Santa Ana and Mora counties in the western outskirts of the Greater San José Metropolitan Area will be without water on Tuesday, October 3, according to Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (AyA, in Spanish). The agency will be carrying out work on a 300 mm water pipe that supplies the areas. Drinking water service will be cut from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the following areas: Lindora...

Costa Rica is ranked second in the top expat destinations in 2017 by InterNations, the friendliness of the local residents, the quality of life, ease of settling in and family life aside from its many incredible natural beauties, make the country a very attractive destination for those looking to retire and those who simply want a change in their life and are looking for the ideal place to establi...

Tamarindo, Guancaste is one of Costa Rica’s most visited beach towns, an area that attracts surfers year round and national and foreign tourists that enjoy the many restaurants and attractions the area offers and the beauty of the Tamarindo beach and the many beautiful beaches close by. The Hilltop Adventure Park is just another reason to visit Tamarindo, not that you needed any more, but it o...

CSS Corp the multinational company from the services sector, is looking for gamers with good proficiency in English and enthusiasm for videogames, who want to work and earn money by helping others video gamers in United States. The company is hiring personnel to fill 30 job positions and announces its intention to add more job positions for gamers in the short term The desired candidates for...

Costa Rica's 300-odd electric vehicle (EV) drivers have some welcome news with new charging stations coming to rural areas. Two stations to join the grid will be located in the mountains south of San José along the Interamerican Highway: one in San Marcos de Tarrazú and the other in the vicinity of the Los Santos Wind Farm. The recharge points are being built by the National Consortium of El...

The group of rheumatologists at the public San Juan de Dios Hospital in San José, Costa Rica opened an arthritis clinic, in order to treat patients in the early stages of the disease. People who present possible symptoms of arthritis are scheduled for medical appointments on Thursday mornings at the clinic for early detection screenings. From January to date, about 300 people have gone throu...

In the past few weeks, several countries have faced tragedy, hurricanes and earthquakes have struck and caused devastation, in small islands in the Caribbean as well as Mexico and the United States. If you are in Costa Rica and you want to help the victims of the Mexico earthquake authorities recommend going directly to the Red Cross in the country. The Costa Rican Red Cross will channel all...

Costa Rican coffee is regarded worldwide, yet, believe it or not sometimes it is not easy to find the best quality coffee in the Costa Rican coffee shops, this is because the majority of the best coffee is exported; that’s why Café Don Mayo decided several years back to open a specialty coffee shop with high-quality coffee of their own production. The best grains of coffee are selected from the...

The Tamarindo Art Wave Festival 2017 is the result of the hard work and passion of a group of art lovers in this beautiful and inspirational beach town of Costa Rica. A group of artists formed the Tamarindo Arts Foundation, a non-profit, non-government-organization that doesn’t just put together this artistic display but that also plans to create the Tamarindo Arts Academy in the near future. ...

If you are looking to buy a house or property in Costa Rica this might be a great place to start looking. ExpoCasa y Decoración (House and Décor Expo) kicked off today in Costa Rica and this year it has the participation of 88 real estate developers, 15 financial institutions and 15 home decoration companies, among other exhibitors. The fair is being held at Kölbi Center in Parque Viva and it ...

Regulations for drones in Costa Rica went into effect on August 13, and drone users have a 6-month window to comply, or face penalties, reported the Civil Aviation department last week. The regulations establish guidelines for the use of drones for recreational, institutional and commercial purposes. Those using drones must be do so in open areas, and ensure they are not within an 8 km radiu...

Vacationing in Costa Rica is wonderful, but living in Costa Rica is definitely not stress free, just like living in any other country, everyday work problems eventually catch up with you and your health pays the price; if you’ve had a rough week take a day or two to relax in The Retreat, a wellness destination located just 30 minutes from San José. The Retreat Costa Rica is located in Altos del...

Santa Teresa de Cóbano in Puntarenas is known as a surfer’s paradise, an ideal spot to vacation away from the big resorts of Guanacaste, one of the preferred locations for celebrities that come to Costa Rica, a remote and perfect getaway… but we certainly never consider Santa Teresa as a place of technology innovation. Silicon Paradise, is exactly that, an initiative to develop new technologica...

Those eligible to get a foreign driver's license validated in Costa Rica can do so at any of the COSEVI's 13 regional offices, said the Ministry of Transportation and Public works in a press release. Regional offices of the Road Safety and Education Council (COSEVI) are taking such applications on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 7 - 11 a.m. A list of the regional offices and phone numbers can be f...

Photo: Wyndham San Jose Hotel/Mother's day lunch For those of us lucky enough to still have our mother with us and if we have them right here in Costa Rica living with us, next Tuesday, August 15 we will be celebrating another Mother’s Day. All mothers are different and therefore it is difficult to make recommendations on gifts, some like working out, others have particular hobbies, some en...

ExpoEmpleo, Job Expo in Costa Rica has 1500 positions to fill, the event is scheduled for September 1st and 2nd at the National Stadium from 9 a.m. through 6 p.m. In total 15 companies are looking for bilingual or multilingual candidates to fill up positions as customer service representatives, fraud investigation specialists, group managers, IT support engineers, human resources specialists, f...

This Thursday, the Costa Rica Government presented their new tax reform proposal to Congress, the project (The Strengthening of Public Finances Law), expects to reduce the existing gap between incoming and outgoing funds, balance the country’s budget by going from a 5% to a 2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is the third proposal presented by the Government to Congress to try to get a...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDQPZL_SKlk The 61-year-old Oscar winning U.S. film actor and director, Mel Gibson, has re-listed his oceanside mansion on Costa Rica's northern Nicoya Peninsula for the same price he was asking in 2014: US$29.75 million. He also had the mansion on the market in 2012 and 2013. Gibson nabbed the 400-some acres of coastal jungle when searching for sites to fi...

The Costa Rican Tennis Federation is inviting tennis players to the tournament “Match Point por la Vida” or Match Point for Life, an event that will raise funds for children who are battling cancer. The tournament is scheduled to take place on August 19, 20, (qualification matches) and 26, 27 (semifinals and finals) at the Los Reyes Country Club and the open categories are: doubles, male and fe...

Employers in Costa Rica have always been obligated to pay social security for their workers including domestic help, housekeepers or maids; however, in the past “Caja” (Costa Rica Public Health and Social Security Administration, CCSS) didn’t offer a possibility for those maids that only worked part time or by the hour, or had several employers; the only option was to report the worker with a mini...

This past July 25 the changes to the Labor Procedural Law of Costa Rica (Reforma Procesal Laboral) entered into force; this is the biggest change this law has seen since the Labor Code was published in 1943. The modification of this law involved the derogation of 16 articles, the incorporation of 89 new ones and changes to almost half the original code. If you have business in Costa Rica or...

The first Crate & Barrel in the Central American region opens today, Friday, July 28, at Avenida Escazú, a trendy, upscale commercial and residential complex just west of San José, Costa Rica. The store involved an investment of US$4 million, has an extension of 2,200m2, and will employ an estimated 40 people for ​​sales, cashier, exhibition, and other work. Crate & Barrel offers its...

August 2 is a holiday in Costa Rica, it’s a day reserved to honor the country’s patron saint, the Vírgen de los Angeles or “La Negrita” as Costa Ricans refer to her. The tradition in the country for catholic faithful involves a pilgrimage, “La Romería”, to the church in Cartago that was built in honor of La Negrita, “La Basílica de Los Angeles”. Hundreds of thousands, some say more than a...

Photo Credit: Universidad Hispanoamericana /Freddy Alvarez project Architect Freddy Alvarez presented a proposal to create a marina in Limón Port as his graduation project “Transformation of the port space- tourism marina Limón Port”; the proposal raised the interest of the authorities of the Interinstitutional Commission of Tourism Marinas and Piers (CIMAT) which is an organ affiliated to the ...

The production of coffee around the world, including Costa Rica could be affected by climate change, stated experts and authorities in Colombia, which also warned no country is ready to face these problems. Because of how sensitive coffee plants are to small fluctuations in temperature as the temperature goes up this will affect the coffee production which in the past few years has been overtak...

The Food Week festival is carried out in several cities like New York, USA; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Madrid, Spain, with great success; it is a great opportunity for people to try some of the best restaurants in their city at great prices. This event arrived to San José, Costa Rica this year for the first time. Even though the name of the festival is “Food Week” it actually goes on for seve...

San José has many hidden jewels, many places that are unknown to foreigners and even to locals that don’t take the time to discover this city; you will be surprised to find some great restaurants and bars in downtown San José, and here we give you six awesome restaurants right in Costa Rica’s capital city that you should definitely take the time to try: 1) Coconut: Many people complain about ho...

The consular section at U.S. Embassy San Jose announces a consular outreach event in Santa Teresa at the end of July. Consular staff will be available to accept adult passport renewals, perform notarial services, and handle inquiries on federal benefits and voting. The event will take place Thursday, July 27, 9 - 11 a.m.  at the Auditorio de la Clinica del Seguro Social en Cobano (150 meters we...

Clinica Bíblica had already announced an investment of approximately USD $19 million in its new location in Santa Ana which is expected to be ready before the end of 2018 and involves 7,000 square meters of the hospital building and 8,000 square meters for parking lot. This same medical center has also confirmed the construction of two new clinics, one in Heredia and another one in Tres Ríos wi...

Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) has moved on from the beach communities on the northern Nicoya peninsula, to the central Pacific region of the Manuel Antonio National Park and its nearby small city of Quepos, for the country's second rural fiber optics installation project, reported the agency this week.   The project will benefit at least 1,087 customers will be move from the c...

The Texas Tech University in Costa Rica will be ready to open doors in August of 2018 in Avenida Escazú. According to information published by daily La Nación and provided by Jack Bimrose, Administrative Director of the University, students will have to pay approximately US $1,500.00 a month to study one of the offered careers, Electric Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Computer Sciences, Ma...

The Costa Rican Social Security Agency (CCSS), which runs the country's national public health system, announced the availability of a highly effective treatment for Hepatitis C. Whereas previously the virus was visually impossible to treat in a definitive manner, a pill became available in the U.S. in 2014 which gave up to 99 percent cure rates using a 12 - 24 week treatment, according to scie...

One of the main complaints of Costa Ricans and foreigners alike is how slow the Costa Rica government is when it comes to the execution of public works; hopefully this will improve soon as Congress has taken steps that will allow the State to build more efficiently and faster. The Executive Branch has presented a proposal to modify Articles 18,25,30,32 and 57 of the Expropriation Law, which wo...

Foreigners that live in Costa Rica have learned that knowing Spanish is sometimes not enough to understand or communicate properly in the country. Costa Ricans seem to always have a nickname for things and places, there are also a lot of phrases used by “ticos” that can be both funny and confusing. For those foreigners that have spent enough time in Costa Rica and are already familiar with the ...

Costa Rica's diverse and varied climate makes it easy for travelers to embark on a fantasy escape all year-round. Whether you're a nature buff, thrill seeker or culture enthusiast, Costa Rica's biodiverse terrain and magical wonders are waiting to be explored 365 days of the year. Classified as a tropical country because of its proximity to the equator, Costa Rica has no real winter, and it always...

Life today seems to be going by faster than ever, days seem shorter, we are always working and there’s always something to do; and that’s precisely why we need to make time for ourselves and our family, and even when we might not have time to enjoy a long vacation, stepping away from the everyday life can do wonders for our energy, mood and spirit. The “Paseo de los Turistas” in Puntarenas...

The 2017 Social Progress Index, published by the Social Progress Imperative, regional partner of the INCAE Sustainable Development (CLACDS) ranks Costa Rica in position 28 of 128. This year´s index shows that global leaders are facing two worrisome tendencies: a decline in personal rights, personal security, tolerance and inclusion and a slow and uneven progress globally. ¨At the Social Prog...

When asked about Costa Rica’s gastronomy the first thing that comes to mind is the most popular dish, the “Casado” the typical dish that includes white rice, black beans, meat (chicken, fish, pork or red meat) and a small salad and perhaps the famous “gallo pinto” (rice and beans mixed together and flavored with different natural spices) also come to mind, but not every dish in Costa Rica is about...

Photo credit: Humane Society International/Latin America The Zoo technical Diagnosis of Dog Breeding Centers in Costa Rica, an investigation carried out by Mario Torres a student of the School of Zoo Technology of the University of Costa Rica confirms that 75% of the breeding centers registered in the country operate without permits. Torres obtained the date from the National Service of Anim...

Costa Rica is looking to reach 300 days of running in clean energy breaking the mark of 271 days the country achieved during 2015 and 2016. The weather conditions during the first semester of the year and the new energy generation plants will allow the country to surpass its goal of producing energy from 100% renewable sources. In the first five months of this year bunker plants have been us...