amphitheatre at 10am and is open to anyone who would like to participate. This same day at noon, Miramar will be taken over by Costa Rican traditional clowns. But beware! These are not your typical funny clowns, the Costa Rican payasos are people dressed up in colorful gowns wearing giant masks which represent an old lady, monkeys, bulls, old men, witches, demons and other interesting creations.

The fun part, or what makes it unique, is that these payasos will run around town chasing people and giving them a good scare. The most popular of these characters is La Gigantona, or the giant lady. She will look down at you and maybe even give you a lights spankin!

The fair will close on Sunday with a series of activities such as the street theatre, local bands and cimarronas, senior citizen traditional dance presentation and much more.

The activity is organized by the Costa Rican Bureau of Tourism along with the Local Chamber of Tourism.

written by fernando \\ tags: Bird Watching in Costa Rica, Costa Rica Mountain Bike, Costa Rica's Government, Costa Rican Bureau of Tourism

Due to the rapidly growing demand of certified medical services by tourists, the Costa Rican government along with the private sector has created a program to meet this demand.

Over the last few years, there has been an important increase in medical tourism mainly from the U.S and Canada. It seems that more and more North Americans tend to search for medical services outside of their countries due to issues such as not having medical insurance or services not covered within their company’s plan.

Costa Rica has seen hundreds of tourists arriving for medical treatments such as plastic surgery and dental work which can be anywhere around 25% to 50% below the rates in the U.S and Canada.

The public and private sector alliance will seek to improve infrastructure and services in order to market these in the U.S and Canada as well as Europe starting August 2008.

The first private clinic to be credited by the U.S Joint Commission International was the Clinica Biblica . The Clinica Catolica and the CIMA Hospital are currently in the accreditation process and will offer medical tourists other alternatives as well.

The Costa Rican tourism influx increases around 6% to 8% annually, while medical tourism alone has increased 15% annually.

written by fernando \\ tags: CIMA Hospital, Clinica Biblica, Costa Rica Hotels, Costa Rican Tour Operators, Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve