OHMCR The Best Costa Rica Travel Guide

One of Costa Rica’s most cherished coastal towns, Puntarenas, lit up in a festive ambiance yesterday as it celebrated 150 years of being declared a city.

Affectionately called the pearl of the pacific, Puntarenas is considered a crucial factor to Costa Rica’s development and prosperity during the early 1900’s as it served as the main port of exportation for coffee.

Hundreds of residents and visitors were able to participate in yesterday’s celebration that took over the main streets of Puntarenas.  Under the sizzling sun and characteristic Puntarenas heat, a traditional passacaglia entertained hundreds of spectators which also danced under the sun.

In addition to the passacaglia, an early municipal ceremony took place at the Pacific Plaza and at the end of the activities, a large 6 layer – 23 square feet birthday cake was brought out at which the people sang “Happy Birthday” to the town of Puntarenas.  The Philharmonic Orchestra closed the activity with a free concert enjoyed by the people of Puntarenas.

Puntarenas was declared a city in 1858 during the administration of Juan Rafael Mora and has since been the preferred tourist destination by many Costa Ricans due to its proximity to the Central Valley as well as its accessible lodging and activities.

The traditional activity to carry out while in Puntarenas is to observe cruise ships which dock for a day at the port and walk down the Paseo de los Turistas or Tourists’ Walk while enjoying a Churchill which is Costa Rican snow cone.

written by Carolyn Ramer \\ tags: Puntarenas Costa Rica

Tamarindo Beach in Costa Rica’s North Pacific Coast is a widely popular beach among tourists and surfers due to its vibrant town and great surf.  However, it was recently intervened by the Costa Rican Ministry of Health for presented highly contaminated waters.

As a result of the Ministry of Health’s intervention, Tamarindo has once again regained its privileged spot among the beaches with clean waters.  In the latest sampling carried out by the Costa Rican Sewer and Aqueduct Institute (AyA) in August 2007, the waters in Tamarindo showed a coliform count of 4,900 per 100 milliliters of water.  This was an alarming result as the maximum amount allowed is of 240 coliforms per 100 milliliters.

The study carried this past August revealed that the water contamination practically disappeared as the results showed that waters in Tamarindo now have a count of 45 coliforms per 100 milliliters.  A second sampling area in the Tamarindo region showed that the contamination decreased from a 1,100 coliform count to 20 per 100 milliliters.

Although Tamarindo has shown an impressive improvement in its water quality, there are still certain areas which still need to be targeted.  The area’s which still show a considerable level of contamination are near the estuary east of Pedro’s Seafood and in front of the Iguana Surf business.

written by Carolyn Ramer \\ tags: Costa Rican Ministry of Health, Costa Rican Sewer and Aqueduct Institute, Iguana Surf business, Pedro’s Seafood, Tamarindo Beach

It is no secret that the province of Limon has the most exotic and unspoiled beaches in Costa Rica surrounded by exotic jungle vegetation and wildlife that will enchant even the most demanding of visitors.

It is also no secret that the current road to Limon is one of the most tiresome road trips and not to mention with quite an unstable access.  The main road to Limon currently passes through the Braulio Carillo National Park in a narrow and winding fashion due to the characteristics of the terrain.  During the rainy season, or green season, landslides are common causing road blocks which force travelers to search for an alternate route.  The detour many times means at least an hour or two more on the road.

A private company has approached the Costa Rican government with the intention of building a new highway to Limon which will be more leveled and less winding.  The private company has proposed to build the road towards Limon parallel to the train tracks.  If the proposal is approved, the new road will go through Cartago and Turrialba instead of through Siquirres.

A new and improved road to Limon will highly benefit the country since at least 80% of Costa Rican exportations leave from Caribbean ports.  In addition, tourism will pick up in the area since local a foreign tourists will have a much better option of reaching Limon.

The company has also proposed to fix the current road that passes through the Braulio Carillo National Park as well as the Florencio del Castillo highway; all access points to the Caribbean province of Limon.

written by fernando \\ tags: beaches in Costa Rica, Braulio Carillo National Park, Caribbean province of Limon, Florencio del Castillo highway