Source: Rugby Federation of Costa Rica In a heart-stopping final qualification game, the National Men's Rubgy Team of Costa Rica was able to secure two tickets: One to Mexico for the Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz later this year, and the other to Brazil for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The rugby sevens match between the national teams of Costa Rica and Guat...

Maikol Torres ripping the waves in Guanacaste Once again, perseverance paid off for up-and-coming surfer Maikol Torres from Costa Rica, who recently won the Reserva Conchal Tiki Hut Cup. The cup was disputed as the third event of the brand-new Guanacaste Pro Surfing Circuit. Conditions were excellent at the gorgeous Playa Marbella thanks to an inland breeze that shaped the swell into glassy 1....

Playa Potrero in Guanacaste is a quiet beach community that many real estate analysts believe could turn into the one of the most lucrative luxury resort and housing markets in Costa Rica. It was in this community where members of Fuerza Publica, Costa Rica's national police force, stormed the offices of the local water utility and environmental development office (Spanish acronym: ASADA) on Frida...

Tempisque River Inspectors from the Ministry of the Environment (Spanish acronym: MINAE) recently inspected an improvised dam erected by a sugar cane processor in Guanacaste. Municipal council members from Carrillo accompanied the MINAE inspectors in the latest dispute over water in the driest, yet most lucrative, region of Costa Rica. Complaints about the dam and its alleged impact on the ...

Tamarindo Beach in Guanacaste Costa RicaAn oft-discussed topic among tourists and expats visiting Costa Rica is how little they can get for their hard-earned dollars here. This is a sentiment shared by the local population as well, who somehow make do with a lot less than their fellow North American and European complainants. An incredibly detailed report by blogger Tricia Lyman reveals that a co...

The shores of Costa Rica's Gold Coast are home to the occasional stranding of marine mammals, but these sporadic situations could result in massive beaching events unless human oceanic activity is conducted in a way that minimizes underwater noise pollution. Such was the message delivered by oceanographer and cross-discipline scientist Melania Guerra Carrillo at a recent presentation on bioacousti...

The 21st century has proven difficult for professional football development in Guanacaste, but things seem to be improving for the northern province. Two local teams from the province are among the best performers in the development football league of Costa Rica, previously known as the Second Division. Should the Guanacaste Sporting Association or the Liberia Municipal Team continue playing a...

A typical abandoned home in Detroit. The National Stadium in La Sabana, hundreds of patrol cars and the National Police Academy: These are some of the most significant donations given to Costa Rica by the People's Republic of China (PRC). Costa Rica is hardly the only country in the region to receive major aid from China; the Costa Rica Star has previously reported on the work of the PRC in th...

Luis Guillermo Solis, presidential candidate in Costa Rica. As the runoff presidential election nears in Costa Rica, candidates Johnny Araya of the National Liberation Party (Spanish initials: PLN) and Luis Guillermo Solis of the Citizens' Action Party (Spanish initials: PAC) are formulating their strategies to capture the vote that will determine the successor to President Laura Chinchilla. A...

Electronic Dance Music events in Costa Rica are full scale experiencesOn the heels of the extravagant Life in Color electronic dance music (EDM) festival, scenesters are paying close attention to related events in Costa Rica. From the upcoming German DJ Paul Van Dyk's set at Vertigo to the Envision Festival in the Osa Peninsula and from the psychedelic dance rock party at Best Fest to the prolife...

Holistic tourism has grown considerably in Costa Rica during the 21st century, and yoga is at the center of this trend. Holistic travelers seek places where they can relax, detoxify and get away from the stressors of modern life. Yoga retreats in Costa Rica are often sought for this purpose, and not just by foreign visitors: Many residents of San Jose are known to travel to Guanacaste in search of...

Casa Flotanta is located in Playa Santa Teresa, Costa Rica (Photo: Benjamin Garcia Saxe Architecture) Playa Santa Teresa in the northern region of Puntarenas is known as a surfer's mecca and as one of the most coveted real estate markets in Costa Rica. Thanks to star architect Benjamin Garcia Saxe, this gorgeous beach town is now also known as a place where a mysterious force field serves as t...

The first full-length documentary film produced by the University of Costa Rica (UCR) had its debut on the social video network YouTube on January 29th at 8:00 p.m. La Caja de Pandora: El Juego Oculto Contra el Seguro Social (Pandora's Box: Foul Play Against Social Security), a critical look at the gradual decline of Costa Rica's most treasured public institution, has been watched more than 60...

An OVOP conference at the Dominican Republic. Strengthening a community's brand, adding value to existing products and conducting frequent market research are business principles that some small towns in Guanacaste are experimenting with. They are part of the “One Village, One Product” (OVOP) movement promoted by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The OVOP movement has been ...

Guanacaste is the province with the highest rate of domestic violence in Costa Rica. According to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Public Health (Spanish initials: MSP), the northern province registered 346.6 cases of domestic violence per 100,000 residents. This figure, which is from 2012, is part of an ongoing qualitative analysis that the MSP is conducting so that proper action can be tak...

Legislator Marta Arauz. Source: Facebook. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Costa Rica has tallied and certified the votes that determined the legislators who will represent the province of Guanacaste at the Legislative Assembly during the next administration. The constituency will have to wait until April 6th to elect the new President of Costa Rica in a runoff election, but the legislators b...

Source: MichaelBaker.com Michael Baker has been creating sculptures for more than two decades. His artwork has been exhibited all over the United States, and in 2012 he made his international debut in Costa Rica. If you are a fan of the Iron Man film series, there is a good chance that you are already familiar with Mr. Baker's work, and now you can see more of it in Guanacaste. According to...

Small town life in Costa Rica consists of the "Holy Trinity"Quaint and charming little towns in Costa Rica have a few things in common, but there is something that tourists notice as soon as they visit them: Each community will have at least three central places for residents to enjoy and be proud of. This small town trinity will vary slightly in terms of configuration from one community to anoth...

The Social Protection Commission (Spanish acronym: JPS) recently announced the donation of six wheelchairs to low-income residents of Guanacaste who live with disabilities. The new wheelchairs were presented to their owners during modest ceremonies at Chupis and Importaciones Melodia, two major providers of medical equipment in Costa Rica. The wheelchairs were specially designed to adjust to the n...

If you require an airport or beach transfer service in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, please contact BeachTransfer.com. They have a team of English speaking drivers ready to handle your shuttle requests. A new private driver and chauffeur service is coming to the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia (LIR) Guanacaste, Costa Rica. This private driver and transport service will provide comforta...

For the purpose of meeting the demands of the modern workplace in Guanacaste, the National Learning Institute (Spanish initials: INA) will offer a free, comprehensive business English course in Filadelfia from March 21st, 2014 to January 15th, 2015. Prospective students must be at least 15 years old and have completed the 9th grade of general education in Costa Rica. This ten-month foreign lang...

A business consortium in Guanacaste will be keeping a close eye on arboreal wildlife with a network of eight cameras that will monitor animals as they negotiate the forest canopy and high tension power lines. Coopeguanacaste, a major electrical utility company in the Santa Cruz canton, recently installed new devices on portions of their power infrastructure to discourage monkeys, coatis, sloths, k...

Tamarindo Bay Boutique Hotel in Guanacaste Costa RicaThe Tamarindo Bay Boutique Hotel is the newest, luxury beach accommodation in Guanacaste's Gold Coast. This hotel, which offers a private and secure setting at a very short distance away from the beach and other amenities, is proud to bring a new concept in modern and sophisticated comfort and hospitality. The Pacific beaches of Guanacaste a...

Biology students hit the field in Costa Rica Educating future scientists these days calls for more than just academic training and laboratory experiments. Working in the field and interacting with the public as well as with members of other disciplines have become crucial skills for scientists who wish to find success in their chosen fields of inquiry. To this end, the Organization for Tropica...

The master penthouse suite at Hotel Chantel, in Playas del Coco, GuanacasteHotel Chantel, the premier ocean-view boutique hotel located in one of the prettiest beaches of Guanacaste, recently announced a promotion for couples who want to spend a special Valentine's Day weekend in Costa Rica. Guests who book a room during this Valentine's weekend for 2 nights will receive the 3rd night for free. ...

Voting for the 2014 presidential elections in Costa Rica Democracy is very much alive in Costa Rica. Such was the impression perceived by the Costa Rica Star as well as international observers of the Organization of American States (OAS) on Sunday, February 2nd, 2014. Although candidate Johnny Araya of the powerful National Liberation (Spanish initials: PLN) initially captured the majority of ...

Trogon elegans bird in Guanacaste Costa Rica One of the most endearing and emblematic birds of Guanacaste is the Trogon elegans, also known as bobo, momoto, cejiceleste, and others. The Trogon elegans is among the most attractive species of the Trogonidae family, which can be found from the Southwestern United States to the northern region of Costa Rica. This magnificent bird has been the focu...

President of Nicaragua Daniel OrtegaA few years after the turn of the century, Costa Rica stopped being the darling destination for long-term visitors, expats and retirees. Around the time the housing bubble in the United States was about to burst, jaded (and broke) expats started looking for a Shangri-la known as “the next Costa Rica,” a place many believed could be found in the ultra-cheap neig...

Skyline of the Latvian capital Riga In the 20th century, economists and analysts in the United States convinced the government to adopt the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) measurement as the main yardstick of its economy. Just about every nation followed suit, which is why we are now able to compare Costa Rica with other countries and regions in terms of GDP. It turns out, however, tha...

Microclimates converge throughout regions of Costa Rica Among all the factors that contribute to Costa Rica's amazing biodiversity, its abundance of microclimates and variety of unusual seasons are among the most important. The heterogeneously distributed topography of the country also contributes to the climatic diversity, which makes some regions feel as if they were located in different cou...

Painting by Willy Flores Starting in late January, the lovable city of San Jose will welcome more dogs than usual. These dogs, however, are not part of the million stray and community dogs that roam Costa Rica; these canines are an important part of the body of work of Willy Flores, and they are currently on display at the Sophia Wanamaker art gallery of the Centro Cultural in San Pedro. Mr...

1 in 5 Canadian enjoy sex on the beach in Costa Rica For most people, sex on the beach involves mixing vodka and peach schnapps with orange and cranberry juice. For some Canadians visiting Costa Rica, however, sex on the beach involves mixing with each other in the sand. As recently reported by the Toronto Star, a survey by Expedia.ca indicates that visitors from Ontario and Quebec are more li...

Playa Hermosa Beach in Guanacaste Costa Rica Judging by an academic study and two market research reports on tourism and real estate, Guanacaste is on track to be Costa Rica's most expensive region to live or visit for 2014. Although the majority of complaints are coming from foreign visitors and expats, there does not seem to be an exodus. In fact, hospitality and tourism operators as well as...

Bribri schoolchildren in Costa Rica Earlier this month, a trailing presidential candidate in Costa Rica received a very special honor. Rodolfo Piza, leader of the battered Social Christian Union political party (Spanish initials: PUSC), welcomed representatives of three indigenous communities from the Southern Zone, who traveled to San Jose to meet the candidate they consider is the only one lo...

OIJ agents on a 2012 raid. A few days ago, the Constitutional Chamber of Costa Rica agreed to review a petition by a news media organization claiming that the Organization of Judicial Investigations (Spanish acronym: OIJ) has been deliberately monitoring telephone conversations and intimidating its journalists. Now it's the OIJ's turn to be monitored and investigated, at least until the Consti...

Expotur Costa Rica Travel Mart 2014 The 29th edition of Expotur will take place from May 14th to May 16th, 2014. This event, which is organized by the Costa Rican Association of Tourism Professionals (Spanish acronym: ACOPROT), will bring together more than 300 tourism and hospitality businesses from across the country and the region for three days of industry insight and networking at the Wyn...

Screen grab from YouTube In the wake of a recent article published by the Costa Rica Star, the editor reached out to Zach C. Cohen, author of From Costa Rica to Israel, an article published by New Voices that contained less-than-flattering remarks about the lovable city of San Jose. Mr. Cohen's reply was not quite pura vida, and thus here's our rebuttal, parodied from the 1990 film A Few Good ...

Fernando Zumbado in court in Costa RicaA former Minister of Housing in Costa Rica was recently sentenced to three years in prison for misusing donated funds and perpetrating fraud against the government. Fernando Zumbado served during former President Oscar Arias' second administration; and, despite his criminal conviction and sentence, he will not spend a single day behind bars. Mr. Zumbado w...

No plans to marry: Costa Rica Presidential candidate, Otto Guevara The image of a presidential candidate dutifully accompanied by his or her spouse has virtually disappeared in Costa Rica. Prior to the 21st century, voters in Costa Rica paid close attention to the potential First Ladies, who were implicit as part of the presidential candidacy package. Given the current spectrum of presidential...

Reception area of the Hotel Tamarindo Diria in Guanacaste, Costa Rica The Guanacaste province is the leading region in Costa Rica in terms of clean energy projects. That leadership is being sustained thanks to both public utility projects and private business initiatives. In Santa Cruz, the elegant Tamarindo Diria Hotel recently announced its completion of a water heating project entirely powe...