The best way to know more tourist places in the shortest time is through domestic flights. In this way, it is possible to fly throughout the country from coast to coast, and from the North border to the South border. There are two main domestic airlines in Costa Rica that offer public flights, and some other companies that offer helicopter services.

Domestic Flights

One of the airlines that offer local flights in Costa Rica is Nature Air. They operate from the Tobias Bolanos local airport in Pavas, San Jose, and they also operate out of the Daniel Oduber airport in Liberia. They fly to the following destinations: Arenal, Barra del Colorado, Drake, Golfito, Liberia, Palmar Sur, Puerto Jimenez, Punta Islita, Quepos, Nosara, Tamarindo, Tambor and Tortuguero. The prices go between $110 and $190 per ticket (roundtrip). Normally, Nature Air operates with Twin-Otter aircraft (twin-engine) for 18 passengers.

The other airline is SANSA – which shares the same destinations with Nature Air: Arenal, Barra del Colorado, Drake, Golfito, Liberia, Palmar Sur, Puerto Jimenez, Punta Islita, Quepos, Nosara, Tamarindo, Tambor, Tortuguero and also Nosara and Coto 47. The prices for the SANSA tickets go between $90 (for example, to Quepos) and $180. Normally, this airline operates Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft for the local flights, and they take up to12 passengers per flight.

There are some other companies such as Paradise Air, that offers charter planes and helicopters. Some companies help coordinate the same type of flights, too.

It is very common that the hotels also offer information on how to book local flights, and they help to coordinate local transportation (air, land and marine) throughout the country.

There are several companies that offer rental cars and other services as well. All companies must be registered accordingly, and must operate under specific regulations to guarantee safety to the customer.

Renting a Car in Costa Rica

The requirements to rent a car in Costa Rica are the normal under which a person can rent a car abroad: have a valid driver’s license, updated passport, be 21 years old or older, and hand in a guarantee through a major credit card. On the other hand, rental car offices must offer unlimited mileage to the customers, as well as some insurance coverage available in Costa Rica.

The rates vary between $40 and $100 per day, depending on the type of vehicle. It is important to get a 4-wheel drive to be able to do adventure tourism, and explore areas that are retired or secluded.

Some of the companies that offer this service are AVIS, Mapache, Sixt, Europcar, Amigo, Poas, among others.

Hotels and some tour operators usually help customers with information on car rentals. It is necessary to verify that the local rental car company is registered property and that it operates under the Costa Rican regulations.

This protected area is one of the most important sites of interest. For this reason, people are trying to keep this area as untouched, in its natural “virgin” state, and for this reason the access is limited and must be made via boat, plane or helicopter.

The area is not only of tourist interest, but also scientific. In this small space, you can find 2.5% of the world biodiversity. It is also one of the largest primary rainforest ever found, so it was designated as “the most intense place of the world biologically speaking” according to National Geographic Magazine.

Inside the park, there are a large number of trails, and people can find a great biodiversity. There are about 367 species of birds, 104 species of mammals, 117 species of amphibians and reptiles, and 40 species of fish. In regards to forest species, there are about 500 species of trees (approximately one quarter of all the tree species found in Costa Rica). And about the different habitats, there is mountain forest, cloud forest, swamps, Yolillal, mangroves and coastal species.

Corcovado National Park

It is very common to find coatis, jaguars, pumas, white-faced monkeys, howler monkeys, iguanas, crocodiles among many other species.

Waterfall at Protected area in Turrubares

The area has beautiful sites thanks to the number of rivers, and the different ecosystems also contribute to the natural environment. Most of these rivers come from two of the Pacific river basins: Grande de Tarcoles and Tusubres. Some other rivers join these two: Chucas, Carara, Camaron, San Jose, Turrubaritos, Quebrada, La Plata and Limon. All these originate in Turrubares. Some other rivers of the area are Tulin, Galan, Negro, and Rio Seco. Some rivers work as boundaries between the locations of Turrubares and Garabito.

This area, together with other locations of the Central Pacific, is the source of tourist attractions, especially for the areas of environmental and biological protection. Particularly, this is a natural habitat for the red scarlet macaw which is in danger of extinction, and for some other animal and forest species. There are plenty of tourist attractions in the area such as restaurants, mountain and forest hikes, fishing, guided visits, camping sites, etc.

Some of the protected zones are: protected area of the Turrubares Hills, Carara National Park, Cazira and Arbofilia.

Jaco New Construction Project

Investors such as Fuad Farach Abalah of the Costa Rica Group, and owner of the new Wyndham Jaco Beach Resort / condo-hotel (two buildings with 136 rooms), which is in process of construction, indicate that Jaco Beach has several advantages over other areas. Some other important factors to take into consideration are the new highway San Jose – Caldera, the easy access to hospitals, the proximity to the Juan Santamaria International Airport, local commerce in expansion, restaurants and supermarkets in the area.

Some of the new projects that have started in Jaco are: Diamante Del Sol Project, which has two towers, Breakwater Point (44 condos) and The Palm, which is a 9-story building with 34 condos, whose owner is the Day Star Properties company. Another project under construction is Pacific Palms, which will feature a Barcelo hotel.

Day Star Properties also built three other condos: Bahia Azul, La Paloma Blanca and Bahia Encantada.

At the same time, in the surrounding areas, there can be found some other more rural communities or towns with a natural landscape such as Quebrada Amarilla, Esterillos, Manuel Antonio among others; which preserve the Nature and the local biodiversity of the area. Some of these places also have important developments such as Finca La Pavona in Quebrada Amarica, whose concept is that one of a country environment but with all the facilities of the modern life. La Pavona is located only a few kilometers from Jaco Beach.

Wildlife at Turubari Park

• Tours through the aerial tram above the dense rainforest.
• Walks through the Butterfly Garden and the Botanical Gardens.
• Crocodiles and Iguanas ponds.
• Canopy Tour.
• Hiking through trails (approximately 12 kilometers long) where people can have direct contact with Nature (flora, fauna, and local forest species from the area)
• Interact with local farm animals, and an organic farm with medicinal plants
• Enjoy delicious typical food among some other dishes.

The park has over 285 hectares of natural forest that the local visitors can enjoy. It includes over 600 species of plants, 200 species of birds, and crocodiles over 3 meters long and some other outstanding natural beauties that people will enjoy.

The access is very easy as it’s located only about 20 minutes away from Caldera, in the Province of Puntarenas, and approximately 90 minutes from San Jose.

La Pavona Farm Land Estates Entrance at Quebrada Amarilla

There are plenty of rivers that surround Quebrada Amarilla. Some of these rivers are: Grande de Tarcoles, Carara, Tusubres, Tulin, Seco, Tarcolitos, Carros, Jesus Maria and Tivives. The large amount of water resources makes this town and the surrounding areas great for agricultural activities. It is also an area that is recommended for tourism, and rural tourism activities as well as adventure tours. The local landscape and the type of geography of the area help a lot.

In the surroundings of Quebrada Amarilla, there are some other small towns located along the coast such as Tivives, Bajamar, Camaronal, Quebrada Ganado, Herradura, Hermosa, Mantas, Agujas, Tarcoles, among others. Close to Quebrada Amarilla, you can also find the Manuel Antonio and Carara National Parks.

Quebrada Amarilla town is a location usually wanted by retired people and investors due to the tranquility and the rural scene that they find there. Quebrada Amarilla is at the main entrance of La Pavona Farm, which is a development of 86 smaller integrated farms which main concept involves the tranquility of the country life with all the services of the modern life. This farm is planned with areas for agricultural activities (growing vegetables through organic crops), cheese processing and dairy products, as well as areas for sports and equestrian activities, internet service, drinking water and electricity.

The town is only about two hours away from the Central Valley, and the main access is by public or private transportation.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has come to these figures, and considers that Costa Rica is one of the countries that will recover faster from the crisis because the country has also had a previous process of implementation of good economy plans and bank gesture. This will minimize the national finance impact, because Costa Rica has generated a financial system which is strong enough already. Another good decision in the country in regards to economy policies is the way in which the public investment has been made, which is more equally distributed among the more vulnerable sectors, which help to mitigate the impact of the crisis.

This doesn’t mean that the effects of the crisis won’t affect the country, but the Costa Rican economy will be more balanced and with less social and economic consequences for the people. The country will especially be affected by a decrease of the imports and exports, and the deceleration of the credits. Some sectors; however, are still growing enormously in Costa Rica such as telecommunications, dock facilities gestures, rural tourism, medical tourism and exportation of technology.

Airport Controls Systems for Swine Flu

The Department of Health, together with Inciensa (Costa Rican Institute for Research of Nutrition and Health) has been working hard trying to detect new cases of human influenza in the country. More than seven hundred patients have been tested as they had the symptoms; 735 were negative.

The work of both institutions has been very hard, not only with attending the new cases, but also checking the surrounding areas in search of sources of contamination by the virus that attacked the persons who are ill. The institutions have visited neighborhoods in San Jose where the new cases were detected. They visited relatives of sick people, close friends and other people that could have been in contact with them, so that they can assist on time the possible sources of infection. The plan has been successful.

There is a team of specialists in charge of checking new cases, and they have had a lot of work. They count with a department for the reception of the new samples taken from people who are suspected to have the virus. This department works 24 hours a day, and the research department works 12 hours a day. They have not ruled out the possibility to hire more specialists if necessary, in case the number of sick people increased.

Not only this team that analyzes the samples in a laboratory has been trained in regards to the protocol to follow, but also the personnel that work in the hospitals and in some primary centers of attention, know exactly what to do. Local hospitals have arranged for special sections to assist sick people, so that the rest of the patients are not in danger of getting the virus.

Some other measures have also been taken such as the increase in the control of arrivals to the Juan Santamaria International Airport as well as Migration controls, to be able to detect possible new cases of people that enter the country with the symptoms.

The way in which this public health problem has been approached in the country, guarantees trust, and gives confidence to the population and to the visitors. The Government and the Health Department have worked together on this with professionalism, efficiency and full commitment.

This new hotel will open under the Holiday Inn franchise. According to AGRISAL, Costa Rica offers the best conditions because of the position the country has as a leader in the tourism industry in Central America. The new hotel will have 163 rooms, spa, gym, restaurant and swimming pool. There will be plenty of entertainment in site, and an intelligent construction system (in regards to the use of energy).

Holiday Inn El Salvador Bahias

On the other hand, Procter & Gamble, which already has 10 years of operation in the country, announced that they are settling down in Costa Rica. They currently have 1300 employees. From Costa Rica, P&G assists businesses in fourteen different branches in Latin America, USA and Canada. Approximately 350 analysts specialize in Business Transformation and Global Services for Finance.

Same as this company, in Costa Rica there are approximately eighty service companies that hire over 2400 people.

In spite of the economic situation around the world, Costa Rica becomes consolidated as one of the most important commercial destinations, and one of the safest destinations for investments due to its political and economic stability.