The question is very common, if you had to recommend the best places to visit in Costa Rica, those that left you in awe, which would they be? Here we leave you our list of the seven wonders of Costa Rica, magical places that locals and foreigners should make time to experience, some of them are very popular, others, not so much: 1) Rio Celeste: The turquoise water of this river attracts tho...

After a US tourist was attacked by a shark while scuba diving in Isla del Coco, Costa Rica, many people are wondering whether or not they should be worried about shark attacks in Costa Rican waters, especially since the summer just started and the number of people visiting the beaches will have a considerable increase. First, it is important to keep in mind that Isla del Coco, where the tiger s...

A “March for life and family” took place this Sunday in San Jose, Costa Rica with the presence of thousands of Costa Ricans that decided to show their position in favor of life (against abortion) and family (the traditional family). The event was organized by the Catholic Church but had the support of other religious groups such as Christians and Evangelics, it took the streets of San Jose and ...

The bill 19,744 of Electric Transportation was approved in first debate by Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly (Congress) after two years of being in discussion. The purpose of this bill is promoting the use of electric vehicles by making them more affordable, while also helping the environment and help the country reach its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2022, as these vehicles produce zero ...

Three bodies turned up this Saturday in different points of San Jose apparently executed. According to information provided by the police authorities, one of the bodies was found in San Francisco de dos Rios, the second one near the Colegio de Abogados (Bar Association) in Zapote, and the third one was close to Cascada Azul motel in this same county. One of the bodies corresponds to a woma...

(Photo Archive) Another boat was stopped 55 nautical miles from the coast of Quepos, Puntarenas, carrying 1.3 tons of cocaine, confirmed the Costa Rican police. The authorities received an alert and thanks to the patrolling operations they carry out with the support of the United States they were able to stop the boat with four men aboard, the captain identified with the last names Manzanares...

The battle in favor and against shrimp trawling continues in Costa Rica, the Constitutional Chamber (Sala Cuarta or Sala Constitucional) brought the intentions of the Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture (INCOPESCA) of issuing new trawling permits to a halt. By accepting a constitutional appeal (recurso de amparo) presented by environmental attorney Alvaro Sagot against the government agreeme...

Through a press release, the Ministry of Environment in Costa Rica provided additional information regarding the death of US tourist yesterday (Nov. 30) as a result of the attack of tiger shark while she was diving in Isla del Coco in the Pacific of Costa Rica. According to the information, the woman, 49-years-old and of last name Bhandari was scuba diving in the area known as Manuelita in the...

Image Credit: TDMAS FB page The Costa Rica male national soccer team "La Sele" was drafted in Group E for the Russia World Cup 2018, along with Brazil, Switzerland and Serbia, this last team will be the first rival for the Ticos in a match scheduled for June 17 at 6 a.m. Costa Rica time at the Samara Arena, a stadium with capacity for 44,807 people, this is the first time these teams will face...

An American tourist died as a result of the injuries caused by a tiger shark while she was diving in Isla del Coco, Costa Rica; the dive master that was with her suffered serious injuries but survived. According to the Fuerza Pública (Costa Rican Police) the accident took place this Thursday, when apparently the tourists were in a scuba diving activity with a private company. The boat See Hun...

A total of 979 Costa Ricans were diagnosed with HIV in 2016, the number of new patients has continued to grow in the last years, back in 2011 the number of cases was of approximately 700. According to Costa Rican Health Authorities, between 2002 and 2016 there were a total of 9,197 diagnosed patients, out of which 7,478 are male and 1,719 female. This December 1st is the World Aids Day, an ...

The beautiful scarlet macaw (Ara Macao) is one of the most beautiful birds that exist, their scarlet, yellow and blue colors them hard to go unnoticed, in Costa Rica they are easily spotted specially in the Pacific coast, however, this wasn’t always the case, back in the 90’s this was an endangered species. During that decade the number of scarlet macaws in the country dropped to under 200, i...

The Office of Judicial Investigations (OIJ) arrested this Wednesday morning 31 police officers from Limon who are suspects of illegal searches, abuse of authority, and stealing evidence. The Minister of Security, Gustavo Mata, confirmed the information and explained that the operation was carried out in coordination with the judicial police. Apparently, the detained men are members of differ...

As it is known, wetlands are a very important part of our environment, their impact in our daily lives involve reducing the impacts of floods, helping deal with pollution, improving water quality, among many other things. Costa Rica has 12 wetlands that are considered Ramsar sites, which means, wetlands considered of international importance for conservation due to their ecological and biological...

Costa Rica’s Attorney General Emilia Navas ordered this Wednesday morning the search of the house and offices of congressmen Otto Guevara and Victor Morales Zapata as well as the vice-ministry of Treasury (Ministerio de Hacienda) Fernando Rodriguez. The police arrived at the “pink house” or Congress offices (Asamblea Legislativa) along with the Attorney General and forced their entry to the ...

Costa Rica’s Banco Nacional (National Bank) has notified several of its customers who have been identified by the bank as UBER drivers by the deposits received in their accounts that they cannot continue to receive funds originating from this activity and informs them of the possibility of closing down their accounts if they disregard the notification. After a customer of this bank affected by ...

“Living the integration” is an initiative launched in Costa Rica by The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) also known as the UN Refugee Agency in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Labour; this initiative has the goal of offering work options to refugees in Costa Rica. Refugees are all those people that are forced to leave their count...

The new digital system used in migration at the international airports in Costa Rica went down today causing long lines in both the Juan Santamaria Airport in Alajuela and the Daniel Oduber in Gunacaste. System failures are also reported in the national airports of Peñas Blancas, Tobias Bolaños in Pavas and Paso Canoas. The process to go through migration right now is being done manually which ...

In June, 2017, the former head of the Costa Rica Public Force (Fuerza Publica) was arrested for traveling in a false-bottom truck with 237 kilograms of cocaine – probably destined for the USA via Mexico.  In October, between 800-1,000 kilos of cocaine were found floating near Golfo Dulce. Last week, 785 kilos of cocaine were seized by authorities near Daniel Oduber Airport in Liberia. Last Friday ...

This will be the third consecutive year in which Costa Rica surpasses the rate of 10 homicides per every 100 thousand people, rate which the World Health Organization already considers as an epidemic. In 2015 the country registered a total of 557 homicides and in 2016 this number was of 578. So far this year there’s been 528 homicides and the Ministry of Public Security estimates it will reach ...

The Costa Rican coast guard intercepted a motorboat in Golfo Dulce in the Pacific carrying over one ton of cocaine. The National Coast Guard Service of the Ministry of Public Security was in a routine patrolling operation when they spotted a suspicious boat with two-men aboard, the police had to chase the motorboat which they were able to intercept close to Puerto Jimenez, however the men disre...

The Costa Rica Tattoo Expo comes back the weekend of December 15-17 at the Cariari Club in Heredia with a great variety of artists and surprises for art and ink lovers. The event will have close to 130 stands where visitors can search for different designs and styles, will feature national and international tattoo artists; for instance, in the category of Color Realism, the Trufant Bros. Alex a...

With a progress of over 80% in the construction of the National Congress and Convention Center, the Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT) is betting on positioning the country as a destination for corporate tourism and meetings with the purpose of diversifying its offer and attracting more visitors and investors. The National Congress and Convention Center was the missing element for the ICT, the new ...

The naval unit of the Costa Rican Fire Department confirmed a fire that affected the historic building of the command headquarters in San Lucas Island in the early hours of Saturday morning. The two level structure, of just 100 square meters was burned to the ground. The Judicial Investigative Police is conducting an investigation in the Island, and according to the preliminary information t...

Photo Credit: Cariari Informa FB A tree fell over a boat carrying close to 17 passengers in La Pavona, Tortuguero, Limon breaking the boat in half and causing the death of a foreign woman this Sunday at around 12pm. Several of the tourists fell to the water and suffered injuries, according to the Red Cross 7 were transferred in green category (minor injuries), 5 patients in category yellow (...

The Playa Hermosa – Punta Mala National Wildlife Refuge is part of the Central Pacific Conservation Area, located in the county of Garabito in Puntarenas 5km from Jaco beach town. The local park rangers have reported an increase in the number of cases of sea turtles and crocodiles found trapped, the majority dead, in fishing nets in the waters or shore of the protected area. “I have found 3...

As The Costa Rica Star reported a few days ago, controversy has raised after the Board of Directors of the Costa Rican Fisheries and Aquaculture Institute (Incopesca) is granting new trawling permits, a practice that is prohibited by law in Costa Rica since 2013 due to the environmental damages it causes; Incopesca argues that these new licenses would be granted considering 25 regulatory improveme...

As The Costa Rica Star informed yesterday approximately 155000 neighbors of Santa Ana, Escazu, Desamparados and Alajuelita had their water service interrupted today because of maintenance work being done in the Stations of Puente Mulas 1 and 2, it was precisely during this maintenance work that a 54-year-old woman named Norma Lucia Roldan, wife to the sub-manager of the Costa Rican Institute of Aq...

The government of the United Arab Emirates announced their decision to open an embassy in Costa Rica. The announcement was made by Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to Costa Rican chancellor, Manuel Gonzalez Sanz, in an act of reciprocity since the Embassy of the Republic of Costa Rica was officially opened in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. Curre...

Costa Rica’s Ministry of Public Security expressed their concern through their Facebook page after a Judge in Criminal Court set a man free who was arrested yesterday by the Drug Control Police (PCD), according to the post the court didn’t establish any precautionary measures. The man, of last names Fuertes Hernandez, was detained yesterday aboard a Hyundai truck with 321 kilos of cocaine, ...

The Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers informed that tomorrow, Saturday, November 25 preventive maintenance work will be done in the Stations of Puente Mulas 1 and 2 and this will leave approximately 155,000 neighbors of San Jose without water service. The situation will affect several areas of Santa Ana, Escazu, Alajuelita and Desamparados from 8 a.m. through 7 p.m. Pozos de Sant...

Testigo Directo (Direct Witness) is a Colombian TV show that presents independent investigative journalism on different sensitive topics, one of their series “El ventilador de los narcos” presents detailed information on the drug trafficking business in Colombia and even interviews with former members of cartels that explain in detail how the operations work. The show is presented by Rafael Poveda...

Once again, the Costa Rican Police found a load of cocaine, this time hidden in a truck that was being carried over a platform tow truck stopped during a routine road operation in the area of Jaco in Garabito, Puntarenas. The police officers stopped the tow truck, at around 1 p.m. and proceed to the visual inspection of the same and the white Hyundai truck carried on it; they noticed the Hyund...

Texas Tech University in Costa Rica (TTU-CR), officially announced its first enrollment period which will inaugurate the operations of the prestigious university in the Costa Rican campus. The enrollment period will extend through May of 2018 and the first semester will begin in August 27, 2018. The process can even be done online through the page www.ttu.edu/costarica Admission requireme...

The Costa Rican Constitutional Court (Sala Constitucional or Sala IV) sentenced the country’s authorities for the supposed abandonment of the National Parks. The sentence, dictated back in September 22 grants the Government a term of 5 years to take the necessary actions to resolve problems such as: the traffic of live animals, the contamination of the rivers, the lack of or damaged basis servi...

Hans De La O Solis, a district attorney in charge of the division of “in flagrante delicto” in Heredia, Costa Rica was shot six times as he was arriving to his house in the community of El Jardin in Calle Fallas, Desamparados. The news was confirmed by the Public Ministry in a press release. According to the official version, De La O left his work at the District Attorney’s Office in Heredi...

A new species of mammal was found in Costa Rica, the discovery of the “bush dog” in Costa Rican territory (Carnivora: Canidae) was confirmed by the Neotropical Biology and Conservation website. The species was first spotted through camera-traps located in the protected zone of Las Tablas in Coto Brus, Puntarenas in May of 2016, however, it was not until September that it was confirmed followi...

The Del Rey Hotel, a known sexual tourism hot spot located in downtown San Jose, Costa Rica near the Morazan Park was affected by a fire this Wednesday evening, at around 7 p.m. The five story building had to be evacuated, but fortunately no one was hurt. Apparently the fire began in a room in the third floor for reasons that are not clear at the time. Several firefighting units arrived quic...

AyA says that aquifers that provide water to these communities are below the historical level. Daniela Abarca / CRH. The Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR) stopped a project of the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (AyA), with which it was intended to solve the lack of water that has the coastal area of ​​El Coco - Ocotal and Playa Hermosa, in Guanacaste. The comptroller den...

Coffee produced in Costa Rica could soon be commercialized as the first coffee in the world to have the Carbon Neutral certification, this, thanks to a plan that should increase the production and quality of the coffee bean, while reducing the carbon emissions in its process. The Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Environment and the Inter-American Development Bank are the institutions ...