Several NGO’s and non profit organizations, including PRETOMA, Widecast and The Leatherback Trust, known collectively as Salvemos Nuestros Mares, have come together to improve marine management in Costa Rica through a series of legal, political and civil actions which will lead all around improvement of our valuable and incredibly bio-diverse marine resources. Their first action is an online pe...

Rowdiness that escalates to violence is now a “no no” at sporting events across Costa Rica, as the new law to curb violence and racism went into effect on Friday. The “Ley para Prevención y Sanción de la Violencia en Eventos Deportivos” (Law on Prevention and Punishment of Violence at Sporting Events) was passed in the Legislative Assembly in June, but it did not come into effect until its publ...

Britt Nelson standing alongside some of the exhibit. Patio Bar, Jacó, Costa Rica Every generation has its cultural icons and historical high and low points. Baby Boomers, coming along at a time when the world was shifting dramatically on every conceivable front, have proper claim to an inordinate number of defining moments: landing a man on the moon, the assassination of JFK, Woodstock, the Br...

No one was hurt when assailants in a passing car fired shots at the Colombian Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica’s security minister said Friday. Six shots were fired, apparently from an AK-47 assault rifle, Mario Zamora told a press conference. Four of the shots hit a guardhouse on the grounds and two struck the embassy itself. “Fortunately, there are no casualties,” the minister said. ...

Seventh-day Adventist professionals from throughout the Inter-American Division territory gathered for the church’s 13th annual Adventist-laymen’s Services and Industries (ASI) Convention in San Jose, Costa Rica, Aug. 14-17, 2013. The event brought more than 200 professionals and church leaders to Barcelo San Jose Palacio Hotel to celebrate their passion in sharing Christ through their businesses,...

A new shopping center will open next October in San Martin Avenue, Los Yoses, San Pedro. This new shopping center will include a Fresh Market, a Henry’s sports bar and a New York Pizza. Vivo Plaza is the name of the commercial project, which is developed and marketed by ServiGlobal for the corporation that owns the property: Zeta Group (specialized in building zones). Tammy Roitman, project ...

Four new industrial parks will be built in Santa Ana, Alajuela and Heredia. Alajuela will have two, one will be called Green Park and another Life Free Zone and Business Park, a third one will be located in Ulloa, Heredia, and will be named Tech Park, and the fourth one will operate as Lindora Business Park, which will be in Pozos, Santa Ana. The four real estate developments are currently bein...

Article by Central America Data with insights from La Nacion. The international crisis and exchange rate fluctuations caused the agriculture sector to export 7% less during the first seven months of 2013, when compared to the same period of 2012. The Costa Rican agricultural sector is not experiencing good times. Nacion.com reports: "According to the monthly index of economic activity (M...

Article by Central America Data with insights from Prensa Libre. The Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (AyA) is planning a borrowing program of $838 million of state funding, lasting until 2019, to fund its own projects. Yesenia Calderon, chief executive of the institution, reported that included in the list of projects is $662 million worth of projects which have already bee...

The number of homicides in Costa Rica has increased by 8% and assaults by 20% in the first seven months of the year, as compared to the same period last year, says the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ). A report by the Crime Analysis Unit of the OIJ indicated that between January and July 2013, 227 homicides occurred in the country, while only 209 were recorded in the same period in 20...

Imagine a blend of surfboards, wakeboards and kiteboards. Now, add motor power and a Formula 1 design engineer. That’s it. Meet the new JetSurf, a custom designed carbon fiber hull equipped with a two-stroke engine that can ride waves of all kind. The Jet Surf has an automatic electronic control unit that is manually operated to reach a maximum speed of 57 km/h (35 mph). Looks like awesome fun...

In Guanacaste this Thursday President Laura Chinchilla led a march protesting Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s bid to claim the Costa Rica province of Guanacaste. Chinchilla was joined by legislators, Cabinet members and protesters in a “marcha por la patria” (march for the homeland) that began in the town of Nicoya in the northwest province of Guanacaste. The province, home to some of Cost...

Costa Rica has been host to thousands of foreigners who have settled here for four centuries, if one counts the Spanish. But before the 1990s, none of them were able to scuttle across the ceiling like spiders. That ubiquitous little Far Eastern lizard, the Gecko, may have hitched a ride aboard a freighter (or a series of them) touching in at Costa Rican ports. However it happened, they found Co...

A reader of The Voice of Guanacaste recently wrote in asking if we know of an agency that provides support to victims of violence, because his neighbor had fled to San Jose to escape a violent boyfriend. First, I would like to refer to the impossibility of reconciling in situations of domestic violence, not only in the process of precautionary measures, but also in the other judicial processes ...

If you would like The Costa Rica Star to cover your business press release, please contact us. Stay at Peninsula Papagayo, Play Four Seasons Costa Rica Golf, Relax in the Privacy of Your Own Luxury Vacation Rental. Papagayo Luxury announces fall promotion for their private vacation home rentals at Peninsula Papagayo, Costa Rica: -Stay 7 nights, pay for 6 (valid Sep 1- Nov 14, 2013) -St...

On Tuesday, the presentation "Costa Rica to Feel and Live" took place, presented by the Tourism Department of Costa Rica in association with Peruvian Airlines. The event was focused displaying the various attractions that Costa Rica has to offer. Providencia, Peru — The event began with an introduction by the CEO of Peruvian Airlines, Alberto López, where he presented the opening of new routes ...

7 out of 10 Costa Ricans believe that Ticos are not able to consume alcohol in moderation, is the conclusion of a study by Educalcohol Costa Rica, for the Escuela de Estadística de la Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR) - School of Statistics at the University of Costa Rica. Educalcohol Costa Rica project manager, Eugenio Regidor, explained that the purpose of the study was to know the pattern of a...

Deportivo Saprissa moved top of the Costa Rica Primera Division with a 3-1 win over Carmelita on Wednesday. Ariel Rodriguez's brace and a Mauricio Castillo effort helped Deportivo Saprissa triumph at the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica in San Jose. Mario Camacho pulled a goal back for the visitors in the 81st minute but they were unable to stage a remarkable comeback. Ronald Gonzalez Brene...

The universal health care system of Costa Rica (Caja) has doubled its capacity to give radiation treatments to cancer patients with a new building for treatment at Hospital Mexico. The building cost 9 billion colones, approximately $17.3 million US dollars and includes two new linear accelerators, in addition to the two purchased last year. Cancer, according to the national newspaper La Nacion,...

If you would like The Costa Rica Star to publish your business press release, please contact us. Croc’s Casino Resort knows its business. Taking care of its local and worldwide guests with gracious hospitality and exhilarating entertainment. Edica Construction knows its business. Building world-class resorts with exacting standards, keeping their clients beyond satisfied. Both Croc’s Cas...

If you would like The Costa Rica Star to publish your business press release, please contact us. On July 2, a different kind of hangout opened in Samara, well attended by the local crowd curious to see what the Zen Den is all about. Some played pool in the corner, and all enjoyed socializing, accompanied by sangria and tapas-style food with low-key background music. The space on the main str...

Hot springs are more than just warm and relaxing pools. These areas have medical and healing properties due to their high mineral content. A group of businessmen who want to develop this concept formed a commission to promote medical hydrology in San Carlos, taking advantage of the existing infrastructure such as hot spring water touristic centers and the natural conditions of the environment. ...

Children and teenagers who file complaints for bullying will remain anonymous, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) ruled last week. The court admitted that this is at variance with adult due process rules that require plaintiffs to be identified. The case arose when the director of Gravilias de Desamparados school refused to release the identity of the accuser or accusers ...

A security guard who wants to get into the cockfighting game buys, befriends, and becomes inseparable from his rooster protégé Rocky, in this winsome feature debut from Costa Rican director Neto Villalobos. “Por las Plumas” (All About the Feathers) is about Chalo (Allan Cascante), a security guard who wants to get into cockfighting. He lives in an apartment above a fried chicken joint in a slee...

Living room This home for sale is located in Hermosa Heights, a residential community located in Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste that offers many amenities such as a Movie Theater, Mini Golf, Common Pools, Sports Bar, Restaurant and Fitness Center. This house in particular has a private pool on top of allowing access to the community pool. The community pool has water slides, and covered seating are...

Costa Rica wants to attract more Chinese tourists and investors and so it is planning to open consulates in Shanghai and Hong Kong, the Central American nation’s envoy to Beijing said Tuesday. The opening of the two consulates, which will augment Costa Rica’s only existing diplomatic mission in China, is a “project for 2014” that still must be approved by the foreign ministry, said Ambassador M...

The high school students of Home School Beach Academy (HSBA) in Nosara raised $900 to help electrocuted monkeys as part of a school project. After learning more about the problem, they decided to organize a Stop the Shocks race on Saturday morning, August 17 on Guiones Beach to raise funds for Nosara Wildlife Refuge and to raise awareness of the problem that monkeys face due to uninsulated powe...

A total of 1.32 million tourists arrived in Costa Rica in the first six months of 2013, which is an increase of 2.7% over the same period last year, according to data provided by the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT). The majority of the visitors from January to June arrived at the Juan Santamaría international airport in San José, followed by the Daniel Oduber airport in Liberia, while ...

Knowing exactly how many people use the public bus system every day, and thus learning the requirements of each route, is what the Autoridad Reguladora de Servicios Públicos (ARESEP) hopes to achieve with a study that began earlier this month. According to the ARESEP, the information to be obtained by the study is to establish “operational variables” ie. the size of the fleet, schedules, frequ...

On August 7, the Constitutional Court ruled that using trawling nets for shrimping is unconstitutional. This measure aims to minimize the impact that this type of fishing is causing along the country's coast, especially in the Gulf of Nicoya. The Constitutional Court determined that using trawling nets does not allow selection of the desired specimens, in many cases trapping unusable ones and t...

If you would like The Costa Rica Star to publish your business press release, please contact us. Glossy, high-quality surf photos are the main attraction of a new Nosara Shack Surf Magazine, which will hit the shelves of about 20 different Nosara grocery stores and surf schools during the first week of September 2013. Graham Swindell, the magazine’s publisher, had already made flipbooks of s...

One of the least expensive items in Costa Rica is a fixed line telephone (yes, they do still exist), the basic rate is only ¢1,850 colones (US$3.75) monthly, and includes 160 minutes of outgoing call time and no cost for incoming calls. But that may all change today, when the Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones de Costa Rica (SUTEL) – Costa Rica’s telecommunications regulator – opens public ...

The first birding app for Costa Rica is a digital field guide replete with photos, sounds, text, and range maps for more than 500 bird species. If you want The Costa Rica Star to cover your business press release, please contact us. San Jose, Costa Rica – The second version of the Costa Rica Birds-Field Guide app became available in the iTunes Store in July, 2013. This is the second version of ...

"A little girl?” asked a surprised Paulo Trejos, manager of Hooters restaurant in Escazú, where several customers saw a 10 year old girl apparently working there. A photograph that circulated on Facebook last Sunday shows the little girl working at Hooters with the uniform on. Furthermore, the customer who provided the photograph assures that the child was handing over food and bills to cu...

A man in Costa Rica killed his ex-girlfriend and confessed by sending relatives a photo of her body via the smartphone application WhatsApp. This case appears to be a copycat killing, following a similar case recently in Miami. There, a man allegedly killed his wife and then posted a photo and confession on Facebook. The incident is reported to have happened on Saturday in the village of Hua...

Although the Government of Nicaragua said that President Daniel Ortega never threatened to claim the province of Guanacaste, several Nicoyan social groups decided to leave no room for doubt and will take to the streets this Thursday, August 22 to march peacefully to reconfirm the annexation cry. Marta Arauz, coordinator of the march, said that "it is a peaceful march and does not involve an...

In November of last year, several Nosara parents filed a complaint with the Ministry of Health after observing that some children at Serapio López School had stomach problems, allegedly for drinking the water at the institution. With this kind of complaint, the Ministry of Health was responsible for issuing a sanitary order to the Costa Rican Water and Sewage (AyA) Institute to perform the resp...

While they protest, we have to keep the Consulate closed: Foreign Minister Costa Rica’s Foreign Minister, Enrique Castillo, said late Sunday that the planned move for the Costa Rican Consulate in Managua was prevented due to “xenophobia fueled by President Daniel Ortega against Costa Rica”. Due to the protests outside the Consulate, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was forced to shut down sin...

During 2012, the office space market experienced a significant growth in supply motivated by the addition of new properties and new phases in existing projects. However, today, more office space without demand has put developers on alert. According to an analysis by Colliers International, in the first quarter of 2013 less office space has been rented by businesses, while more office space is m...

In order to talk with and get to know the concerns of Nicoyans, the former president of the republic, José María Figueres Olsen, showed up in the Coopealianza auditorium in downtown Nicoya on July 24. Figueres, now 58 years old, was president of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998, distinguished as the youngest head of state of Central America in modern times at age 39. In addition to his political ca...